"This is it" Cisco said as he typed rapidly on a keyboard attached to the multiple computer monitors which lay in front of him. He looked from screen to screen, Chester did the same thing. Barry looked nervously over both their shoulders. The calculations looked correct, they had to be. "Ok gang, we only have one solid shot at this before the circuits fry themselves out. Ready Barry?" He asked.

Barry nodded, rubbing his red gloved hands together absentmindedly. He could feel his heart beat against his chest, a rapid thumping that he couldn't get to slow down no matter how many breaths he took. This would be ok. He would see Iris again. After months, he would be with his wife.

Barry walked to the metal platform surrounded by multicolored wires and circuit boards. He took a one last look at his surroundings, at Cisco, Joe, Chester, Allegra. At the large mirror placed at the edge of the speedlab that would be his ticket to Iris. But only if this worked.

"Do it" Barry said, his voice steadier than he felt. And he closed his eyes.

"Charging" He heard Chester say. Barry breathed in. "In 3, 2, 1" Out.

All at once Barry felt pain. Electricity corced through his veins, but so unlike the way his Speedforce had. His speed had been a part of him, there was no place his lightning stopped and his body began. They were always interconnected. But Barry could feel the distinct separation. He screamed, his whole body feeling heat almost too hot to bare. But if this is what it took to save Iris, so be it.

"Barry!" Joe yelled.

"I'm okay!" Barry said. His eyes opening to see a multicolor lightning surrounding his body. Yellow, Red, Blue, Orange, Silver. "Keep going!" He yelled. Barry tried lifting a hand in the lightning, willing it to vibrate.

"It's working" Cisco said. Barry nodded, pain or not. The artificial Speedforce was giving him speed.

"67% Barry" Chester said, reading off the computer monitor that tracked the speed going into his body. Barry would need full power to breach the mirrorverse.

It was all going exactly as planned. Until it wasn't.

Barry was thrown from the platform in an explosion of sparks, hitting the wall of the speedlab with a sickening crack. The computers linked up to the artificial Speedforce began to smoke, their screens blackening one by one just before the entire room went dark.

"Barry!" Joe yelled, running to his son. He wasn't moving but Joe could see the light rise and fall of the man's chest. "Barry?" He repeated. Barry's eyes fluttered, dazed as he stared at the darkened surroundings.

"No" he whispered. "It was working. Why didn't it work?" Barry asked pushing himself up from the floor before almost collapsing.

Joe grabbed his arm to steady him. "Hey careful Bar, I think you hit your head" He said. But Barry pulled away.

"I don't care about my head!" He yelled. Barry looked towards Cisco. "What the hell happened?"

"I..I don't know. The system was overworked. It got fried" Cisco said, his voice shaking.

"That was our one chance! Iris's one chance!" Barry yelled. He looked at his wrist to the watch that had tracked his speed. It did not glow red or green but stayed dim. His speed was gone. He felt his eyes well up with tears. He couldn't do this anymore. Iris was lost to him forever, and they had no way of getting her back.

"Barry" Cisco said.

"I can't..." Barry started but couldn't finish. He didn't think he could put into words what he was feeling right now. The hurt that was tearing apart his heart into bits. How broken he truly felt.

"There's got to be another way" Cisco said, trying to come close to Barry. Barry took a step back.

"There's not" Barry said, his voice so low that he doubted anyone could hear him. "She's gone" He said, and Barry leaned slightly. The room was spinning, dimming around the edges. Iris was never coming back. Barry was never going to see his wife again. He couldn't think straight. His chest felt too tight. He couldn't breathe. He didn't want to breathe, he didn't want to think. He didn't want to be here anymore, not without Iris. Not anywhere.

"Barry?" Someone said. But who it was, or why they said it didn't matter. What mattered didn't exist anymore then what was the point. What the hell was the god damned point?

Iris was trapped in a mirror universe, and if what Ava had said was true, she'd soon be dead. Her brain wouldn't be able to handle it anymore.

It wasn't fair. Why Iris? She was good and she had to die? While Ava...

Ava was the reason behind all this, and she was free and got to live.

It was too much for Barry. All of this was too much. He let everyone get the best of him. Thawne, Zoom, Savitar, the list went on. Because Barry Allen was good. He was The Flash, fastest man alive. The man who didn't kill. And look where that'll got him. Barry breathed deeply. In through his nose, out through his mouth. His heart beat faster, louder in his ears. The room which had become faded in his vision became to sharpen, everything tinted in red. He could feel the ones around him, pushing in, saying words that were meaningless to him. Barry didn't care, not anymore.

Suddenly he felt something inside himself ignite. His veins felt alive, his mind felt clearer than it ever had. And the lightning, he could feel the lightning. Whatever false power the artificial Speedforce had momentarily given him felt absolutely foreign to what he felt now. This was stronger than even his original speed. This was more power than he had ever felt. He could beat Ava now if she was here. Kill her with the shards of one of her precious mirrors. But no. Death would be too quick and easy for her. After what she did to Iris, she deserved to suffer. And she would.

Eobard Thawne watched from the multiple security cameras in the speedlab that he had installed himself. They were future tech, and much more reliable. He watched as Team Flash activated the artificial Speedforce, Barry Allen taking his place to be struck by the false lightning. He watched the machine fail, as Eobard had it assumed it would. He watch the Flash get thrown against a wall, getting concussed in the process. At the same time all the power in the room cut out, except of course the cameras. Thawne watched, now through a lens of night vision as Barry Allen broke down, his words becoming incomprehensible and his body limping in the arms of his friends. This was it for the Fastest Man Alive, hero of hope.

Then it happened. What Thawne had been waiting for years, to give him the even fight he truly craved. Barry Allen began to vibrate. He started to spark. Red lightning crackled from beneath the man's skin, glowing from his veins. Then his eyes. Barry Allen's eyes matched the color around him. Matching the color of his suit. Red. Team Flash backed away, as they should if they were smart. And then Barry ran, before anyone could stop him, or even knew what was happening. His lighting and wind sent the team flying across different corners of the room. The Reverse Flash watched as Barry sped away, Negative Speedforce energy trailing behind him in his wake. Thawne smiled, and then he laughed. Central City better watch out.