Like I said last week, a day early. I'll be leaving soon and won't have time to post tomorrow, so here I am a day early. I'll be going back to my regular time next week for the season finale. Can't believe we're finally here.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Flash.

The speedster came back and sent two lightning bolts, one after the other right at them. Obviously the idea was to keep them distracted by not giving them time to block two lightning bolts in succession but Barry instead chose to just avoid them entirely, getting out of the way of their trajectory, pulling his son along.

The speedster followed them, his lightning coating his fingers again as electric claws, even jumping in the air to try to get the drop on them. One of their jumps managed to angle themselves right to where they would be and father and son turned to meet the attack. Lightning wrapped around their arms, but they didn't have the control to shape it. Instead they went for a more simple function and encased their fists in electricity. Launching their punches to meet the slashing claws caused all the electricity to meet and arc off, generating a large explosion. The force of the explosion knocked all combatants backwards. Barry and Ace went skidding across the floor and the speedster was sent back into the air. But before they could crash into the concrete, there was a small charge released from the speedster that struck the ground. That small charge jumped erratically but remained firm and appeared to keep the other speedster from slamming into the ground, keeping them afloat, if only barely. Once the momentum of the fall was gone, the charge dissipated and the speedster suffered a relatively small fall.

"He just floated. Did you know we could float with our lightning?" Barry asked his son followed by a wince. He probably had a few broken ribs from that explosion. Ace just shrugged helplessly.

Barry mentally shook his head. This wasn't the time to be thinking about that. There was time after to think about how Barry could learn that skill himself. Already thoughts of Barry learning to levitate, or even fly with that ability for short periods of time were running through his head. Or at the very least, just jump for longer distances, letting him travel through the air more with less effort.

All three speedsters got back up and stared the other down. "Are you okay to keep going?" Barry asked.

"I'll be fine." Ace said reassuringly. His wheezing was concerning, but Barry hoped it was only his breath getting knocked out.

The speedster just flexed his arms again, his electric claws forming another time. This time, their body gave off another small charge that struck the ground and somehow, this little charge was enough to lift the speedster off the ground just a little. The speedster pushed off and it looked like they were literally skating ontop of the ground with their immediate destination being them.

Barry and Ace looked at each other, a plan forming in their quick minds. As fast as they could, they built up their own charge, pooling their power together and releasing a lightning bolt off each arm straight at the floating speedster. The lightning crossed together, becoming one large lightning bolt like a giant kamehameha as they continuously fed the torrent of lightning their power.

Instead of stopping or changing directions, the speedster charged straight toward the large bolt of lightning. Barry was surprised, but he tried not to let it show. If the other speedster had decided to give up, he would take it and Barry fed more power into his attack.

At the very last second, the speedster dropped and slid across the floor, diving under the giant attack. Barry and Ace didn't react in time as the speedster slipped right behind them whilst they were preoccupied with cutting off their attack.

The speedster straightened behind and raised two crackling hands aimed at them. Barry and Ace only had a moment to look behind them as they were both blasted in their blindspot.

Barry groaned on the ground as electricity that wasn't his own jumped across his body. As a speedster, he had something of a resistance to lightning, but this felt different somehow. It felt like the lightning bolt had somehow caused the electricity within his own body to attack him from the inside. Maybe because this was Speed Force lightning and not just the regular kind, but it hurt more than Barry was expecting it to.

Barry rolled around to find his son, to see the speedster kicking at Ace, who was too weak to defend himself.

Just as the speedster was about to lift Ace into the air, for what reason Barry didn't know, Barry jumped as hard as he could and tackled the speedster to the ground.

Barry was tired, he was hurt and out of breath, and that last jump took almost all of Barry's remaining strength, but his love for his son and his willingness to put himself in harm's way to save those he loved let him overcome his fatigue.

Barry stared into the singular crackling eye from the cracked visor. Barry wanted answers. And he was going to get them. Barry grabbed the speedster's shoulders and slammed their head into the ground over and over. "Why are you doing this?! Why are you helping Cicada?!" Barry shouted. His words spoke of his anger and confusion, but his tone made it clear he was close to tears. "Why?!"

The speedster took all of the abusement. His brain should be rattled by now, but with a calm voice, they responded. "Because I hate you."

The speedster swung a normal punch, too tired to make the effort of coating their fist in lightning, and getting Barry to fall off. The speedster rolled over and was now on top of Barry, getting the advantageous position in their scenario. The speedster raised one hand and focused, the hand slowly began emitting a low sound and started vibrating. They were really going to kill Barry here.

Barry flailed his arms about. Trying desperately to get his hands on something to defend himself with. His fingers touched upon something long and metal. Moving his eyes, he saw he'd managed to grasp one of the broken staff pieces the speedster had snapped earlier.

Just as the speedster was going for the plunge, Barry stabbed the broken shaft through the heart.

The single eye behind the helmet widened in shock. The lightning faded from their gaze and what replaced it was a sense of horror, disbelief, and maybe a hint of despair.

The speedster was about to fall back when Barry caught them. The speedster seemed so small now as Barry cradled them like a child. The eye closed, signaling their demise, and like the other speedsters before, Barry was left with a pile of empty clothes and a broken helmet.

Barry dropped the clothes and hurried to his son. Ace's eyes seemed only focused on the pile of discarded clothes. Barry couldn't blame him. Death was hard for anyone and this might be Ace's first experience with the concept. And done by his father's own hands as well. Barry hoped Ace could one day forgive him for forcing him to witness such a thing.

"Why did you do that?" Ace asked weakly.

"They were going to kill me. If that happened, they were going to kill you. I couldn't let that happen."

"You don't know that," Ace glared at him, tears in his eyes. For the first time, Barry saw true malice in his son.

"I don't," Barry confirmed sadly, "but I wasn't going to run the risk. You and your mother are more important to me than anything and I will do anything to protect you,"

"Even your morals?" Ace questioned him.

"That's a philosophical question. Meaning there's no right answer to that," Barry tried to say, but he couldn't help but feel he'd only made things worse.

Ace just nodded. No more words came from him. It only reinforced Barry's feeling of things between them having changed.

It was dinner and the whole Allen family was here for the first time in years. It was raining, so there was the sound of raindrops falling against the windows and the wind blowing through the air. Distant thunder could be heard, but the Allen family was intimately used to the sound of lightning and thunder.

"So Ramona," Barry began to say, "now that you're out of school, any thoughts about work?"

"Yeah, I'm thinking about joining a rival company, selling STAR secrets, and once your stock is low, buy it for a couple bucks," Ramona said seriously.

Everyone was silent for a moment. "What?" their mother said as their daughter casually mentioned espionage.

"I'm kidding." Ramona laughed. "I want to take over STAR from you guys one day and I'll start that by applying to STAR as an intern. Not here in Central, but one in our neighboring cities."

"Why not here in Central? If you're here then I'll be able to-"

"-keep an eye on me." Ramona cut off their father before he could finish his sentence. "That's the problem. I love you Dad. We all love you, but your problem is you're too overbearing with the ones you love. You smother us. I don't want any more special treatment than I'll already get for being the CEO's daughter and set to take over."

"They should treat you special, because you are special." Barry insisted.

"And it'll only be worse with the CEO breathing down their neck." Ramona said, exasperated. "I want to do this. I want to take over and carry on your legacy. I just want to do it on my own merits, not because you're my dad. Which is what will happen should you always be there around me. People are going to think I didn't earn my job,"

In Ace's humble opinion, Ace would rather they be rid of STAR in total. Or pawn it off on some high up sucker and leave with the money. The company was a nightmare and Ace would never understand why anyone would commit to it besides the money. Ace really liked the money. But everything that came with it kind of cancels it out.

Still, their parents had practically groomed them to one day take control of STAR, Ramona more than the others, and it was always expected, but Ace just never got into those lessons. But it was either that or not spending any time with his parents since his parents spent the rest of their time training his siblings in their powers.

"Oh, you're not going to like this then," Caitlin said with a subtle wince.

"What are you talking about?" Ace asked. The twins had already grown bored of the conversation and were focusing on their meal.

"We changed our will. Should anything happen to us, we're relinquishing ownership of STAR to Ramona Allen." Barry announced.

Again, the table was silent. Well, the twins were munching on their food, but everyone else was silent.

Caitlin made a half-smile and shrugged. "Surprise? Welcome home!"

Lightning strike.

"Wait! What?!" Ramona and Ace shouted at once for different reasons.

"We were going to surprise you in the future. Way later in the future. Obviously. Your father and I aren't thinking of retiring soon and we won't be forced to for another 30 years at least." Caitlin said.

"But considering our other activities," Barry eluded to their superhero personas, "we wanted to make sure the company was in good hands should something happen to us,"

"Nothing is going to happen to you guys," Ramona insisted.

"Yeah, but still. You never know. And because of that, we want to make sure you kids are going to be okay and someone else isn't going to snatch STAR away from us. It's not just a company we can sell, it's essential for what we do for this city. And you too,"

Talk about throwing salt in the wound. The sound of rain seemed to grow in Ace's head. Ace silently shook. His mind is still on his parents' words. The company was going to Ramona. Everything was going to Ramona. Just Ramona.

"I'm not ready for this," Ramona exclaimed.

"Relax. It's not like you're going to be taking over this second. But we are going to be teaching you the finer points of maintaining a company and we're going to be showing you the hidden secrets of STAR's business side. Think you're up for it?"

"Of course," Ramona rose to the challenge. "I'm still applying for out of the city,"

"It was worth a try," Barry dramatically sighed. "Guess this means I'll just have to visit you a lot,"

"Please do," Ramona smiled. "I missed you guys, and I'm sorry I didn't keep in touch. It was stupid of me,"

"Come here sweetie pie," Caitlin engulfed her eldest daughter in a hug that Barry joined. The twins ran off after giving their sister a hug as well. Their powers danced around them as they fought. Electricity being directed from the lights toward Dawn and Don raising a shield of water to block the oncoming attack. Probably feeling some inspiration from the rain. Their parents liked to say they were just casually sparring with each other, keeping the other on their toes. Ace couldn't understand how they classified a casual spar that included the risk of one drowning and the other being struck by lightning.

Ace shook his head. He couldn't understand yet.

The twins ran off to continue their spar as Ace got up from his seat, no longer hungry. Thunder seemed to go off whenever Ace took a step. The weather looked to have represented his mood.

Ace passed by his wayward sister and rudely bumped into her, not sending a look back. He was frustrated, okay? He needed to let off some steam.

Ace stormed into the training room in a fit of rage. He couldn't believe his parents! Sure, it was always an unspoken thing that Ramona would someday inherit STAR FACS, but that was the thing. It was always unspoken. It never really felt real until now. They were going to hand the reins of a multi-billion dollar enterprise to a girl fresh out of school. Who'd spent the past 4 years abroad with barely any contact with them. It wasn't fair.

Ace growled and yelled as he flipped over racks and benches and anything that wasn't nailed to the floor. Was he being unreasonable? Yes. Did he care? No. He didn't even care about STAR at all. Ramona was the logical choice. She actually wanted to do it and spent those years studying to take over someday. And it wasn't like it was happening now. It was going to be a slow transition. But it still hurts. Ramona had practically everything handed to her. She was so great. So perfect. Where did that leave him?

"Ace?" someone behind him called out in shock at the wreckage. Without turning, Ace already knew it was Ramona. "What are you doing?"

Instead of answering, Ace picked up a discarded dumbbell and hurled it at her head. Ramona caught it in time, encasing it in a block of ice and keeping it in midair. "Are you crazy? That could have hit me."

"You are so smug, you know that?" Ace yelled. "You think the world revolves around you. That the world caters to your every need and we'd be lost without you. Well newsflash. We got along just fine without you!"

"And this qualifies as 'fine'?" Ramona gestured to the room around them. "Throwing a hissy fit and destroying the gym. You threw this at my head! I mean what were you thinking?" She pointed at the floating ice cube.

"Don't push it Ramona. You don't get to leave and come back and expect everything to be as it was. Everybody treating you like a little princess, tending to you like servants." Ace glared at her.

"I don't do that. I never did that. I went to study. To learn, to be able to take on the mantle Mom and Dad will leave me with. To take care of the family business. Why do you hate me for that?" Ramona retorted.

"And why do you get it just like that? Just because they're your parents and you were born first makes you somehow more special and worthy to take everything? Well you're not, you don't deserve it. Our parents are just idiots for adhering to nepotism." Ace shouted.

"They are our parents. How could you talk about them like that? They love us. And maybe it is nepotism, but at least I'm trying to make it so I'm at least qualified for the position."

"Well maybe I want to do it. Could be something to do while the rest of you are off saving the world and I'm left behind." Ace said.

"And do you actually want the position? Because I distinctly remember you never having any interest in this stuff. In fact, I remember you once saying you didn't like all the business talk at all." Ramona stated.

"I don't want it, but nobody ever asked me. That's the problem. People are so enamored with you that nobody ever cares about the rest of us. The twins are just too young to realize that yet."

"Mom and Dad love us. They love each and every one of us. And they know us. They never asked because they already knew you didn't want to take over STAR, but I do. I shouldn't have to feel bad because of my success. I worked hard for that."

"Or everyone else saw your last name and got dollar signs in their eyes," Ace angrily mumbled.

"You know what Wallace? I'm done. I am sick and tired of having to deal with your attitude. You're my little brother, and I love you, but it's time for some tough love," Ramona pursed her lips, trying to get rid of the angry look in her eyes. "You want to know the real reason Mom and Dad never thought of you inheriting STAR? It's because you're not ready and you never will be. You're so busy with your head in the clouds, blindly waiting for the day your powers will show up. Our parents are run ragged trying to take care of you and you don't even care or notice. You're lazy, impatient, hot-tempered, with no idea of what you want to do with your life.

"And more importantly; I'm better than you." Ramona declared. "I always will be,"

Another lightning strike followed by the boom of thunder.

Ace laughed despite having all of his insecurities thrown at him at once. Or maybe it was because of it. It didn't matter now. By now, the two siblings were both blinded by their fury. And the only thing to do was let it out on the only thing in their reach. Each other. "You know something big sister? I'm going to have to disagree with you on that one," Ace retrieved the metal handle he always kept with him from his belt. As the late bloomer, Ace had been supplemented with basic weapons training that Uncle Oliver helped him with in order to defend himself. Ace found he had a penchant for the staff. He activated it, letting it expand from both ends so his staff was at the ready. Spinning it in his hands, he crouched down, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.

The pitter-patter of rain was all that filled the silence in the air with the occasional hearing of thunder.

Ramona noticed his stance, getting ready for a brawl. On instinct she activated her powers with her hair being bleached and her eyes glowing white. She met his gaze with exasperation. They both knew it would take a miracle for him to fight her off. "Don't do this," She lightly shook her head.

"I'm done being looked over," Ace responded. He wouldn't back down. If looks could kill, his glare would cause a man to keel over many times over. This was something he had to do, and if he was honest, a long time coming. There was no stopping him now.

Ramona sighed and formed a pair of icicles shaped as twin swords in her hands. She didn't want to do this, but she would if he pushed her. And knowing her little brother, he wasn't going to stop until she beat him down.

The two speedsters returned to STAR Labs to witness Joe basically carrying Grace Gibbons out of the building. They both worriedly hurried to the Cortex to see the mess left behind.

There was a new hole in the wall, a piece of flesh on the ground that wasn't discernable. Cisco was on a bed hooked up to a bag of morphine. Why was evident when their eyes trailed down to see the end of Cisco's right arm ended in a bloody stump wrapped in bandages.

"What happened?!" Barry shouted in concern.

Cisco didn't respond and just looked at him drowsily and then back down to his shortened arm and back up to Barry with a raised eyebrow.

"I wouldn't have him respond. Cicada sliced through Cisco's arm with her dagger and turned his severed hand into paste. I had to chop off the rest of what remained of his hand so I could properly bandage him and hook him up to so many drugs, he probably doesn't even remember why." Caitlin spoke up from where she was. Her hands were wrapped and bloody as well, but at least the appendages were still attached to her body.

Barry brought her in for a hug as soon as he could, making sure not to cause her further harm with the physical contact. Barry proceeded to kiss the top of her head. "How are you? That doesn't look so good." Barry gestured to her bandaged hands.

"I stupidly tried to grab Cicada's dagger and when Grace called it back to her, it sliced my palms." Caitlin explained. "They'll heal, but I don't think I'll be able to use my powers for a while. There are probably a few tiny fragments of the dagger in my cuts that will prevent me from activating them until I can get them out. What happened to the speedster?"

"Dead." Barry announced. "And the baby?" Barry asked worriedly. His hands instantly reached down to touch her belly to see if he could still feel the baby bump.

"There were times I was really worried. Not for me, but for the baby, but we're both still here." Caitlin reassured him.

"Caitlin, about earlier-"

"I'm sorry," Caitlin cut off her husband before he could finish. "I was being stupid. You were just looking out for me and I bit your hand for that. I was being selfish, thinking about what I want to do and not thinking about the consequences."

"I'm sorry too," Barry apologized. "I realize now that I've been smothering you. You're important too and not just the baby. I should've let you do things you wanted as well and not just what I think you can do."

"I want sex," Caitlin blurted out.

Barry reeled slightly and recovered quickly. "You are so amazing,"

"Why, because I'm putting out?" Caitlin questioned him.

"So, just to confirm; the baby is fine?" Ace asked from where he was observing the interaction before it turned into another argument.

"Yes. The baby is fine. As long as I take it easy, which I will, this whole thing will be nothing but a memory and we have Julian to thank." Caitlin pointed to the other CSI. "He was the one who took down Cicada by shooting her in the leg,"

"Julian. I can't thank you enough," Barry shook his hand and brought him in for a hug as well.

"Don't mention it mate." Julian brushed it off but happily accepted the gesture.

"Well that's unfortunate," Ace stated.

Everyone turned to him in confusion at the statement. They didn't know what he was referring to with that statement.

"What are you talking about?" Barry asked.

"I was hoping she was going to die from this. If nothing, at least that she would lose the baby," Ace responded nonchalantly as though they were talking about the weather.

"What?!" Caitlin shouted and hugged her pregnant belly. "Why would you want that?"

"Cause I killed my big sister in my timeline and now I'm trying to make it so she wasn't born at all. That's why I enlisted the help of Cicada back there. So you either wouldn't conceive her or would suffer a miscarriage. But it looks like I'm just going to have to do this on my own." Ace continued speaking casually. He took aim at his mother and shot her full of lightning before anyone could react.

Barry moved to block the attack, shielding his wife from their future child from further harm. He screamed from the pain but endured it all the same. Barry was tired and injured, but he would endure more if it meant Caitlin would be safe. Julian had run off, to get some backup or escape. It didn't matter much to Barry aside from him getting out of danger.

Once Ace let up on the attack Barry fell on all fours, taking heavy breaths to steady himself. Caitlin was behind him, passed out from the pain. "I don't understand. Why are you trying to kill her? You realize if she dies, you cease to exist. What about the timeline?"

"I don't give a rat's ass about the timeline. I was lying. The whole time you ever knew me, I was lying. Worked like a charm. Unfortunately, it appears some small sacrifices are needed. Whether my sister dies in Mom or Mom dies as well, either way I won't exist. Not this version at least." Ace responded. "I didn't want it to come to this. You're my parents. I thought some gentle nudges would be all I needed to do. All you had to do was not get pregnant! But you did! And now we're here."

"Don't do this," Barry gently shook his head. Both he and Caitlin were in no position to be fighting again. Caitlin had her powers deactivated at the moment and Barry's ribs were still mending. Actually, he'd probably have to rebreak them so they could set properly. He always hated doing that.

The phrase only seemed to enrage Ace more. "Did you not hear me before?" Ace sarcastically replied. He applied pressure to his speedster symbol on his chest and somehow his suit had changed its hue to another familiar design. It was the same suit as the orange speedster, just with the four claw marks across the chest area. A car racer helmet formed as well around Ace's head that covered his face. Two lights of burning yellow shone behind the visor. "I hate you." A familiar vibrating voice sounded.

Barry stared in horror. It couldn't be. His son? How could his own child be capable of such a thing? And how? Barry had killed the orange speedster with his own hands. Ace was there. This was impossible.

But the answer already appeared in his head by the time the question formed. Time remnant. Zoom had done the same trick before, one posing as their friend with the other as their enemy. But if that were true then that meant that he'd killed his so-

Barry grew sick at the thought. At what he'd done. Sure, he'd been ignorant of the speedster's identity at the time, but that didn't diminish what he'd done. He should have known. First his twin brother, and now his own son. His own flesh and blood. Why was he always put in these situations? What had he done to deserve being pitted against his family?

Ace raised his hands, both charged and ready to shoot out another lightning bolt to strike them both down.

Barry pulled out the last of his strength and grabbed Caitlin and got the both of them out of there.

The lightning struck air as Ace's parents disappeared. Ace just stared at the empty space and turned to the bed ridden Cisco. He looked down at his uncle's stump. "It's funny. I never actually knew how you lost your hand and now it's because of something that wasn't meant to happen." With that said, he took off in search of his parents.

I... am... so... sorry.

There it is. The reveal. The fact that Ace was the mysterious speedster who enlisted the help of Cicada and plotted to kill Caitlin. I'm probably going to get some hate for this. Some of you probably really like Ace and so did I, but it was always my intention for Ace to be the villain. All the way back when I first started plotting for season 5 when I was still making season 3. So Ace and I have been lying to you all since the beginning when he first opened his mouth.

Before you guys all go after me, let me explain why I did it. With Nora in canon, I didn't like her. She did bad things, trying to justify them to satisfy her own wants and I just figured that if the writers were going to write her as an antagonist, they should make her the antagonist, which is what I did with Ace.

There will be one more flashback scene, detailing the fight between Ace and Ramona next week, then the conclusion of the season. It's going to be the largest chapter I've posted. Hope it holds up. I'll see you all next week for the final chapter of the season.