A flash's point
Nothing travels faster than the speed of light, with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special laws.
-Albert Einstein
"..akh.." a beaten mouth of a newborn girl of steel screams under a suffocated note.
The hand of the destruction bringer devil, known on this earth and in another as Zod, activates a machine that absorbs the genetic code of the last natural born daughter of Krypton.
Her chest burns, her heart pulls a fight, her eyes don't close yet.
She can't die like that, not yet, not after discovering that this world may be her new home, not after two speedsters and an old man went to hell and heaven to win this fight.
The S on her suit means hope, hope can't die, not unless all life that can have faith dies at last.
But the cold machine activates and with a yellow color it signals that the job is done, the code is absorbed. The female is now useless.
The two devils from another world, Zod and Faora, quietly go back to their ship, they have nothing to fear, and why would they?
This earth's native speedster is a bloody mess on the ground, and the extradimensional one is yet to come, the dark vigilante Batman is just an old man playing dress up one last time, it's over for earth.
Unless…
This earth Barry can't let this be wasted, his whole life and his planet's existence destroyed, he can't just powerlessly stay still, so he moves, quickly, his heart hammers, his leg moves, he is on the run.
His eyes tear up thinking at the life he just couldn't save, a girl that he barely knows but that did everything in her power to save his and his doppelganger's life is lifelessly on the sand of a desert, but his heart and brain tell another thing "Let this be the last life we lose"
A time travel can't be the answer to everything.
So, his heart commands his eyes, he sees another tragedy about to happen.
Batman is trying his hardest to fight the colossal Nam-Ek, he just knows he has no chance even if the giant is not as powered as the sun as the max he could be.
But then, a quick and fast moment that only who moves at over the speed of light can see is about to happen.
The mute Goliath is about to trash Bruce on the ground.
Barry can't let it happen, the man is already old, and the armor would compress his body into a dangerous death trap.
So, in the moment the gravity is about to pull Bruce into the ground after the pull out, Barry comes to the rescue, he runs as his life and his planet's life are on him. The other Barry said that they can't touch humans as they could burn up in contact with the speed force, so he tries the hardest he can and creates a small bubble to protect Bruce from the dangerous effect of the dimensional power, he holds the man in a thighs and back hold and takes him away from the monster.
The giant that expected to see blood decorating a black suit in front of him doesn't grasp the event as quickly as he should as an explosive in his back head explodes knocking him down….for the moment.
Bruce looks in the eyes his earth's Barry, his mask covers the eyes and a part of the chin, but his enigmatic smile with a smug wrinkle says one thing.
"I didn't really need your help but thanks."
Barry chuckles, not as much as he would like but at this moment, he can just enjoy the little things.
And in a streak of red and yellow that illuminates the air with an unnatural saturation comes the other Barry, he sees that the man Batman and his double are fine and alive even if beaten a bit.
A smile on the original timeline Barry quickly meets the sorrow in the eyes of this universe's Barry.
No word needs to be told.
"Kara is dead?" the time traveling runner asks, knowing fully well the answer already.
"Yeah, she fought hardly but Zod put a machine that…sucked her life out…and…and…THERE IS NO REASON TO FIGHT ANYMORE!" the once jolly fellow cries out, with all the angst and hurt he needs to lash out.
Bruce Wayne sighs and realized that with Kara dead all hope of the world is pretty much gone, but he still has to fight.
The veteran Barry looks at his younger clone and with understanding eyes tries to speak about the possibility of time travel, but then thinks at the danger and quickly says with as much wish to save the world as much realizing everything has a price:
"I'm sorry Barry, we could still try to use the timebowl but I don't know how much damage is doing to the fabric of reality, it's three times in a row that I saw something disturbing happening inside. First a purple streak corrupting everything or so I saw, a monster covered in spike punching me out, and an explosion happening. Maybe, and I speak with that little of knowledge I have, this world is inevitably forced to get destroyed!"
Both Barry looks at each others in disbelief, one because he just realized how pessimistic it sounded after he said it and the other because deep inside knew this was the truth upon realizing what they were up against.
And then the most inhuman of all screams blasted in the sound, Nam-Ek announces his return and advances to the speedsters and the dark knight.
Without a word or quip the native Flash charges his hands in a desperate and quick movement and a blue ray of energy goes from his hands to the body of the colossus from Krypton, his whole body gets striped by electric blue lightnings that hurts at first, but then he still advances knowing that the trio of wastes have nothing to kill him for good.
The first Barry doesn't think at the hopeless fight, he will always try to do what's right and…
Runs away!
The other Flash knows what the other wants to do and keeps charging electric friction through the enemy.
The juggernaut of a killer machine is still unmatched even if slowed keeps walking to kill his adversary.
And in that moment the first Barry, now without gloves and exploding of orange energy, pulls a double ray from his hand that amalgams in one with his dimensional twin and the mystical ray of blue and yellow power goes inside the hulking menace and in a chaotic storm in his organism his whole body explodes, for Nam-Ek it's over.
But even in death he proves himself to be dangerous and the pieces of his armor stronger than any known armor on earth shatters on the face of the two speedsters.
And in slow motions for the two faster than light pals everything is a chaos of spiked peril.
The Barry of the main timeline says "PHASE!" to the other Barry knowing well that these armors could kill if hit vital organs.
And in a flash they both phase thus saving themselves from a sharp injury.
Now it's finally over for the giant and his after-death attack.
And then the Flashes and the Batman look at the other and of the battleground and see the terrible chaos happening right now and the pyrrhic victory incoming.
The invaders are going away from this place, not because they surrendered or because they don't want to stay on this planet, they simply have what they went for and are about to activates the part 2 of their plan.
"It's over" said the original Barry with as much hopeless feel that he tried to hide before.
And then turned to his comrades and with authoritarian voice said "It's plain to see that this world is destined to fail, Zod will terraform earth and kill humanity, I will…..I have too…" the last words didn't want to get out from his mouth but as much as he hated it he knew he had to, so he closed his eyes and his mouth began to say "I will have to go back and making sure my mother will be the one to die in that day and I won't stop it!" his hands moved to indicate he was in craze for saying this, but a logical craze.
"I'll come with you" said the other Barry that too wanted to be part of this in a way he still didn't know.
"No, this is my problem and I'll have to stop it, it's better that only one of us goes, this world is yours Barry, enjoy the last times, go to your mother and father and tell them that you love them and will love them until this world dies and even further, say to Iris and your friends how much their support matters, and enjoy these last moments." He said with teary eyes and with a sincere but hardly kept smile.
Other Barry couldn't object and so after 10 seconds of stillness he went and hugged his clone.
"I didn't ask these powers, but thanks to have made me appreciate my parents and my life more, how fragile everything I gave for granted by years is and could destroy me mentally, you're a good man Barry Allen of earth 1, even if you don't think it" he spoke with crying eyes too.
And so, Flash was ready to go, then turned around to Batman and said, with a soft smile:
"If you have Robins or a family I don't know about, tell them they matter too".
Bruce gave a characteristic chuckle and said
"Will do. Good luck Barry Allen, save our asses".
Now he was about to go in the timestream again but then…..
"One last thing!" the native to this universe speedster said with hurry.
First Barry turned back and looked with curious stare and open mouth waiting for the last thing.
"…Stoltz is still the better Marty McFly!"
The Older Speedster gave a genuine laugh and said "Oh me!" and with a goodbye handwave he went in the timestream in a yellow and red blur of light.
And so was gone, the real scarlet speedster and the first super powered hero the world saw since ages was gone as he arrived, in a flash.
Barry and Bruce looked at each other, and Barry broke the 2 minutes long silence "you want me to carry to Gotham or do we steal a helicopter?".
Bruce shook his head and rolled his eyes, and then said too "Maybe we should bury Supergirl. We barely knew her, but she tried to do her best in a situation bigger than her, even if she owned nothing to this planet that caged her".
Barry silently nodded, in a normal context Barry and silence wouldn't be in the same sentence if not to deny that Barry is silent.
And they arrived at the corpse of the girl of steel, even in death she still looked like the female felt from the sky that struck this Barry like the lightning that struck…that struck him before.
The old and the young man look at the girl, such flower in the blossom of her age killed before it could bloom in a gorgeous rose.
But then something, that only those whose time and life move slowlier or faster can notice, happens. Or better, it's happening.
Barry can see it too.
The injury is closing itself and the skin is glowing from pale green of almost dead to golden like how he saw her the first time.
The sun, king of the sky and the sol system is gifting his adopted daughter with the energy that it couldn't grant before when the clouds and smokes of war were eclipsing the sun and his rays.
She is slowly breathing, sand and pebbles around are moving, her alien biology is affecting the surrounding, her body spasms.
She is alive!