The time has come for this season to end. Thank you all for being so patient and staying with me through all this. This will be the longest chapter I've ever made and I hope it lives up to the hype I've built up throughout this season. So without further ado, let the season finale begin.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash.
Both siblings stared at each other with a glare on their face. Neither one wanted to make the first move, but neither would back down either. Their weapons were at the ready and pointed at the other.
Finally Ace couldn't stand the wait and rushed to action, charging straight at Ramona. His staff raised high in the air spinning like a helicopter. Ramona responded with her twin swords on either side of her. The wind was being whipped by the staff while the ground was being scrapped by the blades from where they were dragged creating tiny sparks.
Just as they were about to meet, Ace jumped into the air and let out a battle cry as he brought down his staff and Ramona lifted her swords in a cross, blocking the strike. Ramona grunted with effort as she pushed Ace off of her and rolled under him.
They both turned around and went back at it, not letting either have a moment to rest.
Ramona slashed at Ace with one of her swords but Ace batted it away with his staff. He then tried to angle his staff to use the other end of it to send a sharp jab at her, but Ramona just jumped to avoid it and flipped in the air to land on her feet, facing his back.
Ace pivoted on his foot to spin around before his sister could take advantage of him. Using his momentum, Ace sent two kicks into the air and Ramona dodged them by leaning back, letting the kicks pass by harmlessly.
As Ramona repositioned herself, Ace swung his staff at her and Ramona moved to defend herself with one of her swords, blocking the blow as metal met ice. Ramona then used her other sword to swing at her brother as well, but Ace ducked under it.
With Ace partially distracted, Ramona swung at him again with one of her swords, pushing him back to gain some ground. Ace retaliated by moving forward with his staff leveled horizontally, making Ramona retreat instead. Ace tried to take a swing at her with his bare fist, and Ramona made him pay for his arrogance with a quick cut down his arm.
Ace grit his teeth at the pain and put a little distance between the two. He cursed himself for his stupidity. He'd gotten cocky at that moment, thinking that he'd been doing so well until then after lasting so long. Ramona was still more experienced than him. They both knew she could have easily taken his hand rather than leave a simple mark if this were a real fight. And Ace wasn't foolish. Ramona had restricted herself, only using her weapon's training and not the full use of her powers. She'd been humoring him the whole time. A quick look in her direction and he could see a subtle smirk on her face. Ace's glare intensified. She wasn't even taking him seriously.
Ace launched himself at her again, swinging his staff left and right like a wildman, trying desperately to land a hit on his big sister. Ramona looked calm as she used her blades to block his every attack. She had the advantage here, having the benefit of two weapons and being able to strike twice for everyone of his. But Ace had the longer weapon here and should be able to keep Ramona at a distance when he wanted. This wasn't one of those times.
Ace swung his staff again and Ramona blocked again, but this time she spun into the block by using her opposite hand and twisted around to add some momentum into her next strike with her other sword at his chest.
Ace intercepted it and tried to jab at her where he thought he saw an opening in her defense. Once again, Ramona batted it away. Together, they both tried to strike at the other. Ace had both hands on his staff in the center, trying to put pressure on her with the greater area his staff could hit Ramona with. Ramona slashed her twin swords together and caught the attack, her swords on either end of the staff. They both put their strength into the attack, but Ace was simply outclassed. Not only was he lacking in muscle, but the arm Ramona had managed to land a hit on weakened him, making one side of his attack weaker than the other. Ramona capitalized on the injury and pushed against him, making Ace back off as Ramona pushed him to the side.
Besides the one graze on his arm, there were no other injuries, and Ace knew it was because Ramona dictated it so. If he could just land one blow on her, this would all be worth it.
Ace tried to ignore the pain in his arm, putting all his focus on Ramona. Ramona had allowed him a brief respite. He was breathing heavily now. He wouldn't be able to keep up with her much longer. Not with her powers giving her stamina that he couldn't match.
Ace was letting his anger take over him. He was spinning the staff in his hand again, trying to intimidate his sister but knowing it wouldn't work. The siblings were so focused on one another that neither one of them noticed the tiny sparks of electricity on Ace's injured arm, closing the wound until the only sign there was a wound was a little blood and the cut on his sleeve.
The two were circling each other, their eyes locked together. Ace's gaze was filled with rage, promising terrible things if he could ever get his hands on her. Ramona's was full of pity and a silent plea to stop this battle before any serious injuries were inflicted. On him.
Ace ignored it and charged at her again with a grunt. His staff in one hand reared back slightly so he was ready to take another swing at her once in range.
Ramona just waited patiently for her brother to approach her, her grip on her swords adjusting for his imminent attack.
Once Ace was close enough he swung the staff to her side and Ramona crouched down low enough for the staff to go over her. Using her crouched position, she jumped forward with her swords pointed right at him. Ramona tried to stab him but Ace was able to jump back and moved backwards without taking his front off Ramona to dodge the attack.
Ramona followed after him with a frustrated sigh. This was taking longer than she expected and she didn't like it. Fortunately she always had her ace up her sleeve if she really needed it.
Just as she was making a double slash with her twin blades, Ace moved to the side.
Now Ramona was getting tired of this. Not physically, but rather that she wanted this to be finished already and went into a flurry of attacks, trying to end this decisively. Attack after attack, one after the other. Each one being faster and more powerful than the last. Left and right, up and down, putting more and more pressure on him. Ace was somehow able to block all of them, but each caused him to take a step back, making him lose his ground.
Ace needed to take a breath after the series of strikes and Ramona took advantage of the brief moment and jumped up to land a kick on his chest, slamming him against a wall.
Ace managed to remain standing. If he fell over now, he'd lose.
Seeing her brother still standing gave him a bit more respect from her. He'd improved in leaps and bounds since she'd last seen him. The fact that he managed to keep up with her in this brief spar, no matter how much of her strength she'd been holding back, spoke volumes of his abilities. But it was time to end this.
Ramona lunged forward with one of her swords directly at his head. It was to the side enough that it would only leave a cut on his cheek. She wasn't looking to kill him after all. She'd make the mark and call it off.
But Ace wasn't having it apparently and leaned his head to the other side enough that the sword missed him by inches and got embedded in the wall.
Ace swung at her once again which Ramona was forced to block with her only remaining blade. She didn't have time to pull the other one out of the wall, and she didn't have enough concentration to make another one so she was stuck with the one sword.
Usually Ramona wouldn't have any concerns with only being able to utilize one of her swords, especially when going up against Ace, but this time was different for some strange reason.
The two had locked their weapons against each other. Both of them had their hands on their weapon and pushed against the other, trying to get them to drop their weapon. Ramona was slowly increasing her strength to end this, but somehow Ace was matching her. It shouldn't be possible. Slowly Ramona was being forced to put her all into this bout, but their weapons hadn't moved at all aside from the slight quiver since the beginning.
Ace was glaring at her, putting everything he had in this. Using strength he didn't even know he had. Maybe it was strange to see Ramona actually put effort in this venture judging by the little drops of sweat and her jaw clenching in effort, but he saw an opportunity to finally take down the mighty Ramona.
The two were still locked together, adjusting their stances slightly every now and then to try to get the best position to take the other down.
The slight sound of crackling electricity caught Ramona's attention. It sounded just like how she always associated with her father using his powers. Little signs of lights caught her eye to see sparks of electricity coming to life on her brother's arms. But that meant-!
Ramona slackened in shock at what her brother had accomplished but it seemed Ace hadn't noticed having accessed his meta powers. His mind still focused on the fight. Ace took advantage of his sister's moment of relaxation and used it to push her sword off his staff and swing the staff at her wrists, forcing her to drop the sword.
The sword dropped to the floor where it shattered without its master to supply it with its durability.
Fuelled with rage, Ace went for the final blow. Without her swords, she was open to attack. Ace reared a fist back to hit her with it, not noticing that his fist was now vibrating and covered in lightning.
Ramona's face was covered in a smile in elation for her brother. That he'd finally gotten what he'd always wanted. But it soon turned to horror when she saw what he was going to attack her with and he wasn't showing any signs of stopping.
She tried to escape. To call for their parents to help her, to save her, but she didn't get the chance.
With a final bellow of anger, Ace used his new speedster's speed to launch his fist at her chest, but it didn't stop there. It just kept going through her, and he punched through her heart. Thunder sounded as his hand made contact with her chest.
The room rang with silence. Ace pulled his fist back, not yet realizing what it is that he'd just done. The first thing that popped into his mind was that he'd won. He'd done it. He defeated Ramona.
The next thing he noticed was his vibrating hand that had lightning arcing off and dissipating erratically.
Ace studied his hand, turning it over and over, hearing the hum of vibrations. He didn't take his eyes off it, almost afraid that if he did, it would disappear.
He was so transfixed on his hand that he didn't see or hear Ramona's body drop from her upright position, her legs not being able to hold her weight without any effort from her muscles to support her. She didn't move after that.
Ace was still transfixed on his hand. He had powers. He'd dreamed of this for so long and now it was finally a reality. Ace paused it and started it back up again just to see it. It was real!
The sounds of feet approaching couldn't tear away his focus. Ace was still on the high of triumphing over Ramona and that he'd finally unlocked his powers.
Voices and words didn't register in his mind as he turned around to see Mom and Dad staring at him with wide eyes.
A massive grin formed on his face as he lifted a vibrating hand up for his parents to see. His parents' eyes moved from him to their daughter and back again. They rushed forward.
Ace opened his arms, thinking they were coming to embrace him in a hug but they moved past him and went right to their daughter.
Ace was hurt. Something important had just happened to him. Something life changing. And they barely spared him a glance. Instead only being concerned about the loser.
His parents called Ramona's name several times, slightly shaking her. He thought he heard "She's not responding!"
That's when he saw it. The giant hole in her chest where her heart would be. The place where he had struck her with what he didn't realize at the time was a speedster punch. One that would have gone right through the organ. But that wasn't possible. He couldn't have…
Ace noticed the looks his parents were giving him. Dad was cradling Ramona in his arms and Mom had grabbed Ramona's still hands. They weren't trying to wake her up anymore. There wasn't any point.
They were looking at him with accusing glares. 'You did this.' 'Why would you do this?' 'Are you happy now?' their looks said to him.
No. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Ramona wasn't supposed to be… He didn't mean to. He loved her. Ace's eyes filled with despair, sorrow, and regret.
Ace's voice got caught in his throat. He wanted to explain but he couldn't. It wouldn't matter anyway. He could already see it in their eyes. He'd been condemned. No matter what excuse he made, it would always be his fault.
Shaking his head, he looked down at his hands in horror and Ace ran with his new powers. He didn't know where. Just that he had to get out of there.
Neither Barry nor Caitlin moved to stop him, too consumed in their grief over losing their child.
As he ran, Ace wasn't sure if he was crying as rain smacked against his face. He didn't mean to. It was an accident. It was all their fault anyway. Always showering Ramona with attention that he never got. It wasn't fair. They were the ones at fault. They were the ones who drove him to do it. They were terrible parents! Their love was always reserved for the eldest. It was all their fault. If Ramona was never born…
A plan was forming. Go back. Change things. And not just this little incident, change everything. Change things for the better.
If Ramona was never born…
He would be the eldest. He would receive all their love. Ramona would never die. Because Ramona would never have existed.
Ace ravaged through STAR Labs to see where Uncle Cisco had hidden his future suit. It was designed with two concepts. Changing based on what mission he would embark on. In public, it would be cream and red with tinted goggles, but on stealth missions it would transform into orange and black with a racecar helmet that obstructed his features.
He found it and stuffed it in a bag.
Ace ran channeling this new power within him with a determined goal. He had to go back. Prevent this from happening and changing things for the better for him.
The portal opened just like his mentors told him. Their lessons ingrained in his head. All the things they'd learned and creative ways to use those powers that they invented. Knowledge they passed to him so he could use eventually. Where would he go? The easiest way would be to stop Ramona from being conceived at all. But when? Too many nights to keep track of. Too many opportunities to miss his mark. He had to go back further.
As the portal spit him out Ace saw the sun in the sky. He'd time traveled, but when?
He needed more of a plan. He needed help. But who would help him? Ace thought back to who may offer him the best assistance at this time.
Thoughts of an old article, about a metahuman who had the power to completely neutralize another meta's powers. One who had gone on a killing spree, could take on anyone in the Justice League, only to stop and mysteriously disappear. Not that it really said much considering most defeated villains tended to leave no trace of them afterwards. Some people still thought Zoom was running around somewhere.
That might work, but how to get into contact and maintain constant communication with his family?
The answer was given when another time portal opened and out came another version of him, this one wearing the stealth version of his suit.
They turned to each other and with a brief nod, knew what each of them had to do. The time remnant went off in search of Cicada to enlist their help with the promise of security, targets, and foolproof plans with their future knowledge. Ace went to where he suspected the family currently was. The West household.
Ace arrived, quickly thought of what he was going to say and rang the doorbell. Time to win an Oscar.
The door opened to show Pop-pop Joe and Ace went on to start his spiel that he hoped would be utterly convincing.
"Hey, am I late? I'm not late am I? Mom and Dad told me to come here, but I wasn't sure if I got it right."
Barry could have run anywhere in the city to hide himself from his son. He could have gone to the farthest corners of the city to avoid him, but he didn't. He went to the last place he assumed Ace would look for him because it was the last place he himself looked. The hidden compartment under the particle accelerator. Sometimes Barry wondered if there were any other hidden sections in STAR that Thawne had installed and never told anyone. Either way this would be a good place to serve as a hiding place and recover their strength.
Barry carefully laid Caitlin down and checked to make sure everything was all right with her. She had a pulse, her breathing wasn't exactly steady, but it wasn't something he was extremely worried about. Barry's main concern, and Caitlin's too if she were awake, was the baby. A daughter if Ace was to be believed. He and Caitlin were going to have a daughter.
The news brought tears to his eyes. He was happy, so happy. And at the same time, so scared. And it wasn't just about her brother who was coming to kill her, but the world.
Barry placed his hand on Caitlin's stomach to feel his baby girl for some sign that she was still alive in there. He hadn't been able to completely block all of the lightning Ace had thrown, and after all the other injuries Caitlin had sustained from Cicada…
There! A tiny little beating. At 6 months, the fetus was already kicking and Barry loved to feel it. Even more in that moment. Barry let out a little watery sob at the feeling of relief that their baby was still hanging in there. And if they could just make it through this, they could be a family.
Caitlin let out a few murmurs, probably awakened from the feeling of being kicked by the baby. "Barry," she said weakly. "What happened? Where are we?"
"Save your strength. You were attacked. Struck by lightning and I had to get us out of there. We're holed up in the secret compartment Thawne hid Eddie in when he was kidnapped." Barry shushed her.
"What?" Caitlin asked. "Who would-?" Her eyes widened as she recalled what happened. "Ace?!" She cried out in shock.
"He's trying to kill her," Barry nodded his head, his face filled with sorrow.
"Why?" Caitlin started to cry. "Why would he do this to us?"
"In some twisted way, he's doing this to relieve himself of his guilt." Barry said, recalling what Ace had said earlier. "Our little girl here, she dies. Young, I'm assuming. And in order to save her from death, Ace is making it so she's never born in the first place."
"By killing me? He's just going to wipe himself from existence as well," Caitlin pointed out.
"He doesn't care about that anymore. Ace figures no matter how he goes about preventing the baby from being born, he won't exist either way. This is a one-way mission for him." Barry explains.
"So how are we going to stop him?" Caitlin asks.
"We aren't going to do anything. You are going to hide and take care of yourself and the baby." Barry commands. "I'll stop him."
"Barry no, this is between all of us. I need to be involved as well." Caitlin states.
"You are in no condition to do so. You are 6 months pregnant. You were just stabbed and electrocuted and you don't even have your powers anymore."
"You were electrocuted too." Caitlin points out. "You have ribs that have been broken and healed improperly, if they have healed at all. You can't fight him."
"Yeah, and neither can he." Barry said. "Ace can't kill me. Not yet. If he does, it only erases himself, not the baby already inside you. He has to keep me alive for as long as the baby is alive."
"Just barely," Caitlin whispers.
"Hey," Barry pulled her into his arms. "Don't worry about me. We'll be okay,"
"How long until he finds us?"
"It took us weeks to find this place, but Ace is from the future. He probably already knows about this place and all of our adventures. Maybe an hour if we're lucky,"
The couple sat in silence, contemplating how things could have gotten so messy.
Barry suddenly let out a sob as he tried desperately to wipe his tears away. "I'm cursed, aren't I?"
"What? Why would you think that?" Caitlin rubbed his back soothingly.
"All my life, all of my family, they all die because of me." Barry declares. "That night, I saved myself and left my mother to die. When I let Zoom back into our world, I allowed him to kill my father. I tried to be merciful with my brother, but then he tried to kill you so I punched through his heart." Barry sniffed at the reminiscent thoughts of his family. "And now, I stabbed my son through the heart and he's trying to kill my daughter and wife on a suicide mission."
"What?" Caitlin asked, confused. She was fairly certain Ace was not dead.
"The other speedster. It was Ace. He made a time remnant like Zoom. One to be near us and the other feeding information to Cicada." Barry informed her. "I killed him. Stabbed him with his own weapon. I didn't know it was him at the time. But I still did it. I killed our son and I didn't even know it was him. How could I do that?"
Caitlin didn't have an answer for him. She just sat there with him, letting him know she was still with him. Through everything.
The current situation was terrible. It was horrible. There weren't enough synonyms for bad to describe what was happening to them. And on top of it all, they were waiting. Waiting to be discovered. They had no backup on the way. Cisco had been crippled and incoherent. Wally had gone on another retreat, so he wasn't reachable. They were on their own. All they could do was sit in this dark basement, recover what strength they could before their son found them.
Their silence was broken when the hatch opened and a streak of lightning flew through. Barry rushed to carry Caitlin to a darker area so they could remain hidden. Without her powers, she was practically defenseless against another speedster.
"Mommy! Daddy! Come out, come out wherever you are!" Ace sang out. His voice was still disguised behind his helmet.
Barry moved to the farthest corner and pushed Caitlin into it as much as possible. "Whatever happens, I need you to know. I love you." Barry leaned down for a kiss which Caitlin reciprocated.
They broke apart and Caitlin looked into Barry's eyes. "Don't go," she pleaded.
Barry shook his head. "I have to try,"
Caitlin reluctantly let him go as he slowly stepped out of the shadows to confront their son.
Upon seeing his father, Ace had his helmet retracted into the suit so he could see his progenitor with his own eyes. The organs seemed to glow yellow from the lightning as though he were simmering in rage.
"Where is she?" Ace said in a clear voice. "She's here somewhere. I know she is. I should have figured you would hide here sooner than I did."
"Please Ace, I'm begging you. Don't do this," Barry pleaded, silently shaking his head 'no'.
That served to only make Ace angrier. "You know that's the last thing she said to me? Before I killed her?"
Barry retreated back. He didn't want or need to antagonize Ace any further. "Okay." Barry said quietly. "Was it a mistake?"
"Of course it was a mistake!" Ace shouted. "I didn't want to do it. It just happened. It wasn't my fault. It's yours." Ace accused him.
"My fault?" Barry was shocked. How did he figure that?
"Yes, it was your fault. You were the ones who made me like this!" Ace shouted at him. He rushed forward and pushed Barry against a wall, pressing his arm against his neck, cutting off his airflow. "I didn't have my powers at birth, unlike the others. And because of that, you abandoned me. You rejected me. You made me think I wasn't good enough for you to love me!"
"That… I-We couldn't… I'm sure that wasn't our intention." Barry tried to say.
"But it did. You know I spent years thinking that if I could just get my powers, you would finally notice me. Look at me with respect and pride." Ace was shaking with anger. "And when I finally did, you know how you looked at me? With disgust. With anger. I saw the look in your eyes. I was dead to you. Your own son. You didn't even let me have a chance to explain."
"I'm… sorry," Barry whispered.
"You're sorry?" Ace glared at him, Barry's face was going red from lack of oxygen. Ace let him go only to immediately rear back and strike him across the face. "You're sorry? You're sorry?!"
Ace continued punching his father over and over again in the same place on his head until the head and Ace's hand started bleeding. "Don't be sorry. Because I learned an important lesson that day. It's that you can only rely on yourself. Because everyone else, even your family, will eventually turn their backs on you when it's convenient for them."
"You're angry," Barry mumbled, one eye swollen and bruised. His head probably was suffering from some fractures. It was incredible he was still awake. "It's okay. Take it out on me. I can take it. Blame me. You're right, it is my fault you turned out this way, but don't blame your mother for this,"
"She's not innocent in this either. She'll get her turn." Ace launched another punch but the feeling wasn't satisfactory. His father was just standing there doing nothing.
"Come on. Do something! Fight back!" Ace performed a kick that caused Barry to stumble but he stood back up. "Come on! You killed me before! Fight me!"
Ace sent another punch to Barry's gut that caused him to keel over and fall to his knees. Barry started coughing and bits of blood dripped out of his mouth. Barry looked up with one eye and blood stained teeth at his son. "No," he shook his head, refusing to lay another finger on him.
Ace's glare intensified. "You are so pathetic!" Ace kicked him again. "Nothing but a spineless coward!" Ace didn't stop until Barry was left sprawled on the floor. "You're lucky I still need you alive for now,
"Mother on the other hand," Ace went off in search of Caitlin who was hiding in the dark spots.
Just as Ace was beginning to look he was blown back by a blizzard. Usually as a speedster he was extremely susceptible to the cold, but his mother's genetics gave him enough resistance to shrug it off along with the few ice particles clinging to him.
Caitlin stepped out with her hair bleached but her eyes didn't show their usual power. She was taking deep breaths and each puff of air was seen as a fine mist. That explained where the blizzard came from with her hands out of commission. That must have been difficult to conjure though.
Caitlin stared at her son in sorrow. "A valiant effort. But it's not going to help you in the long run." Ace mocked her.
"Please Ace. I know you don't want to kill me. I could never raise someone to want to kill, even if they felt as though it were their only option." Caitlin pleaded.
Ace took a step forward and Caitlin visibly flinched. "You're right," Ace said, his voice oozed with regret. He took another step closer to his mother. "I don't want to kill. I never wanted it to come to this. I may have chosen this, but I didn't want this."
Caitlin started feeling relaxed. Maybe Ace was finally starting to come to his senses again. She smiled at him.
Only to frown when he shot another lightning bolt right at her. "That doesn't mean I won't,"
Caitlin was blown into the air by the shot, pain exploded through her every nerve. The world had gone white around her.
She fell back to unconsciousness before she even hit the floor.
Ace went up to her fallen form. Lightning crawling over his body. One hand raised in the air with the intent to deliver the final blow. "Good-bye Mom," he whispered.
He then felt a sharp tingling. That wasn't right.
Ace looked at his hand to see it was glowing. Not from lightning coming out of his body, but by some foreign extra dimensional energy. Cracks forming from his being that leaked out into nonbeing. That would mean he won. He was being erased. She was gone.
Ace smirked. Not at his mother but her swollen belly. To the thing that was once in there. "I win. Do you hear that? I win. Not you. Me. I won."
Barry was sitting in his chair in STAR Labs, looking as though he were deep in thought, overcome by grief of what happened. Barry had bandages covering one side of his face and some support under his shirt so his ribs could heal properly this time. His thoughts always traveled back to the shock that it had come to this. That he could be capable of such things.
Ace strode from the door. His body leaking light from the parts of him that were already being erased from the timeline. "I've come to see you off. I'm not going to be around for much longer," Ace smiled as he continued to disappear from existence.
"Why?" Barry asked. "Why would you-How could you do such a thing? You're our son. We trusted you,"
"And that's always been your weakness. Love." Ace grit his teeth. "I love you, I do. And love leads to everything and anything. You can't have one without the other. I hate you as much as I love you."
"But why? If you love us as much as you say you do, how could you do such things?"
"Like how you love Uncle Malcolm?" Ace stated, leaving Barry shocked. "Yeah, I know the truth. No thanks to you, trying to keep us from your dirty little secret. Uncle Wally thought I deserved to know the truth, unlike you."
"I wouldn't lie about my brother." Barry denied.
"Half-truths are just lies with a pretty face. 'Missing for a few years.' 'Time spent apart from each other.' 'Killed in a meta attack.' That was only true from a certain perspective. You were the one that ripped his heart out," Ace accused him. "And you still claimed to love him,"
"I do love him. I still do. And yes, I admit he died by my hand. And I'll regret it for the rest of my life, but my actions do not justify what you did. That does not excuse yourself from the same situation."
"Doesn't it?" Ace shouted back. "Like you, I killed my elder sibling. I didn't want her to die. I never wanted that. I loved her. But just like you, it happened anyway."
"No, I didn't have a choice. He was going to kill your mother." Barry defended himself.
"Excuses!" Ace retaliated. "There is always a choice. You loved him, and you killed him anyway. You killed me! You excused it by saying I was going to kill you, but that's just what you thought. In the end, all you saw was a man you perceived as a threat and ended them without remorse. I feel remorse, but she was gone before I knew it. And that's when I came back,"
"You tried to stop your sister from ever being born." Barry repeated from what he'd said before. His head was down in shame of what he'd done, both to his son and his brother. He never meant for those things to happen.
"I can't kill someone who doesn't exist. And now I never will. With her gone, so will I. At least, this version of me."
"You're right. You will be gone." Barry confirmed. "But you're wrong about one thing,"
Barry grabbed ahold of his son's shoulder and sped them away to a medical bay where a bedridden Caitlin and carefully keeping a hand on a clear container with a bundle of blankets inside. And inside that little bundle was a tiny baby that Ace knew immediately who it was. It was truly touch and go for a long time and Barry had just about lost faith that he would be forced to lose at least one of them. But they both pulled out.
"No." Ace gasped. "No!" Ace lunged forward in a desperate attempt to get rid of the infant, but Barry managed to hold him back. Caitlin still flinched and held the baby closer to her person.
"It's not possible! I destroyed her!" Ace yelled in fury.
"You failed. You lost." Barry kept his struggling son in his arms, preventing him from advancing any further. "I'm sorry about this,"
"I can't believe you did this," Caitlin cried, tears in her eyes that her son would attack her and actually try to kill her, therefore erasing himself from existence, just to get rid of the baby inside her. His own sister. The surgery very nearly cost her life. And it was a miracle the little girl was still alive after all the abuse it went through the past 24 hours. "You're our son. We trusted you. Believed in you. We put our faith in you. How could you turn your back on us? We're family,"
"IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN SOMETHING?! I HATE YOU!" Ace shouted in pure rage as his arms and legs disappeared. All that was left of him was his wriggling torso and head.
"I know," Barry hugged him tighter for what would be the last time. "We failed you Ace. We're sorry. We love you son,"
Ace was helpless as the last of his being was dissipating as he looked upon his newborn sister that he'd tried so hard to get rid of. The object of his rage and the entire reason for all of his suffering. And now he was literally reduced to nothing but a memory at best. Ace's final act was to let out a blood-curdling scream of emotion. Everything he'd ever felt, the fear, the jealousy, the sadness, the fury, it was all released in that one scream.
The sound carried itself in his parents' heads long after he was gone. The tears pooling out of their eyes. Caitlin held her daughter close to herself just to hear the soft breathing as she slept. Barry fell back into a chair and sobbed. There were no words.
What should have been a happy moment was gone in the grief of their loss.
"June 14, 2019." A woman in a doctor's coat said into a microphone. "This is Dr. Bella Andrews regarding patient 268720812; Grace Gibbons. Schizophrenic. Symptoms: Hallucinations. Patient was administered new medication 8 hours ago.
"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" Dr. Andrews directed the question to Grace with a calm voice, who was currently confined to a wheelchair but had a big smile on her face. She just nodded. "You're doing okay?" Another nod.
"Note: Patient has not suffered any symptoms since receiving new prescription medicine."
Grace was chained to her bed with meta dampening cuffs, but she didn't mind. In fact, despite being confined, Grace was feeling fantastic.
That all came crashing down when Grace was jolted awake by being shaken. "Surprise!"
Grace opened her eyes to the view of three shadowy figures. Two males and one female. Taking a closer look, Grace was able to make out who they were. The three heroes of Central City; The Flash, Vibe, and Killer Frost. And they were all looking at her with malicious intent.
"What are you doing here?" Grace asked.
"Expecting someone else? Your family perhaps?" Frost said in a condescending voice but trailed off in a laugh that the other two joined in.
"What are you talking about?" Grace was confused as to why they were here. Especially at this time of night.
"Still haven't figured it out? We're not really here. We're inside your mind," Flash knocked his knuckles against the side of her head.
They were in her head? Were they…? "No, that's impossible," Grace shook her head in dismay. "The doctor said I wouldn't be seeing things again. And besides, you're different this time. Wait. This is probably just a reaction to the new medication. That's it," Grace nodded. That made sense.
"We're just representations of your guilty conscience. You don't feel guilty about your parents and uncle anymore. Now you feel guilty about us. Like cutting off my hand," Vibe said.
"Almost causing me to have a miscarriage," Frost added.
"Stabbing me in prison," Flash accused her. "That's just the tip of the iceberg. You didn't really think you'd be rid of us so easily?"
"After all, we've been such a big part of your life, you'd miss us too much," Vibe smirked, stretching himself on her bed.
"What? No," Grace squeezed her eyes. "I've only been experiencing these things for the past year,"
"Ohhh, think again." Flash had a grin on his face, like he knew something she didn't.
"We've been with you for your whole life," Frost stated.
The three figures tapped a finger to her forehead at once and Grace was taken back into her mind.
Little baby Grace laying in her crib. But she wasn't moving. She wasn't making any noises or waving her hands and legs about. All she was doing was staring through her bars with intense focus at nothing. But with a blink of an eye, the space was seen through Grace's eyes and there was a dark figure. No distinguishing features, not enough to tell whether it was a man or woman. It was just a humanoid figure. It was standing over Grace's crib, and Grace's eyes followed its imaginary movements.
It reached down to tap a finger against Grace's head, and when baby Grace raised a hand to grab it, circling her meaty fist around it, all that could be heard was a haunting laugh. One that echoed in one's soul.
In a secret room of STAR Labs, a holographic newspaper was displayed. On it read 'Flash Missing! Vanishes in Crisis!'
The team had always put stock in the future based on whether this single event, something so important and necessary, would remain the same whenever time travel was involved. Because if this event went off without a hitch, then everything else couldn't possibly be that bad when it changed.
There was a tiny beep as the pixels were being altered by the timeline due to the son of Barry and Caitlin Allen being erased from existence. The date of the original article, April 25 2024, was quickly counting down to a more present date. The numbers kept going down, and with each new date, the contents of the article were rapidly changing too in order to fit with a new scenario each time. The date finally stopped on a final date. The contents were still.
December 8, 2019.
And that is it! Season 5 is finished. I hope you all loved it. We got to see the fight between siblings and how it all led up to the very beginning of the season. Read through it again and see if you can tell all the subtle hints I dropped foreshadowing Ace's fall from grace. Even in the trailer, I always remained ambiguous so as not to reveal Ace's true nature while also not being a complete lie.
Like always, I'll be taking a break between seasons, so you probably won't be seeing me again for a couple months. Hopefully not as long as last time, but we'll see. I'll try to come back soon, but maybe after the summer months. Season 6 is the big one, with Crisis and all. I want it to be perfect and am working on it as we speak. It'll be completely different from what happened in canon.
One more thing. If there are any lingering questions about what exactly happened this season, feel free to ask. There were a lot of things that I planned but never made it on paper, like I wanted to show how Ace found out what happened to Malcolm, but I never found a place to put it. So there are probably some things that only make sense with all of it explained. I'll be happy to fully elaborate everything. All you need to do is ask.
I'll see you all at season 6. Goodbye!