IF YOU READ MY OTHER STUFF, PLEASE READ THIS:

So I'm back again on this story. I wasn't really planning on it, but I'm sort of blocked up on Crazy Life and Hogwarts Rumble, so I don't really know what else to do at the moment. As you guys know, my update schedule is whenever I churn out chapters in one sitting, because I actually felt inspired. I'm not abandoning any of my stories, I just...haven't been feeling overly inspired for those right now. Part of it is because I'm too excited for Rage 2, and the other part is I'm preparing for my practicum part of my master's, so that's going to further eat into my time. So I'm trying to force myself to finish up what I had before my last semester got super busy. It'll be a bit though. Sorry.

Anyway, on with the show.

Chapter 1: A New Name, New Life, and New Feelings?

Earth-38, National City, DEO Bunker.

It had been about a month since the original Kara had died from the Earth-X Serum, an event which led to Barry accidentally killing Earth-X Oliver. Whatever the dark matter bomb had done to him, it had amplified his powers to an absurd degree. He was essentially having the same problems controlling his powers as he did when he initially obtained them. He lost control of his body for just long enough that his hand phased into Reich Oliver's chest, and shredded his heart. The trauma of killing someone was weighing heavily on Barry, even more so that it was done in Eobard Thawne's preferred method of killing. As such, Kara had picked up the slack around the DEO base in terms of planning a counterattack against the Reich on Earth X. However, despite what Barry would approve of, she had pushed the idea of using another dark matter bomb onto J'onn.

Currently, she was walking into another logistics meeting in order to discuss specifics with J'onn, who was surprisingly open to the idea of essentially bombing another Earth.

"You realize Barry would not approve of this at all, right?" The Martian stated calmly. "I have only known him a short time, but from what I gleaned from his mind, he is not the type to make these kind of pragmatic decisions."

Kara ran a hand through her blond and black locks, sighing in frustration. "I know that, okay? But he also doesn't understand what Earth X is like. There is no hope for that universe. The Nazi's had taken over the planet, with only one Resistance cell remaining alive. The dark matter bomb is the best solution for dealing with Earth X. It won't destroy that universe, but it will obliterate the planet, and trust me, that is absolutely a good thing." She ground out bitterly, remembering all the horrible things she did in service to the Reich. This was both her penance and her curse to bear. She would blacken her soul one more time in order to ensure the Reich would not be able to harm anyone ever again.

"And you are sure there is no hope to redeem the planet at all?" J'onn asked, wanting to confirm that Kara was aware of what she was suggesting.

"J'onn, they're Nazis. They're genocidal megalomaniacs hellbent on conquering everything in the multiverse. Anyone who was ever good on that planet is dead. The bomb is the only way to prevent further bloodshed."

The Martian regarded her a moment, before nodding. "I agree, given the memories I just scanned in your head. I'll tell the technicians to prepare the bomb. And you are positive those are the exact schematics?"

"It's based on Kryptonian tech from my universe. It was originally a multiverse portal, but it realized super destructive dark matter when it opened. I'm fairly sure that if Krypton wasn't already going to blow up when my family sent Kal and I away, this would have ensured the planet's destruction. I don't know where the portal leads, but negative dark matter is extremely corrosive. Frankly, I don't even know how Barry is alive right now, given how much of it he was exposed to." Kara finished worriedly. The feelings she had for Barry confused her, as she'd only known him personally for the past month, during which she'd essentially taken the place of the original Kara. But the mind meld she'd had with the original amplified her interactions with him, causing her to feel warm whenever the blond man was around. However, she could not fully explore this new life until Earth-X was taken care of.

J'onn merely nodded, before motioning her to follow. "We'll need that portal device you used to get to our Earth. I assume you still have it?" At this, Kara nodded, before J'onn continued. "Excellent. Bring it to the staging area and we'll settle this matter once and for all." Kara merely nodded, willing to put an end to her cruel and harmful Earth.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Earth-X, Gotham City, 30 minutes later...

The leader of the Reich sat behind his desk, looking out over the beautiful utopia of power that was his kingdom. He was still a little unsure of why he had not heard back from the field team to Earth-38, but it was of little consequence. Oliver was his best man, and even if he struggled to control the Kryptonian wench, he had the destabilizing serum. So why did he have such an ominous feeling in his gut?

All of a sudden, a flash, and then suddenly, a wave of dark matter soared across his utopia. As the wave approached him, Thomas Wayne thought of his deceased wife and son, both of which he had killed when he had learned Bruce had started the Resistance, and Martha when she'd tried to stop him. He had no right to miss them, but he could not help but know that this was the end of his Earth. And a few seconds later, Thomas Wayne joined the rest of Earth-X in oblivion.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Earth-38, Around the same time...

"It's done." At J'onn's statement, Kara let out a sigh of relief. She was finally free. Before she could say anything however, J'onn spoke again, "However, it seems the energy from this dark multiverse has further severed the connection our Earth had to the rest of the positive multiverse, causing a layer of dark energy to from a shell around our universe. If Barry wasn't trapped here before, he most certainly is now." Despite the dire nature of statement, Kara felt a bit of elation from the fact that Barry would not be able to leave this Earth. She shook her head, knowing that was a selfish thought. Barry didn't deserve to be separated from everyone he'd ever known, even if he was starting to come to terms with it. So despite her newfound desire to be close with him, she knew he needed to get to know her, and process things at his own pace.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Two Days Later...

Barry sat alone in the DEO Cafeteria, idly poking at the dull food he'd been given. He was slated to start testing his new powers today with Kara and J'onn, so they'd essentially forced him to go eat something. He smiled somewhat sadly at that thought. The differences between the two Kara's wasn't as large he'd have expected. Both really cared about him in their own ways, though this Kara seemed significantly more fidgety around him than the original. She was also slightly colder, except when she looked at him. That was when Barry hurt the most, because Kara would get that same look in her eyes. Warmth. Amusement. Longing. Barry knew the look well, because it was the same one he used to get when he looked at Iris, at least before he met Kara. And yet, as much as he wanted to say they were too entirely different people, he couldn't. Yes, the Earth-X Kara had done terrible things in the past, but she had been lied to and manipulated. Just like the Kara he knew, her eyes would shine when she found something cute or funny. She would curse in Kryptonian when she was annoyed by something. She would do this cute little snort when he made her laugh unexpectedly. The only real difference was this Kara liked the color black, had a penchant for dark humor, and was a lot more flirty with him. In short, Barry couldn't help but feel a little guilty when he still felt the same attraction to her that he had felt with the original.

Barry shook his head. Now was not the time to get lost in romantic pondering. The DEO was supposed to finish his new suit today. While he'd tried to do deeds as the Flash since the original Kara's death, he no longer felt like his old moniker or suit fit him. His lightning was darker, and his powers enhanced to a godlike degree. Furthermore, Kara's death had hit him hard, and when he'd found out he was confirmed to be stranded on Earth-38, he decided that it was time to reinvent himself to a degree. To that end, he'd asked the DEO to make a new suit for him, though he'd only given them basic requirements, like being friction-proof. That had put a Cisco-like gleam in the designer's eyes, and after a brief Q and A about Barry's powers, the scientist shot off to get to work, yanking Winn along with him. That had occurred a few days ago, so Barry figured it was time to go check on the progress. Standing from his chair, he made his way out of the mess hall and towards the R and D section.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Mr. Allen, when you told me about your powers, and how you had been previously limiting your overall suit functionality, I told myself 'NO MORE!'" The chief scientist was enthusiastic, if nothing else. The R and D section of the DEO bunker was filled with technology of both manmade and alien origin. The metallic walls were in pristine shape, and the hum of the nearby supercomputer was audible as it worked. In the center of the room, were a table and what Barry assumed to be a tarp covered mannequin. His moment of inattentiveness did nothing to halt the excitement of the scientist, however. "Furthermore, I consulted Mr. Schott here for other ideas and features. And after a few all nighters and bouts of inspiration, your new suit is ready." At this, Mr. Scientist and Winn reached for the tarp, and yanked it off the mannequin, unveiling a rather high tech looking super suit. The helmet was reminiscent of an E.V.A. Helmet from a space suit, with lightning bolts attached to the sides where a person's ears would be along with a black reflective visor. The body of the suit was black and dark purple, and made of a metallic substance that shined slightly. On the chest, was a purple lightning bolt over a clear circular container that was currently empty. The arms had metallic covers, and possessed a small grappling hook on each wrist. The hands had sharp looking metallic claws on the finger tips, though the hands had a circular opening in the palms. The legs were also armored, and the feet alsos had metallic claws where his toes would be. All in all, the suit looked unlike anything Barry had anticipated, though he definitely liked what he saw. Both Mr. Scientist and Winn noticed his impressed facial expression, and beamed at Barry. Winn took this as an opportunity to explain the features of the suit.

"So, Barry, given how low-tech your old suit was, we decided to give you a serious upgrade. The suit itself is made of some weird metal the DEO had in storage, apparently from some distant planet or something. Not the point, which is this: this suit is damn near impenetrable, while being extremely light for someone of your...metahuman persuasion." Winn waggled his eyebrows at Barry, prompting a snort from the blonde speedster. "Furthermore, we built in an internal charge capacity that syphons off some of your lightning as your run. So you won't have to run in a circle when you need to throw lightning. You can just pull a Tony Stark and blast it from your palms. The capacity can also turbocharge your powers in a pinch if needed, functioning like an adrenaline surge. We put two grappling hooks in as a precautionary measure, as you never know when you'll need them. The cable is durable enough to withstand both meta and alien strength up to about 4000 pounds. The issue is that there's only enough cable for a few uses, meaning you can't just use it freely."

"So it would be best to use it to save my skin or to help hold up a collapsing building." Barry concluded soundly, impressed at the utility of the device.

"Exactly. And just in case you needed it, the suit also functions as a modified exoskeleton, allowing you to lift up to about 700 pounds without issue. Handy for those rescue operations where your molecular phasing isn't feasible or safe."

Barry nodded, knowing that phasing injured people wasn't always a good idea. "Then what are the claws for?"

"To help ensure traction while running on walls and the like, whereas the claws on the hands are for enhancing hand to hand combat effectiveness. The tips can function as hypodermic needles, and can secrete a sedative to assist in subduing anything from rogue aliens to the average criminal." Mr. Scientist explained excitedly. "But in the words of Billy Mayes, 'Wait, there's more!'"

Barry raised a brow, but said nothing.

"The knuckles of the suit function as taser prongs when activated, allowing a low charge volt to be added to your punches. Very useful given the odds we usually face in line of duty. Lastly, it has an onboard computer that feeds realtime information and threat assessments to your Heads up display in the helmet, which possess thermal, night, and signal detection modes." Mr. Scientist finished explaining, before taking a step back, allowing Winn to approach Barry.

Winn then fished into his pocket for something, before displaying a small remote, which he then pressed. Immediately, the back of the room lit up, to unveil a small room.

"This is part two of welcoming you to the team. A VR training room, which will help you learn various martial arts from some mercenary guy named Slade. Apparently, the guy owed J'onn a favor, so he agreed to come give you some training on the condition for dropping some charges against him. Rest assured, he agreed to nonlethal methods."

Barry felt his jaw drop a bit.

"Slade? As in Slade Wilson?!" Barry asked incredulously, not sure how to feel about taking martial arts lessons from Oliver's archnemesis.

"Huh? Yeah, did you know him on your earth or something?" Winn asked in confusion, not sure what the deal was. The guy was some ex-spec ops guy turned merc. It really wasn't that big of a deal.

"Yeah, I do. He almost killed my best friend." Barry said through gritted teeth, venom dripping into his words.

"As crappy as that is, Barry, keep in mind this Slade does not know you. He's just a former Green Beret who washed out of a super-soldier program. He turned to mercenary work as a means to work through his issues. I promise you while not the friendliest guy around, this version of Slade is an ally."

Barry sighed, but nodded. The differences were already apparent, as the Slade he'd heard about from Oliver was Australian, whereas this one was American. Odd, but the multiverse was strange place, so he kept his comments to himself.

"When do I begin?" As soon as Barry spoke, a armored figure dropped down from above him. "I'm going to assume you're Slade." Barry commented dryly.

"You assume correct. And your training begins now, kid. I hear your heal fast." The way Slade said that made Barry shiver. "Good. That means I don't have to be as careful. However, I was told that you have super speed. Try not to use it while I'm training you, or else you won't learn as much."

Barry watched as the armored man made his way to a gear rack, before stripping his armor off and making his way into the training room. Barry shot a glance at Winn, who gave him a rather weak thumbs up. Barry sighed, before making his way over to his new teacher. He knew this was not going to be a fun experience.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

CatCo, Three Days Later...

Kara was not a happy camper. Apparently, her idea of a wardrobe differed from the original Kara's. Given the leering stares by the males in the office, Kara was sure that the original had to have dressed like a nun or was simply unfashionable. Whatever the case was, Kara had already had to reject and subsequently ignore a man named James Olsen three times and Cat Grant's son Adam twice since she'd arrived this morning, as well as ignore the inquisition posed by her female coworkers. She was about to smack her head on her desk when the intercom on her desk buzzed angrily, allowing the voice of Cat Grant

"Keera! Get in here! We have a situation!" Her boss demanded impatiently. Kara sighed, wondering why her counterpart had chosen to tolerate the pushy woman's disrespect. She stood from her desk and made her way inside Cat's office, before standing in front of the imposing CEO of the media company.

"Keera! Good, you came-" Cat stopped midsentence, as she took in Kara's appearance. Frankly, Kara didn't see what the big deal was. She was wearing diamond earrings, sultry heels, a black skirt, a white blouse and a black business top. She had added some red tips to her hair, though she had taken steps to ensure the black, red, and blonde ensemble looked professional and sexy. Her dark red lipstick and smokey eye shadow ensured that she looked like Hell on heels. To be honest, Kara had mostly dressed like this to mess with Barry when she saw him after work, and maybe prompt the blond man to fall for her faster. This distance between them was annoying, as it upset the feelings she'd gotten from the original, and the fact she thought he was attractive before the meld certainly didn't help matters either. Barry would be hers, one way or another.

"Keera, why are you chuckling darkly in front of me? And what's with the makeover?" Cat's voice shook Kara from her thoughts, shifting the Kryptonian's focus back onto her boss, who was giving her some appraising glances. "Got to say, Keera, the corporate goth look suits you, oddly enough. But we can discuss your makeover later. Right now, we have bigger fish to fry. A new hero on the scene." Cat's voice finished with a slight edge of excitement. "Check it out." She pointed to the TV in her office, and on it, displayed on CatCo's personal news channel, was an armored figure with a lightning bolt symbol on the chest, black electricity arcing off the body and dancing in a containment field in the chest(AN: Think hybrid between speedster armor from DCUO and Deathstroke's armor in Arkham Origins). The marquee of the news was captioned 'NEW HERO STOPS BANK ROBBERY!"

'Barry got a new suit?' Kara thought to herself, before Cat snapped her fingers.

"We have to take advantage of this." Moving quickly, she punched in a few numbers into her cell, before she whispered a few things into the line. Curiously, the field reporter on the TV nodded a few times, before walking over to the imposing new hero. Cat turned up the TV volume, and pulled out a laptop, waiting to type whatever the guy said down and send it to her writing staff.

"Excuse me, sir!" The field reporter tapped the armored man on the shoulder, prompting the hero into looking at him. "Could you perhaps answer a few questions? CatCo would love to help the city get to know it's newest hero!"

The armored figured tilted it's head a moment, before nodding. "Sure, what would you like to know?" The voice was heavily filtered, but Kara could tell it was Barry from the mannerisms alone.

"Well for starters, what should we call you?" The reporter asked excitedly, as this moment would be huge boost for CatCo's ratings.

The figure seemed to stop and think for a moment, before answering. "You can call me Voidrunner."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

To Be continued...

Yes yes, I know it's been a few weeks. I was struggling with how much of the solution of Earth X I wanted to include in this, as I wanted to resolve it quickly, and move onto the episodic format that I had in mind. As for the Karry moments, they're coming. But as much as I love to write romance, I need it to feel organic. Furthermore, while my update schedule is, as usual, erratic, I do have plans for this story, at least until I feel inspired to work on my other two. So for now, that's all.

Raizen out.