I'm back with Chapter 14!

I've been excited to write this chapter for a while. This chapter is what sets the stage for the final battle, though that wont be for two more chapters.

Enough chit chat. On to the chapter. (I know the title sucks, BTW)

Chapter 14- A Time-Changing Battle

Barry races around the training room, testing out his new suit. It has done nothing bu please so far. It has performed even better than he expected. His repulsors have worked perfectly, and the Speed Force enhancing device is working brilliantly.

"How am I looking, Jocasta?" Barry asks his AI assistant.

"Your performance is impressive, Mr. Allen. You are currently traveling at Mach 5.25, and vitals are all promising. The energy levels coming from the reactor are still holding steady at expected levels," Jocasta replies.

Barry smiles as she starts to speed up. He can see his speed levels slowly climb up towards Mach 6. Then, Jocasta pipes up and says, "Mr. Allen, you have a visitor."

Barry comes to halt in front of the door. To his surprise, Wanda is standing there, smiling as she watches him.

"Hey. Jocasta just told me you were here. What's up?" Barry asks. His mask retracts, similar to Tony's on the Iron Man suit, which Barry thinks will be very nice for the future.

Wanda just smiles at him. "I just thought I would come and see you in action, and get the chance to see your new suit," she says. She smiles as she studies him for a moment, then she says, "Mr. Stark did a good job."

Barry smiles broadly. "Yeah. I love this suit. It's gonna come in real handy against Savitar," he says.

Wanda smiles a bit, then her face grows more serious. "How are you feeling? About Savitar and all?" she asks in concern.

Barry's face grows more serious too. He sighs, then sits down in a swivel chair nearby. "I don't know, Wanda. It's just, finding out who he really is. It makes things different. I know he's a time remnant, and he's been warped by what happened to him. But he still began as a duplicate of me. Does that mean: I have that same darkness inside me? Is Savitar a part of me?"

Wanda sits down in another swivel chair next to Barry, resting a hand on his shoulder. She looks at him tenderly and says gently, "Barry, you are not Savitar. You are one of the kindest, purest, most honorable men I have ever met. Savitar may be a time remnant of you. But you will never be Savitar. You will always be the person that has refused to kill, who helps everyone he can. The man that I..."

Wanda suddenly stops herself, looking hesitant. Barry looks at her curiously. After another moment, she says, "The man I can honestly say is the best friend I've ever had."

Barry looks at her for a second. He gets the feeling that she didn't say what she was originally going to, but he decides not to pressure her. Instead, he smiles and says, "Thank you, Wanda." Wanda smiles, then leans over and gives him a hug, which he happily accepts.

(In the lab)

Tony stares at the screen, his brow furrowed in concentration as he types away. He feels someone behind him, and glances back to see Steve standing behind him.

"Hey, Cap. What do you need? I'm busy," Tony replies, returning to what he was doing.

"What are you up to, Tony?" Steve asks.

"Don't tell Barry, but I'm still gonna try the magnetic field trap I thought up. I told Barry i was giving up on it so when Savitar got that memory, he would think we would given it up, and therefore wouldn't be ready for it. Hopefully it works," Tony says as he continues to type.

"Gotcha," Steve says.

"I've also got a few ideas I'm toying with that I've taken from some research studies on speedsters I've done since Barry came here. No offense, but I'm gonna keep those to myself, just to maintain secrecy, so Savitar won't figure them out," Tony says.

Steve slowly nods, then sits down next to Tony. "Are you alright, Tony? It seems to me like something is weighing on your mind," he says.

Tony stops typing, then sighs, before turning to Steve. "Savitar still has Pepper. On that surveillance video we saw, he told her she was his bait. But, he hasn't tried to use her to draw us out yet. So, why does he have her? What's his plan for her? Argh, it's been keeping me up at night ever since he took her," Tony spills out.

Steve slowly nods. "Well, it looks like you and Barry have something in common. Savitar's holding the women you two love over your heads," he says, though he knows Savitar is doing it for totally different reasons for the two.

Tony sits there for a minute, thinking about that, not having really considered that.

Suddenly, another alarm starts to ring out. Tony reaches up to his hear, touching his earpiece, and he asks, "What are we looking at F.R.I.D.A.Y.?"

"There's been a sensor trip at the edge of the facility. Something has arrived here," F.R.I.D.A.Y. responds. She then pauses, before saying, "Sensors show whatever caused it was moving at super speed."

Steve and Tony look at each other in alarm. "Savitar," Steve says gravely.

Then, the door is smashed apart as a flash of white lightning enters the room. And before either of them can react, Steve is being held against the wall by his throat, clutched tightly in the grip of Savitar.

"Captain America. Your bravery is great. But, I am not the Red Skull, or Loki, or Ultron. I am the God of Speed," Savitar growls.

"I know who you are. You're not really the God of Speed. And I've faced the God of Thunder. You don't scare me," Steve gasps out, feeling his airway quickly getting restricted.

Savitar laughs at Steve. But, in focusing on Steve, he's forgotten about Tony. Tony is scared to see Steve clutched in Savitar's grasp. He quickly summons his gauntlet to him, while commanding the rest of his suit to come to him.

Savitar, meanwhile, laughs as he extends his other arm spear. "I am not Thor, Captain. I am much more," he says as he holds his spear at the ready.

That is, until a powerful repulsor blast hits him on the side of the head. Savitar stumbles, dropping Steve, who clutches at his throat. Savitar turns to Tony, just in time to see the rest of the suit come flying in and assemble around Tony. In seconds, Tony is wearing the full Iron Man suit.

"You know, last time I faced a god, I almost kicked his a**. You're not gonna be any different," Tony says. He then takes off, and flies forward, catching Savitar off guard. He slams into Savitar, and flies out the window with him. No longer touching the ground, Savitar is unable to escape. He tries punching Tony, but Tony deflects his blows as he flies Savitar away from the building.

Back inside the lab, Steve gets to his feet. He activates his earpiece, transmitting to the whole team, "Guys, he's here. Savitar's here. He came after me and Tony in the lab. Tony assembled the suit and flew out the window with Savitar. He needs support."

In the training room, Barry springs to his feet. He looks at Wanda, who is looking at him, fear written on her face.

"Go, Barry! Go! He needs help. I'll follow you as fast as I can," Wanda cries. Barry nods, his mask reforming around his head, and then he was off.

Meanwhile, Savitar has managed to shift his position in Tony's grip. Extending his spear, he stabs at one of Tony's boots, successfully destroying the thrust mechanisms. Now only having half thrust, and his thrust being off balance, Tony can't stay in the air, and he and Savitar go unceremoniously crashing to the ground.

Recovering quickly, Tony gets to his feet. He finds Savitar is also on his feet, and staring at him.

"Good, Tony Stark. I admit, you caught me off guard. Your suit is indeed a magnificent technological achievement. Perhaps as cool as mine," Savitar says.

"I don't care about compliments from homicidal speedsters with egos bigger than mine. And my suit has a lot cooler stuff than yours does," Tony replies, then raises his hands and unleashes blasts from both repulsors.

Savitar easily dodges out of the way, but Tony turns his repulsors to follow Savitar. Savitar races out of the way, but Tony grins. A tiny missile rises out of his shoulder and fires. It quickly locks onto Savitar and homes in. Too late, Savitar realizes it is coming for him, and tries to run. But, to his astonishment, the missile is able to keep up with him. Resorting to the trick Barry mastered when first training to fight the Reverse-Flash, Savitar turns around, runs to the missle, grabs it, and starts to turn it around. But, just as he releases it, the missile explodes, knocking Savitar flying back, and slightly scorching his armor.

Tony laughs, his suit amplifying it so Savitar can hear him. "Haha. That little baby was the prototype for a little toy I've been preparing to deal with you. A hypersonic missile that has a proximity fuse warhead. It's guidance system tracks and homes in on Speed Force signatures, and the proximity fuse is activated by the guidance system. Even if you try and dodge it or turn it around, it'll detonate if it gets close enough," he calls. Then, he raises his hands, preparing to blast Savitar again.

Then, before he knows it, Savitar is back on his feet, and easily dodges Tony's blast. Tony tries to hit him twice more. But, each time, Savitar dodges it, then he races forward and grabs Tony by the throat before extending his arm spear and drives it into the arc reactor in the suit's chest.

Tony just stands there, realizing how screwed he is. Savitar leans in and growls, "Impressive, Stark. But still no match for me." He then raises his fist, which begins vibrating. Knowing he's doomed unless he does something, Tony says, "Eject." And the back of the armor opens up right before Savitar brings his fist down and tears the top half of the suit in half before he realizes Tony is already on the ground.

Savitar throws the destroyed suit aside as he stalks towards Tony. But, before he can, a fist connects with the side of his head, and he goes stumbling to the side before regaining his senses, and sees Barry circling around for another strike.

Savitar races right at him, and they clash, both reaching for each other's necks. Both stumble around, trying to get the advantage over the other. Savitar then kicks Barry in the knee before punching him in the chest. It doesn't hurt him, but forces him back.

Savitar then races about 10 yards away before he starts running in circles to charge up a lightning bolt. Barry decides to do the same thing. He stops running and throws his lightning at the same moment Savitar does. The lightning bolts collide, resulting in an explosion that knocks both of them flying back.

His new suit preventing him from being badly hurt or winded, Barry is quickly able to get back on his feet. He races towards Savitar. Savitar is on his knees, looking a little scorched, and acting as if he's trying to catch a breather.

But, as Barry races right at him, he's stopped about two feet from him by powerful stabbing pain in his shoulder. He looks down to see Savitar's outstretched arm, and the spear embedded in his shoulder, driven through a weaker part of the suit by the force of Barry moving at such a fast speed.

Savitar stands and turns to Barry. Although Barry can't see his face, he knows Savitar is smirking with triumph under that armor.

"I thought Oliver taught you not to run in blindly," Savitar mocks him as he drives the spear even deeper, angling it down a bit so he pushes it down through Barry's shoulder towards his heart.

Suddenly, there's a scream of "NO!" from behind them. Savitar pulls the spear out of Barry's shoulder out of confusion. He turns, just in time for a powerful blast of red energy to knock him flying through the air.

Barry collapses, blood running down the front of his suit. Even in his current suit, Barry humorously reflects that it'll be easier to clean the blood off this suit than his previous ones.

"No! Barry!" And instantly, Wanda is by his side, holding him, trying see just how bad his wound is. Tears are running down her face as she looks down at him.

"No, Barry! Please hold on!" she cries.

Barry just smiling slightly, his mask retracting so that she can look into his face. "It's gonna be okay, Wanda. Don't wo-"

But Wanda suddenly cuts him off. "No, Barry. Don't tell me not to worry. Because I will always worry about the people I love," she cries.

Barry looks up at her in surprise. After a moment, he gasps out, "What?"

Tears run down Wanda's cheeks as she softly says, "I was going to tell you earlier. But, I was afraid. I was afraid that maybe I was just doing it in the heat of the moment. And I was even more afraid that you wouldn't feel the same way. But, I can't hold it in any longer." She then lets out a sob before she cries, "I love you, Barry Allen."

Barry looks up at Wanda. Even though her hair is slightly frazzled, and her face is stained by tears, and her eyes are starting to get a little bit bloodshot, in that moment, she looks to him like the most beautiful thing in the world. And in that moment, he realizes the truth. Savitar had indeed been threatening the woman he loved. But, that was no longer Iris.

Barry reaches up and touches her cheek. A tear slips out of his eye, and he says, "I love you, too, Wanda Maximoff."

Wanda starts to smile with pure joy. Barry then moves his hand to the back of her neck, pulls her down towards him, and kisses her. Tears still rolling down her cheeks, Wanda kisses them too.

Then, a roar of fury echoes across the lawn. They separate, and look towards Savitar, who is looking at them, still roaring with fury. Then, they hear a sound overhead, and Sam flies over them, heading straight at Savitar. But, before he can even try and fire, there's a flash of Savitar running towards them, then past them, and just like that, he's gone.

Barry, clutching at his shoulder, looks around. He sees no sign of Savitar.

Sam circles around and lands next to Barry. "Hey, Barry. You okay?" he asks, seeing the massive wound in his shoulder.

Barry groans as a fresh wave of pain hits him. "Urgh. Well, this may be one of the worst wounds I've ever had, but I'll heal soon," Barry says.

Vision floats down and lands on Barry's other side. "We have a problem," he says.

Barry, Wanda, and Sam all look up at Vision. " What is that?" Barry asks.

"Mr. Stark is gone. Savitar took him," Vision replies.

Barry's eyes shoot wide open. he raises himself up a bit and looks around. Sure enough, the destroyed Iron Man suit is lying right where Savitar left it, but Tony is gone.

"Oh, crap," Barry groans. This isn't good. Savitar now has one of the most brilliant men of Earth-99, and Barry now realizes why he took Pepper.

The war with Savitar is about to come to a climax.

And there we go. I hope this chapter was good. I wanted Tony to have at least one chance to fight Savitar. I'm thinking you guys probably know why Savitar took Tony. I also hope I did the whole confession/kiss alright.

Next chapter will shorter, and will be the final chapter that will set up the final battle. It's almost finished, and will be posted soon. Either today, or tomorrow. So, expect the final battle in Chapter 16. Please, let me know how exactly you want to see Savitar meet his end.

I will also be doing a chapter set on Earth-1 soon. It will feature Team Flash in their search for Barry, and working with Team Arrow and the Legends. It won't be a major contributor to the story, but will set up some future events.

Until next time, keep those reviews coming.