We're back for another round. Last week of August. Are people ready for autumn? I personally cannot wait for cooler weather. That's not what you're here for. Without further ado, let's get on with the show.
Disclaimer: The Flash does not belong to me.
When Barry woke up, the streets were empty. And for some reason he was still alive. The fighting was over. Or more likely, it had simply moved to another world. He felt like a failure.
He thought he'd done everything right, done to the best of his ability, and still, he failed. So many people had been hurt or worse for something completely meaningless. Did it have to end that way? Could something have been done to prevent the tragedy from happening in the first place?
Barry returns home to see his wife on the couch. They both stare at each other in shock and sadness. Barry just stands there as she wraps her arms around him and Barry just cries into her shoulder.
Caitlin rubs his back and just lets him get it all out. So much had been taken from him, and when he tried to help, tried to stop it from getting worse, it only resulted in a worse situation.
Barry melted into her arms, enjoying the feeling of having contact with another person. It was made better that it was with his wife that he'd been forcefully separated for the better part of the year.
"How many?" Barry asked. They both didn't need more explanation to know what Barry was talking about.
"We don't have an exact number, and there's lots of people who are unaccounted for, but just at a glance, it's bad. It's really bad." Caitlin didn't waste effort sugarcoating it. Today was a day of great loss.
Caitlin asked "How long?" This was something Barry would always love about Caitlin. She knew what he was thinking without needing words.
"Not long, I'm calling them tonight. The Speed Force will come for me, and they owe me answers."
"What are you going to do? Are you going to say no this time?" Caitlin asked.
"Even if I wanted to, I can't. Not anymore. It's my fault the others are like this. I'm the one who came up with the idea of letting The Forces in. And you saw how that turned out."
"You can't blame yourself for that." Caitlin tries to say but is quickly cut off.
"But I do, because it is my fault. I strong-armed them into it. I convinced them this was going to work. In the end, I just pushed the war effort forward." Barry says, dejectedly.
"You didn't know this would happen. Maybe this would have happened regardless. I doubt the other Forces were just going to be idle whilst we kept their desired hosts away from them."
"But it's my fault. I allowed it to happen. We might've still had months before they did anything. Nothing drastic happened while we were down there, and we could have kept the quiet a little longer to review our actions. I was hasty and impulsive when I made the stupid plan." Barry was determined to keep beating himself up about this.
"Yeah, okay. I'm not going to lie and say things aren't terrible, but what are you going to do about it? Throw yourself a pity party? You're better than that Barry. One of the greatest people in the world, maybe the omniverse. The Speed Force chose you for a reason. You can use that, you're not out of options yet." Caitlin said.
Barry stares at her and then his lips are upturned. "Why can't you give me a moment to sulk in peace? Is that too much to ask for?" Caitlin laughs and they embrace each other.
They kiss, and it's wonderful. The feeling of coming home after so long. Their brains are fuzzy at the sensation of being together again, no matter how short. Eventually they need to break apart for air.
"I promised you I would always come back to you. It may take some time, but I'm not going to break my promise." Barry mumbles.
"I know." Caitlin nods. She brings him closer into her arms, feeling his warmth, trying to memorize it. Her face is slotted right against his shoulder, tears are soaking through to his shirt but Barry doesn't mind. He doesn't want her to stop.
"I don't want you here tonight. I don't want you to see me like that again." Barry whispers into her ear.
"I want to be there for you." Caitlin tries to insist but Barry shakes his head.
"Please, I don't want to hurt you again. Don't make me hurt you again." Barry pleads.
Caitlin bites her lip so hard, it's starting to bleed. She sniffles. "You're hurting me now. I want to be there when you…"
"You're acting like I'm going to die. I'm not. They won't let me. So don't act like I'm going to my doom. I'll fight this as hard as I can." Barry tells her. "Just don't be there when it happens."
Caitlin looks down in shame. She wants to keep insisting for her to be there, but she can tell Barry won't relent. "I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight. I'm going to be up all night, listening out for you. But I won't be in the room if you really don't want me to."
"That's all I ask." Barry nods in agreement. As much as he was arguing against it, it gave Barry a sense of comfort knowing that she was closeby.
Caitlin gripped Barry's hand tightly. She gazed into his eyes lovingly. "Remember Barry. Whatever happens, it's not your fault. Do you hear me? It's not your fault."
Barry shook his head, the sudden guilt returning in full force. "No, Caitlin you don't understand."
"I understand perfectly. And it's not your fault." Caitlin whispered, pressing his hand against her chest. "It's not your fault."
"You're wrong." Barry choked out.
"This was going to happen one way or the other. There's nothing you could have done to stop this from happening. You can't blame yourself. You're not responsible for everything that goes wrong."
"It is this time. I'm the one responsible for all of this." Barry clenched his eyes shut and turned away from Caitlin.
Cailtin placed a hand against Barry's cheek, turning his head back to face her. "Stop being so noble. It's all going to be okay."
Barry broke down and began to weep, bringing Caitlin into his arms with tears in his eyes. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for everything."
Caitlin shushes him and allows him to get everything out. "It's not your fault." She kept repeating like a mantra. And they just stayed there for as long as Barry needed until he calmed down.
That night, when they put Ramona to bed together for the first time in a long time, Caitlin had gone to bed. With one last kiss, they said goodnight and she made her way to their bedroom. Lying in bed with her eyes wide awake and her ears trained to hear any sounds.
Barry sighed and sat down on the couch with a drink in his hand. It didn't numb the pain, but it gave him the impression that it was dulling his senses and sometimes that was enough. It was all Barry could achieve for the past few years.
With one blink, there was someone wearing his face sitting across from him, but this face was scarred and damaged. One of his eyes was milky white, lesions appearing all over their exposed skin.
"Hey there, champ." The Speed Force gives a tired smirk. "Let's make a deal."
Barry was reminded that there was sometimes nothing one could do. Nothing to neatly sum up the events of the day.
Sometimes, the day just,
Ends.
"Barry, it's good to see you." The Speed Force smiles. "It's been some time since our separation."
Barry doesn't respond, he simply glares at the creature sitting before him.
"You wouldn't happen to be willing to give your consent again, would you? But we're not at that point just yet. We're going to have to hold off on that. Because there is so much to take from you before you acquiesce. Just to let you have the full gravity of what is happening between us."
"We're not talking about that anymore." Barry finally speaks. "You had your chance. The moment's gone."
"Oh, we'll see about that. Then what are we talking about?"
"What happened today?" Barry asks. "I said 'yes'. Where were you?"
"Oh, so we're going to get into that. Well, I was busy." The Speed Force shrugs.
"Doing what?" Barry questions them.
"Getting my insurance. You know how long it took to dig this fellow up? Not to mention fixing him up enough to work properly."
"Who is he?" Barry looks at the copy of his body.
"One of the deceased. We can get into that later." The Speed Force waves him off.
"I thought you need-"
"Permission?" The Speed Force cuts him off with a raised hand. "I do. I can't possess a human without their consent because of your inherent free will. Red tape, it'll drive you nuts. But this one's already dead. He's been claimed by me. Everything he was belongs to me. So I gave myself permission. A little loophole, but not without its consequences." The Speed Force gestures to the damaged area of their face.
"What's wrong with him?"
"Well, he's dead," The Speed Force said as though it should be obvious. "You know the saying, 'the dead should stay dead'. Unfortunately it's true. There are always drawbacks. His departed soul is rotting this body inside and out. Soon, he'll be nothing but ash and his soul will be destroyed."
"His soul?" Barry asks. He could understand the body. It was wasting away right before his eyes. But the soul?
"What, you thought the body and soul are disconnected from each other? That's a load of bull. Even in death, there's a connection between the two that nobody can tear apart. Not that anybody has ever tried. The two are intermingled together. There's nothing we can do about that. That's a rule even we are forced to abide by."
"So that's what you want from me. An alive, fresh soul to lead your army, like today." Barry states. "One that won't deteriorate."
"Isn't that obvious? You felt my presence, it empowered you. It made you stronger. It's the same with the others. When we walk the mortal world, our connection is stronger to our followers, it flows through them more easily. Usually we can't, we don't have mortal forms, that's why we make the connection with our children. It's as physical as we can get without cutting corners. Even taking a host, that's bending the rules in a way that is not allowed. But we all did it, so we're not going to call ourselves out on it." The Speed Force mused. "But that is the general idea. I could probably squeeze another week if I'm lucky in this body before hopping into a new one."
"Why me?" Barry couldn't help but ask.
"Because we like you. Is it so difficult to think that you're our favorite? Why do you think your world hasn't experienced any of the horrors? We kept your world out of the war because of our fondness for you. But all bets were off today when our siblings came for a visit. Not pleasant. We've been watching you since our first encounter, ever since that night when you were a little rugrat who lost his mother and father. You've grown strong, you're smart and well trained thanks to all the obstacles thrown your way. Some of which was our doing, we will admit, even if indirectly." The Speed Force gave him a proud smile. As though he were their greatest accomplishment, created and tested perfectly for this reason.
"I don't need you. I never did." Barry glared at them.
The Speed Force just laughed. "Don't lie to yourself, it's not a good look. You were nothing before we came along. You don't know who you are without us. Stop torturing yourself like that. Even when you were free of us, you came crawling back, begging like a dog."
"I'm still not hearing a reason for me to let you in." Barry grits his teeth and clenches his fist.
"How about that plan of yours that you came up with the others? The one that they all failed at? You let us in, we fight one-on-one and you give it your best shot. No tricks. You win, you assimilate us into yourself. Take all of the powers and become the new Speed Force. That'll give you the power to stop the war." The Speed Force cheekily remarks. "We win, well then we'll win."
Barry kept his face clear of any expression, but on the inside he was panicking. They knew his plan. He'd hoped they would remain ignorant, but that may have been a pipe dream.
"Don't be afraid. It's okay. The idea is a good one." The Speed Force smirks. "So to give you a little more incentive, sweeten the pot so to speak, all the cards are going on the table. The ace up our sleeve, so to speak. Do you know who this is? You should. You personally sent him beyond the veil."
Barry's eyes widened, taking in the form The Speed Force had taken and realizing what was happening. "Malcolm."
"Big brother Malcolm. A good fit, a little tight, but it'll do for now. Though he may not last much longer." The Speed Force lifts up an arm to show that much of the skin on their hand was practically burning off.
"Let him go." Barry practically begs. "He doesn't deserve this."
"Since when do people get what they deserve? You were the one who killed him. So now he's being worn like a suit to the prom." The Speed Force had a cocky expression on their face.
"Don't call him that." Barry demands. "Let him rest in peace."
"We assure you, oblivion is quite peaceful. Assuming. That's a one way trip. Nobody has gone through that barrier. As it's been said, he's the insurance." The Speed Force reminded him with a cruel smile, knowing they had gotten Barry to his most vulnerable state. The things he would do for family.
"What do you want?" Barry barely speaks above a whisper.
"That's more like it. So here's the deal. You say 'yes', you let us in. We duke it out in your head, and when you fail-"
"If." Barry interrupts.
"When you fail, you don't resist. No twitching, no scratching, nothing. If there is even a hint of resistance, you will be left alone and we will never touch you again in life or death. You could scream until you're blue in the face, but we won't come back to you. Your brother will be the host for however long he has left. And when he wastes away, we'll find Jay Garrick and give him a little visit. And when Wally inevitably falls in this war, we'll pay him a little attention. And someday, in the distant future, it will be your daughter. She may be connected through a thread, but that's all that is needed. You will standby and watch, knowing you were the one who forced that to happen."
Barry's hands gripped the couch as hard as he could so he wouldn't end up throttling The Speed Force. "Don't bring them into this."
"They no longer have the mind to refuse. Their right to free will only exists in life. In death, they belong to us. So, what do you say? We have a deal?" The Speed Force stretched out a slowly decaying hand. One of its fingers was gone and it was completely black, like it had been charred.
There was no choice. If Barry didn't agree, more people would die. Worse, they would be completely destroyed. There wouldn't be a trace of them left behind aside from the memories that would inevitably fade. Win or lose, Barry would at least spare these poor souls the future of ceasing their existence.
Barry, defeated, took their hand. "It's a deal."
"What's the magic word?" The Speed Force looked at him with victory already in their eyes.
Barry took a deep breath. It was one word. Three letters. He'd said this word millions of times before in his life, but none of them mattered as much as this one. The one that would decide the fate of the omniverse.
"Yes."
Malcolm's body began to glow yellow with lightning as the being inside his body escaped and entered Barry's. Barry's eyes shone with power, his mouth open with the light of energy settling inside him. Malcolm's body then disappeared back into The Speed Force.
Their minds were fighting to establish dominance in that brief instant before the light died down.
Barry looked up, blinked a few times, flexed his fingers to see how they responded to him. A smirk spread across his face. A certain twinkle in his eyes. He brushed off his shirt, getting rid of some miniscule dust.
Barry looked into his reflection in a nearby window, but his reflection did not show the same image. The Barry who was in the window had his eyes narrowed, a frown on his face, and was shaking in fury but eventually his shoulders slumped in defeat.
"Thanks for the suit." The Speed Force smirked.
Cisco's dreams were plagued with visions of entire worlds dying in seconds. And Cisco was pretty sure they were actually real visions he was being shown. Worlds that were bathed in catastrophes that ended up destroying them. Sometimes they were broken in half, right down the middle. Thunderstorms that raged and blew the world to smithereens. People mysteriously dying from brain damage or other. And some worlds crumbled to dust like they'd aged eons in seconds.
And they weren't just of the Earth. There were planets Cisco had never seen before that were left lifeless, but each one had something in common. Their worlds were visited by armies of Force users before ultimately destroyed by a visiting Force, leaving all members behind to die a gruesome death.
Cisco had lost track of the planets, entire universes that just Barry had eradicated, and that was just because he'd been flung from one universe to another and crash landed before getting up and getting back into the fight, not knowing the impact of his crash had caused an entire world to be destroyed.
Every night, Cisco would wake up in cold sweat. He hated it. They'd only gotten Barry back for a few months, and for that entire time he'd been locked away in a secure facility where he was left to wither away and die. Only for him to go back into the prison he'd escaped from because he'd been pushed there, only this time was worse. This time, he'd willingly given up his autonomy in order to try to prevent more tragedies, which meant there was no going back. Barry wouldn't be able to leave on his own. The Speed Force would need to relinquish their hold of Barry's free will before Barry could regain control.
The more haunting images Cisco had seen was whenever it seemed like one of The Forces was staring directly at him, especially when one of his own doppelgangers were in their grasp. Their lives were subsequently snuffed out. Other people with powers similar to his own that tried to interfere in some way that resulted in their demise.
Cisco was a coward, he would admit that. He'd been cowed into simply observing The Forces lay waste to the omniverse because this might be selfish of him, but he was the one alive and they weren't.
The destruction of the omniverse gave him headaches. Cisco knew when a world within his own multiverse was destroyed when there was a ringing in his ear that came from nowhere. He was always scared it would be a world that he did know. A quick check confirmed that their friends from other worlds were okay, but how long that would last, he did not know.
But there was one thing that would spurn him into action, and that was seeing his best friend down in the dumps. Even Ramona seemed to be downtrodden, not seeming to have much energy ever since Barry had disappeared.
"We need to come up with a plan." Cisco determinedly said. His stare was hard as he looked at Caitlin who's eyes were dull with dark bags under them.
"Maybe we shouldn't." Caitlin suggested, the sound of defeat in her voice. "We've always put our faith in The Speed Force, why not this time? Let them do what they want and trust that they'll send Barry back to us? This war between them doesn't concern us."
"Don't tell me you've already given up?" Cisco asked. "We've never backed down a single time. We've gone up against too many things to just give up now, even if this is The Speed Force. You don't know what they've done. Even at this moment, they're destroying everything in their path, nothing but casualties of a pointless war. So many lives were lost. And they don't care about any of them."
"But this time, we're on our own. Barry's not here, every speedster in the entire multiverse is fighting on The Speed Force's side. Even our other friends aren't coming back to help." Caitlin lamented.
"What do you mean? Why won't they help? They did before." Cisco asked.
"Team Arrow has disbanded at the moment. That fight with The Forces really shook them. We can't ask them to fight them again. The Legends retreated back into the timestream. Their help can't be relied upon with The Still Force working against us." Caitlin explained. "And Kara barely managed to leave her own situation to help us. She's on some quest to obtain these powerful artifacts before some other alien can."
"Don't tell me, they're scared?" Cisco asked with wide eyes, suddenly feeling doubt in his conviction to take on The Forces. Caitlin didn't respond, so it was obvious what the answer was. The rest of their allies were running with their tail between their legs and leaving them to rescue Barry. "So it's just gonna be us?"
"What chance do we really stand against all four of them?" Caitlin rocked Ramona back and forth in her stroller.
"So we get some help. We can't let them keep killing all those people. How soon until they come for our friends, or even us? We just need to find people who would be willing to help." Cisco turned his thoughts to people they had encountered throughout the years that might be willing to assist them.
"Who would be insane enough to help with this venture and not just die in an instant?" Caitlin asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You've got to be kidding me." Caitlin deadpanned at looking at the people Cisco had assembled to help. "How did you even find some of these people?"
Caitlin was currently in her hero outfit with her hair bleached because before her stood all the metahumans Cisco had managed to amass in a short amount of time, all of which were metahumans, and aside from Ralph, they had been tracked down and imprisoned at some point by them. It was barely a day later that Cisco had collected these people to help in their plight.
"Called in a few favors and gave a couple IOUs. And then vibed everybody else to track them down. But they all agreed to help in taking down The Flash." Cisco was also decked out in his suit with his goggles and glove on. "Did you know David Singh is already aware of The Flash's secret identity?"
"At this point, I would be disappointed if he didn't." Caitlin sighed. That man let Barry get away with too much to not know what he was doing on the side.
"So, what's the plan of taking down The Flash?" one of the assorted metahumans inquired.
Caitlin took in the ragtag team Cisco had managed to call in at the last minute. There were 6 of them. It didn't bolster much confidence in Caitlin about their chances of success, but it made her feel slightly better that she wouldn't be dying alone, no matter how morbid that thought was.
Obviously there was Ralph, who they had called in from his vacation with Sue Dibny, nee Dearbon. They didn't even know he had gotten married and had yet to meet his significant other. Out of all the people Cisco had managed to get in contact with, he was the only one they trusted to not go off the rails with the plan.
Another two were blasts from the far past; Mark Mardon, aka Weather Wizard, and Shawna Baez, aka Peek-a-Boo, two of the first metahumans they had tracked down and thrown into the Pipeline in their first year of hero operations. They had both escaped together but Mardon had been thrown in prison soon after and Baez had joined him in the clink a few years later. But she mysteriously disappeared a little while later and nobody had been able to track her down until now.
The next two were metahumans that Caitlin had personally imprisoned; Adam Fells, aka Geomancer, and Joseph Monteleone, aka Tar Pit. Fells had actually escaped from prison during the break-in with Cicada but had since laid low. He was one that needed to be tracked down with a vibe. Monteleone was currently glaring at Caitlin. He'd probably been stewing in bitterness since the day she left him in Iron Heights.
The final metahuman Cisco had contacted was Richard Swift, aka Shade. The only metahuman that wasn't transformed by the particle accelerator and was instead transformed by Barry's brother, Savitar, by use of the Philosopher's Stone. He should have been serving a life sentence across the country, but Cisco had somehow managed to pull a few strings and bring him here.
Ralph pulled the two away from the rest of the group, leaving the rest of the metahumans to shift around distrustfully. They didn't know why they were brought here and they didn't like it. The ones who imprisoned them were the ones bringing them out and they couldn't be sure of the reasons. Whatever it was, they must be pretty desperate to come to them when they had groups of superheroes to rely on. Or maybe not.
"So what's going on? Why did you call us here? And where's Barry?" Ralph whispered to the two friends, not wanting to be overheard by the others.
"Barry's kind of the reason why we called you here. The rest of our friends can't come. They're busy with their own things right now." Cisco answers.
"What happened to Barry?" Ralph asks nervously. If Barry was the reason this group of rogue criminals was assembled, then it must be serious.
"Barry's currently being… occupied by The Speed Force."
"And that's a bad thing? I thought The Speed Force was on our side?" Ralph asked, never thinking that the source of Barry's powers could be anything but good.
Cisco shook his head whilst Caitlin nervously bit her lip. "They're different when surrounded by their siblings."
Ralph stared at them for a moment to let that revelation sink in before exclaiming "Siblings? The Speed Force has relatives?!"
"Three." Caitlin held up three fingers. "And they're all at war with each other with The Speed Force using Barry as a vessel."
Ralph was letting the gravity of the situation settle in before asking "Okay. So what do we do now?"
"Each of you has been called because you all have experience in fighting speedsters. Or one speedster in particular. You've made plans, come up with strategies in order to fight them. And you each serve a purpose to help in combating the threat." Cisco declared, looking out at the group he had brought together.
"The Flash couldn't make it?" Geomancer piped up, the only one of the group to not have personally fought a speedster, having gone on his rampage while Barry was off-world. But he'd been planning his attack for a long time and had spent his years of freedom honing his own skills to go against The Flash. What he'd faced was an anomaly. If he were to ever use his powers to cause destruction, it was still more likely The Flash would be the one he was facing.
"He's the one you'll be fighting. The Flash has gone rogue, and we'll be counting on you to help with taking him down." Cisco took a deep breath of sadness. It was a condensed version and very black and white, which meant it wasn't very accurate at all, but it got the message across on what they needed to do.
All the assembled metas nervously shifted their gazes back and forth, but they each had a glint of excitement. This could be their chance to take down The Flash with absolutely no consequences. Each of them had a score to settle and this would be the perfect time.
"We're only looking to stop him, we're not going to kill him!" Caitlin quickly shouted. She saw the malice and greed filling their gazes. They needed to understand they were only being tasked with keeping The Speed Force down, not looking to permanently damage them.
"You've all been gathered because your skills can provide something to this." Cisco started to explain. "Geomancer and Tar Pit have abilities that control the ground. Your jobs are to destabilize them. A speedster is only as successful as the ground they walk on. Keep him unsteady, do whatever you have to keep him as unstable as possible.
"Weather Wizards' atmokinesis can help to neutralize lightning. That's what you need to focus on. Disperse their lightning as much as possible. Keep it away from us. You're the only one of us who can deal with that.
"Peek-a-Boo and Shade are the only ones who can possibly keep up with The Flash on equal footing who are not speedsters. Teleportation and slightly light based phasing, you're going to keep The Flash on his toes. And that's when we deal the final blow."
"We're still talking about not murdering The Flash, right?" Mardon raised his hand in the air.
"How do we do that?" Caitlin asked, because this was one part of the plan that Cisco didn't explain, even to her. He just gave her a look and said that he would elaborate when it was needed.
"We use this," Cisco pulled a small metal box out of thin air. Caitlin suspected he used a breach to pull the item from wherever he'd stashed it. Cisco had to use his prosthetic hand in order to open it. Whatever was inside must be extremely important if Cisco was using such precautions that only his fake hand could unlock it. What Cisco pulled out with his prosthetic was a jagged blade. It was in the shape of a lightning bolt and pitch black. Caitlin immediately recognized it.
"Isn't that…?" Caitlin whispered in shock and fear at the sight of the knife. That weapon had caused so much destruction and pain to them. It had murdered several people, stabbed Caitlin and almost killed her unborn child. It temporarily disabled her powers when it sliced her palms and cut off Cisco's hand.
"Cicada's blade." Cisco confirmed. "Able to turn off any and all metahuman powers in the hands of Cicada. It's the only thing we have that stands a chance of hurting The Flash right now."
"Hold on, if that thing can get rid of our powers, won't we have our powers gone as well?" Baez asked, looking at the blade in trepidation. She'd heard the stories of when Cicada was on their rampage. The ultimate metahuman hunter.
"It was the combination of Cicada and the knife that caused metas to lose their powers. Without Cicada, its own powers are hindered. It'd need to be right up against a meta in order for it to have much of an effect." Cisco explained. "Wear some gloves and you'll be alright. But in the meantime, it's perfect for what we need to do."
"Oh yeah? What's your brilliant plan?" Baez rolled her eyes.
"You're going to use it to shank The Flash."
Everybody's eyes widened. Some in shock, some in excitement.
"Gimme." Shawna Baez outstretched her arms and made a grabbing motion.
Cisco tossed her some mittens before handing her the blade. Shawna took a few swipes of the blade before teleporting to make sure her abilities had not been hindered in any way. She disappeared and reappeared without any change to her powers. She was fine.
Getting up to the climax. Barry has fully accepted The Speed Force under the threat of his brother's soul. The Speed Force sure knows how to cut a deal. This was heavily based on Supernatural and the interactions between Lucifer and Sam back in season 5. And now Cisco has pulled out his own meta group to take down Barry. I tried to go for as much diversity between the seasons as I could from the first 4 seasons of this story, plus Cicada's blade from season 5. We don't talk about season 6.
Last week, I got two reviews. I find it sad that it is actually an improvement. Can I get up to three this week? Five would be great. Just the simplest thing will do. We've got four chapters left, one more month. The countdown is killing me.