Alright, this next chapter will be a bunch of short vignettes that tie into some details we've learned in Volume 6. I'm not quite sure how canon I'd consider them to the whole, but then again, this entire collection is basically me just throwing the Flash and other Arrowverse heroes into scenes from RWBY just for fun.

In this case, we're going back to the very beginning of Remnant's history for these next couple of scenes, to get some insight on certain events that created the path forward to the modern day. But enough of that, let's dive right in.

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or the Arrowverse.

Once upon a time, locked up in a tower by her cruel father, there lived a lonely girl named Salem. That's how the story went, and for most people, that was enough. But why did her father go to all that effort to lock her away? The answer to that could be found in Salem's childhood, when her father met up with a supposed seer who could see the future.

"And you're telling me that if my daughter is allowed her freedom, then she will rise up and cause the end of everything?" The father asked incredulously, sitting cross-legged in a dirty tent, sitting across from a man who's face was cloaked by a hood.

"That's what the visions have foretold." The seer replied. "They have foreseen it."

"How do I know you're not trying to swindle me?" The father's eyes narrowed as a magic appeared in his hand. "I will not be taken in by some charlatan."

"Well, you could always ask yourself." The man replied, as a ghostly blue apparition of a bald woman's head suddenly appeared between the two men, shocking the girl's father.

"Salem's freedom will mean the end of days." The ghostly image said, a strange tone tinging her voice. "She will cause catastrophe wherever she goes and leave naught but destruction in her wake." Just as suddenly as the image appeared, it then vanished, leaving the father looking rather pale.

"I... see." The father said after a moment. "You've certainly given me a lot to think about. How much for this service?"

"No payment is necessary." The seer replied. "Only the request that you heed this warning before it's too late."

Still shaken, the father agreed and left, leaving the seer alone in the tent. Once he was, the man pulled off his hood and smirked, before holding out his outstretched palm, allowing a smaller hologram to appear over his hand.

"I think that went rather well, wouldn't you agree, Gideon?"

"Indeed, Professor Thawne." The AI replied. "Records from the timeline show that Salem's father will end up doing exactly as we suggested. The word will spread about what he has done."

"Leaving Ozma to eventually take the mission himself." Eobard Thawne smirked. "And creating such a beautiful love story that gets tragically cut short." It certainly reminded the speedster of another hero's story that he knew of, though the details weren't quite the same, of course.

"We've insured that history will play out as you intended." Gideon confirmed. "Upon Ozma's death, Salem will go before the Gods, get cursed for her deceit, and raise an army against the Brothers, causing all of humanity on this world to be wiped out."

"Good." Thawne said. "Then we're done here."

And in a streak of red lightning, the speedster vanished from the tent.

...

Years later

When he had retrieved the Relic of Knowledge, the speedster had expected to have a simple return trip back to the present. Bu that wasn't the case; somehow the Relic was interacting with the Speed Force, showing him all of Remnant's ancient history and in the latest case, depositing him right in the middle of it.

The Flash emerged from a time portal, running through the ancient time period of Remnant and unintentionally making it to the cliffs surrounding the Pool of Life before he stopped. From his vantage point, he could see an army standing in front of two dragons, one golden, the other purple.

Thanks to the Relic, he knew who the dragons were: the Gods of Light and Darkness, but why the Relic had brought him to this moment he still didn't know. Then he saw her: it was Salem, leading the army against their own gods.

He watched as the army unleashed magical blasts against their creators, which did absolutely nothing as the God of Darkness simply absorbed all that power into his hand, forming a sphere of dark energy.

"My own gifts turned against me." The God of Light looked away in remorse, leaving the Scarlet Speedster very afraid as the Dark Brother clenched his fist, releasing the energy in his hand.

Time slowed for the Flash as he watched the God's attack wipe out the entire army except for Salem. But the purple energy wave didn't stop with them, instead it kept moving, continuing its omnidirectional path.

Realizing that he was in that path, Barry immediately took off, keeping ahead of the energy wave while hoping it would dissipate. But it didn't, and to the speedster's utter horror, he realized that the energy wouldn't stop. The God of Darkness had just wiped out every human on Remnant, and even the Fastest Man Alive couldn't save them.

Gritting his teeth and steeling his resolve, Barry opened another portal into the Speed Force and entered it, leaving the apocalypse behind. He was tempted to go back, to try and keep the Gods from unleashing their retribution, but after Flashpoint, he was hesitant to try something like that again, given how many catastrophic effects it could have on the timeline.

But the memory of what he had just seen refused to go away, and thanks to his speedster mind, it would never go away. Following the Relic's guide, Barry exited the Speed Force, changing out of his costume before running to the steps overlooking the God of Light's domain.

He had to try.

Barry had arrived at the moment Salem was beginning to walk up the long staircase leading to the Pool of Life. As she was ascending, Barry called out to her, briefly halting her journey as she turned back around.

"Who-who are you?"

"That doesn't matter." Barry replied. "What matters is that I know what you're planning to do. What you'll ask of the Gods. But you can't bring him back."

"You sound like my father." The future Grimm Queen replied. "Did he send you? Even after all this time, he tries to control me."

"I'm not with your father." The Flash shook his head. "But you're not going to like where you end up if you go down this path." There was a brief moment of silence before Salem spoke again.

"Have you ever loved someone?" Salem asked. "Truly loved someone with all your heart? Someone you'd lay down your life for and who'd do the same in return?" A face immediately appeared in Barry's mind as she asked that, causing his thumb to subconsciously rub his wedding ring.

Iris.

"I understand the pain you're going through." Barry replied, as the memories of Flashpoint and Savitar's prophecy flashed into his mind. "Believe me, I know. There's so much I've lost and I would like nothing more but to fix it. But this-this isn't the answer."

"This isn't the answer?" Salem repeated. "That's easy for you to say, when your lover is still alive!"

"And I nearly lost her." Barry shook his head. "She was prophesied to die, and in my attempts to avert that fate, I ensured the events that would lead it to happen. And even her salvation came at the cost of a friend." He shook his head. "Salem, I know the pain you feel. I live with that pain every day. But you can't change fate, not like this."

"You would do anything to protect your wife?" Salem asked quietly. "If you were in my place, if you knew that she could be brought back, would you not do the same?"

Barry opened his mouth to affirm that he wouldn't, then immediately shut it again. He had done the same with Flashpoint and his parents, and if Iris had died, he knew just what kind of dark path he would go down.

And with that understanding, he knew that Salem would never be dissuaded, no matter what he told her, and no matter what he did to try and stop her. Truthfully, he'd known as much when he came to this moment, but he had to at least try to talk her out of this. He watched silently as she walked up the steps to the God of Light's domain.

He could try to stop her, maybe even run her to the other side of the planet, but she'd inevitably come back. Maybe even tell her everything about the future, but that might make things even worse. There was one other option he had... but he wouldn't, he couldn't. Before he could think or say anything else, he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Always so predictable, aren't you Barry?" The Speedster turned, seeing Thawne standing behind him, also clad in casual clothes. "You always want to play the hero, even when you know you shouldn't." Barry's fist clenched, but Eobard's eyes continued to follow Salem up the steps.

"Poor thing. Such a damaged mind." Thawne said. "If her childhood wasn't so sheltered, who knows what might've happened?" Something about the tone of his voice caused Barry to narrow his eyes.

"What did you do?"

"Catch me, and find out, Flash." Thawne pointed his costume ring as Barry immediately did the same.

Their costumes shot forth as the two enemies began to fight once again, with Thawne mostly running off while Barry was in pursuit. The two entered a portal into the Speed Force and went through time once more, their chase not lasting long before the emerged once more into Remnant's past.

They returned to the planet moments after the genocide of humanity, and the God of Darkness's destruction of the moon. Fragments of the damaged satellite rained down over the planet, but even that was all but frozen to the two speedsters.

Streaks of red and yellow lightning weaved through the storm of rocks before entering the Speed Force again, this time emerging during the reign of Salem and Ozma's second reincarnation as the new God Kings of Remnant.

Their battle there didn't last long either, as the Relic and their efforts to time travel kept sending them to different places and times in this world's history, until they eventually ended up in the Great War of Remnant, fighting throughout Vacuo as the final battle raged around them.

But after Thawne managed to get the Relic and retreat, Barry got a Vibe from Cisco, who managed to locate the Relic. The speedster was quick to retrieve it and return to the present, where the battle of Haven was finally mopping up.

But as the teams questioned where he and his friends had come from, the Flash knew that they had a lot of explaining to do...

...

Sometime after everything had settled down and everyone had gone to sleep, Oscar was still awake, looking over the balcony from their house in Mistral. Ozpin himself was mulling over the new knowledge from those colorful heroes and where they had come from.

Even after everything he'd seen in his life, it was a lot to take in. Time travel, alternate universes, worlds without Grimm or Gods. It was certainly surprising for everyone, but even he had been utterly stunned by these revelations.

But it was the revelation that both the Flash and Reverse-Flash could time travel at will that brought a chill down the reincarnated wizard's spine. As far as he had known, time travel was all but impossible, even to the Gods, and yet these two could do it with ease. It led him to wonder just how much of Remnant's history had been altered by them, or anyone else from the future.

His musings were interrupted by the appearance of the Flash right on the balcony, causing Oscar's body to take a step back. Still, Ozpin kept his face composed as he greeted the hero, but the response that came from the speedster's mouth confirmed one of his fears.

"Hello Ozma."

And that's the end of this chapter. I'll admit, it's a bit slower than previous chapters, and focuses much more on Barry this time around, but after the last few chapters, I'd say that's a good thing.

I know I kinda glossed over the explanation bit, and I can only apologize for that, but I'd rather not spend a lengthy amount of time explaining things that we already know.

I don't know what I'm going to do for the next chapter though. The whole Argus plot for Volume 6 is rendered kind of moot with a speedster, a Kryptonian or a Breacher on hand, so that'll probably end up being altered. I do have an idea for having the RWBY cast end up in Earth-1, though I don't know when I'll actually get to that point. Hopefully sooner rather than later, but I wouldn't count on it for a while.

With that said, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and reviews are always welcome.