Central City, Night
Running across the streets at hyper speed, Barry faced the Negative Speed Force's new avatar, Eddie Thawne, now calling himself Cobalt Blue. Racing neck and neck to each other, Barry accelerated forward and threw a lightning blast at Eddie, which he avoided and did the same as he threw a lightning blast at Barry; who avoided it as well. Racing onto a lake-side bridge, Eddie yelled as he generated a javelin made up of Negative Speed Force energy. Seeing what he was doing, Barry sled on the road as he turn to face Eddie and generated his own lightning javelin made of Speed Force energy. Charging at one another, Eddie came out as the victor, as his lightning javelin struck in the center of Barry's chest; sending the Scarlet Speedster flying and crashing on the hoods of several cars, causing them to explode, and then finally into a glass screen map of the bridge.
Struggling to get up off the ground, Barry saw Eddie walking in front of him. "Eddie, please don't do this," Barry begged but Eddie ignored him as he raised his hands to blast Barry with lightning, in a very Darth Sidious manner, but Barry was saved by a streak of purple lightning. Back on his feet, Barry saw his future daughter, XS, in front of him in surprise. "Nora?" Barry uttered.
Immediately, a streak of yellow lightning popped up behind Barry. "Hey, pops!" Bart Allen, his future son greeted him.
"Bart?" Barry said surprised.
"When Grammy Cecile calls you from 25 years in the past, you answer." Nora smiled.
Suddenly, two more streaks of yellow-orange lightning appeared, it was Jay Garrick and Wally West; the Flash of Earth 3, and Kid Flash, respectively. "Wally, Jay, what are two doing here?" Barry inquired.
"Well, Kid Flash here saw a disturbance in the Speed Force and brought me along. And by the way, you gotta find a new name, since your getting close to 30." Jay pointed out causing Bart to snort in humor.
"Tell me about it." Wally agreed thinking he needed a new superhero name, badly.
"What kind of disturbance?" Barry asked Wally.
"Something that's gonna require all of us," Wally informed him, and immediately, Eddie appeared in front of them. As the speedsters of the Positive Speed Force, readied themselves for the fight.
"Looks like the gangs' all here," Eddie commented with a confident smirk.
"It's over you can't beat us all," Barry told him.
"I don't have to. You have your family. But me -" Eddie explained as he raised his hands behind him and the Flash Family saw portals appear and from those portals appeared - The Reverse Flash, Zoom, Savitar, and Godspeed; all of them on Eddie's side. "I've got a whole Legion." He told them in a terrifying manner as Barry and his family were about to go up against virtually every evil speedster they had ever faced.
"Flash, Flash, Flash, you didn't think I was gonna miss how this all turns out did ya?" Eobard Thawne, the Reverse Flash asked Barry.
"I'm guessing this is the disturbance in the Speed Force, you saw Uncle Wally?" Nora asked.
"It wasn't crystal clear, if so, I would've gotten here a whole lot faster," Wally assured everyone.
"We're going to slaughter your team, your family, and end your legacy forever." Hunter Zolom aka Zoom proclaimed in his trademark demonic voice.
"No one touches the brat, the little pendejo has been a major pain in my ass since day one." August Heart also known as Godspeed stated to his rival Impulse.
"Feeling's mutual, times 100, psycho." Bart shot back bitterly.
"Tonight, we change our futures." Savitar, the evil Time Remnant of Barry Allen, stated.
"Last chance to surrender, Flash," Eddie told him.
"I assume everyone here has their preference?" Barry asked his speedster family.
"Well, I can't speak for everyone, but I definitely want a rematch with Zoom," Jay said eyeing the evil speedster in mind, still bitter as his imprisonment and worse the serial killer stealing his identity.
"I think we've all got our targets in mind, Dad," Nora told him.
"Then execute, Delta maneuvers," Barry ordered, as he sped away.
"Enjoy yourselves, fellas," Eddie said and then disappeared from sight.
Immediately afterward, Thawne then chased after Barry. In the same instant, Zoom sped away with Jay following his former captor. Wally ran across the waters, with Savitar in pursuit of him. The youngest rivals Godspeed and Impulse ran over the destroyed cars and into the city; with Nora then following after her baby brother. But they all noticed something else, their enemies were faster than ever before, their lightning trails now red; they were being powered by the Negative Speed Force, now supercharged by its new avatar Cobalt Blue.
Running at superhuman speeds, Barry and Thawne, ran up a building with Thawne's blast of electricity missing Barry. On the same building, Bart jumped off the same building and used lightning to create platforms for him to jump onto across the air. Godspeed was doing the same thing, managing to throw a lightning blast at Bart which the younger speedster avoided. Creating the next platform, Bart then spun around and used a speed-enforced left cross to send Heart to a rooftop across from their location and then pursued after him as they jumped to the next building and then ran back onto the streets. In those streets, Zoom was firing lightning blasts at Jay Garrick, who was avoiding them as they ran past Wally and Savitar. Both of them were running neck and neck, trading lightning blasts at one another not noticing Bart and Godspeed passing them by. As he punched the impulsive speedster, with the momentum pushing him back quite a distance; Nora arrived and jumped off the door of a car and returned the punch that sent Godspeed packing.
Wally and Savitar's Location
As Wally continued his fight with Savitar, the armored speedster began pummeling the younger speedster. After a hard right cross to Wally's face, Savitar unsheathed his retractable blade from his gauntlet. Just as Savitar was about to stab Wally, the former sidekick of the Flash phased into the wall behind him causing Savitar to stab the wall instead. Catching Wally running away from the corner of his eye, Savitar ran after him and eventually, he arrived at a pier where he saw the young man in a meditative pose.
"Wise of you to surrender, Wally. I gave your speed, and now I'm going to take it and your life away." Savitar said menacingly as he unsheathed both of his retractable blades as he walked over to Wally slowly.
"I've learned a lot since I touched the Philosopher's Stone, one of the things you might find interesting considering your nature as a Time Remnant," Wally explained from afar. Not bothering, Savitar rushed at Wally with Superspeed but then suddenly saw and felt another speedster striking him in the face, then another appeared doing the exact same thing, and the third and final speedster that showed up knocked Savitar around as he took a knee. At first, Savitar thought more members of the Flash Family had arrived to help Wally but instead, Savitar saw three Wallys right in front of him. "To properly use Time Remnants without violating any Rules of the Speed Forces, you have to do the one thing that's almost impossible for any speedster: stay still."
"Arghh," Savitar roared as he slashed at the Time Remnant on his left but the remnant intercepted the attack and held Savitar's left arm against his body. The second Time Remnant of Wally, then got around Savitar and put him in a choke hold as he then kicked the back of his leg at high-speed to put Savitar back on his knees. Taking a stab at the final remnant in front of him, Wally sidestepped and vibrated his hand at high-speed, grabbed Savitar's wrist, and then severed the blade. Causing Savitar to scream in pain. Leaving the meditative position, Wally ran over and grabbed the Savitar's severed blade before it hit the ground; in that same instant, the Time Remnants retreated back into Wally's body causing no Space-Time disruptions. With Savitar's blade, one of the few things that could pierce his armored suit, Wally impaled Savitar in his back just as he had done to H.R. Wells and he had tried to do to Iris.
As Savitar screamed in pain, Wally dropped the Savitar's blade and stood over the fallen version of his brother-in-law. "You said you're the ruler of the Speed Force, but as a wise man once said, A True Master is an Eternal Student." Wally quoted from one of the many proverbs he studied in Asia.
Bart and Godspeed's Location
Following Godspeed inside a mall with multiple floors, Bart came to a stop looking around for his nemesis. "So, Heart, I'm taking this Psych 101 class, does delusions of grandeur sound familiar to you?" Bart trashed talked his adversary.
"Argh, do you ever stop talking." Godspeed's voice echoed throughout the mall.
"My sister and I have kicked your ass like what, a dozen times? What do you think?" Bart shot back.
Suddenly, Godspeed sped in and gave Bart a sucker punch. Momentarily blindsided, Bart turned around and saw Godspeed in front of him. "You've beaten me a dozen times, but how about a dozen of me at once?" He inquired as he created dozen Time Remnants. Knowing that he was outnumbered, Bart ran away. Reaching the top floor, Bart punched and kicked away several of the Time Remnants trying to capture him. However, the Time Remnants, quickly over Bart; delivering several punches to the teen's face as he then push kicked him to the ground. As more remnants suddenly appeared, one of each grabbed Bart by the arm and brought Bart to his knees, as the original came up in front of Bart. "I've waited a long time for this!" Godspeed proclaimed and vibrating his body at high speeds, he fired powerful sonic booms from his chest hitting Bart and hurting, and slowly killing Bart.
"Arghhh!" Bart screamed in pain.
Racing into the mall, Nora heard and then saw her brother's screams and raced to the top floor. The Time Remnants of Godspeed saw and tried to capture her, however, Nora maneuvered around the copies of Heart and made her way to her brother; touching him, she activated her unique ability and brought him into "XS Time". Space and Time began to rewind, as all of the events over the last minute or so began to happen in reverse until the moment that Godspeed had first gotten behind Bart.
"You've beaten me a dozen times, but how about - wait, what? Didn't we?" Godspeed said completely confused as he was certain that this had already happened. Immediately, a rope of purple lightning appeared around him, binding him, turning around he saw XS who was the cause.
"Let me guess, feeling a strange sense of deja vu?" Nora asked rhetorically. "That tends to happen when you experience XS Time."
"XS Time?" Godspeed asked.
"It's something a version of my sister could do, she not only figured it out but she learned how to bring people into it for a little while," Bart explained excitedly.
"Bart as much as I love you you explaining my bitchin' new power, a little help." Nora pleaded.
"Oh, right sorry," Bart replied and immediately began spinning around, generating the full power of his lightning and hitting Godspeed directly at point-blank range causing him to collapse on the ground.
"Schway! Crash!" The West-Allen siblings said respectively as they high-fived one another.
Jay Garrick's and Zoom's Location
Running at high speeds, Jay and Zoom eventually reached a car tunnel, and from there Hunter took control of the fight. Delivering several fearsome blows to Jay's gut and then his face, and then grabbed Jay and throw him aside as he skidded across the road pavement. Removing his mask, Zoom flashed an arrogant grin at the senior speedster. "You're faster than I remember Garrick - but it's gonna end the same way," Zoom proclaimed.
"Lock me in a cell again?" Jay said with a struggle as he got up. "I'd rather do the same to you instead."
"No, no cell this time," Zoom replied intending to kill Jay. "And even if you are faster now, you're still not powerful enough-" He went on as his eyes then turned black. "To lock up the darkness!" He roared in his demonic speedster voice. Running erratically up, around, and inside the tunnel walls, Zoom built up enough charge and then unleashed a powerful lightning blast at Jay. However, putting his hands up in the air, the energy that was thrown at him dissipated and was absorbed instead. Eventually, Jay kept absorbing until Zoom fell on his knees - powerless. "My speed - you stole my speed!" He realized and yelled.
"Little trick I picked up from my Earth 90 doppelganger, I thought it was appropriate considering how many times you robbed other speedsters of their speed," Jay explained and sped up to Zoom. With his newly increased speed, Jay delivered a right cross and then a left cross to Hunter's face; then finished him off with an uppercut to the jaw that knocked him out. "You know something Hunter, it's moments like this are why I will never retire." He chuckled as he enjoyed defeating his former captor a little too much probably.
Barry and Thawne's Location
Still racing Thawne, Barry kept the lead as he and the Reverse Flash ran and jumped off the rooftops of Central City until they were on top of CC Jitters. "Everybody get out!" The server yelled at all the customers as he heard the noise of the two speedsters running on the rooftop. Eventually, both of them crashed through the restaurant's windows, Barry and Thawne both fell hard on the tables of the establishment; destroying them. As the two got up, while the civilians evacuated Jitters, Thawne flashed a maniacal grin as he then blitzed Barry, tackling him through the glass window of Jitters and then into a car door across the street. Pulling Barry up from the slammed-in car door, Thawne delivered a speed-enhanced punch to Barry's face. "I don't care what any upgraded ancestor of mine might say, I'm the one who kills you, Flash!" He yelled toward the end and then used another speed-enhanced punch to Barry's face.
Immediately, after, Thawne then rapidly threw several dozen punches to Barry's face and body; however, during the barrage of punches, Barry then managed to catch one of Thawne's fists. Throwing a left punch, Thawne saw Barry catch his other punch by gripping his wrist. Using the Speed Force to enhance the force generated from his strikes to deliver a powerful headbutt to Thawne and then a push kick to get Thawne off him; the force of the kick, pushed Thawne back across the street. Charging him, Barry threw a hard speed-enhanced right cross and a straight left; dodging Barry's next punch, Thawne then ran away to regain an advantage with Barry following him behind. Running across the city, Barry and Thawne continued to deliver powerful blows to one another during their brief stop before resuming their runs. Eventually, reaching an empty stadium, the same one where Barry suffered his first defeat at Thawne's hands.
Running around the stadium, Thawne eventually got a hold of Barry and dragged and threw him to the ground. Vibrating his hand as Barry got up, Thawne was about to phase through his heart. But in that nanosecond, before Thawne could, Barry vibrated his entire body at high-speed, vibrating so fast that he became invisible. In that instant, Thawne was momentarily confused, becoming visible again Barry then surprised Thawne by avoiding his vibrating hand and then uppercutting his chin sending Thawne to the ground. Before Thawne could get up, Barry used a roundhouse kick to Thawne's leg which cause Thawne to take a knee. Barry then followed up with a barrage of high-speed punches which were aimed at Thawne's face and gut. After delivering one last punch to Thawne's face, the Reverse Flash was sent to the ground. As Thawne struggled to get up, he saw Barry standing over him and looking at him with pity.
"Argh, pretty clever, Flash," Thawne said struggling as he was in pain. "Vibrating so fast that not even a speedster could see you."
"You would've only been confused for an instant, but an instant was all I needed," Barry told him.
"So do it then," Thawne said on his knees waiting for Barry to kill him. "Do it. Do it!" He roared but Barry just stood there in refusal. "You won't do it, will you? You'll never do it. Why?! Everything, I've done to you. Everything I've taken from you. And still, you won't kill me. Why?!" Thawne wanted to know, as he couldn't find a logical reason for it.
"Wow, you seriously haven't figured it out?" Eddie said reappearing in a flash of red lightning behind Thawne and Barry, slowly walking towards them. "So much for being a genius from the future."
"Eddie," Barry uttered.
"What are you talking about Grandpa?" Thawne slurred.
"Now that I'm the avatar of the Negative Speed Force, I understand a lot more than I ever did. And it showed something that's blatantly obvious the more I think about it. The reason Barry doesn't kill you isn't just because of morality or ramifications to the timeline; Barry doesn't kill you because he pities you." Eddie revealed.
"Pity?" Thawne uttered in confusion.
"You're stuck in a loop Thawne, a time loop. And Barry knows it." Eddie explained. "I mean seriously did it ever not occur to you? You're whole life you wanted to be better than the Flash, so you spent it trying to destroy him to prove it. But all it really costs you is a series of defeats, where you're either stuck in a time you don't belong or you lose the one thing that matters to you; you're speed. And even if you do die or erased, whatever, you come back to go through it all over again." He finished and in one of the few moments of his entire existence, Eobard Thawne was horrified, and looking at Barry's solemn expression.
"Is it true?" Thawne uttered looking at his archrival, whose silence only confirmed Eddie's theory.
"A loop of constant defeat and failure, full of hate and misery, with absolutely nothing to show for it; that actually might be worse than death." Eddie sneered causing Thawne to look furiously at his ancestor. "And you say that I'm the most pathetic of the Thawne name." He added with a chuckle. Snapping, Thawne sprung up and tried to punch Eddie with a speed-enhanced punch, however, Eddie simply held out his hand and Thawne collapsed to the ground; immobilized, unable to move much less run.
"Argh!" Thawne struggled.
"Eddie?" Barry said worried about his old friend's increasingly erratic behavior.
"Seriously, Thawne, you think that I would give you and the others all this extra power if wasn't sure you wouldn't be able to use it against me?" Eddie asked rhetorically.
"Urgh, I don't care! You listen to me, I don't care how fast you are now, Barry Allen's life is mine to take!" Thawne decreed.
"No, he's not. Thanks for the help, Eobard, but I'll take it from here." Eddie stated and then absorbed the Negative Speed Force energy he took from Thawne.
"Noooooo!" Thawne screamed as Barry watched in horror at what Eddie was doing to him. At the same time, throughout Central City. Jay, Wally, Nora, and Bart watched from where their unconscious enemies Zoom, Savitar, and Godspeed lay. They all witnessed the Negative Speed Force energy appear and shoot up towards the sky, the bodies that carried them quickly vanished; returning from their points in time just before their deaths.
Back at the stadium, Barry continued to witness Eddie re-absorb the Negative Speed Force energy; with the energy he gave to the rest of the Legion returning to him as well as Barry looked up towards the sky seeing the said energy. "Eddie, stop!" He begged, worried that his former friend was going to experience the same fate as Thawne."
"Not until I'm the Fastest Man Alive. Then I'll be the hero, Flash!" Eddie said gleefully. Suddenly, Wally, Jay, Nora, and Bart, following the red lightning trail; showed up behind Barry, just as Eddie finished absorbing it. "Ahh, that's more like it." He said with a vibrating speedster voice.
"Barry, what just happened?" Wally asked for everyone present.
"He just took back all of the Speed he gave the others," Barry told Wally and the others.
"That's what I was afraid you'd say, kid," Jay said worriedly.
"I'd say this is gonna be fun, but honestly, it'll be easy," Eddie said in a cocky tone.
"Wanna bet?" Bart issued a comeback and then sped at Eddie who immediately ran. Barry, Nora, Jay, and Wally then followed.
Across the field, Eddie was faster than ever now and was outpacing all of the Flash Family on his own. Running throughout the stadium and the entire field, the Speedster family tried to land a blow on Cobalt Blue but Eddie either hit them back before they could as he did with Jay and Bart, or redirected their momentum as he did with Nora and Wally. Getting the lead in his family, Bart generated and then threw lightning shurikens at his mom's one-time fiancee. However, Eddie turned around and created a lightning javelin to deflect the electrical ninja stars and then threw his javelin into Bart's right thigh.
"Argh!" Bart screamed in pain, crashing into the field and crunching his wound. Although his speed healing would remove the damage, for the moment he was out of the fight.
"Bart!" Nora shouted in worry at her brother's injury. Turning her sights back on Eddie, Nora's eyes lit up with purple electricity as she used XS Time. Rewinding time just a couple of seconds before Bart's injury right at the moment his personal lightning constructs, Nora knowing where Eddie was going to be took a detour as she broke off from the senior speedsters. Just like before, Bart created his lightning shuriken and threw them at Eddie, and just like before Eddie created a lightning javelin to deflect them. This time, however, before Eddie could throw his weapon, Nora created a lightning rope and wrapped it around the javelin.
Seeing Nora, Eddie ran and then came to an immediate stop with Nora still holding on. The momentum caused by the stop caused her to lose her footing, allowing Eddie to hit her square in the gut, sending her to the ground. Before Nora could even get up, Eddie used his lightning construct to slice at Nora's leg taking away her ability to run for a while. Bart then interrupted Eddie, by turning him around, but Eddie elbowed the kid's face, and then before the previous rewind, Eddie then impaled his javelin into Bart's thigh. XS and Impulse were down for the count. Before Eddie could do any more damage, Jay Garrick with his helmet removed repeatedly hit it at high speed causing sound waves to bounce off of it and hit Eddie back some distance; getting him away from the kids.
Regaining his footing, Eddie charged at Jay who immediately sprinted away. During their chase, Jay jumped over a metal line, and just as Eddie soon followed, Jay threw his signature metal hat at him, imbued with Speed Force energy. Getting low just in time, Eddie turned back to see he was glad to avoid the hat because it cut through the metal railings behind him like a buzzsaw until it embedded itself into a wall in its trajectory. Changing tactics, Jay slowed and let Eddie catch him as he then pinned him to a wall. Placing his hand on Eddie's chest, Jay started to absorb the Speed from him, but something went wrong. Although he was absorbing the Speed, doing so was hurting him, as the red lightning entered his body causing his veins to light up. "Argh!" Jay shouted in pain as the Speed Absorption backfired and fell to the ground as Eddie released him.
"I guess that Speed Steal trick only works when they don't see it coming," Eddie commented and vanished from Jay's sight.
Racing back to find Barry, Eddie was then ambushed by Wally, who grabbed and threw him into a parking lot outside of the stadium. "Ah, Wally, gotta say this isn't how I hoped to meet my future brother-in-law," Eddie said with some ache as he got up to his feet.
"Eddie, I've heard a lot about you from Iris, my Dad, Barry. I know you're a good guy, so I'm telling you, you need to let go of the Negative Speed Force or I'll have to stop you." Wally said trying to reason with him.
"Oh, Wallace, I'd like to see you try?" Eddie said cockily.
"Done," Wally replied.
Running toward one another the two speedsters collide with one another and began trading blows, with Eddie eventually coming out on top after a solid punch to his gut and then throwing him aside. Rolling on the ground, Wally eventually rolled under a car. From that point, remaining still, Wally created three Time Remnants of himself. One Time Remnant charged directly at Eddie while the other two went left and right around Eddie. Tossing aside the remnant that charged him, Eddie saw the other Time Remnants use the force generated from their speed to push the parked cars at Eddie, at high speed. Dodging them quickly, Eddie then saw the Time Remnants jump over and on the cars and were about to punch his sister's ex. However, Eddie generated a lightning javelin in each hand and swung it at the remnants, who ducked to avoid them. Getting a chance to slip away, Eddie then ran to where Wally was lying down and put his knee on Wally's chest. Moving, the Time Remnants return to Wally, and quickly Eddie slugged Wally several times in the face before Barry blitzed Eddie to get him off, Wally.
Traveling at high speed, the two continued to hit one another, until Eddie spun around Barry and delivered a solid right cross, and then threw Barry across the pavement. Regaining his footing, Barry charged at Eddie and then delivered a high-speed cross to his face as he then passed him. Running after Barry, the two Speedsters ran up and across the building until they entered the announcer's room, after which they both came crashing through the windows and they began falling down the stairs until they came crashing down on the field. As the two struggled to get up, Barry saw Eddie creating a lightning javelin again and pointed it at the Scarlet Speedster.
"Didn't notice you try to stop me while I was taking apart your family, Bar." Eddie noticed.
"That's because I was getting the rest of my family," Barry answered.
Immediately, Eddie was telekinetically thrown away from Barry, by Cecile, and hit by a light blast from Allegra. Getting off the ground and back on his feet, Eddie saw the rest of Team Flash, Cecile, Khione, Allegra, and Mark, and he also saw the speedster he just bested: Nora, Bart, Jay, Wally, and Barry join them. Seeing the rest of the Flash Family, Eddie generated red lightning from his hands at the family, however, Khione used her abilities to grab the electricity mentally and then fired it back at him; causing Eddie to hit the wall, hard.
"Eddie it's over, you can't stop all of us. You're up against 5 speedsters, a goddess, two of the most powerful metas I know, and a cryogenics expert. Just stop, and let us help you." Barry pleaded again.
"I won't let it end like this," Eddie said erratically as managed to stand up painfully. "I just need more speed." He realized and the cobalt crystal on his chest glowed and immediately he vanished from sight. Immediately, members of Team Flash heard the sound of thunder and looked up and saw the sky red with lightning of the same color.
"My god, that lightning?" Jay said in astonishment and worry.
"It's temporal fracturing, the whole timeline's unraveling." Barry recognized and understood what was happening.
"Flash, if Eddie wants more speed he'll go to the source," Jay told him.
"The Negative Speed Force, if he keeps absorbing it -"
"He'll overload and kill himself." Jay finished for him.
"Just like Thawne," Barry recalled.
As the thunderstorm grew more severe, Wally returned after checking the entire area of the city. "There's lightning all over the city, it's like you said -"
"The whole timeline's breaking down." Barry finished for Wally.
"So how do we stop Eddie?" Mark asked.
"Now that he's the Negative Speed Force Avatar, the only way to defeat him is to let him destroy himself just like the last one," Jay advised.
"Okay, so let's do that." Mark agreed.
"Eddie's a hero, he saved my life once by sacrificing himself to stop Thawne. I won't let him die again." Barry said emotionally and adamantly. "I need to find a way into the Negative Speed Force somehow." He said asking Jay.
"I think maybe saving the universe is a lot more important than saving one guy." Mark brought up.
"My wife is in the hospital right now to give birth to our child, I am trying to save the timeline and Eddie's life!" Barry yelled at Mark, unnerving him and almost everyone else.
"Barry," Wally said grabbing his brother's shoulder. "As hard as it sounds, that may just be impossible." He told him and Barry just froze for a second.
"It can't be," Barry refused walking away.
"I can get you into the Negative Speed Force," Khione told Barry. "But what will you do once you're there?"
"Stop Eddie from killing himself." He told her after a momentary pause.
"That won't work because they'll just pick a new avatar." She made it clear.
"So what am I supposed to do?" He said interrupting her.
"You need to change his point of view." She told him.
"How? The Negative Forces are at war with us. They always will be. They push, we push back. We get stronger, and so do they! That's what balance means!" He said rather wearily.
"It sounds like a never-ending cycle of violence and death." She noted.
"You think I don't know that?!" He shouted painfully aware of the cycle. "Khione, for the last nine years I have watched the people I loved suffer and die. I want a better world, for my family, for everyone. But I don't know how to do it." He exclaimed in painful frustration.
"What if there's another way forward?" She suggested. "The more I embrace who I truly am, the more I see the natural order of things. You say balance is about violence and death. But it doesn't have to be that way. Nature is about more than balance, it's about co-existence. All things living together, not in conflict but in mutual trust." She explained.
"Khione, the last avatar I faced. I sat down, and I stopped fighting. Thawne didn't." He told her. "You want co-existence. But I'm sorry, it's impossible."
"Then you need to believe in the impossible, you need to think of a solution for a better world." She told him with a heartfelt smile.
"It would take too long, and I don't have time to think about a - solution," Barry said but then the idea entered his mind something he hasn't tried since he first created the artificial Speed Force machine. Removing his mask, Barry sat down in a meditative position something caused confusion for everyone.
"Dad?" Nora uttered.
"Uh, Barry now might not be the best time to meditate," Wally advised.
"I'm not meditating, I'm gonna use Speed Thinking," Barry replied.
"You can do that?" Mark asked.
"Wow," Bart said. "Wait, Dad, you told us about this. The last time you did this you basically became a borderline supervillain." He said remembering the story.
"He did?" Mark remarked.
"All speedsters have naturally enhanced cognitive functions and processing speed but Speed Thinking is the next level. Basically, it's channeling all the Speed Force into your mind instead of your body which can allow you to calculate probabilities and process events so fast that it's almost like you're seeing into the future. But the downside is that the more you use it the more apathetic you become; if you do it enough you'll lose touch with your emotions completely." Jay explained as he's met several speedsters who went through this problem.
"I haven't done this since I shut down the artificial Speed Force generator - to be honest, I'm not sure if I can, and after what happened, I didn't want to. But if I want to find a way to save Eddie, a way to change the whole game then I need to believe in what started my journey as a hero from the beginning." Barry explained and gave a deep long look at his allies, friends, and family. "The impossible."
Channeling all of the Speed Force into his mind, Barry's mind went through countless possibilities. In his mind, Barry played countless scenarios. Scenarios of him being killed by Eddie, scenarios of him killing Eddie, scenarios where Eddie killed himself from absorbing too much Negative Speed Force energy, scenarios of him convincing Eddie to let go of the Negative Speed Force; but like Khione said they would just find a new avatar. But there was one scenario, a way to save Eddie and a way to change the war between the Forces forever. "I'm ready." He said opening his eyes. "But first, Jay I need your help." He said asking the older speedster.
"Anything, son," Jay told him.
"I need you, all of you to give me your speed," Barry said asking his whole speedster family.
"Dad, that amount of speed." Nora brought up.
"You could overload, like Thawne." Bart finished.
"If what I have in mind is going to work, I need as much Speed Force energy as possible. So please." Barry begged and after looking at one another they all nodded. "Thank you."
As Wally, Nora, and Bart place their hands together. Jay then did the same and placed his hand on Barry's chest. Absorbing the Speed Force energy from the three, Jay then took it and gave it, along with his own, to Barry. Feeling more Speed Force inside his body than ever before, the sheer amount from his family changed the color of his lightning to the point it was white with rainbow hues. Opening his eyes, with his eyes flashing the same color, Barry looked towards Khione. "I'm ready, Khione." He said and Khione opened up a red portal into the Negative Speed Force which Barry then raced into.
Realm of the Negative Speed Force
As Barry entered the Negative Speed Force, which took the appearance of his and Iris's apartment in an inverted red color, Barry overflowing with Speed Force energy turn around in horror as he watched Eddie continue to absorb more energy around him. "Eddie, stop!" Barry begged, but clearly ignoring him, Barry tackled Eddie instead into the wall. Backing away from him, Eddie tried to absorb more energy but something was wrong.
"What have you done?" Eddie asked with a vibrating voice.
"Your connection to the Negative Speed Force is gonna kill you, you have to let it go," Barry told him anxiously.
"Liar!" Eddie accused and fired electricity at Barry, who immediately dodged it and ran to the same spot where he first entered the realm. But, anticipating where he would be, Eddie fired with the other hand, bringing the Flash to his knees. "You just want it all for yourself."
"I wanna save you!" Barry retorted. "All that power is overloading your body. You can't survive it." He explained.
"Shut up!" Eddie shouted and push kicked Barry in the face. Grabbing him, Eddie then threw up against a shelve with various photos, including a photo of Barry and Iris on their wedding day. "You stole my life! I hate you!" Eddie yelled pressing his forearm against Barry's neck.
"I'm not gonna fight you anymore," Barry told him. Smiling at him maliciously, Eddie punched Barry in the face and he then hit the floor.
"Then this will be easier than I thought," Eddie remarked, as Barry looked up in confusion. "I'm gonna change it all, Barry. I'm gonna get back everything that was taken from me!" He decreed and then speed away into a speed-created portal. Struggling to get up at first, Barry then ran after him creating his own portal.
Entering the time stream, Barry eventually saw Eddie and resumed the chase. As the two speedsters ran across time and space, Barry remembered the first time he saw the Speed Force, the first time he purposely decided to time travel. Like its positive counterpart, the Negative Speed Force was showing the past, the present, and the future, all at once. And just like before, Barry was seeing all those moments again. Moments from his past, as a boy with his parents, Joe, and Iris. The night his mother died and his father was wrongfully arrested. The case that led to Starling City and meeting Oliver and Team Arrow, the night he was struck by lightning, and the moment he first donned the Flash suit. Barry could see every battle he fought in, all the people he saved, all the people he lost, all the friends and family he made along the way. He saw the family he had now built over time: meeting Cisco and Caitlin for the first time, marrying Iris, Joe, and Cecile welcoming Jenna, meeting Wally and Jay, and even moments from his future. His job as CSI Director, Bart's birth with Nora as a little girl next to her parents, and racing in the future with his adult children. But he also saw something else, something far more sinister.
Ahead of him, he saw Eddie discharging Negative Speed Force energy from his body, with the lightning touching those moments. The red lightning was changing those moments or erasing them, causing temporal fracturing. "Eddie, you can't! The whole timeline will collapse!" Barry yelled ahead of him.
"Take a good long look at that precious moments, Flash! Soon they'll all be gone! And they'll be my moments!" Eddie madly roared ahead of Barry.
Looking ahead of Eddie and remembering all the countless possible scenarios he ran through during his Speed Thinking, Barry saw this scenario on several occurrences. Barry dug deep within himself knowing that there was only one scenario in which he could save Eddie and perhaps change the entire dynamic between the Positive and Negative Forces. In the briefest of moments, Barry's entire body glowed entirely with Speed Force energy; almost becoming a entity of pure Speed Force energy. Charging forward, Barry reached up to Eddie and then phased right through him. After passing through him, the energies of the two Forces caused a powerful electrical disruption knocking them both out of the timestream and collapsing back to where they started - into the realm of the Negative Speed, which looked like Barry and Iris's Apartment. But something was different the color, which was inverted red, was now flickering into an entire spectrum of colors.
"What ... what did you do?" Eddie asked as he struggled to get up. "I feel - I feel different."
"That's because you are," Barry revealed as he got up and started circling Eddie after removing his mask.
"The Speed Force - I can feel it, inside me," Eddie said in shock. "How? How is this possible"
"Before I came into this realm, my family gave me all their speed. When I phased through you, I connected the energies of the Speed Force and the Negative Force together. Like the bonds that bind together molecules." Barry explained. "To say it was a risk, would be an understatement. In all the simulations I ran in my mind, one mistake, one instant where our energy frequencies didn't match, and doing this would've killed both of us; or at the very least one of us."
"Then why do it at all?" Eddie asked as he got up looking at Barry.
"Because maybe this is how we can get the two Forces to stop fighting one another. 'Cause now they are permanently linked together, whether they like it or not. Their no longer separated, so maybe this is how they can start finding a way to co-exist." Barry explained tiredly, in more ways than one. "But also - this was the only way I can save the life of a good man." He finished.
"He lies. Kill him now. Take back what's yours." The Negative Speed Force shouted inside Eddie's mind.
"You can still hear it, can't you? Eddie?" Barry asked.
"You hold the power now. Use it! End Barry Allen's pathetic existence!" The NSF demanded of Eddie.
"You have to remain as the avatar!" Barry told him.
"Remember what he stole from you." The Negative Speed Force reminded Eddie, how kept showing him his relationship with Iris.
"The Negative Speed Force is hateful, hateful because it's been disconnected from everything else since the beginning. But not anymore. It's possible to fight it, now more than ever. You are the answer. Thawne gave into hate but you can fight it." Barry explained urgently.
"It can still be yours. All of it. It's what you deserve." The Negative Speed Force reminded him showing him a future with Iris and the daughter that they might've had.
"That's how we'll create a better world, both sides working together." Barry decreed.
"Now! Kill him!" The Negative Speed Force ordered but Barry's words and the interlocked connection he now had with Speed Force, helped him to resist now more than ever before. Remember his dying words to Iris about wanting to be a hero, her hero, Eddie removed the cobalt crystal from his chest and threw it on the floor. Stepping on it with his foot, Eddie crushed it, causing the realm to become a peaceful blue color. Looking at Barry, Eddie looked at him with a rather conflicted look.
"From one avatar to another, just because I'm doing this doesn't mean we'll always see eye to eye. We're still on opposite sides." Eddie reminded him, as even though the two Forces were now connected that was no guarantee that future avatars of the two Forces wouldn't be in conflict someday.
"I know. But together we'll find a way." Barry said hopefully as he reached out his hand and after some slight reluctance, Eddie shook it. About to leave, Barry turned around after a brief moment. "Eddie," Barry said getting his attention. "A long time ago, a friend of mine told me that he believed the Speed Force chose me. He told me I was chosen because I could inspire people, and give them hope. But I've learned over time another reason I was chosen, maybe the real reason why I was chosen." He said and Eddie couldn't help but listen. "The Speed Force chose me so that I could move forward. For years, I was trapped by the night with Thawne. My mother's death, my father's wrongful imprisonment. I spent too many years, letting life pass me by because of that. It wasn't until that lightning bolt, that I finally started to move forward with my life. And catch up to the rest of the world. Once, I did, I got to have a life just as good as the one that was taken from me; maybe better."
"Heh," Eddie chuckled as he realized the point that Barry was trying to make. "You think, that now that I'm a speedster. The same can happen to me." He suggested and Barry just smiled at him and gradually Eddie did the same. "Tell Iris, I'm happy for her." Eddie smiled sincerely. Racing out of the Negative Speed Force realm, Eddie looked around at his surroundings and began to contemplate his future.
Author's Notes: Overall, I thought The Flash's Final Season was pretty decent, it definitely had some high and low points; like the entire show overall. The final episodes while enjoyable, were kinda predictable. My one main problem was how nerfed the previous Big Bads were and worst how they seemed incompetent, so instead I hoped I fixed that by making at least correcting one of those things. For the matchups, I felt this was appropriate given their connections to each big bad. Although, honestly, I get why the didn't have Barry vs Thawne again, it's been done so many times that a part of me thought doing it again would be redundant especially since Thawne overstayed his welcome. Plus, Barry more or less did have his closure with Thawne when they finally had their match on the night of his mother's murder. I especially liked how the series ended with more adventures ahead of Barry and let the lightning choose others like he was chosen
Wally and Nora's abilities in this one-shot are based on personal observation. When Wally showed up in 6x14 when he created Time Remnants he was perfectly still and they returned to his body; something no other speedster has done, and this was the most logical explanation to me. Nora's ability to reverse time, which I've dubbed XS Time, is an ability this new version of her doesn't seem to have based on her comment in 7x17. However, it doesn't mean that she won't figure out how to do it someday; her bringing people in it like Barry and Flash Time also seems like the next logical step to me. I think Speed Thinking is a power that Barry still has, it's just after his experience with it, it's made him reluctant to use it.
Like most people, I thought Barry just talking Eddie out of being evil, was tearsome. So, I decided to put a little more effort into the idea that I got from the comics during Barry's final fight with Thawne. I hope you found it interesting at least.
Side Note: This is actually the second version of the Flash Finale Rewrite that I had, only a few things changed, mainly how Thawne was up against.