A/N: FINALLY! I'M ON TIME!
We are right near the end of the book! I am so excited for this.
neonanddiva - I'm really glad that my work inspired you to write! I hope it all goes well.
Brian Hughes - Thanks. I really like the Excalibur idea, and will definitely be using it often in the future.
Btw, I missed you alaskanbirdfriend. :(
Anyways, as I am writing this A/N (Friday night at 9:50), we are at 16,542 views. Awesome! I'm really glad we've gotten this far.
Without further ado (except for the disclaimer), here's chapter 17 of Resurrection!
Disclaimer: I do not own DC, CW, or any of its shows or characters. I do, however, own Resurrection and it's plot.
"And thus it begins." Riser remarked. He stood atop a building a mile away from the battlefield on which Wraith and Phoenix would soon be arriving.
From behind him, a soldier approached.
"Permission to speak freely, sir?" The undead soldier asked his leader.
"Permission granted."
"When you say 'it begins', what do you mean? What begins?" The soldier asked. Riser chuckled and turned to the man. He put his arm around his shoulder and brought him up to the edge of the building.
"What begins? Well, my boy, I'll tell you."
"What is it?"
"...The end."
"What?"
"This battle... is the beginning of the end."
"For whom?"
"Who else? For him."
"You mean..."
"Yes. Once he steps onto that battlefield, Wraith will finally have brought upon his own destruction."
Once they arrived at the battlefield, Barry and Sam finally got a good view of the numbers that the Speed Force had brought. The size of their army was massive, spanning as far as the eye could see in both directions. And this was just one facility.
With the forces lined up, the Speed Force addressed the group. Multiple instances of the Speed Force appeared with a gust of wind every couple hundred feet.
"Soldiers! Our time has come!
The Antimonitor has done it again! He has threatened the lives of everyone who lives in the multiverse. He cares nothing for our people, our wives, husbands, or children! All he seeks is death and destruction!
Today, we end that! With the help of our brothers-in-arms Wraith and Phoenix, we managed to stop the Antimonitor from completing his horrendous task of everyone that we know and love.
Now, we must destroy his creatures before he can release any. I know we can do it, we've completed harder tasks.
We do this not for honor! We do this not for glory! We do this, rather, for peace!
Now, men, march on! March on and save our land! To victory!"
"To victory!" The mass of soldiers shouted, seeming loud enough to be heard across the world. The Speed Force disappeared in a flash, allowing the forces to charge forward.
Sam flared up and took to the sky along with a number of others that could fly, while Barry took another approach. Speedsters ran toward the facility, soldiers with wings flew around, some dropping bombs on the facility while others shot at it. Telekinetics dashed through the air, throwing objects and masses of energy at the enemies. Many others with different powers made various other attacks.
Despite the massive onslaught of the Speed Force soldiers, the antimatter facility was holding strong. Bombs, fire, energy, while keeping the enemies on the defensive, barely made a scratch.
Barry managed to work his way around to the side of the building and burst into it. Phasing through the wall, he readied himself for a fight.
The antimatter soldiers were expecting this. They had forces lined up facing every inch of the walls. When Barry phased through, he was faced with an onslaught of gunfire, enough that if one were to look from the side, they wouldn't be able to distinguish one bullet from the next. Barry, however, stood there, letting the bullets pass through him.
After Barry made his point, he raised his hands with his palms facing toward the enemies. Vibrating his body just enough as to continually pass through the bullets, he was able to channel the rest of his energy into his arms.
Barry began to shoot lightning out with his hands. He pulled back a hand and thrust it forward with such speed as to send out a bolt of electricity. He then did the same with the other hand. Alternating like this allowed for the enemies to be put down rather quickly, while also striking fear into others watching.
Doing this brought a thought to Barry's mind. About 30 years into his employment with the Speed Force, a friend he had made while there asked him a question.
"Why do you take your time in battle? You could easily wipe out an entire army within a few seconds."
"Because," Barry responded, "war isn't just about fighting. It's about sending a message. When one country fights another, it's telling them that they are considered so vile to us that we actively want to kill them. Wiping out an entire army doesn't do that. Also, there is honor on the battlefield. I honor the people I fight by giving them a chance."
Sam flew overhead, wings aflame and weapons brandished. After a moment, he finally reached the front lines, where the majority of the fighting took place. He flew a bit further, trying to find just the right spot.
He found a spot just inside their forces where a mass of enemies was scrambling to fight. Sam flew into the sky, just above the cloud barrier, and slammed back down into the ground. He pointed the tip Faithkeeper in front of him, allowing it to strike first.
When Faithkeeper struck the ground, a burst of blue flame shot out in all directions. Everyone, friend, and foe, within 30 feet of him were burned to ash in an instant. Luckily, there were only a few friendlies near him that were killed by it.
After a moment of disbelief, the surviving antimatter forces around him began attacking him. They used all sorts of weaponry, from guns to bows, and from swords to knives.
In usual circumstances, Sam would have felt slightly on edge. But in this battle, Sam never felt more alive. Slashing and cutting with Faithkeeper, he took down multiple enemies at a time.
A sword slashes toward his left shoulder, and he deflects it, sliding his blade up the edge of theirs, and subsequentially decapitates them. If a bullet managed to hit him, the fire around him simply melted the lead before it could even make contact. If he felt too surrounded, Sam simply drove his sword into the ground and sent out a blast of energy, killing all nearby. His wings acted as both a weapon and a shield, Burning those who got close and deflecting any blows against them because of the fire around them.
In short, he had nothing to worry about.
Eventually, he got bold. He started dashing through the enemy forces, cutting down all in his path. He left a trail of fear and death in his wake. He killed everyone that he saw.
Sam froze in his tracks. Others used this to their advantage, but Sam simply surrounded himself in his wings. Something shot through him. Not a bullet, not an arrow. A thought. A thought brought on by his dashing through the antimatter forces.
Memories of Jewel flashed through his eyes. Growing up. Entering school. Graduating. Entering the military academy. His wife. His kids. Rebelling against the war he oh so hated.
Hate.
War.
Hating war.
He used to hate war. He was actively avoiding the final war for Jewel.
Now, look at him.
He's fighting like it's a dream come true. A dream to slaughter all who oppose him.
A dream to kill everyone in front of him.
A dream to kill.
Just.
Like.
Jewel.
Once Barry eliminated the squad that was shooting at him, others started to shoot at him. Barry drew his knife, dodging, ducking, and running through the onslaught of bullets toward the ones firing them. He made quick work of each target, cutting them open or stabbing them in vital areas. Eventually, nearly the entire inside of the entrance was attacking him.
"Perfect, just keep doing that, and not defending."
Soon the weight of the Overseer's forces' attacks became too overwhelming to defend against. The forces that Barry didn't reach had retreated deeper into the building or were finished off by the outside soldiers.
Right as the Speed Forces soldiers were about to enter, an Overseer appeared blocking their way. The forces stopped and saluted.
"Good job, men! You've done well. Now, as for what we're doing next, we can't have the entire army moving in, so only the best of the best will go in and escort the N.E.F. into the Nightwalker chamber. The rest will stay out here, making sure no one can get out or in. Now, all N.E.F. and selected soldiers meet me at the entrance to the complex."
Barry heard a chirp in his ear signaling him to join the N.E.F. First, Barry wanted to check on Sam.
He ran out to the battlefield and found Sam standing still, like a statue. Barry was about to call out to him before he saw a nearby body move and aim a pistol at Sam.
"Sam, look out!" Barry called out. This seemed to shake Sam out of his daze, but the bullet was already in the air. Barry raced forward and caught the bullet. He then threw it at the attacking soldier, it hit him square in the forehead.
"Sam, what's wrong? Are you okay?"
"Uh, yeah. I just..." Barry saw through Sam's protective mask some of his eyes, but even that was enough to tell Barry what was wrong.
"Was it Jewel? Last time you had that look in your eyes was not too long after you joined the Speed Force."
"Yeah. I guess this battle just, triggered something. I don't know."
"Well, are you alright to move on? We don't have much left to do if you want to sit this out."
"No, I wanna finish this."
"Alright. Well, let's go!"
The remaining antimatter forces were easy to deal with. With Barry as lead, he sent back the remaining assault forces except for telekinetics. All that remained were the N.E.F, Barry, Sam, and 3 telekinetics.
The team of around 50 people entered the Nightwalker chamber. It was pitch black inside. The place must have been massive, as each footstep echoed for seeming ages.
"Alright," Barry whispered. "Be ready for a fight. I bet there are still soldiers in here that hid." At that, the room lit up.
It was bigger than any of them could have imagined. Extending on for nearly forever, the room felt like an entire world. A catwalk hung from above, housing quite a number of antimatter soldiers.
The room was layered just like the one Barry and Sam visited earlier. On it was endless amounts of Nightwalkers, all looking at the group of Speed Force soldiers.
Only a few seconds after the lights came on, the soldiers started firing into the group. Sam, in nearly the blink of an eye, move to the front of the group and hovered a few feet off the ground, wrapping the group in his wings.
"What do we do, Wraith?" Sam asked, wincing from the few bullets that hit him in the back.
"N.E.F. and Phoenix, start attacking the Nightwalkers. The rest of us will take out the soldiers and join you when we're done. Go!"
The assault team moved to the catwalk. Some by running, some by climbing, and some by flying. Once they were in the clear, Sam dropped down, healed, and faced the Nightwalkers.
Once they reached the catwalk, the assault team began attacking the remaining antimatter soldiers. The fight was easy, especially because of the mental health of their enemies.
They were the remains of the defenses for the facility. All their brothers in arms were dead and they were sure to follow. Seeing all of their friends, their family, all slaughtered, they were not doing well.
Because of their slowly degrading psyche, they were easy to beat. Once the assault team was finished with them, they rejoined the fight below.
...
Once the assault team made their way to the catwalk, Sam and the N.E.F. started attacking the Nightwalkers. Sam began slashing with his sword and the N.E.F. used their cannons to blast the Nightwalkers away. The Nightwalkers only seemed to charge at them, proving to be easy targets. Things were looking up for the Speed Force.
Were.
After the assault team finished fighting the enemies above, they dropped down to the entrance and joined the N.E.F. The team rushed forward, hitting the Nightwalkers from the side while they charged at the N.E.F. However, something interesting happened. The Nightwalkers got smart.
They began fighting in groups as if they were part of some sort of hive mind. While one acted as a decoy, another made its move. They began to completely ignore the N.E.F. and focused solely on the assault team. One by one, the assault team's numbers lessened. The survivors frantically tried to stop them, but they barely made a scratch.
The survivors retreated to the entrance, but the Nightwalker onslaught continued. At some point, while Barry was trying to defend one of the survivors, a Nightwalker charged right at him. Sam shouted, but his cry was nothing compared to the chaos in the chamber.
Flashes of Jewel appeared in his mind. His loved ones dying at his hand. His friends dying because he couldn't protect them. Because he was weak. Sam refused to let that happen again.
Rage shot through his veins, overpowering the blood that was pumping at an all-time high. A fury nearly unprecedented wrapped around Sam's mind, Sam's body, coiling around him like a snake.
His old friends already died. He refused to let these die as well.
He dashed forward, screaming at the top of his lungs. He slammed into the Nightwalker, causing it to shatter into a million pieces.
Sam was out of control at this point. So much rage, so much hate, so much fury. It was all bottled up for far too long. He returned to the front of the survivors, wings fully extended.
The survivors stared in awe at the sight in front of them. Sam's usual colors are blue on the wings and eyes, and red on the rest of the body. This was mainly to efficiently use power.
Now, everything but Sam's head was blue.
Not just a normal blue. This blue was brighter, more vibrant than ever before. They could feel the power rippling off of him.
In Sam's right hand he brandished a sword. His sword. Faithkeeper, Last Hope of Lost Worlds. The sword birthed from his soul. The sword birthed from his desire to act vengeance on those who threatened the ones that he loved.
Phoenix raised the Faithkeeper straight in front of him, edge pointing down and tip pointing out, toward the Nightwalkers. He took a step forward and lifted into the air. Instantly, he was shot forward, wings acting as blades cutting down every single Nightwalker. The fire blew back, forming what looked like a blue phoenix.
Once Phoenix reached the end of the room, he flew up and straight into the next level of Nightwalkers. He did this until every last one was wiped out.
He returned to the front and landed on his feet. Sam was still for a moment before "sheathing" Faithkeeper and hiding his wings along with his flames, head hanging. He lifted his head and met Barry's eyes, before collapsing. Barry rushed forward and caught Sam, slinging him over his shoulder.
"Let's go."
The team returned and informed the Overseer of what happened. After a "victory" speech, the troops started returning to the Watchtower. The Overseer gave Sam a quick fix because of his insane power usage and cleared him for return.
"So," Barry asked while in pod returning to the Watchtower, "what was that in there?"
"My flare up?"
"Yeah."
"I don't know. I saw you about to be killed and I lost it. Flew into this blind rage. I didn't even realize I had this kind of potential."
"Everything but your head was blue."
"Seriously? I knew I had a lot of power, but I didn't think I had this much."
"I know. Maybe soon you would have a chance against me in a match."
"Oh, screw off!" Sam replied with a chuckle, with Barry joining in quickly.
"What do you think we should do when we get home?" Sam asked
"I was thinking about becoming a CSI again. It's been enough time since the Flash revealed himself. What about you?"
"I think I'll need a vacation. I've been thinking, and I need to work some things out with my past."
"That's good. Reflection can be a good thing."
"Yeah."
The two sat in silence for the rest of the ride.
The two returned to Earth-1 about 10 minutes later. It was late (at least 11 PM), cloudy overhead, and starting to sprinkle. From what the two gathered, it had been about 2 weeks since they left for the job.
They entered S.T.A.R. Labs and slowly walked to the elevator that would take them to the cortex, taking in the familiar sights.
Once they reached the desired floor, they made their way to the cortex.
Inside were Caitlin and Cisco sitting at separate computers, working in an eerie yet peaceful silence. It seems they didn't hear the approaching footsteps because they both jumped when Barry spoke.
"Hey, guys!" Barry exclaimed from seeing his best friends. They both were startled, but they relaxed when they saw Barry's face.
"Oh, hey Barry! How's it going?" Cisco asked a slight waver in his voice.
"Hey, it's nice to have you two back," Caitlin said, also shakey.
"Thanks, Caitlin." The two hugged, but Caitlin pulled away fairly quickly as if repulsed. Her face revealed no such emotion. "And it's going well, Cisco. We're both pretty tired, just came back from a massive battle."
"Battle?" Caitlin asked.
"Yeah. Long story short, a bad guy created an army of suicide bombers, and we had to quell them and the normal soldiers before they could destroy the entire multiverse."
"It was a massive fight, too," Sam added.
"How so?" Cisco asked
"Imagine the biggest military you could think of fighting a nearly equally powerful force. Now throw that away because our side was ten times larger than that." Barry explained. A klaxon sounded off.
"Cool. Um, anyways, you two should head off to bed. We are actually expecting someone. He should be here any minute."
"Oh. Alright then. We'll see you-"
"Oh, no, please, stay. I insist." A voice came from the front of the cortex. Everyone turned to see the source of the noise. Standing there was a face that, now, everyone was familiar with.
"Rising Star." Everyone uttered in unison.
"Nice job at the Nightwalker complex, guys. Really outdid yourselves. Especially in your body count."
"Dammit Riser, why the hell are you here?" Barry asked, slowly growing angry.
"I'm here to fulfill my promise. I'm here to show your friends that you need help. And that I can help you."
"Cut the shit." Barry started, "You leave right now or-"
"QUIET!" Caitlin shouted, startling everyone.
"Caitlin, why are you so calm? You-" Barry stopped talking as a thought ran through his mind. Barry's eyes widened as realization dawned on him.
"No. No. Please don't tell me that this is who you're expecting." Caitlin simply looked away in response.
"I am." Riser answered in place of Caitlin.
"What did you do to them?" Barry hissed.
"I merely told them the truth. That you need help. That Sam needs help."
"And how exactly do we need help?" Sam asked.
"You both kill far too often. I've come to show them what happens when you both are taken off your leash."
"And how exactly do you plan on doing that?" Barry asked. Riser snapped his fingers. Simultaneously, all the screens in the cortex came to life. They began playing video.
"What is this?" Barry asked.
"This is the first person you killed after you were resurrected. Butchered beyond repair. However, you've all seen this. How about I show some better footage." Another clip began.
"Caitlin, I remember you having some distrust over Barry's testimony of what occurred when he informed Kara about the Christmas party. He claimed that all he destroyed were a few buildings. This is not the case." A clip of Barry using his infinite mass punch on the tied up criminals played, along with the aftermath. Caitlin and Cisco watched in disgust and fear.
"Then, there is this." A video of the antiverse started playing. "After being placed into their natural environment, Barry and Sam quickly devolved into savages, killing guards brutally." A clip of the killed and interrogated guards from the alleyway played. Then footage of Barry sliting the throats of guards, stabbing guards in the chest, brutal acts.
"The least you could have done was kill them quickly. But you forced them to bleed out slowly." Another clip played one of the above-ground portion of the Daycrawler complex. The slaughtering of the guards by Sam and the torture of another. Then played a clip of the inside of the complex, with Sam and Barry wiping out every single guard in the Daycrawler facility.
"These are all horrible acts. But the worst is from the battlefield. On it, Barry and Sam slaughtered everyone in their way." A long tape of the battle followed, starting from the beginning all the way to the moment Sam collapsed. Caitlin and Cisco looked no longer with faces of disgust, but of betrayal.
"We did what we had to..." Sam muttered.
"Really? You don't get it, do you?" Riser said.
"What?"
"Kara mentioned a Sam from her universe. Stories of a Sam that was evil. A Sam that killed everyone that he saw."
"What does that have to do with me."
"Oh my God! Do I really have to spell it out for you?! You and that other Sam are the same person! Those legends are about you! Kryptonians had a secret sect that had the ability to travel through time, space, and universe. They found you in their journies and relayed stories about you to the rest of Krypton. You are that monster that she cowered in fear from."
Sam froze. He couldn't think, breathe, or move.
"I am the only one who can stop you. My power thrives on your bloodlust. The only way to stop you killing is to force you not to. And I'm the only one who can do that." Riser snapped and the screens turned off. He faced Caitlin and Cisco.
"I only want to help them. But I need you to do it. Please, help me." Riser pleaded.
Caitlin looked back at Barry with a pitiful look. Barry looked at her pleadingly. Regardless, Caitlin walked to Riser's side.
"Ca-Caitlin? Caitlin please, don't! He's trying to fool you! All he wants is power, and I'm in his way!" Barry pleaded. Caitlin flinched but didn't move. "Cait, please." Another flinch, but she only looked away from him. Barry shifted his gaze to Cisco. He had moved his way over to Riser as well. Barry gave a dry, bitter chuckle.
"Et Tu, Cisco?"
"I'm sorry, but you need this."
"Alright. Well, let's go. We have lots to do." Riser said to Caitlin and Cisco.
As the clock struck 12, he wrapped his arms around the two and vanished in the blink of an eye.
In a daze, Barry stumbled to the center of the Cortex. He dropped to his knees, the sting of betrayal so painful it was physically crippling. His entire world had come undone. His friends deceived, taken by the legendary Rising Star.
As he fainted, the last thing he saw was a symbol.
To him, an ancient symbol.
A golden circle, filled in with white and a lightning bolt going through it.
A symbol of peace.
A symbol of hope.
A symbol of a hero.
The symbol...
of the Flash.
A/N: Oof. We are right on the edge. Just a little bit of setup for the final fight and we'll be done!
TGO, signing out.