While the "time remnant" story about Savitar made sense to me, I think it could've been better. Before I watched episode 3x21, I had a theory of which future Barry version is Savitar. You'll find out what I first thought in this chapter. Although, just to let you know, I altered my theory to fit the story.
BTW in case some of you are confused, I had to do some rewriting to "Unforgivable" after Savitar's identity was revealed. To put is simply, Savitar's identity was never revealed to anyone except for Caitlin. (Read Chapters 7 and 26 of "Unforgivable" if you want to see for yourself)
Leave a review after reading, please.
Special thanks to Steve993, godspeed 251, jessicabiggs16, NeoTyson, kaylaevans43, chimera629, and two Guests for the recent reviews.
To kaylaevans43: First of all, Central City has become like Star City 2046, "Disneyland" for villains. The cops are outnumbered and outgunned. Second, Jay Garrick is still in the Speed Force in my "Unforgivable" universe, so the Speed Force can't punish Barry if a speedster is already inside.
To chimera629: Barry and Team Flash are now living in Keystone, just in case you didn't know. Central City has become Star City 2046, where criminals relish in the chaos.
"It's like looking in a mirror," said Savitar, eying his past self. "Well, almost." He gestured to the scar on his face.
"You're not so scary without you armor," commented Barry.
"What can I say? I outgrew red," said Savitar.
"Who are you?" asked Barry. "Who are you, really?"
Savitar puts his hand on his suit's helmet before speaking. "Remember the first time you traveled to the night when mom died? The future Flash fighting the Reverse Flash. That was me."
Barry flashes back to the day he first traveled to the night of his mother's murder. His future self saw him and gestured him not to interfere.
"That was you?" asked Barry, surprised.
"Yeah," confirmed Savitar. "I told you not to interfere. You didn't. But then you went back again a year later and prevented her death."
"I just lost my dad then," said Barry.
"That doesn't excuse the fact that you destroyed my future," said Savitar.
"If the future where you and Reverse Flash came from was erased, then how are you still alive?" asked Barry.
"You came back to that night again to prevent Flashpoint from happening, but as you might have already known, things have changed despite your best efforts," continued Savitar. "That includes me. I wasn't erased from existence. I was preserved in the Speed Force. I escaped and returned to 2024, only to see that my future is not the same as it used to be. Iris. Joe. Harrison Wells. My parents. Everyone and everything I know, everyone I care about, everyone I love, all gone. Because of you!"
"So, you're a time remnant now?" guessed Barry.
"I'm not your future anymore, so yes," said Savitar angrily. "I knew that going back and changing my past will only lead to severe consequences, so I tried to adjust to my new future, but it didn't work out. Wally. Felicity. Sara. Snart. Lyla. They all shunned me because I wasn't the true Barry Allen. I was an aberration. Someone who needs to be disposed for the timeline to remain balanced. I guess Felicity decided not to mention that. Can't blame her, though."
"How did you become Savitar?" asked Barry.
"I was broken and alone," answered Savitar. The tone of his voice and the look on his face clearly shows how broken he really is. "I wanted the pain to end. That's when I realized the truth, Barry. God feels no pain. All I have to do was become one. And for that, I only need two things. One, for Crystal to die so that you are driven so far into the dark that I can be born."
"And the other?" asked Barry.
Savitar smirked. "It may sound ironic given who I'm talking to, but I'll keep that one to myself."
"So, that's why you want to kill Crystal? Because if she helps me conquer my grief, you wouldn't be born, isn't that it?" asked Barry. "But you're not my future. How is your fate still connected to mine?"
"I am still you, Barry," said Savitar. "Time remnant or not, alternate timeline or not, I am still you from the future."
"What happens if I kill myself?" asked Barry, vibrating his hand. "If I die, then you'll be wiped from existence."
"Cause and effect's a tricky thing," said Savitar, still smirking. "It didn't work so well for Eddie, didn't it? He shot himself in the chest, Thawne still kicking around. See, that's the thing about time travel, Barry. The more you do it, the less the rules apply to you."
"Then why do you need me?" asked Barry. "Based on everything I've heard, you don't need me."
"That's time travel for you, Barry. It's complicated. It works in ways beyond explanation," said Savitar. "My ascendancy is nearly at hand. When I have control of all time, it will be you who is abandoned and forgotten."
Savitar turns around to return to his suit. In the blink of an eye, Barry runs in front of Savitar and hits him with a electric-charged uppercut, knocking him down to the ground. Barry walks towards his future self and grabs him by the shirt, looking at him in the eye.
"You're not going anywhere. We're finishing this. You and me. Right here, right now," said Barry.
"I forgot to tell you. My suit's cooler than yours," said Savitar with a devious smile.
Suddenly, something grabs Barry from behind. It was Savitar's suit. It was moving, even without the wearer. The suit throws Barry away from Savitar. Savitar quickly returns to his suit. He started running in circles as fast as he can.
Barry puts his cowl back on and does the same, running around in a circle as fast as he can.
The two simultaneously unleash bolts of lightning at each other. Their bolts crossed each other, causing an explosion that knocks both of them back. The two speedsters immediately get back on their feet.
Barry throws a few speed punches, but there had little to no effect on the Speed God's armor. Savitar grabs Flash by the throat and then throws him towards a stop sign. Flash gets up and punches Savitar again, only to get pierced in the shoulder by one of his arm blades.
"I wanna kill you so badly, but you have to live a little while longer to see Crystal die," said Savitar.
Barry vibrates his hand and cuts off Savitar's blade. Savitar decided to run away, leaving Barry with a metal blade still piercing his shoulder.
Barry immediately runs to Crystal's house. To his horror, she wasn't there. The broken TV and the damaged furniture tell him that Savitar has been there.
Barry taps into his earpiece and says, "Cisco, we have a problem."
At Mercury Labs, Barry is immediately placed on the medical bay. Savitar's blade was still in his shoulder. He could barely move his arm because it hurts.
"Savitar took her. Savitar took her," said Barry over and over again.
"Calm down, Barry," said Wally.
Jesse uses an x-ray scanner to check the damage. "The blade didn't hit your organs, but it did shatter your clavicle."
"Hang in there, man. Hang in there," said Cisco, trying to relax Barry.
"We have to remove it now!" yelled Joe.
"We can't use medicine. His metabolism will burn through anything we give," said Jesse.
"Just do it," said Barry, still grunting in pain.
Joe and Wally put their hands on Barry's shoulders, trying to make sure he stays still. Jesse puts a rolled up piece of cloth in Barry's mouth to keep him from biting on his teeth. Jesse puts on some medical gloves and grabs hold of the blade.
"This is gonna hurt," said Jesse.
Barry nods at Jesse, telling her to do it.
Without further ado, Jesse rips the blade out of Barry's shoulder quickly. Barry screams in pain, muffled by cloth he was biting on.
A few hours later, Barry wakes up from his nap. His shoulder was patched up. It hurts, but his rapid healing helped ease the pain. He looks around and sees that everyone is still in the room with him.
"Good to see you awake," said Joe.
"I'm sorry to worry you," said Barry.
"I know you're just recovering, Bar, but I really need to ask you. What were you doing going after Savitar on your own?" asked Joe.
"I figured out who he is," answered Barry.
"Who is he?" asked H.R.
Barry hesitates for a moment, but after a few more seconds, he says what he wants to say. "He's me. Me from the future."
The rest of Team Flash were shocked and horrified by this revelation. Cisco, Wally, and Jesse's eyes widened. H.R. froze in place and didn't blink for a long time. Joe, overwhelmed, steps back towards the wall and puts his hand over his head, unable to comprehend this information.
In an abandoned warehouse back in Central City, Crystal lies down unconscious with her hands and legs tied. The moment she woke up, she started to struggle. She looks down at her hands and see that she is wearing some kind of hi-tech cuffs. Before she can wonder any further, an entity wearing a suit of armor appears before her. She immediately crawls back in fright.
The suit, for some reason, shuts down and slouches. Crystal was confused.
"Hey."
Crystal jumps with fright as she turned around to see who appears to be Barry Allen, except the right side of his face is scarred badly.
"Barry?" She muttered. "What is going on?"
"You must think me a fool, don't you?" replied Savitar.
Crystal looks back at the empty suit of armor before facing the man looking down on her.
"You're Savitar," guessed Crystal. "But how? Are you a clone or something? Time remnant?"
Savitar chuckles as he crouches down to look at Crystal at eye level.
"You're not fooling anyone here," said Savitar.
"What are you talking about?" asked Crystal, confused and scared.
"You may have Barry Allen and his team fooled into thinking you're just some lookalike with a PhD in Psychology and a penchant for nighttime vigilantism, but I know who you really are," said Savitar. "Caitlin Snow."
Crystal continues to look afraid and perplexed as she stared at the God of Speed.
I'd really appreciate it if you leave a reaction (via a review). I'd really love to know.
So, as you may have read, Savitar is still a time remnant in this story, but his origin is different here. If you do leave a review, I'd really like to know what you think of that little rewrite.