Chapter 111: Icarus

Barry frowned as he began to approach the edge of the river. At least the shadow wasn't leading him all around the island. The river wasn't too far from the family's shelter and the graves — it was the only place they could get decent drinking water and a steady supply of fish. It was also where they bathed and washed their clothes. It was more-or-less the center of their lives on the island.

He ran across the banks, trying to keep an eye on the shadow, but eventually it disappeared from view again. He slowed down at that, and began looking around. Judging by the previous experience at the beach, that meant the Speed Force wanted him to meet someone here. He wondered who it would be this time.

"Barry."

No. Barry whipped his head around, and felt his heart stop.

"Hello again, Barry," Shado greeted him, smiling.

"And, we're back!" Cisco announced as Wells and him exited the breach into the interior of the Fortress of Solitude. He stopped when he saw the new suits everyone had strapped on and the giant device that Hartley, Ronnie, and Stein were working on together. "I see I missed a lot," he observed.

"New Barry-designed costume suit," Hartley told him, pointing at Cisco's sub-compartment.

Cisco turned around to stare at said suit, giving a low whistle. "Nice," he said, admiring the design with a grin. Then he heard Oliver clear his throat, and he became serious again. "Right. Wells and I finished the device. This will allow me to use my vibes to bring someone else into the Speed Force, who can pull Barry out of it."

Oliver and Kara exchanged looks, before glancing at Slade. All three then turned their attentions back to Cisco. "Can you take more than one person?"

"I should be," Cisco answered, looking at Wells for confirmation, who nodded. "Why?"

"You're taking all three of us."

"But isn't that a bit excess—" Cisco wisely stopped when he saw all three's stares slowly begin to morph into glares. "I'll shut up now."

"Smart boy," Slade dryly complimented him.

"What's that?" Wells asked, pointing out at the device that the other inventors in the building were working on.

"Our ticket to victory," Stein said, lifting his head up briefly to answer.

"It's a device that sends out a massive pulse that can disrupt the frequency of Earth-2 residents," Hartley elaborated further.

"Like the one we use for the Doppelsensor?"

"Exactly. See, I had this idea that we can use this to make a sort of dimensional tuning fork. We have either Barry or Kara make a refracting field around Central City, send out the pulse, which then bounces off of the field, splits apart—"

"—colliding with itself over and over, amplifying it to a higher frequency," Cisco continued, eyes glazing over in realization.

"And when that pulse hits anyone from my earth," Wells finished, smirking, "it'll disrupt their nervous system."

"Bye bye, Earth-2 metas," Hartley said mockingly, doing a little wave for good measure.

"But even after that, the battle still won't be over," Oliver interjected, bringing them all back to earth. "Zoom released all the prisoners in Iron Heights and added them to his army. We might knock out him and those from his earth, but that still leaves an entire prison population that we have to contain and capture."

Cisco groaned. "Are you freaking serious? He broke out every inmate in Iron Heights? Including the metas?"

"Including the metas," Kara nodded. "Which means we need to get Barry back as soon as possible. Seeing him alive again would be a massive blow to their morale. With us, and with the US Coast Guard and whoever else Maseo can get, and we might be able to get them to stand down once the Earth-2 metas are knocked out. Limit the civilian casualties and the damage to the city."

"Alright then," Cisco gave another look to Wells. "Let's get him back."

"This is cruel," Barry told the apparition of Shado, flaring his nostrils. "You're not her. She died over ten years ago, right in front of my eyes—"

"—and you couldn't save her," Shado finished for him, beginning to circle him. "Just like you couldn't save your mother. But Shado's death was always the one that hurt more, because unlike with your mother, you think you might have actually been able to save her."

"After all, when your mother died, you were just a normal, innocent child. And the man who murdered her was someone far beyond your reach. There was nothing you could've done. But it's different with Shado, wasn't it? You spent several months training with her and with Slade, learning from them both. You learned how to heal people, fought men twice your size, even killed a few. You were no longer the child that couldn't save his mother, but something more. And yet, even with all that, you couldn't save her — the woman that filled in the hole Nora Allen left behind."

Barry fisted his hands, glaring angrily. "Stop. Stop! Don't you dare—"

"It's the same with your powers, isn't it?" Shado continued, not even bothering to acknowledge Barry's implicit threat. "You know full well the real scope of the power at your fingertips. You could be stronger than even your sister, if you so wished. But unlike your enemies, unlike Thawne or Zolomon, you were never foolish enough to believe that it could fix all your problems. That's a rather unique mindset for a young, inexperienced speedster like you."

"Is that supposed to be an insult?" Barry asked, voice dark.

Shado shook her head. "Far from it, Barry Allen. Normally, we have to be careful teaching new speedsters not to abuse their powers, to not be sucked in by the sheer amount of power now in their possession. But you? You are well aware of what power you wield, and deep down, you're afraid of it."

"I am not afraid of my own power!"

"But you are, Barry Allen," Shado immediately countered. "Remember, we know you better than you know yourself. You're afraid of your own power. It's why you never tried to time travel, why you have such a hard time getting faster. Because you fear losing yourself to your powers like Thawne and Zolomon did. After all, one tried to abuse his powers to get rid of his greatest enemy, and in the process changed the timeline so irrevocably and drastically that he stranded himself into a time period he hated. The other tried to artificially increase his speed via the Velocity-9 drug and nearly killed himself in the process. You have two firsthand accounts of the dangers your powers have. It's only understandable that you would fear letting them consume you like your enemies did. You fear being Icarus, flying too close to the sun."

Barry grimaced and then looked away, closing his eyes. "You're right," he admitted, letting out a breathless sigh. "You're right. I fear my powers. They gave me the potential to do things others could only dream of. But I know what power can do to you, how intoxicating it can be."

"With Ra's al Ghul," Shado noted.

"Yes," Barry nodded, screwing his eyes even more shut. "He gave — well, forced — a similar kind of power onto me when he trained my siblings and I into his horsemen, when he made us into the greatest assassins in the world. And we used that power to murder, murder, murder. And we knew we had no choice, that we were under his thrall like everyone else, but every day that gets harder and harder to believe." Barry looked at the apparition of Shado with sad, tired eyes. "When you have the power to decide someone's life and death, it's the most addicting thing in the world. It's something that you have to be careful not to abuse. I'm terrified that these powers will finally push me over the edge."

"But they haven't yet," Shado pointed out.

"They haven't," Barry confirmed, "but I'm scared that they one day will."

"An understandable fear," Shado concurred, before punching him right in the face.

Barry stumbled back, not hurt but still in disbelief, only to finally come to his senses when Shado attacked him again, throwing a series of punches that he had to block. As she continued to attack, bring in elbows and knife strikes and swings, she also continued to speak. "It's an understandable fear, Barry Allen," she said, "but you've let it go too far. You're letting it rule you, stop you from reaching your full potential. And that's not what you were taught to do."

She threw a kick that hit the side of his leg, causing him to wince, before he blocked the follow-up kick with his knee. "You need to move past this fear, Barry Allen. Because if you do not, then you will lose them all. Your city. Your friends. Your family. Joe. Henry. Iris. Slade. Oliver. Kara. Kal. You allow this fear to continue to rule you, and they will die. If not today, by Zoom's hands, then tomorrow, by those of your next enemy. And that enemy isn't going to care about how afraid you are of your powers. They'll just take advantage of it instead."

A particularly harsh blow struck Barry in the solar plexus, and he fell to one knee, wincing. Shado stood in front of him, glaring down at him. "They'll take everything away from you, Barry Allen, like Ivo took me away from you. Are you going to let that happen?" She struck down with a final blow, a punch, aimed once again at Barry's head.

Only for Barry to catch it.

He glared up at Shado with a fiery glower. "Hell no," he said, before pulling her forward, hitting a palm strike to her abdomen, before slamming her down to the ground, a hand squeezing her neck and a knee pinning her down. He continued to glare down at her, while she smirked.

"You're ready," she told him.

Barry frowned, as a blast of air hit him again. He looked up, unsurprised to see that it was the shadow once more, and shot forward, grabbing it by the neck. The shadow turned into an image of him in his Flash suit, just unmasked, and the two stared at each other before beginning to merge.

He gasped as the power surged through him, his connection to the Speed Force stronger and more intimate, enlightening every nerve in his body down to the subatomic level. When the sensation finally abated back into that familiar, warm thrum, Barry released a sigh of relief and then glanced at Shado. She had gotten back to her feet, and was now smiling at him again.

"Barry!"

"Kara?" Barry glanced over at the river, where the sound was coming from.

"Your family has come to collect you, Barry Allen," Shado said from behind him. "It's time for you to go home."

Barry swallowed when he heard that, and then glanced back at Shado one last time. He went to her, and gave her a hug. She stiffened for a moment, before returning it. "I know you're not her. But I just felt the need to hug you anyway." One last time.

Shado patted him on the arm in a comforting manner, then let go of the embrace. "Goodbye, Barry."

Barry stepped away, giving her one last nod, before going to the river.

He took in a deep breath, and dived in.

"So how does this work?" Slade asked, putting his hands on his hips.

"Ramon vibes the suit, you three stay in contact with Ramon, and you call out Barry's name until he finds you and you can grab him and pull him out," Wells ran down the instructions in that blunt manner of his.

Oliver crossed his arms, momentarily perplexed. "That's it?"

"That's it. Ramon?"

Cisco put the contraption on his head, then gestured everyone over. He took Kara's hand, while Slade and Oliver each took a shoulder. His last remaining hand was hovering over the charred suit. "You ready?"

Kara glanced up at her brother and father and then nodded. "We're ready. Let's bring him home."

Cisco nodded, and then placed his hand on the suit. Almost immediately, the three were submerged in the storm of lightning and thunder and wind. Already, Kara had to pull her long hair back so it wouldn't flush against her face.

"Barry!" Oliver called out into the storm, stepping away from Cisco, with Kara and Slade keeping close.

"Barry!" The two mimicked him.

"Guys?"

"Barry!" And there he was. The wind was swiping at his hair, and he had his Flash suit on, but it was unmistakably him. The three stood together, Slade in the center and Oliver and Kara on either side of him, with the first reaching out with his hand.

"Come home to us, Barry," Slade breathed out.

Barry gazed at them all as if he couldn't believe they were there, before reaching out and grabbing Slade's hand with his own. He saw Oliver and Kara grab his arm and pull—

—Barry blinked as he sped out into the Fortress of Solitude. He looked around, to see the various members of the Justice League and their closest allies all staring at him in dumb amazement.

"Uh… hi?" He held up his hand for good measure.

Almost immediately after he said that, he was swamped by everyone around them. Foremost being Laurel and the members of Team Flash, who all seemed to be fighting over who would get to hug him first (including the prickly Hartley, much to Barry's surprise). It would be several minutes before he would be able to break out of the crowd, laughing and telling them he was alright.

At least until he saw the Fortress' main monitor.

Barry stared at the feed playing there, a major news channel that was grimly displaying the burning buildings of Central City. On the banner below was one word: 'Metapocalypse'. He was forced to admit that the description was accurate. His home certainly looked like hell on earth right now.

He could hear the crowd behind grow silent as they saw what he was looking at. "Do we have a plan?" Barry asked, piercing through that sudden quietness.

"We do," Oliver told him, equally grim.

"Tell me what it is," Barry said, voice brokering no argument. "Tell me what I need to do. Whatever it is, I'll do it."

"The plan is simple, at least on our end," Oliver announced as everyone crowded around the holographic image of the entire layout of Central City. "Our primary goal is to subdue Zoom's army with minimal civilian casualties. We first do that by knocking out the Earth-2 metahumans and then restraining them. Then we deal with the Earth-1 criminals that joined Zoom in conquering the city."

"Our first objective will be to get the pulse machine into S.T.A.R. Labs so Dr. Wells can set it up. Caitlin, Dante, you two will help him in that by acting as his assistants." The two non-combatants nodded. Normally, they would be kept out of the action, but the situation was so dire that it was effectively all hands on deck, much to the consternations of Ronnie and Cisco, respectively. "Once you're done setting up the machine, contact Supergirl via comms so she can set up the refracting field."

"Until then, Deathstroke and Plastique will be guarding you personally, while Vibe, Firestorm, and Pied Piper will deal with any metahumans guarding the exterior of the building, and ward off any potential reinforcements. Understood?" The five nodded, with Slade clasping a hand on his son's shoulder for good measure.

"The rest of us, aka the Justice League, will join A.R.G.U.S. and the U.S. Armed Forces, the U.S. Coast Guard, and anyone else Maseo managed to gather in engaging Zoom's army. In that instance, you should focus on protecting any civilians within the vicinity and taking out any Earth-1 criminals you can find. Aim for Earth-2 criminals as well if you must, but they aren't priority. They'll be taken care of the moment the pulse is sent out."

Oliver continued on, listing off which member would go where when the battle started for real. It was when he got to the last name that atmosphere grew tense once more. "Where do you want me to go?" Barry asked neutrally, crossing his arms as he stared at his brother.

To Oliver's credit, he didn't flinch. Merely sighed. "… as a speedster, Zoom is by far the greatest threat of the army. If he gets even a hint of what we're doing, then the entire operation falls apart. That means someone needs to occupy him until the pulse is sent out. And the only person capable of that is you."

Barry said nothing, simply narrowing his eyes.

"Are you up for it?" Oliver asked him.

His little brother smirked. "I've never been more ready in my entire life."

Smiles spread across the faces of everyone present at those words. Oliver smirked in return. "Good."

The plan established, the last preparations were made. Maseo was contacted once again, and after confirming the time and place, sent the respective coordinates where they could hook up with their military liaisons for the battle. The pulse machine was strapped onto a cart, with Wells, Dante, and Caitlin all dressed in the spare Task Force X uniforms with guns for protection, in case they were separated from Slade and Plastique during the infiltration of S.T.A.R. Labs.

Everyone else had already dressed up in their new uniforms, with Barry being the last to put his on. The much thicker armor-like leather fit over his body perfectly, and like his other suit, had built-in compartments for his knives. Most notable changes were the metal wing-tips that had been stitched onto the sides of his head, above his ears, and the dark gold lightning logo on his emblem, with a white background. While the rest of the suit was a dark red, owing to his personal aesthetics, it was still significantly lighter than his usual getup.

As everyone placed their masks back on and prepared to leave, Oliver, once again Green Arrow, stood in front of the pack, sweeping his gaze over them all. He cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention, and once they were all looking at him, exhaled deeply.

"I'm not going to lie to any of you — this will be one of the hardest battles we have ever faced, and by far the hardest battle we have faced thus far. We're not dealing with an army of alien invaders with identical weaknesses. No, we are facing an army of individual powerhouses, each with their own unique powers and skill sets. There is a chance that some of us may not come out of this battle alive." People swallowed at that. While the prospect of death had never been lost to them, especially during the Dominator Invasion, it felt especially real now.

"But even if it's the case, we will win. We failed in stopping Zoom's army from crossing into this world, so that means it's our duty to make sure that army is beaten back to theirs. Anything less is absolutely unacceptable. Understood?"

"Understood!" was chorused throughout the room.

"Good," Oliver nodded. "Then let me say this. If this truly is the end for any of us… for all of us, then there's one thing I want you to know: I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to fight by my side."

Small cheers met that declaration, as Laurel saddled up next to Oliver and slipped her hand into his, a familiar gesture. The two smiled at each other as the crowd slowly calmed down once again. Oliver gave them one last, determined look.

"Now let's go save Central City."

And now, here we are. The moment we've been building to. The true climax of Act III, and of Arc IV as a whole.

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