Do I even need to say it? We're back with more. Thanks to everyone who has been reading this story with me.

Disclaimer: The Arrowverse is over. It's too late for me to try to take ownership.

Curled into a ball, Barry doesn't know how long he's been here. There's nothing to mark the passage of time. It feels like years, but that might be because he's been watching his life pass by his eyes on repeat.

At this point, Barry knows himself better than he did before he got stuck in this limbo.

Every moment of his life that he's kept locked up in the corners of his mind. Every mistake and misjudgements he's made. All the times he pushed Malcolm away when they were kids that led to him being locked up. All the signs he missed when his son, Ace, was living with them. He is the reason his parents are dead. His friends died for him. His brother was killed by his own hands, not to mention all the other lives he's taken, whether direct or indirect.

Barry's no hero. He's just a parasite, sucking up all the good around him and leaving them with nothing but death.

"It's my fault," Barry cried, hugging himself tighter. "It's all my fault. I've ruined everything and can't make it better. I don't deserve better."

He watched his mother die again. Her screams floating in the air. He let her die.

"I'm so sorry. This wasn't meant to happen."

Now he's got his brother's heart in his hand. The heart is not connected to the body.

"I never meant to be selfish. I was just doing what I thought was right."

The singularity is in the sky, the one that he caused. Ronnie's gone in an instant. Not to mention all the countless others who just had their lives flipped upside down.

"But now they're gone. And it's all my fault. I'm all alone."

The pocket dimension Devoe used is collapsing, along with the meta collection he's amassed. Barry's the only survivor.

"It's too late for me. Nothing I do will ever make up for what I've done."

His son is disappearing before his eyes, wiped away from existence. Barry was the one to push him to that.

"I'm sorry!"

"Barry!" Caitlin called out to him for a third time.

Everyone else is in the background, watching their friend ignore his wife's calls, mumbling to himself. But what strikes them all so much is the look in his eyes. Sure, the image is made of billows of smoke, and his eyes are lit up like a Christmas tree, but that look in his eyes is one they are all uncomfortably familiar with and one they never thought would appear in Barry's eyes. It's a look of depression, one that has given up the fight. Barry's eyes have the look of a dead man.

A clap of thunder rumbled the building with the sound of a sudden crack, four beings appeared at the entrance, each with a murderous look on their faces.

"We've got intruders!" Oliver shouted, pointing an arrow in their direction. Everyone else tensed and prepared themselves for a fight, as well as keeping in mind to maintain as much distance between the Forces and the seance currently happening.

"How did they know?" Joe asked, cradling his granddaughter. She had fallen asleep, so The Speed Force couldn't possibly have used her to spy on them.

"I honestly expected them to show up much earlier." Constantin admitted. "Keep them away. We need as much time as possible,"

Everyone kept their eyes on The Forces, but they weren't moving. They were grumbling, talking to each other in a language none of them could hope to understand.

"Who are they?" Fortitude asked.

"They are a nuisance." Motion replied, glaring specifically at Cisco.

"Are we going to kill them?" Psyche assessed them, thinking of all the ways they could take them down. It would be simple.

"We are going to destroy them." Temporal seemed eager to begin.

"I don't deserve to live." Barry sobbed in the background. "I'm a bad person."

"What did you do to him?" Oliver shouted, outraged that something could bring Barry to such a low point.

An arrow flew towards them, but with the lightest touch of telekinesis, courtesy of The Sage Force, it sailed past them, missing its mark.

The Four Forces stared at their opposition with all the calmness in the world. "To put simply, he's in timeout. Spending his time reflecting on his poor decisions. Over and over again. What did you think we meant when we said he was reliving his memories?" Motion answered.

"You're torturing him," Kara accused them, her voice laced with sadness that her friend was forced to endure all the worst moments of his life.

"Torture is such an ugly word. We prefer the term forceful rehabilitation." The Speed Force glared at them.

At once, The Strength Force literally leaped into action, propelling themselves forward with a fist drawn back, ready to smash into the seance and disrupt the connection.

"Form a barrier!" Cisco shouted, not at anyone in particular, but just to alert everyone that the battle had commenced.

Caitlin took his suggestion though and formed an igloo made of ice around her and Constantin, keeping the flames alive. Fortitude's fist smashed through the ice, but Caitlin was quick to reform it.

The Strength Force snarled at the newly formed dome and rose, growing around three times her original size. Now their body towered over the ice, and they raised their arms above their head to pound against the ice shield. Smashing fist after fist, The Strength Force shattered the ice each time, but Caitlin was quick to form another one in an instant. Sometimes with another one already prepared using the icicles scattered around her. It was using a lot of her concentration, but she just couldn't let anyone disturb the connection they had with Barry's soul. They didn't have much time.

Barry's body was alight with yellow lightning, and rushed in to aid in their comrades endeavor. As Fortitude was pounding away at the frozen water, trying to get in, Motion was running in a circle, forming a perimeter around them. The wind whipped around, creating their own barrier of wind to keep out any nosy heroes.

The Strength Force was completely unbothered by the air currents, standing firm and digging their fingers into the ice, chucking the barrier into the wind, completely intact until it shattered when it hit the floor. There was already another in its place, but it was noticeably smaller.

Temporal stayed in the back. They were completely unbothered by what was going on, and if their brethren needed any help, they would intervene. But at the moment, there was no need. These little worms would be taken care of quite handily just by Psyche. Fortitude would get through the ice eventually and put a stop to that soul connection and Motion would run interference. Psyche would sweep them away and Temporal would take care of any stragglers.

The Sage Force had yet to move from their position. Despite remaining a stationary target, they had yet to be hit a single time. Arrows and other projectiles like bullets barely grazed them, always just missing their mark. The combined flames coming from Firestorm and the ones that Mick Rory shot from his flamethrower sputtered out before they even reached their target. It wasn't diverted or anything. It simply stopped in its tracks.

Sara Lance charged with her weapon at the ready, but as she got closer, she choked. Not as if she tripped or anything, she literally couldn't breathe or hear any sound. It was as though the air around The Sage Force was simply missing. She was forced to pull back.

"There's no air around them. I couldn't breathe. I can't get close." Sara told them, gasping for breath.

"Wait, really?" Jax asked in disbelief, still suspended in the air.

"That would explain why none of our fire can get close to them. Without oxygen to burn, our flames are extinguished." Prof. Stein said in his head. "It really is an ingenious strategy. Using their psionic abilities, they're able to actually push the oxygen around them away. Not only does it stop our fire from coming close, it also completely neutralizes any close range fighters. They wouldn't be able to survive in a vacuum for long, unlike the Forces who don't seem to need to breathe at all."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Jax asked, because the way the Professor was talking, it seemed like there was nothing they could do to take this guy down.

"Well we are still on a time limit. If we can distract them for just 20 minutes in order for Dr. Snow to get through to Mr. Allen, then we'll have succeeded either way." Stein spoke telepathically.

"So there's a time limit. Good to know. We'll just break that connection before the girl has a chance." An indistinguishable voice spoke in their mental conversation.

Both Jax and Stein were thrown for a loop when hearing another voice, one they didn't recognize, in the middle of their private conversation. In the confines of their mind. One that shouldn't be possible to tap into. Unless one had telepathic capabilities. They both looked towards the one wearing a tiki mask and a glowing purple aura.

The Sage Force's gaze turned toward the twister with the sounds of ice breaking within. For the first time since they entered, The Sage Force took a step toward the indoor hurricane.

"Stop them!" Jax shouted.

Nia Nal manifested a blue energy whip in her hand that she whipped toward The Sage Force. They raised an arm that they let the whip wrap around, pausing to look at Dreamer. Now that they were stationary, the group let a few of their long-range fighters take a shot. Cisco shot a blast and Ray Palmer fired dwarf star alloy from his suit.

The Sage Force lazily raised their other hand, forming an invisible shield that blocked the attacks. The energy blasts seemed to have hit a block and curved away from their target.

Using precious seconds, Psyche faced Dreamer and their eyes intensified in light and Nia's eyes were filled with the foreign energy. Her mouth was open in a silent gasp at the sensation. The dream whip she conjured dissolved into nothing. Even when the energy left her, she couldn't seem to concentrate enough to make another one. It was like the image was just out of reach, as though she was in a constant tip-of-the-tongue state. Knowing what she wanted, but not able to make it come to mind.

"I-I can't…" Dreamer gasped, hyperventilating. The Sage Force had done something to her mind that blocked her ability to use her powers.

"What did you do to her?!" Brainy shouted. He took a deep breath and charged at them. Swinging his fists, he tried to land a hit on the Force, but was stopped before he could get close. The Sage Force raised a hand and clenched their fingers, Brainy feeling the same sensation around his throat, squeezing it like a chokehold. Brainy involuntarily let out a gasp, realizing his mistake. There was no air around him. Brainy tried to retreat, but The Sage Force lifted him skyward. Brainy's ring would usually have allowed him to move, even suspended above the ground, but it wasn't working. And with the lack of oxygen, it was starting to get a little hard to think. The panic was setting in, Brainy was clawing at his throat for the ghost fingers and kicking his legs, trying to find solid ground.

Brainy was dropped and he scurried back to outside the vacuum, coughing and taking deep breaths, trying to relax. Two pairs of laser vision shot clean through The Sage Force's outstretched arm, which caused them to release their psychic hold on Brainy.

The Sage Force stared at their bleeding arm for a moment before it was covered with purple lightning. The Sage Force used their psychic powers to rapidly speed up the healing process that the body required, moving blood cells and skin cells around so there wouldn't even be a mark behind. Even the clothes where the threads were stitched back together in an instant.

The Sage Force looked up to see two Kryptonians glaring down at them, their eyes with a molten color. They took a deep breath, ready to unleash a blizzard at their adversary with The Sage Force snapped their fingers. Both Kryptonians' eyes were taken over by a purple glow and they released their breath in a normal sigh. The purple glow didn't leave and they simply hung there in the air.

The Sage Force took another second to glance at the tornado where two of their brethren were. They called out, "Should I take care of that for you?"

They immediately got a response. "Let me handle this. This is strangely cathartic."

"I'm just covering their ass. Let me know when I can start having my fun."

"I'm simply enjoying the view. Keep up the good show."

"There isn't going to be one after I'm done here."

The Sage Force smirked, not that anyone could tell, but something in the air must have alerted them that something was about to happen because they all tensed up.

Psyche raised their hands outward, letting the power flow through them. All the heroes around them let out a silent gasp. Their heads were filled with a white noise and their eyes were overtaken by a purple glow. Some put up more of a resistance than others, but eventually they all fell under The Sage Force's thrall.

Bending their arms as though they were lifting to the sky, The Sage Force lined up all the heroes so they were facing each other. Making a fist, they forced the heroes to ready themselves. Their powers were activated and any weapons were at the ready.

Smashing their knuckles against each other, The Sage Force let the battle commence.

Immediately, projectiles and blasts were released. Arrows were sailing against each other, bullets were fired. Flames clashed with icy winds. Fists went flying. Blood was being spilt.

All in all, it was just a good time for the Forces.

Caitlin's defenses were literally crumbling. She was constantly needing to reapply the ice barrier, sealing up any cracks and letting one layer fall so another could take its place. She would have liked to have put some more weapons, such as icicles jutting out like nails to prevent a more direct assault, but she didn't have the time to create them. Plus, The Strength Force could probably snap them against their skin without even noticing a difference.

Constantin was in the corner with the flame, trying to keep it lit despite the falling frozen water and freezing temperatures. Barry's image was still suspended, cradling himself like a baby. "It's all my fault. I'm so sorry." he mumbled to himself on repeat.

Caitlin called out to him a few times, but her voice kept getting weaker with all the energy she was exerting, and despite what it might seem, she actually did not do well in the cold for long. Her powers were reliant on heat. If there was no heat, she would freeze herself. The more heat she sucked out of the place, the more she was putting herself at risk.

Out of options, she decided to go for broke and try to connect to Barry in the best and first way she could.

"Fleet Feet!" Caitlin shouted. She hadn't called him that in almost a year and it brought back so much nostalgia that it warmed her chest for a moment.

Barry stopped mumbling, as though the name triggered something in him. Caitlin had his attention. She needed to hold on to it.

"You've screwed up! You've made mistakes! So what are you going to do about it?" Caitlin shouted. She took a few breaths to calm herself from asserting her powers after another assault. "Our friends, our family, they put their trust in you to keep their memories alive. They may be gone, but they live on inside us! And what are you doing? You're just sitting there, wallowing in self-pity!"

It wasn't seen very clearly, but Caitlin got the feeling Barry was clenching his jaw. "Shut up," Barry whispered to himself. It wasn't heard by Caitlin or Constantin, but it was there.

"We believe in you Barry! Why can't you just believe in yourself? We're not going to keep holding your hand through everything. We're always going to be here to support you, but none of that means anything if you don't pick yourself up!" Caitlin scolded him.

Barry groaned, whether in pain or frustration nobody knew, and he squeezed his eyes shut. The images were flooding in his eyes, showing him what a failure he was. But now, he wasn't saddened by the sight. It just made him angry.

"So don't be sorry Barry! Being sorry doesn't change anything. You just need to do something about it! So do something! Please!" Caitlin shouted.

A few things happened at once after that. Caitlin fainted and without her, The Strength Force managed to get through her barrier. Fortitude looked at the small flame and Constantin that was sheepishly glancing at the giant, as though realizing he just made a mistake. With a simple blow, The Strength Force blew the flame out, but not before Barry, in the smoke, shot up and actually took in his surroundings, seeing Caitlin unconscious on the floor with a giant woman standing over her.

"Caitlin! Mrs. Frosty! No!" Barry shouted. And then the connection was cut.

The Strength Force had Caitlin in their clutches, looking at her with disgust in their eyes. This little, tiny, insignificant little thing thought, what, that they would be able to stop them? The Strength Force might find these creatures amusing, but there was a limit to how much they could tolerate.

"Ahhhh!" a shout rang out. Everybody stopped what they were doing to find the location of the sound. The winds had died down and Barry's body was there on his knees. His hands were digging into his face, the cracks between his fingers still showing his glowing eyes, but there was a clear struggle in his face. "Stop it! Stop it!" he shouted.

Barry let out another guttural scream, but it was distinctly human. "I said no!"

The light faded away from his eyes, and Barry fell forward, on his hands and knees breathing heavily, as though he'd just been through the most intense fight of his life.

Barry raised his head and his eyes found Caitlin's form in the palm of The Strength Force. He took a few deep breaths, preparing himself and lightning flickered along his body, but never reaching past his neck.

A collision of flames erupted, and the two Kryptonians breathed out a blizzard that Zari redirected with her winds back at them. The aliens raised their arms to block it, but ended up with a light layer of frost. A simple flex shook them off. Their eyes heated up, ready to finish off whoever was unlucky enough to be in its path.

Cisco had his actual hand out, the air around it twisting unnaturally, ready to shoot out a vibrational blast.

A thunderous cry roared. "I said STOP!"

Yellow lightning lit up the area and all the mind controlled heroes were huddled together in a corner. Before any of them could do anything, Barry was in front of them, his hands outstretched and yellow lightning flowed from them, being absorbed into Barry and none of them could move. It was though all their energy had been sucked out of them.

Now that his friends were no longer in danger of harming themselves, Barry focused his attention on the remaining three Forces. One of which had Caitlin in their hand. He shot The Strength Force a venomous glare that would have paralyzed a lesser being. "Get your hands off my wife."

Barry ran forward and grabbed onto Caitlin, phasing her out of the giant hand and placed her safely with the rest of their friends. A quick kiss on her forehead, he rushed back into the fray.

Using his momentum, Barry was able to deliver a devastating kick at The Strength Force. Being as durable as they were, The Strength Force received a light push, but in that moment, Barry sped to their backside and kicked at their knees. The Strength Force fell, bent over and Barry hit them in the jaw with his knee, making it shut very suddenly, rattling their teeth and biting their tongue. No matter how durable, biting one's own tongue is never a comfortable experience.

The Strength Force let out a surprised shout and instinctively covered their mouth. Barry was proving that despite all the muscle and strength they had, it was all useless if their attacks never managed to connect.

Barry delivered a body slam and they both tumbled to the ground. Barry was punching them over and over, and while individually they didn't so much as cause a scratch, it was slowly increasing. "You do not lay a finger on the love of my life!"

The Strength Force tried swatting at Barry to get him off, but Barry phased through all their moves, delivering a second round of minor attacks as punishment. Fortitude just could not get a good grip on Barry, and if they ever tried to get up, Barry would get in their eyes, blinding them for a brief moment. The Strength Force shouted in their foreign language that Barry understood perfectly. "Get him off me!"

The Sage Force came to their brethren's aid, telepathically lifting Barry in the air, and for a time, it seemed as though that was it. Barry was trapped. But then he disappeared in an instant. The wind was kicked up and all around The Sage Force, there were identical copies of Barry surrounding him. Usually with such a tactic, The Sage Force would use their mental powers to detect the real one, but that wouldn't work in this situation. They were all the real Barry, but simultaneously existing at different points at the same time. It made for a very powerful deterrent as it was jarring to feel the same mind within multiple different entities, at least from their own perspective.

If Psyche would ever try to focus on just one of the copies, it would disappear and several others would take its place. Psyche tried to grab all the copies at once, but all the Barry's shot lightning at their fingertips at the same time, each from a different angle. It was mind boggling to think how fast Barry must be moving to be able to not only appear standing at several different locations, but for each of them to fire their own lightning bolts at the same time.

The Sage Force covered their eyes and raised their hands, forming their own purple lightning armor to protect them from the attack. It wasn't so much the lightning itself they were in danger of, although so much The Speed Force lightning would not be a comfortable experience, it was the noise and bright light of the lightning that they were more worried about.

Just like their accolades, The Sage Force took in massive amounts of stimulus, and their mind processed all of it at a rapid rate. While they were not as affected by it, loud noises and sharp light would still disorient them for a time. And just a small moment would be enough to end the fight for Barry, who was obviously drawing on any latent energy left behind by The Speed Force. What they needed to do was pin down Barry, and they were sure the opportunity would present itself if they managed to outlast him.

Blow after blow was dealt, but The Sage Force stood strong against the assault. Barry was battering them from every direction. A frontal assault was quickly changed to a neck chop. A kick in the ribs and the next moment a slash of electric claws would be aimed at their face. The Sage Force was not as durable as their Strength Force brethren, but their added psychic shields to block Barry and instances of teleportation helped somewhat. There were several moments where Barry would collide with an unseen force and be repelled or would need to relocate where The Sage Force had disappeared to, but would be back with a vengeance. They just needed one opportunity to catch Barry off guard.

There!

Barry paused to catch his breath. After over a month of his body running on nothing but Speed Force essence, now that it was gone, he was running on fumes. His hand was over his chest, and he was groaning as though he were in pain. The proximity to the other Forces was still affecting him, being overwhelmed with feelings that he couldn't control. The Sage Force reached out and grabbed Barry with their psychic hold. Constricting their fingers to squeeze Barry into a paste, they felt him within their grasp.

Only to disappear when he put more pressure on it. Just another double.

Barry appeared before them and sent a devastating punch in their gut, knocking the wind out of them. A knee in the stomach, in the exact same spot too, and a slap in the face. Blood was leaking from their mouth and they spit it out into their mask.

Barry grabbed their throat and slammed them into the ground. The floor cracked upon impact, but he wasn't concerned about that. Barry drew upon the power of The Speed Force and let its power flow through him and into the body at his mercy.

The Sage Force snarled and growled at the sensation of their brethren's foreign power. Usually this wouldn't be such a big deal. Psyche had dealt with Motion's power for eons. For billions of years, it was just the four of them wreaking havoc in a singular universe. Even now there was no trace of anything from before 14 billion years ago. But there was so much from before then that they had completely destroyed. So no, it wasn't the feeling of The Speed Force within them that was causing distress. It was that the energy wasn't actively attacking them. It was more like sifting through them, finding something buried inside.

The Sage Force felt the power brush against the soul of their host and they realized what Barry was trying to do. He was using his own way to cut a path toward their vessels.

The Sage Force screamed, the noise deafening and used all the energy they could to try to push against Barry. But Barry held firm. He screamed back, his body coated in lightning, his form flickering in and out of existence. Barry had just spoken in the ancient language of The Forces, without one possessing him. His voice sounded with thunder, his eyes shining.

Barry moved and pushed against the power of The Sage Force, reaching into their body to try to find the true inhabitant. Purple and yellow clashed against each other. But Barry didn't need to beat them, he just needed to reach the spirit inside them.

Barry found what he was looking for. He wasn't sure how to describe it other than it was different from the rest of what he saw. Unlike the rest, which was bright and… purple, this was dull in comparison. Which is how he knew this was exactly what he was looking for. And with a small jolt, he woke the inner mind, letting it reject the energy controlling his body and Barry pulled back.

The purple glow receded and the mask was off. The face of Bashir Malik was revealed. He coughed up more blood and gasped, feeling a sudden weakness fill his body. He fell back unconscious, completely in control of his body for the first time in weeks.

Barry sat back but was quickly slapped by a giant hand. His body flew, crashing through the roof, leaving a large human sized hole behind.

A yellow flash appeared and Barry was back. There was evidence of a bruise on his cheek and his arm was twisted awkwardly. But within moments, that was all gone. "Did you just slap me?" Barry dangerously whispered.

The Strength Force cracked their knuckles in response. They grit their teeth and growled in a challenge.

Barry's eyes were shining brighter. Barry screamed and lightning was sparking. The scream was still distinctly Barry, but this time it felt as though there was something behind it begging to come out.

The two charged at each other, but when they met, Barry phased right through them and lit his arm up like a Christmas tree. His power flowing within The Strength Force, aggressively ripping the soul of Alexa Rivera out of its hiding place and putting it at the forefront. Fortitude's eyes turned off and instead of two blue light bulbs, they were the eyes of a normal human. The giant shrank back to its normal form, but the next moment, Alexa's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell flat on her face.

Barry was taking deep breaths to steady himself, preparing to fight against the final member of The Forces, The Still Force. He was glaring at the imposing figure, his eyes shining sharply, but with not a hint of lightning behind them.

The Still Force simply regarded him with all the contempt in the omniverse. Glancing at him up and down, The Still Force sneered at him, deeming him not a threat and not worth putting any effort. Barry was battered, he was exhausted, and running on fumes. Literally on his last legs. Barry was under no condition to fight and they both knew it. Whatever boost he'd experienced from The Speed Force, it was gone now. All that was left was simply Barry, for better or worse.

So The Still Force simply left. There was no reason for them to be here any longer. Their brethren had been locked away back in whatever corner they were sent, licking their metaphorical wounds. Brought so low by a mere mortal. But when the time came, The Still Force knew they would do battle, but for now, it wasn't worth the effort.

The Still Force closed their eyes, and when they opened, the green glow had vanished. What was left behind was a confused young man. "Where did you go?" Deon Owens patted himself up and down, trying to feel where The Still Force had gone. "What's going on?"

Barry collapsed to his knees and fell forward. "Hey! Are you okay? Do you need help? Do you need some water, or something?"

Barry didn't respond because he was too busy being unconscious.

I had no idea what to do with this crossover. I could have made this better, but this was how I was feeling it at the time. But were any of you thinking they realistically had a chance to succeed against 4 Forces? One of them didn't even do anything. No, they were simply buying time for Caitlin to get through to Barry for him to reject The Speed Force.

Fortitude is trying to stop the seance. Motion was cutting off everyone else from Fortitude. Psyche, after a brief fight, had taken control of the heroes and pitted them against each other for fun. And Temporal was just watching with a metaphorical bucket of popcorn. It was only once Barry had freed himself that Barry managed to kind of, drag the real soul out of their Forces' bodies. Even then, The Forces were going easy because they didn't want to damage Motion's host too much for the future.

Honestly, I feel like in the original timeline, this is where The Forces destroy Earth-1. But they got cocky and started playing with their food. Their plan was to break the connection with Barry. And once that hope was gone, they were just going to destroy the world. Obviously that didn't pan out.

We've got at least 5 more chapters before I stop. Maybe 6. Treasure our time together.