Flashpoint Mayhem

by TrueHorror88

Another victory for the team, yet someone was unable to celebrate that and chose to make a world-shaking decision. Barry saved his mother from death, changing his past and his present, but it also affected others without him knowing. Seth and his family are just as affected, maybe more. The team faces newer threats, but they're not new to the Lethal Protector. They're threats.

3. Chapter 3: Mayhem

And now another bedtime story for you wonderful readers out there in the big wide world.

I'm really, really sorry for the long wait. I've got 4 exams coming up soon, so I've been jumping back and forth between studying and writing chapters. It's a bit annoying to be honest, but that's life.

Once again, I hope you're all safe and sound and healthy where you might be. And please, be cautious with human contact, everyone. This virus… we can beat it.

Now if you guys are awaiting a chapter with Magenta from Canon… Think again.

Thanks for all the reviews and messages you've sent me. It's incredible and keeps me going.

Now to answer some reviews:

Starpottergeek: Thank you. Can't spoil anything, keep reading and hoping my friend.

helioskrill2088: I love the Venom 2 trailer. We get to see Carnage again. My only hope is that the movie nails Cletus' background, and not make it PG. That is my old fear of the movie.

Red Eyes. B God: Glad to hear it, my friend. Hope I can continue to write stories that entice you.

d8rkforcen1ght7: Never said or suggested anything about skipping it… For now. ?

guest: Glad to hear. I haven't reached the chapter/episode where that happens yet. But I'll try and make it interesting.

So, without further ado…

ENJOY!

Chapter 3: Mayhem

"Idjits!" Robert Singer shouted loudly inside of Central City's sewers, marching with long steps as he and his colleague made their way to their destination. "I swear if this another one of those damn kids prank-calling us, I don't give a damn what the boss says, I'll whoop their asses so hard they're gonna have trouble shitting!" He continued talking like an old grump.

His tone made his colleague, Misha Collins, laugh. "Seriously, Bobby? You're still annoyed from last time."

Robert Singer, a man of 6'0' height and with the body of an alcoholic, with brown graying short hair and a beard, while wearing his helmet, faced Misha. "Those damn brats called us four times this month alone. Another prank call, I'm gonna go ballistic." With a huff, he straightened his yellow reflex vest and raised his flashlight.

"But you know it wasn't the kids who contacted us this time." Misha reminded his senior colleague. The younger sewer worker is a handsome man of average height in his thirties. Like his coworker, he sports a yellow reflex vest but also a protective helmet with a flashlight attached to the front of it. "According to the residents nearby, they've been hearing animal-like noises down here."

"Bunch of baloney." The old man scoffed. "Just a bunch of kids today acting like wussies. Animal noises? Pretty sure that's just all that music they've been blasting into their ear holes."

Misha chuckled. He should be used to his colleague's attitude by now, they've worked together for five years now since he joined volunteer services. "But just in case, let's just check it out. If we don't, we're gonna have the boss lady on our ass."

"Good point." The senior colleague agreed.

The two volunteer sewer workers continued walking through the water, treading through the filthy and disgusting waters that run underneath Central City. If it wasn't for their special footwear, then some of the filth would stick to them.

Both Bobby and Misha examined their surroundings, checking to see if they could find anything peculiar with their flashlights. They shined light all over the walls but neither found anything strange.

"Bobby, answer me. You've been working in these sewers the longest time than anyone, so what do you think made the residents above complain?" Misha inquired while lighting up their surroundings.

For the first time since they've worked together, Robert shrugged his shoulders uncertainly. "Before that damn accelerator thing blew a hole in the sky, I probably would have said a lost animal. But last time I heard anything about this sewer, there was a huge animal in here. Bigger than a person."

"Yeah, and that thing killed two other sewer workers." Misha shivered. "I hate that thought."

"It's gonna be fine. Last thing…" Robert came to a stop, shining light over a wall.

"What?" Misha noticed him trailing off suddenly. "What is it?"

Bobby nodded to a wall, which he continued to shine light over. His colleague followed the direction of the light and widened his eyes at the sight…

Both volunteers paled, losing whatever color they had on their faces at the sight of what looked like deep cuts on the wall. They appeared akin to sword slashes.

"W-W-What is t-that?" Misha shakily asked, his question coming out in a nonsensical tone.

"That ain't some animal, that's for sure." Robert admitted, looking around in search for the thing that created those cuts.

The two volunteers snapped around at the sound of a strange growling sound that came from the other end of the sewer pipe. Both workers turned their lights in that direction, hoping the bright light would scare off whatever grew hungry.

"That definitely ain't some animal." Robert stated, confident that they aren't alone down here.

Also, assured that this wasn't some children's prank call.

Another growl emitted, echoing through the tunnels. The fear inside of the workers' bodies increased exponentially in response to the growl. They looked around, back and forth, left and right… Any direction they could find, any direction they faced only to find just glimpse of whatever might be preying on them.

Robert, being older, stepped forward when he noticed something moving in the corner of his eye. With a deep intake of air, he turned his flashlight to it.

SCREAM

Misha let out a very child-like shriek at the sight of the small, scaly green lizard. The four-legged reptile turned its head in the same direction as Robert's, both facing the other volunteer with surprise.

"What's the matter with you, man?!" Robert exclaimed as Misha held his chest and tried to steady his breathing. "It's a lizard, not the Loch Ness monster. Didn't you play with these as a kid?"

"No, I played with Lego." Misha stepped backwards in fear of the small reptile.

He didn't see it… But he came to stand under an opening…

"That explains a lot-"

SCREAM

Misha screamed out loud when a large scaly green tail wrapped around his torso, pulling him up into the opening over his head. Robert was paralyzed as he registered his friend's screams, and then to his horror heard them intensify and blood flowing down the lower half of his body that's visible to him.

Robert gagged and held his mouth as blood completely drenched his friend's lower half. "Misha!" He shouted through the hand that's covering his mouth.

THUD

The volunteer fell into the water, not caring about the filth and human excrement that he fell into. But it was only because he saw…

… Misha's lower half… falls into the disgusting sewer water… completely drenched in fresh red blood and the torso torn off of it…

"What the-" The remaining worker cut himself off, forcing himself up to his feet and threw his flashlight away, shining light up on him. He ran towards the exit at full speed, running away to report the police force of that monstrosity that took his friend's life right before his eyes.

But he didn't get far when he felt claws grab hold of his leg sleeve, forcing him to fall to the ground. Robert lifted his head, blood leaking from an open wound on his forehead. His eyes saw a shed of green skin an inch away from his face.

Robert screamed out loud when the claws pulled him back into the sewer tunnel…

The little lizard… sticking its tongue in intrigue as it listened to the screams of Robert Singer…

X

Absolute darkness. That was the only thing in the wide place he's in. A total abyss that seemed never-ending. The air itself felt as though he's in a desert, hit by a drought that left the entire place bone-dry. An uncomfortable fog filled the entire empty space.

Seth blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to get rid of his confusion and surprise. He peered around for anything that could help him out, trying to figure out where he was. But the only things that he found were shadows and echoes that swarmed around him.

"Venom?" He called out to his partner, but received no answer from his "other."

But as he stood in this shadow-enveloped place, Seth couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity come over him. This pitch-black darkness that occupied this wide space, the mysterious and ominous fog that seemed endless, the way his symbiotic partner didn't respond or answer back to him.

Realization hit the mutant instantly when he pieced everything together. There have only been two times when he couldn't reach Venom. First time was after he was hit by the Blackout's lightning attack, which caused his partner and his powers to go dormant. The second time was when he spoke and was assaulted by…

Her

"Oh crap… Not her again." He muttered under his breath, but it could be heard clear as day because of the echoes.

"Pleasure to meet you again, young Seth."

The elemental groaned in annoyance when recognizing the voice. He turned around slowly, coming face to face with her.

The elderly woman with long grey hair, closely resembling pure silver. Her eyes concealed by a red strip of cloth, giving the appearance of a visor. Her body is clad in a long crimson-red dress with her signature white spider symbol that stretches all the way to her feet and over them.

Like always, she remains seated in a stone throne with an ever-growing spider web that seems to stretch out into the immense pitch-black void that's behind her. Within the web several images flashed, places and people displayed in those vision-like pictures. The web strands flashed as energy coursed through them all.

"Hello, young Seth." The clairvoyant greeted the mutant. "Pleasure to meet you again after so long. Do you remember me?"

Seth very well remembered this woman. Various heroes he considered trustworthy friends have met her, been contacted by her just like he's been. They've said she's trustworthy, someone who cares about innocents just as much as any hero. But that hasn't been his experience when meeting the creepy clairvoyant, Madame Web.

"You sure about that?" He asked skeptically. Their previous meeting didn't go so well for him… Except for the fact he did get a new friend. "Last time you did send Jessica out to kill me." Seth stepped forward, reminding her.

Years ago, when he revealed himself as Venom, the elemental was almost instantaneously hit by savage thoughts of others' worst moments while being hunted by another experienced hero who Madame Web sent as an assassin. She sent someone out to kill because she feared that Earth-616 couldn't handle the tyranny of two Venoms.

But like he proved himself to the Ghost Rider, Seth Fury proved himself to Madame Web and assured her that he is nothing like Eddie Brock. And ever since then, he's been proving himself to do just that. To live up to the promises he's made, and to become a better Venom.

"I do remember that young Seth." He saw her lower her head in regret. "I do want to apologize for that time; I was… I have no excuse for that. I do expect you to forgive me, young Seth."

"It's alright, Web. I already forgave you a while back." He surprised her with his answer, her head snapping back up. "You were worried that I'd become like Brock, I understand that. Trust me, I met him." Seth clenched his fists, remembering the numerous fights he had with the original and villainous Venom. "He's horrible, I knew you didn't want another one like him running around."

"Which I know you are not, young Seth." Madame Web smiled her assurance.

"Glad we both agree on that." Seth gestured to the surroundings as he changed the subject. "But what brings you to me exactly, Web? You being here doesn't exactly mean rainbows and sunshine. No offense."

He knew this woman very well from the stories of heroes he's met. Madame Web acted as a "cryptic adviser" of sorts, giving them warnings and clues when something extraordinary would take place. Extraordinary as it may be, it was never a good thing. That is the role of the cosmic being known as Madame Web, a foreseer of events yet to be unfolded that she tries to stop with the aid of powerful heroes.

The clairvoyant laughed at his joke. "It would seem Spiderman has shared many of his past experiences with you."

"We hang out." Seth admitted.

"But you are indeed correct, young Seth." She nodded her confirmation, making Seth straighten his posture and listen closely to her words. "Trouble is closing in on your home, perhaps it's even found its way there already. It's not the only threat to enter your home, unfortunately."

"What kind of threats, Web?" He asked, hoping to get more information from her.

"Threats that you know… Threats that I do not believe your Scarlet Speedster will be able to handle…" Madame Web slowly responded.

Seth narrowed his eyes. "You know about Barry?"

"My eyes see far and wide, young Seth, even into the ocean that is the multiverse. I have seen what he did with his… Flashpoint." Madame Web shocked him with her words. "I am sorry for what happened to you, young Seth." Seth lowered his head. "But for whatever comfort it may give you or not, I do know you also avenged your late fiancée and your son, and I hope you're okay with that knowledge. No longer will anyone suffer as you have."

"Carnage… He's gone and there is some comfort in that, without a doubt." Seth was happy that no one else would have to suffer as he has by the hands of that bloodthirsty monster. His head perked up when something dawned on him. "You didn't contact me before that, with Carnage."

"And I apologize for that, young Seth. But I foresaw that you were on the right path. Any advice from me could have consequently averted you from that path, and Carnage would have remained alive this very moment." Madame Web confessed.

"I understand that, Web, but that's not what I meant." Seth narrowed his eyes skeptically. "If you didn't come to me before, then it means these threats… They're bigger than Carnage?"

She didn't show any expression or make a motion to answer that question. She leant back in her chair, sighing heavily. "The threats that are appearing, young Seth… The heroes of this world, they can't defend themselves against them."

"I'll stop them." Seth confidently stated. "The heroes of this world… They won't have to face them."

"I fear your daughters would have to participate too." The mutant turned shocked. Madame Web chuckled. "Remember, young Seth, I do see everything. And I've seen your children's progress. How they've grown into incredibly powerful young heroes… They'll have to fight as well on the frontlines, trust me."

"Lovely. Wait, since Frankie has Venom's daughter in her, can you contact her too like this?" He asked, and Madame Web smirked. Seth sighed before asking. "Any other uplifting news you wanna share?"

"I do." Madame Web exuded a presence of confidence that made the mutant give her his undivided attention. "The world you've called your home, this new universe far from your origin world, is changed completely following your arrival into this world." Seth knew that already. "The accident that brought you here opened many, many doors full of possibilities. Fate has taken a liking to you, young Seth, having chosen you for a higher purpose."

That information piqued the elemental's interest, but he knew he couldn't get anything out of her even if he wanted.

As Seth let the words sink in, Madame Web continued. "The world you call your home now, is on the path of many dangers. And is at risk of facing calamities. Be wary, young Seth."

"What do you mean?" Seth demanded to know, wanting to get to the point.

"The accident that brought you here is indeed an accident. But through this very event you retook the mantle that you once discarded, standing as the vanguard against threats that this world is unfamiliar with, yet the kind that you know of."

Seth noticed her using that similar phrase before. "What do you mean by that? Threats that I know of. What do you mean, Web?"

"More than anything, more than anyone on your team, you will face hardships harder than most. They are a trial for you, young Seth. They're walls standing in your way. But you must overcome them if you wish to save the people of your new home, as well as this family you've made for yourself. They are but one of the walls for you to overcome for you to become who you are meant to be." Madame Web stated.

"Who I'm meant to be? Who? What do you mean?!" Seth shouted, hoping he'd get a real answer from her.

His question warped and distorted as the darkness around them started to shift, growing ever blacker and darker as it started to close in on them. "Unfortunately, our time has come to an end." The spider clairvoyant announced as the blackness surrounded them now. "Good luck, young Seth. And take heed. The threats you've faced before are slowly coming back." With that, she disappeared into the background, out of sight.

Seth stretched out his hand when she faded away. "Web, wait!" His call was swallowed by the abyss as he faded into the darkness as well.

X

"Wait!" Seth exclaimed, his eyes snapping wide open and his right arm stretching out to grasp something as though he's trying to grab Madame Web. His mind still reeling in what happened, his eyes examining the hand he lashed out.

Lowering his hand back to his side, he looked around and saw that he's still in his bed with Caitlin, who's sleeping blissfully beside him. He smiled at the sight of her curled up into his side with a content smile on her face. Half of her face was covered by her hair.

The mutant's heart flutters as he takes in her peaceful form. Gently raising an arm, he moved her hair away from her face, using that moment to gently caress the side of her face. The two of them took a nap after they got home and they slept till evening rolled in, judging by the skies outside of the loft. "Should probably wake up now and get dinner started."

Even though he thought that he couldn't help but just bask in Caitlin's beauty as she's sleeping soundly. Even if that meant just staying here for hours, even days.

Hearing a dark mocking laugh in the back of his mind, Seth stated with an eye roll. "Can it, Venom."

"What? We just thought how funny it'd be to watch your mate drool over you while she's asleep." Seth looked down at Caitlin's face, seeing if there actually were any drool on her face. "Hah, made you look."

"What are you, six?" Seth thought back.

"Technically, we're 12." Venom matter-of-factly stated his argument. The symbiote then became serious. "What happened? You were asleep then you acted strange and then you lashed out your arm. Most of all, our connection was blocked. We couldn't reach you, what happened?"

Upon hearing that question, Seth's feelings and emotions shifted immediately. He started. "Got another visit from the creep clairvoyant Peter usually deals with, Madame Web."

Seth could practically hear the symbiote's teeth grinding against each other while inside of him. "What did that old hag want this time?" He's not a fan of hers, especially after she sends someone after them to kill them. The elemental explained everything the two discussed in his dream-like state. The Klyntar huffed. "Just when we thought everything troublesome stopped with Flashpoint, that woman shows up and proves us wrong."

"Whenever that woman shows up, gives information like this, you have to accept it and take heed." Seth stated. "But she said I'm chosen for something higher… whatever the hell that means." He felt a stirring in his side and saw Caitlin rub her eyes by his side. Seeing her lift her head, he said. "Hey you."

Caitlin opened up her eyes. "Hey." She stated when seeing the love of her life beside her. Perching up, she leant closer to his lips and kissed him. "I missed you."

"I missed you." He replied back while stroking her face. "Good sleep?"

"Yeah… You?" She asked while sitting up in bed.

"Finally got to sleep with you again, so it was perfect." He kissed her on the lips.

Caitlin smiled and swung her legs over the bed. "Come on, we got to get dinner started."

"Good idea." Seth stood up, symbiote mass slithering out of his skin and forming his clothes. "Gotta get some food in those kids that aren't junk food."

"Exactly." Caitlin agreed and put on a blue skirt and a white blouse before tying her hair into a bun. "Let's go." She tapped his shoulder and walked out of the door with her mate.

The two walked into the living room, where they found their daughters already at work, cooking food in the kitchen. Frankie was by the stove, using tendrils to flip omelets and also make more mixture to make more of them, while her hands busied themselves with frying bacon. Ruby helped setting the table. Evelyn stood by the mini oven, warming up bread.

"Hey guys." The mutant called out to them, garnering their attention.

"Hey, Dad, Mom." Ruby said as she put the cutlery in place.

"You guys sleep alright?" Evelyn asked while carefully taking the warm bread out of the oven.

"It was great honey." Caitlin told her daughter.

"Sorry we didn't wait for you two, but we thought we'd do dinner tonight." Seth heard Frankie tell them.

"No worries, but next time the five of us are gonna make dinner together." The elemental told them.

Ruby smirked. "That'd imply you'd have to wake up in time and sleep like sloths."

"Funny, young lady." Caitlin told her daughter and hugged her. "You made breakfast for dinner?" She asked when noticing the eggs, bacon and slices of toast that Frankie's putting on the plates.

"Only things we had in the fridge about now." Frankie quipped. "And it doesn't take too long to make."

"And they're delicious." Evelyn smiled with a giggle.

"That is true." Seth agreed as he helped place the plates on the dinner table. "And it looks good, girls. I'll go and buy groceries tomorrow, Cait." He assured his mate.

"Sure thing." Caitlin smiled and took a seat. "Let's eat, guys." Her family agreed and they each took a seat at the table, digging into the piping hot food the younger members prepared.

Caitlin and Seth chuckled when they saw Evelyn sneakily steal a slice of bacon off of Ruby's plate. Unfortunately, her parents' chuckle also made the former assassin aware of her sister's action, making her retaliate with her fork pointing at her. Before the parents could intervene and prevent any bloodshed, Frankie beat them to it and used her tendrils to keep them from killing each other.

Seth jumped in, using his own tendrils and told them to stop fighting. Ruby didn't listen and threatened to break through her sister and father's hold on her. Caitlin tapped her daughter's shoulder, giving her a stern look.

Ruby conceded, lowering her fork and returned to her meal, all the while sending Evelyn a glare that had her shaking. It looked like she's threatening to shadowport. She calmed down as her father ruffled her hair and gave her a soft smile. Smiling back, she returned to her meal.

Frankie sighed in relief and retracted her tendrils. One of them, however, shot out to the counter in search. Magenta was looking for something which was obvious. A pitch-black tendril sprouted out of the mutant's shoulder, stretching out so Venom could join his daughter in her search. Their respective hosts watched their Klyntars opening cabinets and taking out a big chocolate bar.

The black tendril from Seth's body wrapped around one end of the bar, the pink tendril wrapped around the other end. Together they broke it in half, before taking a half each and retracting back into their hosts' bodies.

"Guess they're hungry too." Frankie noted when hearing her "other" tear into the chocolate bar like a starving wolf.

"No kidding." Seth said while hearing his respective Klyntar devour the chocolate like crazy. "But at least they're together."

"Yeah, that's most important." Frankie agreed.

Watching her daughter, he asked. "Frankie, are you doing okay? You and your sisters were taken into a universal element."

Frankie sighed. "Dad, you and Mom have been asking us that question nonstop for a while now. We're fine."

"The moment we're not, we'll come to you instantly." Ruby bit into a piece of bacon.

"So, stop worrying all the time." Evelyn said, eating her bread.

"Part of the job description, honey." Caitlin said with a smile.

Their dinner came to a pause when the parents' phones buzzed. Checking their phones, they saw a notification from Cisco. "Something happened at S.T.A.R. Labs." Seth stated.

"We should go." Caitlin declared, her and Seth standing up. Their daughters jumped up from their seats. "Girls, you can stay here."

"Mom, Evie's a teleporter." Ruby reminded her mother as she pointed a finger to her sister.

"Good point." Caitlin conceded.

"Evelyn, you're up!" Seth told her.

Evelyn smiled and used her powers to surround her entire family in shadows before they disappeared in a shroud.

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs, Breach Room)

The Snow-Fury family shadowported into the breach room. The five of them saw Wally standing on the platform while Joe and Cisco had their firearms aimed at the breach that's swirling in front of them.

"Of course, another breach." Seth said in annoyance as he took out his crystal sword, holding it ready in his hand. "We better not get any more rude people from other universes."

Joe gave him a dry look. "Agreed, our city's barely able to stand with you."

"Hey!" Seth complained.

"What happened?" Caitlin asked while going to the left side panel, pressing on the screen.

"Don't know, that thing just appeared out of the blue." Wally stated.

WHOOSH

Suddenly Barry and Iris appeared, both wearing fancy clothes. "What's going on?" The speedster asked.

"That!" Wally pointed to the breach.

Walking down the stairs, Barry asked. "Yeah, why'd you open a breach?"

"I didn't." Cisco stated.

"What?" Barry asked.

"That's why we called you guys." Joe referred to the powered people.

"Smart as always, Josephine." Seth stated while slithering symbiotic mass under his clothes, ready for instant combat.

"Well, can you close it?" Iris asked.

"Once again, wouldn't have called if I could." Cisco bluntly replied.

Noticing the swirling gateway pulse, Frankie narrowed her eyes. "Somebody's coming through." Pink symbiotic mass covered her hands, morphing them into large battleaxes.

"Get back." Joe told his children; they didn't have the best of luck with people from other Earths.

"Good." Ruby took out her Chakram blade. "More room for us to move." She smirked as he held it tightly close to her face.

"Yeah." Evelyn stood ready, but without her suit and her weapons she'd have to resort to close combat instead.

The breach pulsated again… and the familiar form of Harrison Wells from Earth-2 jumped out of it. As soon as he landed, he held up his hands. "Allen. Fury." He greeted the two heroes who stood ready for combat.

"Wells." Seth stated in surprise, lowering his sword. His children relaxed and lowered their weapons. Though he did notice Ruby scoffing her disappointment.

"What are you doing here?" Barry asked the Earth-2 scientist.

"I need your help." Harry stated.

"With what?" The detective asked, lowering his firearm.

WHOOSH

They got their answer when they saw a flash of yellow lightning speeding out of the breach. "Oh, what now?!" Seth complained as the lightning sped around the breach platform in a circle. Coming to a stop, the lightning showed that it was none other than Jesse Wells.

"With that." Harrison clarified with a gesture to his child.

"Hey, guys." Jesse greeted the team.

"Jesse. You're a speedster." Wally noted, baffled by her newfound abilities.

"Yeah. It's pretty cool, right?" Jesse said, inwardly happy to see him again.

"Great." Ruby groaned. "Whiney's got powers now."

Jesse gave the former HYDRA assassin a dry look. "Nice to see you again, Ruby."

"I mean, yeah. I would say so. Not so rude, but still the same." Iris jumped in.

Caitlin stepped forward. "When did this happen?"

"A few days ago." Jesse answered.

Frankie faced Harry. "Wanna give us some recap of sorts, Wells?"

"So, when I got Allen his speed back, Wally, Jesse and Frankie were hit with the dark matter." Harry reminded them. "Turns out she was affected. She was totally affected."

"But I didn't get speed, so could it have been from something else."

"No." Harry closed his eyes and shook his head. "I mean, I doubt it. Dark matter affects different people in different ways at different times. Sometimes not at all." He gestured to Wally. "So be thankful, but she was affected, and I wanna run some tests and find out how much."

Cisco smiled. "Well, then you've come to the right place. To the Speed Lab!" He called out dramatically.

Seth faced his mate with confusion. "Say what now?"

"Speed Lab? / Speed Lab?" Barry and Harry faced the viber with confusion.

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs, Speed Lab)

The team and the Earth-2 humans walked through the facility and they rounded a corner. The mutant widened his eyes at the laboratory. It was an entire laboratory with a race-like track on the upper level, circled around the place. Seth deduced that it was made to both monitor the speed and vitals of the speedsters who run the course.

After seeing the entrance to the course, he also saw platforms in the middle of the lab, and on it was a wide television. "This is definitely something, alright…"

Caitlin heard his words and noticed his tone, taking them in and narrowed her eyes on him curiously.

"This is insane." Barry stated in awe.

Cisco heard the speedster's sentence. "Something tells me you've never been in this room before."

"Nope." Barry confirmed.

"That makes four of us." Ruby chimed in while looking around.

"Five." Evelyn corrected her, nodding to their father who's still taking in the place.

Harry narrowed his eyes. "Wait, you've, you- Allen." He stopped in realization. "I suppose that means you traveled back in time again."

"Yeah, but I-"

"How many times did I tell you not to do that?" Harry cut him off.

Iris was impressed with his instant deduction. "Oh, you figured that out pretty quickly, Harry."

"Yes, Miss West," Harrison started. "it was easy because we've never been here either." He gestured to his child.

His daughter agreed. "Nope."

"And neither have they, which is concerning." The Earth-2 scientist gestured to Seth and his daughters.

"Right." Frankie nodded. "Other Earths, other timelines."

"Yes, exactly, Fury." Harrison faced the speedster. "So, when did you do it? After we returned to Earth-2?"

"Look, Harry, I-" Barry stammered. "Only a couple of things are different."

"In his dreams." Seth muttered to himself, still remembering the meeting with Madame Web. Unfortunately, his words caught the attention of Caitlin who narrowed her eyes again.

"Oh, I'm sure. Not." Harry countered mockingly.

"Really?" Cisco faced Jesse. "You guys are doing "not" on Earth-2 now?"

"Uh, no." Jesse shook her head. "That's all him."

Taking her attention off of her mate, Caitlin stated. "Okay. Let's just get Jesse on the track and see what she can do."

"Smart idea." Seth agreed. "This way we can see what she can do now."

"And get an idea of her current physical condition post-power manifestation." Caitlin added.

Jesse smiled. "Yeah. Let's do it." She took off her jacket. "All right, check this out." After dropping it off, she ran onto the track at lightning speed. Everyone watched her run around them on the tracks.

"Not bad." Seth said impressively.

"Damn. She really can move." Joe agreed impressively as Jesse sped through the tracks.

"Yes, she can." Wally said.

"Not bad for Jesse." Ruby said in agreement for the others.

Wally inhaled deeply. "Um, I gotta go." He stated.

"Wally." His son walked away before Joe could talk to him. "Oh man." He knew he was saddened.

"I'll talk to him." Iris told her father before walking after her brother.

"Hey, Joe." Barry waved him over. "Um… Look, it's just, it is better if he doesn't have speed."

"Oh, you don't have to convince me of that." The detective stated his agreement. "Last thing I want is two of my kids zipping around the city, running into danger." Unbeknownst to him, his phone began vibrating

"Because he looked pretty disappointed." Barry noted.

The detective narrowed his eyes, deducing what he meant. "This is about that other timeline, isn't it?"

"No, I just-" Barry couldn't influence this timeline with knowledge about Flashpoint, and the others also agreed that they didn't want to know about it. "I think you should keep an eye on him." He patted his shoulder.

Joe nodded and felt his phone intensifying. "Damn it, what is it now?" He pulled his phone out and placed it to his ear after seeing that it's his captain calling.

In the meantime, Caitlin walked to her mate while their daughters continued watching the new speedster run around with ease. "Hey." She got his attention. "Is something the matter?"

"…Not… sure actually." Seth wanted more than anything to tell her about his meeting with the creepy clairvoyant from universes beyond this world. "I'll tell you when I'm sure, I promise."

"Good." Caitlin accepted. Unbeknownst to him, she heard him call out in his sleep before in their beds. She saw his hand stretched out as though he was trying to reach out to someone. It was weird and she's never seen him act like that before. Anything that resembled that was when she got that horrific nightmare of Carnage.

"Seth!" Joe called out to the mutant. "We got trouble!"

Seth hadn't seen this level of urgency on Joe's face in a long time. "What is it?" He asked in concern.

Joe couldn't answer it with his words. He had to show it. Facing Cisco, he asked. "Cisco, turn on Channel 52."

"Why?" Cisco wondered while Jesse stopped running and sped out of the track.

"Just do it!" Joe urged the viber who jumped into action, turning on the monitor beside him and switched to Channel 52.

Everyone turned it and saw the headlines on the screen, and also that it's live news from the Central City Police Department, the person on the screen is Captain David Singh.

"BREAKING NEWS – VENOM OR MENACE."

Everyone faced the television screen with undivided attention. They saw the captain start talking.

"For over two years now, we've struggled and struggled with how we are to handle the menace known as Venom." David stated, shocking the team, though Seth remained passive as he listened. "As you know this monster has been going strong for the last few years, and hasn't stopped, which is our fault. The police department is gonna increase their efforts to stop Venom, but also ask the public for their aid. So, in light of this situation, and our stand on vigilantes, the Central City Police Department is offering a $100,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of the metahuman criminal known as Venom." Beside his face, a photo of Venom was shown. "For anyone willing to aid in the capture, the department is prepared to offer $500,000 for their help. If you have any knowledge on the whereabouts of Venom, immediately call the department tip line."

The department captain looked directly into the camera lens that's capturing him right now. "Venom, if you're listening, know this, Central City will no longer allow menaces like you roam freely, thinking they're above the law. We're gonna get you and we're gonna put you behind bars."

"What…" Barry let out in shock.

"What? What the hell?" Evelyn cussed.

"What does this mean?" Frankie muttered in confusion.

Ruby remained silent, turning her eyes to her father who showed shock but still remained somewhat unfazed by the news.

Cisco gulped and couldn't stop himself from saying. "Venom's become public enemy number one."

"As if this is anything new." Seth heard his "other" casually admit.

"Feels like Earth-616." Seth casually replied back.

Caitlin was worried about the lack of reaction from her mate. He's not… Does he not care that the city's targeting him?

X

(CCPD)

The next day at CCPD, Barry went to work with a lot of things on his mind. He kept thinking back to last night where he and the rest of the team watched Captain Singh publicly announce Venom as a criminal and also put a bounty on his head.

Was this his fault?

For resetting the timeline after screwing everything up with Flashpoint?

With those thoughts in his mind, Barry walked up the stairs on the right side and towards the CSI lab. "Hey." He greeted Iris.

"Hey." The reporter greeted him back.

"What are you doing here?" Barry inquired.

Gesturing to the lower levels of the station, she answered. "I was trying to get some information about why Venom's been declared a villain all of a sudden after years of helping this city."

"Any luck?" Barry asked.

"No." Iris let out. "Unfortunately, they've been like walls, I can't break them down. Dad's in there talking to Captain Singh, hoping to get some answers."

"He's gonna give them to you afterwards?" Barry wondered.

"Hopefully. It'll help Seth and answer some questions, after all." Iris admitted. "Hope he and his family are doing okay. Not every day your father or boyfriend is declared a villain on live TV." She stated, she couldn't imagine how Caitlin and their daughters are feeling right now.

"Good point." Barry wasn't too comfortable with this conversation. "Hey, um, just come here for a second." He waved her over to the side. Last night they had a very… awkward date… to say the least.

Barry had been looking forward to that date for a while now like a child. He's been so excited for this date, so much that he couldn't focus on anything else, not even work. It got to the point where he rapidly tapped the floor with his feet, annoying Julian to scold him into stopping.

And when he finally sped to meet her… it was a sinking ship. Their date was uneventful, except for a few incidents that The Flash had to take care of. They talked about work, but it kinda bored one another.

"So, uh, last night, I know our first date didn't shatter any records…" Barry started.

Iris argued. "I mean it wasn't that bad."

"It was…" He trailed off.

"Okay, yeah it wasn't that great either." Iris agreed.

"It was just kind of…" He didn't know how to find the right word.

"Boring?" Iris suggested.

Barry nodded. "Boring, yeah. Which feels like my fault. Maybe I'm boring without my powers."

"No." Iris placed a hand on his forearm. "Barry, you are perfect without your powers."

"Thanks," He smiled at her sweet words. "but I mean, what do you think it is then? You don't think it's a sign

that we shouldn't-"

"No!" Iris exclaimed, both looking around to see if anyone heard her. No one did, but she embarrassedly cleared her throat. "I-"

"Okay. Good, I mean, cause I do." Barry said, holding out hope for the two for them. "I wanna try this again as soon as possible." Iris nodded her agreement, hoping for the two of them as well. "But just with everything that's going on, this new case and- Wells and Jesse showing up and I…"

"Yeah." Iris understood him. "No, Barry, I totally get it." She nodded. "I get it, I should probably concentrate on making my deadlines anyway, so…"

"Cool." Barry said.

Neither of them knew what to say or do, whether it was to hug one another or kiss each other, they didn't know.

"All right. Well, I'm gonna… work now." Barry gestured to his workplace.

"Okay, yeah. Yeah, work." Iris sheepishly understood.

He placed a kiss on her cheek before they both walked the same way… Which was embarrassing for them both to a degree.

X

"Captain Singh, are you serious right now? Branding Venom as a criminal on public TV?" Joe told his captain in confusion as they stood in his office.

David closed the door and corrected his detective. "Detective West, I didn't brand Venom as a criminal, he did that on his own all those years ago." He walked back to his desk, piled with files and folders. "You know what he did all those years ago."

"I know, he… I know he took down the East Street Skulls." Joe remembered.

"The correct term is "massacre," Detective West." David stated. "I don't know how Venom got information about that operation all those years ago, but somehow he did, and he completely destroyed our operation when he showed up and killed them all." He looked through his folders, searching for a specific one.

Joe couldn't argue with that. "But at least he saved those girls."

"That's the only upside to his actions, Joe. I don't disagree with that, but frankly speaking, we can't let a violent vigilante, who's out there playing judge, jury and executioner, roam freely. We'd be no better than Star City when they had The Hood. He thinks he's above the law and we can't allow his spree of murders continue. The only other time he did something good for this city was when he took down his red friend in the same suit."

The detective knew that his captain's referring to Carnage, which truly is good as that monstrosity was no joke at all.

"Venom's no different." David stated and Joe snapped out of his thoughts. "We're not letting him go freely any longer. Which is why we're gonna capture him no matter what." Joe looked reluctant, and before he could say anything, the captain reminded him. "And that's an order, detective."

"Yes sir." Joe reluctantly accepted. He didn't want to have to chase and try to capture his best friend.

"Good." David found the right folder, holding it out for him. "In the meantime, we got a strange case we need to handle."

"What is it?" Joe accepted the folder. Opening it, he found images of severed and torn bodies that are completely disgusting to look at. He was used to it.

"Couple of bodies were found stuck in the outlet pipe, blocking it completely." The captain informed. "Figure out what did this to them, though there's not that much evidence with the current state of their remains. But try and see what you can do. I already handed a copy of it to the CSIs."

"On it, Captain." Joe closed the folder and walked towards the door, exiting the captain's office. Closing the door behind him he walked towards the lobby. As soon as he entered it, he saw Barry walking down the staircase. "Barr, got a case."

"Really?" Barry asked in surprise. "What is it?"

"What do you mean? Singh just told me the CSIs had been given a copy of the case files." Joe told him.

Momentarily confused by his statement, Barry hollowly chuckled in realization. "Julian didn't say anything."

"Maybe." Joe said.

Barry saw the look on his face. "Hey, Joe, you hear about Seth's case? Why he's targeted by CCPD now?"

"What do you mean now?" Joe confused him with that question. "You do remember CCPD always had it out for Venom ever since he took down the East Street Skulls, right?"

"I- What do yo-" Barry stammered.

"Another change in the timeline?" Joe suggested and he got his answer when he didn't get a verbal response from his son. "Good lord. I'll talk to Seth for a while, have him stay out of public for a while, lay low, otherwise, CCPD's gonna do everything to capture and arrest Venom."

"You're really asking Seth to not go hero-ing, not out in the field anymore?" Barry asked with shock at the question.

"He has to." Joe countered. "For a while, at least." He sighed heavily. "Come on, we need to talk to Albert."

"You called Detective?" Julian Albert announced his presence, walking over to them.

Before he could say anything, Joe jumped ahead of his son. "Didn't Captain Singh hand off some folders to you about our latest strange case?"

"Yes, he did, Detective." Julian assured him.

Barry scoffed. "And you didn't feel like sharing."

"I am not your friend, nor your assistant, Allen, ergo, you can get your own files." The CSI expert countered candidly.

"Calm down, you two." Joe told them both, facing Julian. "Julian, you got anything off those files that can help us?"

"What is the case, exactly?" Barry asked sheepishly.

Julian sighed and answered. "Dock workers heard a strange sound before, when they checked it out, they saw that it was because something was stuck in an outlet pipe close to them. They saw blood mixing with the water and called CCPD, the officers saw that there were bodies stuck in it."

"Wow." Barry coughed his disgust.

"Anything you know?" Joe asked him.

"Only that they were sewer workers, Detective." Julian answered. "When you see the remains of their bodies on the bodies, you can see they're wearing shreds of reflective yellow vests, akin to the ones sewer workers wear."

"That means they lost someone in their ranks." Barry said. "Why wasn't the CSIs called to the scene?"

"Cause the bodies were drenched in sewer water and other filth by the time the officers pulled them out." He started. "The Captain surmised we wouldn't be able to get anything out of them in that state, which is why the CSIs weren't called, Allen. Not a crime scene, we're not needed." He spoke as though he was explaining everything to a toddler, which made Barry grind his teeth.

Joe stated. "Can you get their names?"

"Already put in a request, Detective West." Julian started. "Unfortunately, we won't be able to get anything out of the bodies yet, as the medical examiner is out of the city, and I'm not authorized to perform an autopsy myself."

"Would a normal doctor be able to perform one? Perhaps a bioengineer?" Joe asked Julian.

"Suppose either or both would be excellent." Julian admitted. "You got anyone in mind, sir?"

"Two in fact." Joe stated and Julian smiled.

"You think they'd be up for that?" Barry knows who he's talking about.

"Definitely." Joe admitted.

Before the detective could take out his phone and call them both, Julian jumped in, directing to his CSI colleague. "They're friends of yours, Allen?"

"Um-"

Joe cut his son off. "They're my friends, and they're very skilled." He assured them.

"Good, I can accept that." Julian stated.

"You wouldn't have accepted their help if they were my friends?" Barry inquired.

"If they're just as mediocre as you are, then yes, Allen. I would not have accepted their help." Julian bluntly stated.

"Alright, you two." Joe felt like a kindergarten teacher, keeping the peace between a bunch of children now. "Julian, have the bodies sent to S.T.A.R. Labs, along with the names if possible."

"I'll have them transported in a few minutes, sir, with the case files." Julian assured him before walking off.

Barry gave him a strange look. "So, our friends can get the case files, but I can't." He let out in shock.

"We got work to do, Barry." Joe told his son.

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs, The Cortex)

Inside of the Cortex, Seth was seated at the console. Once this day started, his mate went to work on Jesse with Cisco and Harry. Their daughters went to school already. The mutant didn't have anything to do, so he decided to do some work by himself.

He spent most of the morning, gathering information that led to him being branded a criminal in the public eye. It didn't take long for him to collect enough intelligence for him to get a clear picture of the situation. Unlike in the other timeline before Flashpoint, in this timeline, Seth was considered a criminal after disposing of the East Street Skulls in a violent manner.

There were even photos of him being held at gunpoint by several firearms held by CCPD officers. They were even photos of officers scouring and patrolling through the city to try and find the huge elemental.

He also found something rather… disturbing and annoying.

Leaning back in his chair, Seth breathed heavily. "It's been like this ever since that time, huh?" He scratched his nose while a tendril closed down the windows on the screen. "Feels like home… Alright?" He admitted to himself.

"This timeline is truly different, maybe it's no better than Flashpoint." Venom stated his thoughts.

"No kidding, yeah." Seth agreed.

"Dad."

The mutant perked his head up, turning it around and saw Ruby walking into the Cortex with a plastic coffee cup from Jitters. "What are you doing here, Rubs?" He faced the clock. "You should be in school right now."

"Skipped a few classes." Ruby uncaringly stated while walking closer to her father's side. She placed the drink before him. "Got this for you. Black coffee with little sugar and small amounts of milk."

"Thanks, honey." Seth took the cup and opened the lid. "But why are you here now?"

Ruby took a seat beside him. "Why do you think, Dad?" She knowingly said. "Unlike the others here, I was born and raised on Earth-616 like you. I researched everything about you, how to become better than you. I also learnt about your history."

"You know about me and the original Venom?" She nodded to his question. "Must be weird having a criminal as a father, huh?"

"I have a thief for a sister, a cannibal for another, and a mom from another universe, too… Trust me, our entire family is weird, Dad, and we make it work." Ruby chortled and so did her father. "I don't have a problem with it. Mostly because you never had a problem with it."

"Doesn't matter if the city calls me a menace, villain or maniac or worse… I'll always be fighting and ready to help this city no matter what. The city can call me whatever they want, they can see however they like, it won't stop me from protecting this city."

"That's probably the one thing I really respect about you Dad." Ruby confessed. "No matter how many times people called you out, calling you a threat or a menace, even a monster, you kept fighting and fighting for the city you love. For your family. You never let yourself be bothered by something like that."

"City can hate me for what I do, sure. But I'll stop protecting it. It's my home, and the home of my family." He ruffled his daughter's hair. "I don't care how they see me, it's trivial for me to care about small stuff like that."

"Good can look bad, but be way better than good." Ruby quipped.

Seth chuckled. "Sounds like a good creed."

"You've never cared about that, even on Earth-616. Two cities hate you and that doesn't affect you." Ruby stated. "Pretty cool. I haven't told the others about your past; do you want them to know?"

"You can tell them if you want to, honey, but if you do, wait for me to join you, okay?" He asked and she nodded. "I hate asking you to keep something from our family like this."

"It's okay, Dad. I know how to keep a secret." Ruby nudged his foot with her own. "I was taught to be an agent like you. Well, to become the Destroyer of Worlds."

"And now you're Destroyer, defender of Central City." Seth leant over to her, kissing the side of her head, making her laugh at his fatherly action. "Couldn't be prouder of you and your sisters. Your mom too."

"Yeah, real chips off the old block." She joked.

Seth ruffled her hair, making her try and slap his hands away in retaliation. "I'm not that old, kiddo."

"Seth, you here?" Both father and daughter turned in their chairs, facing the entrance into the Cortex. "There you are?" Joe said when entering the Cortex and meeting the mutant's eyes. "I need a favor from you and Caitlin."

"What is it?" Seth turned intrigued and got up from his chair. He held back a scowl when he saw Barry entering the room.

"You know how to do an autopsy?" Joe asked.

"Yeah, I do." Seth nodded.

"What about Caitlin? She know how to do one?" The detective asked.

"She should, she and I do have the same amount of medical knowledge." Seth answered. "Why?"

Barry answered. "The department's ME isn't here to help examine a body or two, so we need someone to perform in their stead. Joe thought of you two."

Giving the speedster a candid and emotionless glance, Seth returned his eyes to the detective. "I can see if Caitlin's available. She's been busy monitoring Jesse's condition most of the day now, but I'll check on her." He walked past Barry and Joe.

"Dad, what do you want me to do?" Ruby asked.

"Stay with Uncle Joe, help him and if the department's transporting the bodies here, help him place them into the medbay." He told his daughter before walking away.

"Sure!" She replied loudly.

Both Barry and Joe noticed that the mutant wasn't appearing too friendly with the speedster.

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs, Speed Lab)

The Speed Lab was filled with the sound of crackling lightning as Jesse Wells continued running and running on the track. Both Caitlin and Cisco watched everything on the screens before their eyes as they stood on the platforms. They were impressed by what they saw.

But as another parent, Caitlin could see that Harrison wasn't liking the results he's seeing on his monitor. She wondered why… Rather she had a feeling as to why he's showing that expression.

WHOOSH

Jesse got off the track, speeding back in front of the others. She panted from exhaustion and turned her head to face the scientists. "So, how'd I do?"

Caitlin turned her eyes to the screen with a smile. "Blood pressure, heart rate, metabolic rate, all excellent, and you've got some serious speed, girl." Cisco hummed his agreement. "I think you're good to go."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Harrison stammered his counter. "I just still want to run a few more tests."

"Like what?" Cisco asked, but he had a certain and familiar glim in his eyes that only Caitlin noticed.

"Like more tests." Harrison groaned.

Cisco gleefully smiled. "Oh yeah, like-"

"We're not having Jesse fight my daughters." Caitlin stated for the fiftieth time.

The viber threw up his hands. "Caitlin, come on. Epic training match of all time: Daughter of Wells versus the Daughters of Snow-Fury. It'd be epic!"

Bluntly, Caitlin gestured to herself. "My daughters were taught by Venom. Not to mention, one fought a serial killer with symbiote powers and survived, another one's an assassin trained by a Nazi organization hell-bent on world domination, and the last one's a thief with light and darkness powers." She finally gestured to Harry. "And Jesse was raised and taught by Harry."

In her mind, it was like Cisco was opening up to the idea of Jesse being thrown to the wolves that are her daughters… Whom she loves with all of her heart.

Harrison hoped there'd be more to that sentence than just that, but even though he waited he didn't get anything else. "No offense taken, Snow." He stated hoarsely and the doctor sent him an apologetic look.

Jesse felt like she shouldn't be here now. "Uh, hey so, is Wally here?"

"No, not yet." Caitlin replied.

"Right." Jesse hummed but did nothing to hold off her disappointment. "Okay, I'm gonna go grab some food. I'm starving."

"Yeah." Cisco pointed a finger to the exit. "There's some power-bars in the workshop. Help yourself."

"Cool." Jesse walked out of the Speed Lab.

As soon as they were left alone, the two Earth-1 scientists turned their eyes to Harrison. "Harry?" Cisco got his attention. He got a humming as a response. "What are you doing?"

"Being thorough." Harry kept his eyes on the screen.

"Yeah?" Caitlin had another theory in mind as she crossed her arms. "Cause it seems like you're stalling."

"Okay, fine." The floodgates opened and Harrison confessed immediately. "I'm stalling, I'm stalling. So what?"

"So what? So why?" Cisco countered in confusion.

""So why?" Why? Why, I gotta explain myself to you, Ramon? Oh, I guess I do, cause, unlike me and Snow, you're not a parent." He gestured to the exit that his child used before. "That's my daughter, okay?! And she spent months on this very Earth, watching Barry Allen defeat meta after meta after meta, and Zoom."

"You know he wasn't alone in any of those fights, right? Seth and my daughters were there too, you know." Caitlin chimed in.

"Then all of a sudden, bam!" Harry clapped his hands loudly, and ignored Caitlin's words altogether. He started spinning around. "She's got speed and now she wants to be a hero just like him. And I think that's a great idea… Not!" He sighed and returned to the monitor.

"Harry," Caitlin got his attention. "we can help her. We can train her. We got Seth here, after all. His knowledge about powers combined with our metahuman knowledge, we'd be able to make her a really great hero. Better and greater than Barry without a doubt."

Cisco noticed that snipe.

"I don't want you to train her or make her a hero, Snow." Harry snapped back. Gesturing to their surroundings, he said. "Okay? I brought her here for you to talk her out of it. Not talk her into it. All right, Ramon?" He pointed to the viber. "You should talk to her. You're a meta."

Cisco nodded. "Yeah. Which makes me the last person she should talk to about not using her powers."

Harry tried another tactic, facing Caitlin. "Okay, Snow, Caitlin…" The doctor turned shocked by his words and also by the way he's holding his hands together like he's begging. "You and her, you've always had such a special relationship. You talk to her."

"Sure, you're not confusing her with Evelyn, my daughter? Cause I have a special bond and relationship with my daughter, not yours." Caitlin clarified. "Me and Jesse don't have a relationship."

"Yeah, you do." At this point, it was like Harrison's trying to force a relationship that never existed.

Caitlin quickly added. "And I don't know anything about having powers, so I'm the last person you should talk to so don't ask me." She stated, mostly to keep her secret. She walked off the platform, quickly running towards the exit.

"But…" Harry trailed off.

She threw a glance backwards at them as she exited the Speed Lab. "Wow!" Caitlin gasped when she suddenly lost balance and fell to the ground. Normally a collision would have followed, but she was instead caught before she would land on the floor. Out of instinct, she lashed out her arms and wrapped them around the neck of the person who saved her.

"A warning would have been nice if you wanted to tango, Caitlin." Looking up, she formed a broadening smile when seeing it was Seth that caught her. "So, what's the verdict? You wanna tango, Cait?" He quipped with a wink.

"Maybe later." Caitlin said while smiling at his face.

"Shame." Seth leant down, capturing her lips in quick lip lock before saying. "Guess I'll have to bid my time." He pulled her up to her feet again.

Caitlin straightened her clothes and pushed her hair out of the way and inhaled sharply. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"I was wondering if you're busy." He stated.

"Not much, no. Why?" Caitlin asked.

"Joe and the department needs an autopsy done on some bodies, but their ME is out of town. So, they brought them to us instead." He explained. "Joe asked if we could help. You up for it?"

"Yeah, definitely." Caitlin accepted and they walked towards the medbay, holding hands.

X

Caitlin and Seth each put on a medical lab coat as soon as they entered the medbay. Both pulled blue medical gloves up their hands as they saw the bodies… or rather body parts on the table. Barry gagged and covered his mouth as does Joe, who's covering his mouth with a tissue. Ruby watched passively and interested as her parents readied themselves for the examination.

"Wow." Seth let out at the body parts in front of him. It looked like body parts that have been mashed together repeatedly. From what he could see, he could see the ragged and ripped lower half of a body, the half of a hand and also part of a separate torso.

"Dear God." She let out as she saw the body parts still clad in filthy clothes. Caitlin turned to the detective. "Where'd you find them?" Joe handed her the folder with the case files. Accepting it she opened it up and took a look at the contents. Quickly reading them, she announced. "They were found in an outlet pipe by the port."

"That's messed up." Seth said as he looked down at the parts. "Joe, you got their names?"

"Think their bodies should be helpful enough, right?" Barry stated.

The elemental faced him with a cold look. "These people may be dead, but they deserve to be addressed by their names as they're gonna help us uncover a murder and prevent others from meeting the same fate. Also, if you're not gonna be of use, then get out." That look alone sent shivers down the speedster's spine.

"Um, no I think I can help." Barry shakily answered.

Joe noticed the animosity and gulped. After swallowing hard, the detective pulled up a message he got from Julian. "Okay, looks like they're not official workers, but they're volunteers who work out at various places that don't have enough manpower. Misha Collins and Robert Singer are the latest workers." He turned his phone around, showing the doctors the profiles of both volunteers.

Ruby looked at the detective. "Unc, you know where they last worked? Might give us a clue as to where they died."

Joe shook his head and as he did, Caitlin stated. "I think they definitely died in a sewer." Everyone turned to the doctors, seeing that both are already at work, examining the bodies as the others spoke. With a pair of curved tweezers in her hand, she pulled up a piece of clothing from the body parts. Holding it up to her eyes, she noted. "It's covered in greywater."

That name perked up Ruby's head and she turned to her mother. "That's water found in sewers. It's made from sinks and bathtubs, right?"

"Exactly, Rubs." Seth smiled at her knowledge. "And yeah, Caitlin's right, I think they died in a sewer, too."

"How're you two so sure?" Joe asked while taking notes in his notepad. Jesse, Cisco and Harry watched their examination from the other room.

"It's like what Albert said." Seth, with his own tweezers, held them up and showed a piece of bright yellow fabric with a piece of silver fabric embroidered into it. "This is a shred of their clothes, it's a reflective vest that they were wearing."

"And to help them navigate their way through the darkness of a sewer, the workers usually wear those types of vests." Caitlin added. "Stands to reason that volunteers would wear and utilize the same type of gear as official sewer workers. Wonder what they were doing down there…" She trailed off when seeing the bodies again with a wondrous look.

"Wait a second." Joe began scrolling through his messages, getting the attention of everyone else in the room. "Bingo! The CCPD got calls about some strange noises coming from their… toilets." He informed seriously.

"For real? Sure, it's not just prank calls, Unc?" Ruby asked her uncle.

"Apparently, not. Honestly, this could be an animal attack." Seth gestured to the corpses while scouring through the bits and pieces, searching for another clue.

"Animal attack?" Joe gulped, sweat pouring down his face. Everyone knew who he was fearing. "You mean, it's-"

"No, Joe it's not Grodd." The mutant assured him confidently.

"What makes you sure of that, Fury?" Asked Harry, whom no one noticed entering the medbay.

While keeping his eyes on the body parts, Seth gestured to them as he answered. "Take a look at the bodies. We've fought Grodd before, we've seen the kind of damage he does to a human. He pounds with unbelievable strength, practically mincing his opponents into grounded meat. But this… This was a ferocious animal that tore into his foes with fangs and claws."

Pushing a piece of flesh away, he showed a stuck out bone to the others. "And you can clearly see that the bone was bitten into by something with very sharp teeth, maybe fangs even."

Caitlin continued, gesturing to a leg ridden with holes. "And you can see there are deep holes in the leg, something normal fingers like that of a primate can't make. Only something with claws could have done something like this."

"Seriously?" Joe feared whatever could do that.

"And also…" Seth searched once more, looking for something specific. "Where is it?"

Caitlin gave him a dry look. "You're not looking for their heart to say, "Will you be my valentine?", are you?" She asked.

Stopping his search, he turned to face his mate. "That is an excellent suggestion, Caitlin. I will definitely use it for the actual day." He winked. "But no, I'm looking for something else."

Another pair of eyes noticed the doctors' interaction and how they seemed to just enjoy everything about each other.

"Found it." Seth said with a smile.

"You better not have found something disgusting." Cisco shook his head disapprovingly. "I want my breakfast to stay in my stomach." He announced while eating beef jerky.

"You're eating while an autopsy is being performed?" Ruby thought that was weird, even for her.

Pulling his tweezers out of the body parts, he showed his findings in the form of… green skin. "Found something weird."

Caitlin leant over from her side, examining her mate's findings. "That's skin… Never seen that kind of skin. Doesn't seem human." She noted.

"Think whatever did this to Misha and Robert definitely isn't human." Seth took a sample glass and placed the green skin on it. "Cisco, can you perform a DNA analysis?"

"Yeah, I know a thing or two about that." Cisco admitted, having worked with Caitlin taught him a few things. "Want me to run one on that?" He pointed to the glass with a piece of jerky.

"Yes, please." Seth handed him the glass and walked away.

"What's the plan in the meantime then?" Joe asked.

The elemental took off his gloves and his coat, and answered while his clothes formed his trench coat. "In the meantime, I'm going down to those sewers close to the point where this happened and see if I can have a meeting with the Loch Ness monster."

"What?" Barry gasped. "You're kidding, right, Seth? That thing tore into two humans with ease and killed them. And-"

"And I'm a mutant, got a better chance of survival than two humans." He bluntly told the metahuman. "And before you say anything, you're not coming."

"What? Why not?" Barry asked in confusion.

"Like you said that thing tore into two humans with ease." Seth told him coldly with an even icier glare. "You going with me out there, would just hinder me. We need fighters, not runners." Barry stepped backwards, like he's trying to get away. He looked past him and turned to his daughter. "Ruby, go home, finish homework and stay ready. When your sisters get home, bring them along and help me if this thing gets too out of hand."

"You're not bringing the Flash out there, but you're willing to bring your daughters?" Harrison asked.

"Close range combat is Frankie's, Ruby's and my own forte. We're better at that and more suited in enclosed areas like a sewer. Especially me and Frankie, we're both symbiote users, we can stick to any surface. Any platform can become our foothold. Evelyn's arrows shoot straight, so in a sewer that's more optimal." Seth listed off. "And unlike The Flash, who's used to running rather than fighting, we're better at that. Not to mention, the four of us got superstrength to a degree. Smart as you are Harry, you can't ignore the fact that I'm speaking the truth."

"… Good point." He's right. Harry couldn't ignore the logic in his words. He also couldn't ignore the coldness of his words when speaking about the speedster.

"Joe, I'll call you when I find something." He tells the detective.

"Alright." Joe said as the mutant moved to the exit. He had a feeling he couldn't say anything to stop the mutant from walking into the maw of whatever's in the sewers.

"Seth, wait!" Seeing an opportunity, Caitlin took off her own gloves and coat and rushed to his side. "What if I came with you? You know, as backup?"

"You serious?" Seth asked, not against the idea of working with her, but is genuinely concerned for her safety.

Caitlin nodded her assurance. "Deadly. Besides, we haven't been on a date for a while now. This could be fun." She stated.

"Date… Sure. Let's go." Seth accepted. He felt like there was more to this than meets the eye. Caitlin wanted something more.

"Caitlin, you sure that's a good idea?" Jesse asked her. "Might be dangerous." She hoped she'd be able to jump into the field, show off her skills.

"Don't worry about me, Jesse. I'll be working alongside the strongest guy in the city." Caitlin pointed to her boyfriend who smiled.

Ruby giggled to herself. "No offense, Dad but you got to up your game." She chuckled as her father's eyes mock glared at her. "Bringing your girlfriend to a sewer for a date, doesn't sound like the smartest choice."

"Rubs, be nice to your father. He might just be a bit rusty." Caitlin quipped, making Seth give her a hurt look and a pout. "Come on. Rubs, remember to suit up and stay ready with your sisters alright?"

"Gotcha, Mom." Ruby gave a mock salute.

Barry… He was left with a hollow feeling.

X

(CCPD)

Joe West decided to trust Seth and Caitlin to inspect the sewers in hopes of finding whatever took the lives of Robert Singer and Misha Collins. In the meantime, he returned to CCPD and invited his son, Wally, to meet him there.

He has to be the father, and convince his son that he's not meant to be a superhero.

"Dad." Joe looked up from his desk, seeing his son walk towards his desk. "What's going on? Why'd you want to see me?"

"Oh, hey." Joe got up from his chair. "Uh, have a seat." He gestured to the chair beside his desk. His son took a seat with a saddened look that the detective understood. Leaning against his desk he explained. "Look, I know it's been really hard for you. Seeing Jesse with speed and…" He trailed off purposely, hoping his son would continue.

Wally sighed and confessed. "I just keep thinking of what Harry said. How sometimes it takes a while for powers to manifest."

"Yeah." Joe nodded his understanding. "Harry also said that they may never manifest."

Nodding, Wally countered. "Yes, but I also got hit by that dark matter, too, just like Jesse. It could happen for me somehow."

Joe could see that his son is still holding out for hope for the chance to get speed. He hated having to be the one to squash his child's hopes, but he had to. "Look, you weren't here when the first particle accelerator exploded. That dark matter went throughout the whole city. Everybody got hit. Me, your sister, this whole precinct. Do you know how many metas there have been so far?" He saw his son's head hang down. "I know you want this more than anything. But you have to face the fact that it might not happen."

After hearing this, Wally raised his head. "So, you think just let it go? Give up on wanting to help people?"

The detective leant closer to his son, reminding him wholeheartedly. "You don't need powers to do that. Look, Barry was coming to the rescue as a CSI long before he was the Flash. He wanted to help people then just like you want to help people now. So, he studied, he honed that brilliant mind of his. And you have the same brilliant mind, Wall."

"Dad-"

"No, I mean it, son." Joe determinedly told his son. "Look, a lot of people dream about making the world a better place. With that mind of yours and that engineering talent, you literally could build a better world."

Wally let that sink in, engraving the words his father uttered. "So what? I gotta stay in school?"

"Yeah, you gotta stay in school." Joe shared a chuckle with his son. "Just a couple more years." He tapped his shoulder.

X

Caitlin and Seth found an entrance point into the sewer, taking the manhole cover off and entered the sewer. The two entered the sewer tunnel, their feet treading through the disgusting greywater. Caitlin did her best to prevent any of the filthy components from sticking to her footwear.

Seth helped her along, using his ice element to freeze some of the water ahead of her steps so she could use them like steps on a staircase. Caitlin showed her appreciation and gratitude by flashing him a beaming loving smile that made his legs shake.

As they shined light on their path with their flashlights, they walked in a tight formation, the mutant standing in front of his mate with symbiotic mass slithering underneath his clothes in case the monster inside here shows up to meet them. In that scenario, he's gonna use all of his powers at full force and annihilate that being.

The others back at S.T.A.R. Labs couldn't see what they were doing as the couple weren't equipped with cameras. Although they were equipped with earpieces to communicate back and forth with the group back at the facility.

"You guys find anything interesting down there?" Cisco asked them.

Seth sighed at the question. "For the fifth time now, he's been asking us that! Tell him to can it! It's annoying." The mutant noticed ever since they got out of the Speed Force, his "other" has a shorter fuse than usual. "Like you're one to talk!" He sniped at his host.

Pressing on her earpiece, Caitlin assured the viber. "We're fine, Cisco. Nothing's appeared." She swung her light, shining ahead of their path. "What are the chances that whatever took their lives disappeared, found another place to call home?"

"That'd be good, but…" Seth scoffed. "When are we ever that lucky, Cait?"

"Good point." She came to a stop when seeing another pile of human excrement before her feet. "I think I'd rather see blood now than all of this." Caitlin gestured to the sewer contents in front of her.

Seth couldn't argue with that. Stretching out his fingers and placing them in the water, he used his ice powers to spread a coldness over to her position, freezing whatever stood in her path. "Yeah, but strangely enough we haven't found any blood since we got down here."

"You're right." Caitlin agreed as she stepped onto the frozen filth, using it as a stepping stone to follow her mate. "Means we have to go deeper into the sewers if we hope to find any clues as to what's down here."

"Exactly." He agreed with her. "Let's go."

"That doesn't sound like the smartest idea." Barry voiced his opinion through the earpieces. "You're only two people down there, after all." He reminded them.

"If we need help, we're calling our kids." Seth reaffirmed, he felt like hearing the speedster's voice was like having needles sticking into his ears.

"Seth…" Caitlin got his attention. She lowered her flashlight and asked once and for all. "Your strange dream yesterday… What was it about?"

Seth looked into her eyes, seeing that she wouldn't budge with any quips or excuses he had. She wanted the truth from him and nothing else.

Though he promised he'd fill her in when he knew more, he knew he couldn't change that and had to tell the truth… to her.

Pressing his earpiece, he said. "We're going off comms, guys."

"Why?" Harrison asked them.

"Cause if whatever's down here has intelligence and has functional ears, it's gonna start sniffing around when it hears us talking into thin air." Seth stated.

"I don't know, Seth-"

"We're down here, we make the choice." Seth cut Barry off, pressing his earpiece again and turned off his comms. He faced Caitlin, who turned off her own comms device. He started. "Wasn't a dream."

"A nightmare?" Caitlin wondered.

"No." Seth shook his head. "It was a visit…"

And with that, the mutant informed her of everything that Madame Web stated in their discussion. Every single piece of detail shocked Caitlin beyond what she thought was possible. Her mouth agape, her eyes wide and her mind excruciatingly expanding with everything that came out of Seth's mouth. Every single part of him explaining about Madame Web sunk into her mind…

With the knowledge she heard and learnt, worry erupted like magma spewing out of a volcano.

"And she said something about threats I've faced before coming back before I woke up." Seth finalized.

"Wait!" Caitlin stepped closer to him. "You're saying this Madame Web is some kind of clairvoyant?" Seth nodded. "And she visited you to warn you of threats that you've faced before?" He nodded again. "And she could actually project her mind to yours through hundreds of universes, even see events of the future?"

"Madame Web is without a doubt the most powerful psychic to ever exist in the multiverse." Seth told her honestly. "She's strong enough to do this."

"Stronger even than Liv?" Caitlin asked.

"Combatively speaking, Liv's superior. But in other areas, Madame Web and she are in different leagues… Heck, different universes altogether." He added honestly.

Caitlin recalled what he said about their first meeting. "But you said this Madame Web sent someone after you to try and kill you, right? What if she's just lying to you this time?"

"That's not the case now." He confidently told her. "She called me this time to warn me, not try and kill me again."

Caitlin faced him. "What do you think she meant?"

"I think it's got something to do with our past villains from the last two years, maybe they got an upgrade or something in this new timeline." Seth suggested. "But the only way we can figure out what it is-"

"By waiting, I know." Caitlin nodded.

"Sorry for keeping that from you, Cait." He told the love of his life. "I wanted to figure out what that visit meant before I shared it with you."

"I understand." She assured him. "But what about the others? You're gonna tell the team?"

"Unclear." Seth said. "…" He wanted to say something to her, yet he saw something else in her eyes. An enormous amount of hesitation but also fear. Last time he saw something like that in someone's eyes was when he mentioned Carnage's name. "Cait, what's wrong? There's another reason why you wanted to come down with me. Not just because of a date."

"… It's about my powers, Seth." Caitlin gulped, raising a hand and emanating cold cryogenic mist from it. Seth couldn't help but be mesmerized by her ice powers. "I'm scared of them, Seth."

"What? Why?" He asked in confusion.

Shutting off her powers, she elaborated. "I'm terrified of them, Seth. I'm… I'm becoming Killer Frost." She shakily said.

"No, you're not, Caitlin." He told her softly. "I don't believe that for a second."

"Why? What makes you say that? Why are you so sure?" Caitlin asked, she was skeptical even if he said it.

"Why wouldn't I be?" He countered with her own question. "Remember when I said I have the same powers as the original Venom, except for the elements, of course?" Caitlin nodded, following him intently. "Well, guess this means we have another thing in common, Cait. We're just like our villainous counterparts, with the same powers. The only difference is we're still different."

"I know what you're thinking right now." Seth continued, stroking the side of her head. "You're thinking that because you have the same powers as another one with the same face as you, you're bound to walk down the same path, a path of evil. But that's not always the case. I mean, look at me." He gestured to himself. "I'm just like the other Venom."

"No, you're not!" She argued. "You're a better man than him." Caitlin spoke as though she's met Eddie Brock. "You're nothing like him, you're a good man. You're not a villain, Seth, even if the city paints you as one. You're a hero, and that's that."

"Guess I could say the same about you, Cait." Seth smiled and she turned confused. "I can say right here and now, you're nothing like Killer Frost. The pain and hurt she felt in her life led her to the path she walked on. But she changed along the way, turning against Zoom. You've had pain in your life too, sure, but you used that pain to become a doctor, dedicating your life to helping others. You were a hero long before anyone on Team Flash." He held her hand. "Cait, having the same powers as a villain doesn't make you one. By that standard, Cisco would have turned into an Earth-1 version of Reverb when his powers manifested."

He leant closer, embracing her in a warm hug. "But you're not going to become like Killer Frost, you're gonna become a villain."

"Why? What makes you so sure of that?" Caitlin asked him, her face nuzzling into the side of his neck.

Cheekily kissing and biting her earlobe, Seth said. "You got me and the girls, you're not gonna go down the wrong path with us close by. I promise you that." Both of them noticed a distinct sound that was almost inaudible, and it came from over their heads.

In almost an instant, all of her worries and concerns vanished just from his words. Caitlin fell into the hug, losing herself into it. More than anything, she was thankful to the Speed Force that saved her family from complete erasure that Barry brought upon her family. The disaster he could have brought upon her family… She wouldn't forgive him for it.

Separating from her mate, Caitlin suddenly felt a sudden hollowness again. The same exact feeling she felt before Seth returned… The origin point of the feeling is in her stomach that she stroked gently.

The mutant noticed her sudden action… and opened his mouth.

SPLASH

But before either of them could utter a single word, both heard a splash behind them. Seth jumped in front of Caitlin, lashing out his arms and sprouting pitch-black tendrils from all around his body. His hands morphed into claws, turning them into adamantium.

Caitlin stood behind him with her flashlight pointing in the direction of the splash. "What was that?"

"No idea. Maybe it's whatever killed those volunteers." He suggested worriedly.

"No, it's not!"

Both Caitlin and Seth lowered their arms and shared a look of confusion at that familiar voice. Raising her flashlight, the female doctor shined light at the source of the voice…

And as they feared, it was Iris Ann West standing ahead of them, in a yellow raincoat with a hood over her head and with a flashlight of her own. She chuckled sheepishly. "What's up, guys? How's it hanging?"

"Just your typical Tuesday." Seth quipped. "Mind telling us why you're here, Iris?" He asked with crossed arms.

"Yeah…" She inhaled through gritted teeth and with another chuckle. "Heard about your conversation, about those guys who died, and I thought I'd come and join the fun."

"You didn't tell Barry or Joe, did you?" Caitlin questioned.

"No way. I tell them, they're gonna tell me to stay behind and out of harm's way." Iris answered as she stepped closer to the two. "So, you guys found anything?"

"No nothing yet. We have to go deeper into the sewers." Seth stated.

"Okay." Iris saw her chance. Facing Caitlin, she asked. "Caitlin, can we talk, just the two of us?"

"You wanna have a private talk in a sewer?" Caitlin asked the reporter who shrugged with another sheepish chuckle. The doctor looked intrigued and turned to face her mate. "Seth, can you maybe scout ahead, see if we're actually any closer to the murder sight? It'd be easier for you than us, seeing as you can crawl on the walls."

"I can do that." Seth agreed, though both he and his "other" thought it was weird for the two of them to have a girl talk in a sewer. Not to mention in the middle of a mission, but he agreed to it, nonetheless. Leaping backwards, he latched onto the wall and began crawling along the path, going deeper into the sewers.

As soon as he was out earshot, Caitlin turned back to the reporter. "What did you want to talk about, Iris?" She asked her politely, worried it might be something serious.

"It's a bit of an embarrassing question." She confessed. Caitlin tilted her head, awaiting the question. Iris chuckled and started. "It's… about dating. Barry and I went on our first date yesterday but… It was boring. Then I saw how you and Seth back in the medbay in S.T.A.R. Labs… And even when you're performing an autopsy, you're laughing and having fun. I wanted to know how you do that."

"Strange question, true… and helping Barry is not something I want right now…" Caitlin shocked the reporter. "But I'll help you somehow, if I can." She thought back to the moment. "Well, Seth and I, we enjoy various things, but we also enjoy the same things. We have the same careers, but we're also different. I'm more behind the screen while he's on the frontlines like a soldier. But it's more than that. We..." She remembered the words he and their daughters said after she displayed her powers to them. "We accept each other fully. Every part of him I accept, every part of me he accepts. There's no secret between us. There are still some unknown variables between us, sure, but that's because we're different and from different worlds. That's part of the wonderful experience, it means we can learn more and more things about each other, things we'll learn to love about each other."

"Wow…" Iris never expected a quick answer, but she definitely didn't expect such a wholehearted answer from her. Not something of that magnitude for sure. Her mouth was left agape by Caitlin's words. "Just wow."

"Not to mention, we have three great daughters." Caitlin smiled and Iris nodded her understanding. "Speaking of…" She looked into the middle of the sewer tunnel. "Frankie, you can come down now! I know you're there."

"What?" Iris asked in confusion.

"What?!" A young feminine voice called out in shock. Both Caitlin and Iris turned to the direction of the voice, seeing a form slowly appear out of the darkness. The form revealed itself in a pink body, hands wielding long, razor-sharp claws. Like her hands, the rest of her body is covered with spiraling veins of pitch-black and holy-white. Taking after her father, she wears white pseudo eyes with her colorful veins spread over them. The lower half of her "mouth" was ripped open, showing a maw filled with sharp fangs and a long serpentine rose-red tongue that hung down as she crawled on the ceiling.

Magenta lowered herself from the ceiling, landing on the platform near her mother and Iris. "You knew I was there?" She asked Caitlin, momentarily wondering if she had more powers than cryokinesis. "How?"

"Honey, I'm your mother, what don't I know about you?" She quipped and tapped the top of her head, making her daughter groan through a closed mouth. "And I remember telling you to speak to others without your mask, didn't I?"

"Oh man, thought you were the fun parent." She groaned before her mask slithered off her face. Her hair falling down the sides of her face. Frankie crossed her arms and pouted. "You're no fun, Mom."

"Oh really? You really wanna tempt the one woman who can ground you, huh?" Caitlin challenged her daughter with a stern look that actually made her sweat drop.

"Caitlin…" Iris got her attention. "What you said before… About not wanting to help Barry." She saw her tighten her hold on her flashlight. "What did you mean?"

"It's…" Caitlin clenched her fists, something both Frankie and Iris saw. "It's personal, Iris. I'm sorry, I can't say anything."

"Guys!" Seth shouted, rushing towards them at full speed as he ran on the wall. Jumping off the surface, he landed before them and gave his daughter a glance. "Hi Frankie, bout time you showed yourself." She pouted again. "Sorry to cut the girl talk short, but we might be closer than we think."

"What do you mean?" Caitlin asked in worry.

He raised his hand, showing a helmet with a flickering flashlight strapped to the front of it. "Found this while I was scouting ahead. Must be close now." He turned it around, showing that blood was stained on the side of it. "And worse news-"

"There's worse news?" Iris asked in fear.

Seth touched the helmet's blood-stained side. Raising it to the women's eyes, he showed the blood running down the length of his finger. "I found dead rats around the helmet. Whatever's down here kills more than just time."

"And it's close." Caitlin deduced.

"Dad!" Frankie shouted, garnering the attention of everyone. "Look." She pointed to a nearby wall, which was riddled with deep slash marks. "Ruby told everything, Dad, and you were right about this thing having claws."

As they walked into the Caitlin and Seth turned their flashlights around them, shining light on every wall they could find. They found the same exact walls as their daughter. "It's been here!" Iris said.

As if on cue, they heard a snarl coming from the other end of the tunnel. Seth and Frankie faced that direction, their forms covered by the symbiotic miasma that slowly turned into the forms of their alter-egos. The elemental reduced the size of his form to fit within the sewer pipe.

Seth felt his "other" mentally turn his eyes downwards and the mutant followed the direction of his eyes. Both host and Klyntar saw the water waving as a tremor coursed through it. Turning his eyes upwards, he said. "We got company."

Magenta morphed her hands into swords. "What's the plan?" She asked her father as another growl came out, echoing throughout the tunnels.

"Frankie, stay behind with Caitlin and Iris. Cait, keep your phone ready, call Eclipse and Destroyer. Iris, take my flashlight and shine light in whatever's coming." He handed her his flashlight. "Let's hope this thing has sensitive eyes."

"What about you, Seth?" Caitlin asked her mate.

"We'll meet whatever's here for us." Seth stated, walking deeper into the tunnel. With each step he took further into the tunnel, the mutant couldn't deny the fear he felt inside of him. It was coursing through him and touching every nerve and cell in his body. If he didn't know better, he could have sworn it was fear in his veins and not blood.

But that wasn't the only thing he felt. Ever since he saw that piece of skin before at S.T.A.R. Labs, the mutant felt another familiarity come over at the sight of it. It was confusing because he couldn't recall a single one of his Earth-1 adventures ever involving anything like that. Not even the fights with Grodd.

"What was that skin?" Seth asked himself when coming to a cross section.

"Look o-"

THUD

Seth didn't get a chance to hear his partner's exclaim when suddenly something hit him with tremendous speed, sending him off his feet and into a wall. The impact with the surface cracked it and he coughed up bile.

"Seth!" Caitlin screamed.

"What was that?" Seth said as he slid down the wall.

"…Seth…?" The mutant heard his partner and looked up… Paling at the sight he saw before his eyes and was left thunderstruck and paralyzed.

What he's facing is something that he didn't think he'd ever see on this Earth. He only saw this being on another Earth.

The being he saw before himself is a large green monster… Standing on two clawed feet. The monster possesses a muscular form with scales around its body and possesses deep red eyes. It has an elongated mouth, one with a serpentine tongue and rows of sharp fangs like shark teeth. Like it's toes, each finger on its hands are equipped with talon-like claws. Lastly, he has a long tail behind him, the one appendage he used to strike Seth Fury with.

Seth paled and he even didn't hear his family's cries of worry and concern, he didn't even register the being in front of him raise its arm and clench his fist. He only knew one person who could turn into him… into that thing…

"Connors?" He muttered.

The Lizard punched the mutant's chest, embedding him into the wall that he cracked before.

"Dad!" Magenta exclaimed in confusion. "Mom, call Ruby and Evie!" She instructed her mother before leaping off the ground. The large humanoid lizard monster faced the younger symbiote-bearer and snarled at her. It charged after her.

Using her swords, the metahuman swung the blades for him. Both of her blades connected with The Lizard's chest. Frankie literally saw sparks flying off from the friction when her weapons grazed his scales. "What is this damn thing?!" The symbiote exclaimed.

"Don't know, don't care!" Frankie shouted as The Lizard lashed out his claws, swinging for her head. The magnekinetic reformed her right sword into a shield to block it. Reeling back her left arm, her left sword spiraled into a rapier which she thrusted out. The blade ejected itself, thrusting into the monster's stomach.

The blow to his stomach pushed the monster back with an exclamation of pain. But it didn't push him back far and he spread his claws before swinging them again. Magenta's extra senses erupted with warning signs. She jumped up from the ground, attaching herself to the ceiling. More symbiotic mass spread and covered her fists, enlarging them.

Thrusting out her fists, she swung for his face. But her hands were captured by the Lizard's own hands.

"Guess we're equa-"

Frankie's words were cut short the humongous green and scaly tail wrapped around her entire body, reaching up to her throat and enclosing around it. The monster lifted her up while tightening his hold on her. She croaked in pain and struggled to speak, much less breathe.

Leaning closer to her, The Lizard's tongue swiped her left cheek. "Wrong!" It said in a sinister tone.

"I-It c-can speak!" She managed to croak out in surprise. This thing definitely wasn't like Grodd.

"Frankie!" Caitlin shouted. She turned her eyes to the further end of the cross section. "Seth, wake up!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, hoping her mate would react to it, wake up, and save their daughter.

"Hey, ass-hat!" A voice called out as an arrow flew through the air, enwrapped in both darkness and blinding light. The Lizard shielded its eyes with its hands. The arrow reached him, but only pierced his tail, cutting it off and releasing Magenta. Unwrapping herself, the symbiote-bearer jumped backwards and got out of his reach.

Caitlin turned around with a smile. Her smile disappeared as she released a gasp of shock when a chakram blade flew past her and cut off The Lizard's right hand. Iris saw the circular blade fly around before returning to its rightful owner.

Both women turned and saw the heroes.

One was clad in a dark-green black suit, the one who threw her Chakram Blade. Her suit consisted of a black hood and a dark-green mask with gritted black lenses. She wears black shoulder pads which are accompanied with upwards-pointing darker spike protrusions. The black suit on her torso is covered with dark-green Kevlar. Just like her torso, her legs are covered by dark pants. The sides of her Kevlar gloves are made with darker spiky protrusions on her forearms.

Destroyer narrowed her eyes behind her mask. "Wait, isn't that thing…" She's seen that thing before. Like her father, she couldn't deny the level of familiarity she sensed when seeing The Lizard.

"Not like you to just stay and watch, sis." The other hero showed herself, wearing a dark white suit with black accents around her arms and legs. Over the suit is a long Kevlar-weaved black trenchcoat reaching just above her ankles. Her hands are both equipped with gloves. Her left hand is equipped with a black glove with a white sun symbol, her right hand is equipped with a white glove with a black moon symbol. Her eyes are covered by a black and white mask, split in the middle, with black on the right side and white on the left side.

Eclipse reeled back three arrows on her bow, her entire body projecting a mixture of both light and darkness. Her markings appeared. One being black circle in the middle of her forehead, formed with luminous light. The onyx darkness gathered around the rims of the circle. The darkness converging to the left and right sides of the black moon, spreading out like branches from those points and taking their own forms. The forms of two crescent moons, each moon pointing to both sides, left and right.

The circle on her forehead appeared akin to a full moon. A bright light formed a dot under her right eye, enlarging and forming a crescent moon under it.

"Can it, Eclipse." Destroyer told her sister. "Frankie, you okay?" She faced her sister who coughed and held her throat.

"Fine, yeah. Thanks for the save." Magenta rubbed her throat.

"Don't mention it." Eclipse turned her eyes to the Lizard again who watched them closely, like it was examining its prey. "Where's Dad?"

"Knocked out in the cross section." Magenta nodded to the sewer section, her sisters widening their eyes in shock.

"Knocked out? Dad?" Ruby asked in shock and confusion. "How?"

"We think that thing caught him by surprise." Iris told them.

"That doesn't make sense." Frankie thought. "A symbiote-user like Dad should have been able to notice that thing before it could make a move. He wouldn't be caught off guard, not by something like that monster."

Everyone saw the Lizard point its eyes on his arm that is now without a hand. Turning its red eyes to the women again, it unflinchingly sprouted a green slimy membrane out of it. The membrane was cut loose from within, five claws cutting through it and revealed a new hand.

"That thing can regenerate?" Ruby released in shock as The Lizard's tail regrew as well.

"Crap…" Eclipse said as her elements embraced her arrows again. "What's the plan?"

Frankie looked over at her father. He was still unconscious and on the ground. Looking around, she noticed an abundance of metal pipes over her head. "Rubs get past that thing somehow, get Dad away. Evie and I'll distract it while you get him back on his feet. Get back here and I'll bring the place on it!"

"On it!" Ruby threw her blade after the Lizard who shielded his eyes with its hands. Using that opportunity, the former assassin used her gravity powers and launched her off the ground. But for some reason that was too much, and it practically catapulted her into the air. "Damn it!" She couldn't control the force at all, resulting in her skipping across on the wall past the lizard monster.

A snap in her left shoulder made her groan. "Argh!" She gritted her teeth. Fighting through the pain, she managed to land on her feet. She slid on it, spinning around and catching her Chakram blade, plucking it out of the air as it returned to her. Standing at her full height, she held her left shoulder. "Dislocated, really?"

"Ruby!" Caitlin shouted for her daughter.

"I'm fine, Mom!" Ruby called out to her mother. Though it did attract the monster's attention, making it face the former assassin.

"Hi!" The Lizard turned back to meet Eclipse and saw her ready a light orb. It's light intensified almost immediately and also grew in size. "Take this!" Thrusting out both hands, she expected to see the orb fly out of her hands.

But instead, the orb's light intensified again and was projected out of her hands with the strength and force of a laser. Everyone had to shield their eyes from the laser's sun-like light intensity. It traveled through the sewer tunnel and hit the Lizard, sending him off his feet and into the wall in the cross section.

"Wow!" Ruby let out as she covered her own eyes. "Evelyn hasn't trained since coming back and she can fire lasers now?!" Shaking her head, she faced her unconscious father. "Dad, wake up!" She tried shaking him awake. When none of those worked, she chose another approach. She clenched her fist. "Don't take this personal, Dad."

"Ow!" Seth woke up with a startle. Unlike a normal person, who'd resort to slapping someone awake, his own daughter would happily resort to a brutal gut punch. Even if it meant plunging her fist into her father's stomach. "Nice punch, honey." He praised her while coughing repeatedly. "Wait." He paled in realization. "Is that thin-"

"The Lizard is still here." Ruby whispered knowingly which didn't go unnoticed by her father. "I know." She confirmed. "Is that thing really him?"

"I don't know…" Seth whispered.

"Dad, Rubs, get back here! Now!" Frankie exclaimed. Seth nodded, wrapping his arm around his daughter's form and jumped out of the wall. He leaped onto a wall, running on it with his child. But as he ran on the wall, he faced the Lizard's face and saw it meet his eyes.

"We need to figure it out." Seth stated to himself and his "other", they're the only ones who'd be able to figure out if this thing was really the one they knew… Or not. He landed on the side of a wall and let go of his daughter.

"Go for it, Frankie!" Ruby exclaimed to her sister.

"Let's go!" Frankie's eyes turned bright magenta and she lashed her arms upwards. Every single piece of metal over her heads shook, clanking loudly over them chaotically. The sound of clashing metal echoing over them didn't reassure the mutant and his mate who listened closely. Iris stepped back in fear and gulped. The Lizard, per his animalistic instincts, turned to the sounds and staggered back.

Seeing that, Magenta let out a war cry. "No chance!" She swung her hands down and brought the metal down. However, it was more than just a few pipes that fell on top of him. Every single pipe over their heads fell on top of the monster. Even huge chunks of the ground above came down as metal was part of them.

But somehow, The Lizard jumped out of the way just as way more pieces of metal and asphalt came down.

"Bit of an overkill, Frankie!" Ruby shouted over the crumbling rubble. "We don't want the entire place to fall on top of us!"

As pipes and asphalt continue to fall, Frankie looked down at her own hands in shock. "My powers did that?"

Seth noticed her action. He'd have to look into this. But not now. "Frankie, take your sisters." His head became engulfed by his symbiote before the rest of his form enlarged. "We're getting out of here before the rest of the place falls down!" Using tendrils, he snatched both Iris and Caitlin, bringing them close to him.

"O-Oh okay." She lashed out her tendrils, grabbing her sisters and bringing them close.

Venom saw the metal and debris fall in their path, but with his red eyes… He saw the Lizard jump up the pipes and asphalt, using them as stepping stones to get out of the sewers through the hole that Magenta made.

The Lizard entered the city.

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs)

Standing in the Cortex, the entire team heard from the sewer exploration team about their findings. Both Barry and Joe were surprised and slightly angered to hear that Iris went down there herself to check out the rumors of something in the sewers killing people. Furthermore, they were all shocked by the news of the being in the sewers is actually a humanoid lizard monster.

The monitors on the wall showed Channel 52, displaying footage of the ground opening up from the battle underneath. Caitlin was checking on Ruby's shoulder in the medbay while the others stood in the Cortex with the others. As the news footage continued, Joe explained. "Apparently nearby civilians felt Ruby's gravity attack and said it was an earthquake. And since that thing came out of the ground, everyone's thinking…" He gestured to the lizard humanoid. "That thing is responsible for it and the hole in the ground."

"Don't worry, guys, I'm working on a name right now." Cisco determinedly said, like his life depended on it.

"But it wasn't that thing that created the hole." Frankie said, shaking her head. "It was me." She stated.

Jesse looked shocked. "You've been able to do stuff like that before, Frankie?"

"No, I've never been able to do that." Frankie said, looking down at her own clenching hands. "I didn't even mean to do that just then. I was just going for a few pipes and instead I tore open a hole in the street."

"Thankfully, you guys were under a construction site, and the workers had already left." Barry said.

Joe faced Frankie who still wore a saddened look. "Frankie, honey, it's alright. No one was hurt. So don't blame yourself, sweetheart."

"Thanks, Uncle Joe." Frankie thanked her.

"My powers were out of whack too, like they were… stronger." Evelyn stated.

"Think you and your sisters need a checkup by your parents." Cisco suggested.

"They are." Seth nodded to Caitlin who's resetting Ruby's shoulder, the former assassin barely flinched

Harry faced the screens again, which by now had zoomed in the lizard monster. "I've never seen this thing before on my Earth, so it must be native to Earth-1."

"Great. First telepathic gorillas, huge-ass sharks with pants and now walking lizards with pants." Wally chuckled. "Feels like Central City's on its way trying to make their ever-first metahuman zoo."

"No kidding." Jesse agreed with him.

Iris looked at the others. "Guys, what if Alchemy has something to do with this?"

"Maybe." Barry agreed with her.

Seth kept his mouth shut for now. "We need to work on this." He felt his partner nod.

"Who's Alchemy?" Harrison asked. Barry scoffed, knowing another lecture is bound to come.

Cisco sighed and answered. "Well, uh, Doctor Alchemy is a magic man in a cloak who can somehow restore the powers that people had in Flashpoint."

As Harry sent a scathing glare to the Scarlet Speedster, Jesse inquired. "Okay, and what's Flashpoint?"

"Take it easy, Ruby." Caitlin told her daughter while they both walked into the Cortex. Ruby smirked, rotating her formerly-dislocated shoulder without care, or even taking her mother's advice seriously. The doctor rolled her eyes and returned to the conversation. "Flashpoint is what we're calling the alternate timeline that Barry created when he went back in time and saved his mom."

"Oh, so that lizard monster is another side effect from your time trip." Harrison mockingly stated to Barry. "Genius… Not."

"Um, I don't need to be reminded. Thank you." Barry groaned. Seth couldn't help but think that the speedster's attitude was similar to that of a child's.

A question popped into Harry's head. "Wait a minute, Fury?" Seth didn't respond, looking blankly into the air without any life in his eyes. He's in another world of thoughts. And unlike everyone else on the team, Ruby knew what he was thinking about. Yet, Harrison persisted. "Fury!"

"Seth?" Caitlin said.

Barry stepped closer to him, raising a hand to his shoulder. "Se-"

"What?" Seth stopped him, catching his hand before it could ever touch him. "What do you want?" He said with a cold stare.

"U- U-um nothing. Just Harry asked for you." Barry said in a stammer.

Releasing the speedster's hand, Seth turned his head to meet Harry's eyes. "What is it, Wells?"

"How are you and your daughters here right now?" He'd been meaning to ask that question for a while now. "If Barry reset the timeline, then-"

"We'd be erased now." Seth finished his sentence. Barry hung his head. "Apparently the deal with the Speed Force I made before, to take care of Zoom, they were happy about it and gave me a reward. Instead of giving my discharge ability back, they sent something to get me and my daughters out of that timeline before Barry created Flashpoint."

"And Seth was following Barry in Flashpoint." Caitlin added.

"You followed him?" Jesse inquired.

Seth nodded. "Orders of the Speed Force. I didn't wanna take the chance and disobey it, if they were to do something to my daughters."

"They were in the Speed Force." Harrison deducted. "Interesting."

"Yeah." Seth nodded.

"Guys." Joe pointed a finger to the screens. "Whatever that thing is, it's strong and can tear into a wall with claws alone. It's out in the city and needs to be tracked down, fast."

"I'll go out and try to track it down myself." Seth said, his sword protruding out of his back and he took the handle. "Call me if you see that thing out there, guide me to it."

Barry walked over to him. "Wait, I'll come with."

"No chance." Seth said without looking at the speedster. "I don't need a hindrance out there with me." His words cut deep into the Scarlet Speedster's heart.

"Mind if I go with you instead, Dad?" Ruby jumped forward. "Frankie and Evie need to be checked out by Mom, I can go with you, be backup." Before her mother could counter, she faced her and spoke. "I won't be fighting, Mom. I promise."

"Better not add Scout's Honor to that sentence, young lady. I know better than that." Caitlin sternly said. Ruby truly believed her mother was another mind-reader, like her aunt.

Seth knew his daughter better than that, knowing that there was more to her request than that. "Cait, I'll make sure she's not doing anything like that."

"… Alright." Caitlin accepted reluctantly.

"Seth, you sure you wanna go out there at all?" Joe intervened, getting a raised eyebrow of confusion from the mutant. "Dumbass, you got a bounty on your head and the entire city's gunning for you, not to mention the police force is out for you, too."

"And?" Seth asked, confusing everyone. "So what? That thing is out there and could hurt more people, I'm not gonna sit on my ass and do nothing, Joe. That's not me." He affirmed his words with the symbiotic miasma slithering over his form and engulfed his head. "Follow me, Rubs." He jumped out the skylight.

"Got it, old man." Ruby followed her father through the skylight.

"Well, great. I mean, I can go out there and help them." Jesse suggested. "Let me just go carb-load." She walked out of the room. Wally hung his head.

Her father tried to talk her out of it. "He didn't- That's- You don't-" His words fell on deaf eyes as she's already out of the room. Desperately he faced Caitlin. "Snow." She faced him with a dry look. "Please." He nodded to the direction of his daughter.

"Harry, I got to check on my daughters." She gestured to Frankie and Evelyn. "I'm the only one who can check on their conditions aside from Seth." They're the only ones who fully understand their powers and the powers of a symbiote.

"Please." He pleaded, briefly considering that this situation called for a puppy dog eyes.

"Okay, Harry." Caitlin accepted, relieving Harrison of his puppy dog eyes thoughts. "I'll talk to her. But I don't know what I'm gonna say, especially because my kids are always out fighting evil themselves. And I let them." She walked after the new speedster.

X

Caitlin walked through the corridors and into the Pipeline. She found the younger speedster sitting on the ramp into the Pipeline, eating away at power bars. "Hey."

"Hey." Jesse swallowed a bite of her food. "Hey, sorry, um…" She wiped crumbs away from her mouth. "You guys were not kidding when you said speedsters are hungry all the time."

"Yeah. You think that's something, try living with two symbiote-bearers. Our fridge and cabinets are mostly filled with chocolate." Caitlin chuckled at her own counter. Jesse joined her. "Listen, Jesse," she started. "before you speed off to find that lizard thing, I just wanna make sure that you feel like you're ready?"

Jesse narrowed her eyes. "Why? I mean, is something wrong?" Caitlin struggled to find a response. "I mean, did the test results say something?"

"No, not at all." Caitlin assured her. "All the test results have come back fine so far. It's just… Maybe you should take it slow?" She suggested.

The younger speedster clicked her tongue, understanding everything. "Right. This is because I'm a girl."

"What? No, not at all. Why?" Caitlin rapidly said.

"Well, I mean, Barry or Seth didn't have to take things slow and neither did your daughters for that matter. Barry was stopping criminals the second he got his powers. Frankie and her sisters have been fighting bad guys since they got their powers." Jesse listed off. "Why can't I do the same thing? Not to mention Seth's who he is because of his powers."

"That's not the same case here, Jesse. Frankie has a symbiote and metahuman powers, two powers at that. Ruby's been trained as an assassin to actually use those powers she has now. Evelyn's been using her powers to stay alive and away from Zoom on Earth-2. Not to mention, those three got training from Seth and Matt and Liv." Caitlin quickly added. "Plus, Seth's got more experience with powers than anyone here."

She continued. "And, I mean, I'm sure you think that it's a great thing to have powers, but sometimes it's not so great, trust me." Caitlin's words confused Jesse. "I'm just saying that if I had powers, I would probably take it slow. And you know Evelyn's history." She reminded the young speedster. "She was hunted and falsely accused of something she didn't do, something horrible. Her powers mostly worked against her in the beginning."

With each word she uttered, Jesse saw through her clearer. "My dad put you up to this, didn't he?" Caitlin couldn't find an appropriate counter. "Yeah, I mean, of course he did." She got up to her feet, stomping out of the area to unleash hell on her father for not believing in her.

"Jesse… Uh…" Caitlin was sure of two things.

One, it's easier to handle her own children than others.

Second, she wondered what she'd have to do with her own powers.

X

"Chances are we'd be able to find The Lizard here." Seth said in a morphing voice as his symbiotic form retracted. He and his daughter arrived in an alley. Much like the rest of their path to this point, this alley was also riddled with slash marks around them on every wall surface. They also found various containers and trash cans cut in pieces, their contents scattered around the ground. They found impact areas on the ground, most likely from the reptilian's chaotic and random tail strikes.

"Good thing the police evacuated the areas close to the hole in the street." Even from this alley they're in, Ruby could see the hole in the street. "Pretty crazy Frankie accidently did that."

"You're not that much different, are you?" Seth pointed to her formerly-dislocated shoulder. "What happened down there?"

"Used my powers but for some reason, the output was too much, and it ended up launching me into a wall." Ruby rubbed her shoulder. "I dislocated my shoulder because of it."

"Does it still hurt?" Seth asked, his fatherly side showing again. She shook her head, relieving him of his worries. "Good, if it does, we're turning back and making a beeline for S.T.A.R. Labs."

"I know, Dad." She said in a tired tone, obviously annoyed by her father's usual protectiveness. That made him laugh.

"But are you really sure you're fine?" Seth asked. Ruby knew he was asking because she's never once lost control of her powers like that.

"I'm positive, Dad." Ruby assured him. "But for now, how are you so sure that The Lizard is here?" She gestured to their damaged surroundings. "What if that guy's already moved on by now?"

"Doubtful." Seth confidently said. "Usually it's sewers he hides in, but when out in the open, he sticks to alleyways or places a bit darker. And this entire area of the city has been evacuated thanks to CCPD, so it's the best possible place for him to be at without being interrupted."

"Good point." Ruby nodded. "But what are we gonna do if we find him? He did kill two people after all."

"We're gonna make sure he doesn't kill anyone else, and I'm gonna save him." Seth adamantly said. "Connors is a friend. He doesn't want to do this. He can't control himself." He stated as the two searched for him.

He didn't know if Ruby knew this or not, but Curtis Connors has an Adamantium-encased inhibitor chip surgically grafted into his neck. With that chip, he could control his transformation into the Lizard. The chip also acted as a fail-safe which would paralyze Connors if became too aggressive while in his reptilian form and until he reverted to his human form.

Seth wasn't happy about it, but he had to be there to watch it get grafted into his skin cause he could stop him if it came to it. But that was then and this is now… He didn't know he could actually bring himself to actually hurt someone he once considered a big brother.

"Dad!"

His daughter's exclamation brought him out of his trance and raised his head. He saw a trash container flying into a wall, bouncing off it and crashing down in the middle of the alleyway.

Ruby reached behind her, taking hold of her blade. "Ruby, wait!" Seth held out his hand, telling her to stand down. "Let me handle this." He pleaded to his child. The former assassin trusted her father, removing her hand from her weapon but remained in a battle stance. She didn't trust the Lizard.

Seth thanked his daughter with a smile. With a deep inhale, he turned his head around and saw the familiar clawed hand that punched him earlier. With it, the rest of The Lizard's body revealed itself, walking into his vision from the corner.

The Lizard snarled at the mutant before charging at him. It raised its claws and swung them. But they were caught by Seth's own hands, both of which he turned into adamantium to reinforce himself. "Curtis!" Seth stated to his face. The monster's eyes widened in shock, its head twisting and turning at the name. "Connors, is it you?"

The monster jumped backwards, getting out of the mutant's hold and snarled at the elemental who persisted with his interrogation. "Connors, if it's really you, remember me! You gotta remember me." He stepped closer to him.

Letting out another snarl, the monster tore his hands into the ground. Pulling on both hands, he used his claws to dig up a huge piece of the asphalt and lifted it up over his head. Another howl followed and he threw it after the mutant and his daughter.

Ruby was about to destroy it herself, but her father was quicker and swung his sword upwards, cutting the chunk of asphalt in two. Seth remained unfazed as the pieces of asphalt fell to either side of him. He stepped closer.

"If this is him, then remind him of something between the two of you. You got lots of that." Seth heard his partner instruct him.

Facing the monster again, after embedding his sword into the ground, he stepped forward and started. "Connors, remember that time when you had interns at your lab. You had two of them. Peter and me. You got to remember me, Seth Fury. That kid who used to make jokes about your missing appendage." The Lizard faced him. "Remember that time I mislabeled your chemicals and when you mixed them up, they blew up in your face. Connors, if it's you, please remember me!"

The scaly monster's hands sprung to his head and he howled in pain. For a moment… a sparking sound emitted from the back of his neck. It turned its eyes to the mutant again, its red eyes blinking repeatedly.

Then… for a moment, its irises turned blue. "S- Seth?"

Unmistakably the father and daughter heard the monster utter the name of the former. Seth, without a doubt in his mind, was facing someone he considered a big brother. "Connors." He couldn't but form a smile on his face. A single tear ran down his left cheek at the sight of him.

"Seth?" Curtis Connors' eyes shifted between red and blue. "H-Help me…" He pleaded to his old intern. "Please…"

It was a miracle he's able to utter human words in that state. But Seth heard them all and nodded determinedly. "I promise you, Connors, I'm gonna save you." Curtis released another howl, thrusting out his head and showed his red eyes. It howled as Seth realized. "Lizard took over."

The Lizard jumped forward, swinging his claws-

WHOOSH

But a red blur with yellow lightning tackled into the monster's body. Connors was sent flying and sent into a wall. The Flash took a stance. "So that's the one from the sewers." Barry noted the monster. "Pretty ugly."

"What are you doing here?" Seth sneered his question as his form shifted into that of Venom. He took hold of his sword, pulling it out of the ground. "Dumbass speedster can't stay put when told to."

"Born a child, stays a child." Seth thought back.

Destroyer rushed to her father's side. "Flash stay out of this, that thing will tear you into pieces."

"I wouldn't be so-" Barry was cut off when he found himself lifted into the air by The Lizard's tail that wrapped around his entire body and throat. The monster from Earth-616 proved Ruby's point when he lashed out his claws. Not enough to actually tear into him, but enough to cut his suit and flesh, enough to draw blood.

"ARGH!" That graze alone was enough to make the speedster scream in pain.

The Lizard spun around and threw the metahuman into a wall, his form ricocheting off the walls like a stone. He landed on the ground. Curtis crawled on the wall, intent on finishing off the speedster once reaching him.

While he didn't like to help him, Venom jumped behind him and grabbed The Lizard's tail. After turning his body into adamantium, lightning sparked over his entire form and traveled over the monster's own body. Curtis screamed in pain.

"Sorry Connors." Seth swung the green monster over his head and threw him into the furthest wall. "But that's for last time." Turning his head back, he saw his daughter walking over to the speedster. "Destroyer, get him back to base."

"Ugh, fine." She reluctantly said as she pulled him up. Barry screamed in pain. "Oh, grow a pair!" She countered.

Seth turned back and saw to his dismay that Curtis was gone. "Always was a fast one like that, Connors." But at least this way, he'd be able to save his friend. Unlike the others on their team, he knew the exact formula that would help his old friend.

"Seth!" Turning around, Seth saw Detective Joe West walking towards him in a rush. He had his gun pulled out of his holster. "You found that lizard thing, right?" He deducted when seeing the alleyway and its current state. "What happened?"

Opening his mouth, Seth stopped when he saw another person coming into his vision on the other end of the alleyway. Widening his eyes, the mutant jumped into action.

"What the-" Joe was cut off when the elemental raised both of his adamantium arms and slammed them into the ground with the force of a titan's sledgehammer, shooting up debris everywhere. The force of his strike to the ground shook it and sent out a blow of air. The detective was sent to the ground by that air. "What are you-"

Venom jumped away, running up the walls and got away before Joe could ask him.

"Joe?!" Captain David Singh revealed himself, rushing down to his side. "Are you okay?" Joe nodded to himself, surprised that he's unharmed. "This is Venom's doing, isn't it?" He stated.

Joe didn't understand what just happened… Why would Seth try to attack his best friend?

As that was taking place, none of the heroes or police officers noticed the camera lens that zoomed in on their location, focusing on the speedster's previous position.

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs)

Things had definitely turned interesting while the father and daughter went out in search for The Lizard. Jesse, after having her talk with Caitlin, rushed back into the Cortex and confronted her father because of him not wanting her to have her speed. After that confrontation, she rushed off to cool down with Wally West.

But her cooling off was only momentarily. It started off great as Jesse confessed that Wally was the first person she wanted to call when her powers manifested. She also admitted she hoped the same happened to him.

Wally confessed, he dreamt about having speed himself. With that in mind, he asked how her powers actually manifested. Jesse explained it involved a car that ran a red light, speeding right at her. She stood there, frozen. She explained that just like, everything around her was frozen too. Along with a sense of peacefulness and quietness, she felt electricity running inside of her.

And so, she ran out of the way, dodging the car, and ever since then, she didn't want to stop. Wally surmised she practically jumpstarted her powers. She nodded her agreement and had to use her own speed to save Wally when he tried to jumpstart his own powers when he stood in front of an incoming car.

After returning to the facility, Joe and Barry heard what Wally tried to do and that set the speedster off. The detective listened as Barry reprimanded Wally. But he also knew he had to talk to Seth about his sudden attack…

After the reprimanding.

"Seriously, what the hell were you thinking?" Barry, after being patched up, asked Wally as they walked through the corridors of S.T.A.R. Labs. "You can't just go stepping into the street like that!" He exclaimed. "I mean, you gotta use your head."

The former street racer turned his head. "Nothing happened, Barry. Chill out."

Shifting his head between Wally and Joe, the speedster stated. "Didn't you talk to Joe about this?"

"Yeah, so?" Wally asked.

"So, it clearly didn't help." Barry stated. "I mean, what would you have done if Jesse wasn't here, huh?"

"I don't know, man." Wally uncertainly informed.

Barry told him bluntly. "Because there's nothing you could have done. Because you don't have powers."

Wally scoffed. "Only room in our family for one speedster, Barry?"

"Please just stop trying, before you get yourself killed." Barry pleaded.

Looking blankly at him, Wally asked. "You done?"

The speedster turned to Joe. "Do you have anything to say?"

"No, you pretty much covered it." The detective admitted. "No that's done, I got to ask Seth why I was attacked by Venom." He turned towards the Cortex.

"What? / What?" Wally and Barry stated at the same time.

X

"This has got to stop!" Harrison screamed at his daughter who's being patched up by Caitlin in the medbay. The doctor's family was in the Cortex, Frankie and Evelyn sitting by the computers and Ruby and Seth sitting by the main console and working there. Cisco watched them at work from afar, intrigued with what the mutant could be working on. He's working on fixing the Flash suit after it was damaged with the unnamed lizard villain. Iris entered a second later, listening as the father and daughter from Earth-2 squabbled.

In the corner of her eyes, she noticed two things. A newspaper of Venom, declared as a criminal, and the screen the mutant's working on, displaying a quickly assembling formula. The speed of which shocked the reporter.

"Stop yelling at me, okay?" Jesse jumped off the gurney. "I saved his life, what did you want me to do?" She stomped into the Cortex.

"That's not the point, that is not the point." Harry repeated to his daughter.

"I know! I know the point!" Jesse exclaimed. "You don't want me to use my powers."

"Right, yeah!" Harry exclaimed back. Caitlin moved behind the Earth-2 scientist, moving away from the familial squabble.

"Fine!" Jesse shouted. "Fine, but I don't need to stay here and listen to this anymore." She walked away.

"No, Jesse. Jesse! Don't-" He stopped calling when she walked out of his vision.

"Wow, that was awful." Ruby candidly said. "You're definitely not getting the "Father of The Year" award, Wells." She joked.

"Ruby, be nice." Seth told his daughter while constructing the formula on the computer, his eyes never left the screen.

"He's right, Rubs, be nicer. Take a page out of your sisters' books." Caitlin told her daughter, agreeing with her boyfriend.

"Yeah, we're nicer." Frankie dusted off her shoulders in a brag from her spot on the ceiling.

"And I'm stronger." Ruby countered.

"You're not." Evelyn shook her head.

"Am so." Ruby countered.

"Not now, girls." Seth nudged her shoulder before it became a full-blown battle in the Cortex.

Harry looked over his shoulder, aiming it at Caitlin. "What did you say to her?"

Caitlin turned confused, looking over her own shoulder and saw Harrison facing her. "Me?"

"Yeah, you." Harrison confirmed.

"Don't blame me for this. I tried to help." Caitlin stated.

"Help her? Or help me?" Harrison asked for clarification.

That question set the entire Snow-Fury family off and Caitlin was the one to scold and lecture Harrison Wells. "Listen, Harry, maybe the reason she's shutting you out is because you're not trying to understand what she's going through."

"But I don't need to-"

Caitlin interrupted him; she wasn't finished. "Maybe if you helped her navigate her powers rather than just assuming they'll destroy her, she'd turn to you rather than push you away." Harry's mouth was open as he was left in shock. "Also," Apparently, she wasn't done yet. "like I said before, you can't come to me and Seth about telling your child not to be a hero, cause unlike you, we trust and know our daughters will be able to make the best decisions out there in the field, because we have their back."

"I have Jesse's back!" Harry complained, arguing with the native doctor.

"Harry, if you really did, then you wouldn't have spent the entire day trying to get us to talk her out of using her powers." Caitlin countered. "How about you actually realize and accept the fact that you have a daughter that wants to use her powers for something good, like protecting people, and have her back?!" She shouted. "Cause me and Seth, we're proud that our baby girls want to use their powers to protect their home, their family, and make better choices than other heroes. And we trust them with all of our hearts because they've been trained right, and they have their father out there and me in here with them. So, help her become a better hero, one that's much better than The Flash even." She adamantly said.

"…" Harrison was left in awe of what he just heard from Caitlin. He turned around and walked towards the exit, having to let the words settle in.

"Damn girl." Iris said impressively, also in awe of what she heard.

"Sorry, guess it sorta ticked me off." Caitlin said, she didn't fail to see the smiles on her daughters' faces. They're proud and happy that their mother's proud of them as heroes. She saw her mate give a thumbs up, also proud of her words.

Seth couldn't help but fall for her even more now. "Love you." He mouthed the words.

"Think it's official, the entire Snow-Fury is full of scary people." Cisco quipped, but in all honesty, it was the truth.

"Seth." Barry walked into the Cortex with an angry voice and angry tone. "You attacked Joe?!" The speedster's scream made everyone snap their eyes to the mutant's form, who merely looked up to meet his eyes. "Answer me!"

"Do not…" He started sneeringly, pointing lifeless blue eyes at him. "…Think for a second you can order me." His eyes slithered black symbiotic mass as he spoke to Barry.

"Enough scare tactics." Wally rushed in, following up the speedster. "Why'd you attack my Dad?"

"Boys, calm down." Joe jumped in front of his sons. "Seth." He turned to the elemental. "Mind explaining yourself."

"Dad, why'd you attack Uncle Joe?" Frankie asked once detaching from the ceiling.

Seth got up from his chair, facing Joe. "Joe, think real careful. You'd understand why I did what I did." The screen in front of him displayed a progress bar, nearing its completion.

"What do you mean?" The detective asked.

"He's a criminal." Everyone turned Iris who held up the newspaper that declared Venom as a criminal following Captain David Singh's announcement. "Like it or not, guys, the entire city now sees Venom as a criminal because of what he did to the East Skulls all those years ago. Even the police see him as that."

"Yeah, but what's that got to do with Seth going psycho on our dad?" Wally inquired.

Iris dropped the newspaper back on the table and explained it to her brother. "Wally, Dad's an official CCPD officer of the law. His captain was there with him when they searched that area. If Dad had been spotted talking with Seth as Venom, then David would have arrested him for conspiring with a known criminal. He'd have lost his job, his pension… everything and then sent to jail for years." She pointed a finger to the elemental. "But Seth destroyed the possibility of him and Dad being friends when he pretended to attack him. So, him "going psycho" actually saved our father." She explained to her brother.

The mutant chuckled. "Iris, looks you were the one born with the brains in the West house." He locked eyes with Joe. "Joe I'm sorry, but I had to go to some extreme measures in order to protect you and your position at CCPD. You're my best friend, of course, I would never hurt you. But Iris is correct, I had to go to some extreme measures. Just like I will protect my home, I protect my friends, even if it means they hate me or worse. I'd be fine with that, but I wouldn't be fine with you being in jail, or prison because you are associated with a criminal."

"You're not a criminal, Seth." Joe stated.

"Not according to your captain and the rest of the city." Seth countered.

The detective was left in shock and held his mouth open in shock. "You had my back." He couldn't believe that the elemental was willing to go so far to aid and protect someone he held dear to him. He caused damage to his surroundings with a single attack, causing his friend to fall back in order to give the illusion that he was hurt by someone the city and police department sees as a villain. That alone was enough to assure the police captain that Joe wasn't affiliated with the criminal known as Venom.

Though he hated every single time he had to call his best friend a villain or a criminal. He was a protector.

"Like I said, Joe, I protect my friends." Seth adamantly stated. The progress bar on the screen reached hundred percent, finishing it. "Good." Closing down the program, he walked over to the side lab. As soon as he entered it, tendrils sprouted from his body and went to work, snatching vials and chemicals from the shelves.

Everyone watched as the mutant began working, mixing the multiple components in a centrifuge. While it seemed chaotic to most, Caitlin could see that Seth was working with the utmost care. Measurements of chemicals were taken with his eyes. Tendrils used to carefully acquire vials and other equipment he needed.

As he started the centrifuge, he used another tendril to take out an injection gun.

"What are you making, Seth?" Cisco asked once finished with patching up the Flash suit.

"A component that'll stop that thing." Seth said vaguely, but he also spoke with confidence. Ruby remained tight-lipped; she wanted her father to announce the news before she'd join in. "It's the best option we have now." He declared as the machine finished.

Caitlin watched him take the vial and place it in the injection gun. "What is it? A tranquilizer?"

"Kinda." He answered honestly but also lied. "I think I know where that thing's going now." He recalled a pattern from his Earth-616 adventures. "So far he's been going to places that are out of sight and not thriving with people, so I have an idea of where he might be next."

"Where? He's been in a sewer and an alley so far. Where else would that freak of nature go?" Joe asked in confusion.

"Just a theory right now, so I can't say anything for sure." Seth said as he walked towards the console and took his sword. "I'm going, alone." He turned to his daughters. "Girls, stay here with your mom. I'll be back in a few."

"Seth, I-"

"Still don't need a hindrance." Seth reminded the speedster who backed down. The mutant lashed out his free arm, shooting tendrils and pulled him through the skylight.

"Yo, know it's been on everyone's mind lately, but what's the deal with Seth giving Barry here the cold shoulder?" Wally asked the entire team.

"Pretty obvious if you think about it, West." Ruby said in a sigh. She's annoyed that the ones who've realized the reason behind her parents' anger are her family right now, while the others remain ignorant or silent.

X

Pushing open the gates, Seth walked into the abandoned junkyard on the outskirts of Central City. Closing the gates behind him, the mutant looked around the place he once used to train at in peace. "Feels like a lifetime ago."

"No kidding. We came here to train in preparation for the big and final battle with Carnage." Venom stated nostalgically. "And now we're here to free Connors from his hell."

"Yeah." Seth ran into the junkyard, intent on finding The Lizard… Curtis Connors.

In the past, The Lizard chose places like the sewers, alleyways in empty parts of the town, and junkyards as hideouts. Most of his hideouts were quickly found out due to the damage he leaves behind with each of his steps. Meticulous and kind as Curtis is, his more villainous counterpart was reckless and dangerous.

Seth's gonna make sure this world, Earth-1, he's gonna make sure it comes to know Curtis Connors.

"Look out!"

Perking up at his partner's words, Seth looked up and saw a yellow car flying at him. Taking his sword, he thrusted his blade, embedding it into the rusty vehicle. He gritted his teeth as he was pushed backwards from the force of the car. Possessing greater strength, he placed the car to the side. He made sure to not use too much strength, causing too much sound which would draw the attention of anyone nearby, endangering their lives.

Looking away from it, he saw the unmistakable form of The Lizard again, tearing into rusty vehicles and other garbage around him. Something was different about him now as he was biting into everything and smashing his tail into them as well. He was acting more animalistic than before, tearing into everything around him as though his animal instincts had completely taken over.

"What's wrong with him?" He muttered to himself, careful to utter his words in a whisper.

"Something's different. Give him the serum. Now!"

The elemental tightened the hold on his injection gun, the vial with the antidote shaking with his motion. "Let's go."

This time… his voice was loud enough to make The Lizard snap his head in his direction. Pieces of metal and oil in his teeth as he roared the mutant. Lashing out his claw, the monster charged him. He swung his claws left and right for him.

Seth jumped into the air with a backflip, landing on the side of a tower of rusty cars. He looked down at the monster who made eye contact with him. The Lizard licked the metal strips and oil off his teeth with a growl. "Connors, I'm gonna save you." His form expanded into that of Venom, his white skeletal extensions appearing out of his symbiotic skin. "It's gonna be rough, but we'll save you."

Putting all of his strength into his legs, he leaped off the tower, causing it to sway and shake. He swung his sword for the monster. The Lizard's tail spiraled around his forearms, wrists and the crystal blade, tightening it's hold and keeping it from connecting with his face.

With its arms free, the green monster swings his clawed hands for his face and his torso. Seth groaned. "We'll save you!" Reeling back his right leg he turned it into adamantium before swinging into the monster's stomach.

The Lizard coughed bile as the foot connected with him, but his hold on the sword remained strong and unmoving. Curtis thrusts out his elongated scaly head, biting into the mutant's water-like throat. Venom groaned in pain.

"Really not making this easy, are you Connors?"

Venom ignited flames around his arms. The flames spread around his limbs and burned the tail that ensnares them both, causing the Lizard to release them with a pained scream and jump out of his arm's reach.

But, as though he's swinging a bat, Venom swung his crystal sword for the monster's head. It connected with his head and disoriented him, causing him to stagger. Releasing his sword, the elemental lashed out his arms, elongating them like anchors and grabbed onto the wall behind Curtis. Jumping backwards, Seth launched himself with a leap like a slingshot, slamming lightning-enveloped feet into him.

The force of his attack sent him into a wall, embedding him into it. Pulling on his arms, he pulled himself to the Lizard. He slammed his feet into him again, following up with an adamantium knee into the underside of his maw. One of Curtis' teeth flew out of his mouth upon impact.

Using his hand, he grabbed Curtis's head and pushed it against the wall behind him, exposing his neck. He pulled out the injection gun with the antidote. "It's over Connors." He jammed the injection gun into his neck, pulled the trigger and injected the contents of the vial into him.

For a moment he saw Lizard calm down, his red eyes turning blue for a second.

X

"You haven't changed a bit, have you, Seth?" A voice spoke to themselves, speaking with a distortive voice.

Holding up a strange controller-like device in his hand, he placed a finger over the button on the top of it. "But what are you gonna do about this?"

With that, they pressed the button, emitting a pinging sound.

X

Unlike before, Seth definitely saw something sparking on the back of The Lizard's neck. This was static lightning sparking, and it was violent. And his eyes turned from blue to red…. To a dark yellow color. Before he could react, Venom was hit in the face by his large green hand.

His strength was somehow increased, and he was hurled off his feet. Seth groaned in pain as he collided with a tower of rusty cars. Two of the cars fell on top of him, forcing the mutant to reinforce his symbiotic skin with adamantium. As soon as he pushed those vehicles off, he witnessed something happening to Connors.

The Lizard's body began writhing in pain, twisting and turning his head around. He slammed his head into the ground repeatedly, his fists, feet and tail striking randomly as well. In the past when something like this happened, because of Curtis's mind and the Lizard's mind fighting, it ended up with this body bleeding.

But this time… something else happened… The scales on his body turned darker and his body itself grew bigger. Something darkened, charred bones stuck out of his elbows, appearing to be long spikes. That wasn't all. Something happened to his back, moving uncontrollably under his skin, trying to find an exit point.

When it couldn't, The Lizard howled in pain as it forced an exit, spouting out of his back. It came out from the spot of his shoulder blades, appearing with slimy membrane. Howling in pain once again, claws elongated on his fingertips before reaching behind him and tore off the membranes. Then his large bat-like green wings with scales on the back of them spouted, flapping in the air.

"What… The hell…" Seth and Venom sweat dropped in fear and shock. They made the exact same formula that was once used to subdue The Lizard on Earth-616, the very same antidote that Curtis himself constructed. That serum would help and save him, not turn him into something more draconic.

Now… the more draconic Lizard faced the elemental again. It inhaled deeply, intaking large amounts of air. Unmistakably Seth saw his fang-like teeth reddening with a crimson glow.

"No way." Venom uttered in shock. His shock was intensified when the Lizard opened his mouth, projecting a fire blast. Shooting out his tendrils, attaching them to a large storage rack and pulling on them, launching him out of the way.

As he flew through the air, he glanced back and saw the fire blast easily and almost instantaneously melt its way through a tower of cars. The entire tower fell, landing on the ground and set ablaze when joining the other blazing vehicles.

Glancing back to the Lizard's spot… Seth couldn't find him-

PUNCH

Seth's thoughts were cut short when he was suddenly hit by a large fist, flinging him into a bunch of cars, causing them to fall all over the place. Throwing cars away from his face, he looked upwards and blood-red eyes widened at the sight.

Now with wings… The Lizard… is mid-air, flapping its wings and holding it up with ease.

The Lizard can now fly.

"Fire breathing, wings, flight…" Seth thought with shock as he forced himself up to his full height. "What happened to you, Connors?" The monster roared at him before diving down with his claws. He swung his claws for him.

Lashing out his arms, the elemental retrieved his crystal sword and used it as a shield, blocking off the Lizard's attack. Sparks went off due to the friction of the sharp claws and the crystalized blade. He punched his face again, this not getting a scream, but another singular tooth fell out. "Connors!" He tried calling out to his friend again.

But unlike before, he wasn't able to get his friend to come out of the lizard-like cage that he's trapped in.

Instead, he growled again and grabbed the mutant with his hands taking hold of the sword. Flapping his wings downwards, the draconic monster flew into the skies again with Venom. Spinning around he gathered up momentum before finally letting go, throwing the hero away.

The speed was unable to react and was hurled into a bunch of rusty vehicles of different sizes. More than half of them fell on top of him, pinning him down as though they were nails. Venom returned his gaze to the monster, seeing him hold his sword and raising it like a javelin.

It was almost to see when his own sword was thrown and pierced into Venom's shoulder. It didn't go all the way through his body, but it pierced his skin and was embedded into his symbiotic body. Fighting through the pain, he looked up and saw the air-born monster howl at him.

For a second, Seth thought Curtis would deliver the finishing blow, actually kill him. But it appeared that was not the case as The Lizard turned its attention to the city and flew away.

"Connors!" Seth tried to call him, but his words fell on deaf ears as it flew out of hearing distance. "Damn it!"

"Dad!"

Seth snapped his attention to the side, where he saw Eclipse rushing to his side. "Evie, what are you-"

"Mom had me follow you." She told her father. Seeing him pinned down by the multiple cars, she thrusts out her hands and shadowy onyx tendrils erupted from them. They wrapped around the vehicles, and pulled them up.

Her hands twitched and the cars in her tendrils' hold were crushed instantly. "What the…" Evelyn trailed off in shock and confusion. Seth narrowed his eyes in shock as well.

"Third time it's happened…" He thought to himself.

Eclipse shook her thoughts off and threw the smashed cars away. "Thanks, Evie." He expressed his gratitude as he got up to his feet, pulling his sword out of his shoulder.

"Dad…" She got his attention. "What happened?"

He really didn't know what to reply to his daughter. He was confused as well.

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs)

"Seth what happened?" Caitlin asked her mate as he and their daughter arrived out of a fog of shadows. She saw him holding the injection gun, empty of its contents. But she also saw him hurt and panting in pain and exhaustion. "What happened to you?"

The others listened as the mutant opened his mouth to reply. "I used the serum on that thing. But something strange happened and it… Evolved." He stated for a lack of a better word.

"What do you mean by "evolved?"" Joe worriedly asked, he wasn't a fan of his choice of words.

"After injecting it into it, something happened, and it grew bigger. Not to mention it grew wings and can now breathe fire."

"Wait, wings and fire?" Cisco asked excitedly. Seth nodded. Clapping his hands, he declared. "Alright, alright, people. If we got scales, wings, and can breathe fire, then that can only mean one thing: We got a Dragon!"

Ruby narrowed her eyes. "You seem awfully happy about the thing that beat my dad, Cisco."

"Sorry about that." Cisco said.

"Yeah, and It can fly, so chances are it's over the city right now, or looking over the place from a tall vantage point." Seth revealed as he walked towards the other side lab.

"Fury, wait!" Harrison stopped him, making him halt at the entrance at the side lab.

"Seth, come on!" Barry stopped him too. "You obviously know more about this thing than any of us, that's why you've been going after it alone all this time."

"Barry's right, what's your deal, Seth?" Wally agreed with the speedster.

"Guys calm down." Jesse tried to stop them, even though she's still angry at her father's attempt to try and prevent her from using her powers.

"No, they're right." Joe agreed with them. "Seth, what's going on here? You've been acting strange this entire time since that thing showed up. What's the deal? Come on!" He demanded.

Seth clenched his hands; he wasn't a fan of being interrogated like this. And with each question he wasted answering, he's wasting time he could use to actually help and save Curtis.

"Seth…" Turning his head to the side, he saw Caitlin looking at him with a pleading look. "Please. We're family, you and me, the girls… We don't keep secrets from each other, and we're honest with each other. Please, what's wrong?"

He felt his walls crumbling at her pleading look, the way she looked inwardly hurt by his secrecy. The same hurt she's bearing he can see in Evelyn and Frankie. Ruby wasn't as hurt as her family by his secrecy, but it did pain her to see her family in pain.

And he was the cause of their pain…

Turning his head back, he sighed. "Curtis Connors."

"What was that?" Iris asked as the words he uttered were merely an audible whisper.

"Curtis Connors." Seth turned around, facing the entire team. "That's the name of the person I just fought." He saw Cisco rushing to the main console. "Don't bother searching for him, Cisco, he's not from this Earth."

"Wait, he's from Earth-2?" Joe felt like slapping himself. "Great, another crazy one from that world."

"But he's not from our world, I've never seen him." Harrison clarified.

"He's not from Earth-1 or Earth-2." Seth got everyone's attention. "He's from my world, Earth-616." That news shocked everyone. "He's my friend, Curtis Connors."

Frankie narrowed her eyes at her father's words, turning her eyes to her sister, Ruby. "Rubs, you knew about that thing before the rest of us, right?"

"Yeah, that's why Dad was knocked out in the first place down in sewers. I was shocked too." Ruby confirmed. "Damn thing, never thought for a second I'd be seeing this thing here on this Earth."

Evelyn faced her. "How'd you know this thing, Ruby?"

"I knew of Dad's Earth-616 adventures more than anyone on entire team, maybe even more than Mom." Ruby started before facing her father. "Before meeting him, before he became my father, Venom was my goal. Someone I desired to fight, someone I didn't want to become or be like, he's someone I wanted to beat. So, I learnt everything I could about him, any detail whatsoever I learnt and took to heart. Especially the fights he's fought on Earth-616, where just one of those villains could tear apart the city singlehandedly. Anything to beat him. But when he, Aunt Liv, and Uncle Matt disappeared, I diverted my goals to another hero, Quake. That's how I know about The Lizard."

Cisco wasn't thrilled about that name.

"Wait, Seth, how are you so sure that this thing is the same one you know from Earth-616? Couldn't it be a metahuman from this Earth?" Caitlin asked.

"I wasn't sure it was him to begin with, Cait." Seth started. "I thought it was a meta from this world at first, but when I confronted him back in the alleyway, I asked him if he remembered me and if he recalled the times, I was his intern back on Earth-616. He… He remembered all of them."

"Wait so that serum…" Harry trailed off, hoping for answers.

"That was the antidote to save Connors." Seth answered.

"Seth, what can you tell about this Connors guy?" Joe asked.

Seth had a feeling that question would be asked. "Curtis is a surgeon with two doctorates in biology and biochemistry. His skills got him enlisted in the U.S. Army. He lost his right arm in a wartime blast, resulting in amputation." That shocked the people on the team. "When he got back to his normal life, his civilian life, he devoted his life to finding a serum to regenerate lost limbs."

"Really?" Caitlin asked in shock. She knew of studies that theorized the procedures to regrow a limb, but they were always just that: Theories.

"Yeah, he did. He theorized that humans could make use of the reptiles' ability, as they can naturally regrow limbs, like a hand or a tail. Connors created a serum that he was sure it'd work. Problem was, he chose himself as the first test subject. He injected himself with a dose of his formula. According to his records, he fell asleep after the dose, nothing happened. But when he woke up again, his arm was fully regenerated, good as new." He clenched his hands, so hard his knuckles cracked under his flesh.

"But the reptilian DNA his serum was based on mixed with, and altered, his own DNA, and turned him into that thing this world just saw, The Lizard. But me and another friend cured him, but only temporarily though." Tapping the back of his own neck, Seth continued. "A lot of things happened, and he wanted so badly to return to his old life, he actually agreed to have an Adamantium encased inhibitor chip surgically grafted into his neck which would forcibly revert him to human form if he became too aggressive. It'd even paralyze him in that event, which he agreed to."

Cisco chuckled. "Sounds like you guys had your own Eobard Thawne."

"Connors is nothing like Thawne!" The elemental bellowed out. "Thawne is a coward who had to try and kill a kid because he couldn't fight that idiot as an adult." He pointed to Barry. "Connors is a guy who wanted to help people who went through the same thing as him. Compared to him, Curtis is a hero."

"Dad… Calm down." Ruby said to her father.

"Sorry." Seth shook off his irritated feelings. "But one thing they do have in common, are the things they gave each of us." They looked confused. "Eobard Thawne, when he was Harrison Wells, he inspired and became your idol. Same was Connors to me, he was mine."

"Seth why didn't you tell us, Seth?" Barry asked.

Snapping his eyes in his direction, the elemental scoffed. "You're seriously expecting me to trust you, to get your help, Barry?" He stuck his sword into the ground. "Let me ask you this, how the fucking hell can I trust someone who could have endangered my daughters' lives like you did."

"Seth, I-"

"You changed the timeline, Barry." Seth cut him off. "My children could have been erased from existence if the Speed Force hadn't had my back. So, unlike you, the source of your powers actually gives a crap about my family." Those words cut deep. "And I'm not gonna be like the rest here and treat you like a child, and let you off with a slap on the wrist."

"What does that mean?" Cisco asked.

"Everyone's life is a mixed bag of good and bad, and sometimes the bad is gonna feel like a knife stabbing into your guts. But that is not an excuse to play God." The elemental stated adamantly. "We've all been through bad shit, Barry, and you don't see us playing with fragile things like the timeline like it's a damn toy. The others may understand and forgive you for that shit, but I won't!" He screamed. "I'm not gonna be nice or anything like that to you now, cause the moment you put my children's lives at risk, you just lost me as a friend."

"I'm sorry… I know I put you and-"

"You don't know or understand me at all, dumbass." Seth interrupted him. "Before being Venom, I'm a father. You don't know what it's like being a parent, Barry. But here's a hint for you. The destruction of the city pales in comparison to seeing a bruise on their faces. So don't act like for a second you do."

Barry backed down…

"Also, we're not friends… so if you wanna have that again, you're gonna have to earn that! Work for it!" He looked around, facing his team. "And we're not putting Connors in a containment cell. You think of doing that, you're gonna have to go through me." He finalized before storming out of the Cortex.

Caitlin saw his hand clenching two objects.

"Damn, guy's got a temper." Wally stated in pure shock.

"Can you blame him?" Caitlin rhetorically asked, garnering her team's attention. "Barry almost erased our children from existence when he traveled back in time and created Flashpoint, it's not something that can just be forgotten or forgiven so easily." She glanced at the speedster. "For the record, I'm in the same boat as Seth, I haven't forgiven you, Barry. You're gonna have to earn that."

"I know… and I will." Barry said.

Caitlin didn't say anything, she turned around and followed her mate. She had to show him something. Their daughters followed their mother.

X

The four walked through the hallway, trying to find Seth. But Frankie grabbed her mother's hand and got her attention.

"What is it, Frankie?" Caitlin asked. She received a smile and then the young magnekinetic wrapped her arms around her form. "Honey, what is it?" She blushed embarrassedly.

"Nothing… Just… Love you and Dad, Mom." Frankie confessed while hugging her mother.

"Love you too, Frankie." Caitlin said while stroking her back. She was suddenly embraced by two pairs of arms behind her, where she saw Ruby and Evelyn joining their sister in a hug. The doctor pieced everything together.

They must have been unsure of how she and Seth must have felt after they were saved by the Black Flash and the Speed Force. They must have had those thoughts swirling in their heads ever since they got out. And just mere moments ago, their parents confessed their true feelings in front of them and how they felt about the speedster's action that could have cost them their precious children.

"Love you all, girls. You're the most important people to me and your father." Caitlin declared wholeheartedly. "I'll always protect you."

"Ditto." The four of them turned their heads to the front, seeing Seth leaning against the wall. "We'll also protect you four."

"We'll keep up with you." Evelyn walked over and hugged her father.

"Yeah, don't worry about us, you old fossil." Ruby quipped.

"Don't treat me like I'm ancient, kiddo. I can still whoop your ass any day." Seth countered while using tendrils to bring her closer and hug her.

"Seth. Come." Caitlin walked past her mate, her daughters following her. Momentarily confused, Seth followed her as well. He assumed they'd be walking into the Speed Lab once again, but instead they walked past it and further along the corridors.

The female doctor turned a corner and her family followed her into a darkened room. "What is it, Cait?" Seth asked while looking around, but his eyes only met pitch-black darkness.

"Just a moment, babe." Caitlin said, sounds of keys being pressed down mixed in with her voice. Seth and their daughters realized she was standing in front of a computer. "Tada!" She dramatically said as soon the lights turned on.

"Wow!" Frankie exclaimed.

The Snow-Fury family found themselves standing in a very large room, larger than the Speed Lab. Unlike that one, this one didn't have a course for speedsters to run but instead had a spherical dome-like roof, where there is a hexagonal pattern. The pattern spread over the walls on the sides. The family looked down and saw that the pattern was also spread over the floor under their feet.

Seth couldn't help but think he might be standing in Cerebro of Earth-616.

The four of them faced Caitlin, who stood on a wide console with three computer monitors. "What do you guys think?"

"What is this place, Mom?" Evelyn asked.

With a smile she started. "Since you guys didn't recognize the Speed Lab, I had a feeling you didn't know about this one either." Gesturing to the room, she explained. "We haven't named this place yet, but I was thinking of calling it the "Klyntar Cave.""

"Klyntar Cave?" Ruby said. "Not a bad name."

"So, it's like the Speed Lab?" Frankie asked.

"Kinda. Cisco and I had the idea and we made this together with Matt before." Caitlin said as she took a remote from the desk.

"He probably doesn't remember or know that." Seth stated seriously while examining the Klyntar Cave.

"Yeah… this place is made specifically for you and the girls." They looked intrigued. "Unlike the Speed Lab, which is used to train speedsters, this place is more combat-specified, making it perfect for the four of you." She pressed a button on the remote. Suddenly something ejected from behind the mutant, revealing itself to be a hexagonal machinal pillar with two ports on the outside. Both ports appeared to be made for taking something in.

"Seth, punch that one with a flame fist." Caitlin instructed him.

Curious at her instructions, Seth nodded before facing it. Clenching his fist, he ignited flames around his entire hand. Reeling it back, he thrusts it into the pillar. It connected with the pillar. At first, he thought with his strength and element, he'd be able to crush the pillar itself with ease. But instead, the pillar shined with a red color and was completely unharmed. Also, the flames that still remained on it were sucked into the pillar through the ports.

"What the hell?" Seth asked.

"They're not just for shows or for taking a hit." Caitlin started. "The pillars that spring out from each hexagon here are composed of shock absorbers, allowing them to survive any attack they meet. Not only that, but they also absorb elements, which they convert into energy to power up the entire place."

"Incredible." Seth chuckled.

"In here, you and the girls can go wild and also train without fear of destroying anything." Caitlin assured him. "What do you guys think?"

Seth gave a thumbs up. "It's amazing, Caitlin. It's incredible."

"Not to mention, this place also has DNA analysis equipment." Caitlin pointed a finger to the items in Seth's hand. "We can take a look at those claws in your hand, Seth."

"Let's… and thank Caitlin." Seth lowered his head. "Even though I asked our daughter to keep something from the rest of you."

He didn't even notice Caitlin moving off the platform until she stood in front of him, using her fingers to tilt her head back up. "You care about this Connors guy, that's why you did that, I understand that… So, let's save him together, huh?"

Seth nodded… They're gonna save Connors.

X

Inside the Speed Lab, Barry looked around and took in the course. He's been standing in here for a while, after hearing Seth confess about the Lizard's true identity. As he stood there alone, Harrison soon walked in through the entrance.

The speedster let out a sigh. "Can't even bring myself to take a lap around this thing."

"Why is that?" Harry asked while taking off his jacket.

"I don't know. I mean, you said it. So did Caitlin and Seth, for that matter." Barry stated. "Everything's different here and my actions could have killed someone I call a friend, who now genuinely hates me, and for good reasons." He added quickly. "Plus, there's a guy creating metahumans, innocent people, because I changed the timeline. It's on me."

"Yeah, well, I think I know a thing or two about what that feels like." Harrison said. "Yeah, I keep making mistakes. I make mistakes and then I want to make up for my mistakes, then I just make more mistakes. The next thing I know, I have a daughter that won't even speak to me."

Barry looked stumped. "How do we keep from messing things up, when all we want to do is help?"

"I don't know." Harrison shook his head. "But you did once tell me that, "You have to trust that in the long run, the decisions you make are the right ones.""

The speedster chuckled. "Yeah. Not sure it's gonna work with Seth and his entire family hating me right now."

Harry faced the speedster. "I was always too good at forgiving myself, Allen…. You were never good enough."

"Barry, Harry, get to the Cortex, we think we found something about The Dragon." Cisco called out through the speakers.

X

Once everyone had gathered in the Cortex, they waited for Caitlin and Seth to show their findings after their research on the two fangs from Curtis Connors.

But as they waited Barry looked around. "Where's Iris?"

"Said she got a call from her colleagues at CCPN saying they have news about a flying monster spotted somewhere." Cisco smiled gleefully. "The Dragon's arrived."

"Let's just hope no civilian tries to play white knight and tries to vanquish the dragon." Seth countered while bringing up the results of his and Caitlin's analysis. "Okay, here's what we found out."

"Remember it to dumb it down, please." Ruby reminded her parents.

"Will do, honey." Caitlin accepted while the DNA analyses of both fangs showed on the wall monitors. "So, when Seth fought Dr. Connors, he managed to knock out two fangs or teeth, one pre-dragonification and the other post-transformation."

"Dragonification?" Evelyn asked. "You mean, when he transformed into The Dragon?"

Caitlin nodded to the question her daughter posed while the others looked at the analyses of the fangs. Harrison faced the one, displaying the pre-transformation. "Incredible. It's almost completely akin to an ordinary reptile's fang. This Connors is certainly a genius to accomplish something like this."

"He has a good heart, but he can't control himself as The Lizard, which the chip should have helped with, but it hasn't." The mutant explained. "You guys can blame him for creating The Lizard, but you can't blame him for The Lizard's actions."

"Sounds like science gone wrong." The detective admitted.

"True enough." Seth accepted.

Frankie pointed to the second analysis. "But what about that one? It's the same except for the length and density."

"It's not, sweetie." Seth pressed a key, enlarging the fang's 3D image and showing its DNA structure. "Initially me and Seth had the same idea, but when we closely examined it, we found traces of dark matter in it."

"Dark matter?" Barry asked. "You mean he's a metahuman?"

"More like a cross-species enhanced with dark matter exposure, turning him into some sort of evolved state of a lizard." Seth stated.

"And a dragon's the next step in a lizard's evolution?" Wally asked skeptically.

Jesse, tilting her head left and right, stated. "It's always been theorized that reptiles, lizards and snakes are descendants of dragons, so dark matter could have unlocked that DNA."

"That's true." Seth nodded. "But that's not the entire thing." He brought up the DNA structure of a metahuman, placing it beside the larger fang's structure. "Unlike a metahuman's DNA structure which is either completely overwritten or altered due to dark matter exposure, Connors' is only partially altered. Not fully."

"What does that mean?" Joe asked.

"Means this injection should have only worked on parts of Connors' body and not entirely."

"Then why isn't he just partially transformed?" Ruby inquired.

Seth answered. "Think it's because the dark matter injection spread throughout his body when I injected him with the antidote. The dark matter must have neutralized the antidote's properties, allowing it to be used to spread through his entire body." As he spoke, Caitlin pulled up a simulation of dark matter spreading through the body of a person, altering its appearance completely.

"Okay, but that doesn't explain how we can change Connors back into himself, especially now that he's tougher and more fire-breathy." Cisco noted while biting into a chicken strip.

"I think I can do that." Caitlin declared. "I think maybe I can rework Seth's lizard antidote and make it work so it can affect a dark matter-altered version of The Lizard." She turned to her mate. "It's gonna take some time, can you hold him off for a while?"

"I will, anything to save Connors." Seth adamantly said with clenching hands.

"We'll save him together." The speedster said, but the elemental didn't react to it merely giving him a blank look.

Suddenly alarms blared over their heads, beeping loudly and chaotically. "Oh, what now?" Seth exclaimed.

"That's Iris' panic button." Joe stated.

"Her what?" Barry asked.

"Her panic button." Barry, Seth and his daughters gave the viber a blank look of confusion. "We installed them on everyone's phones?" The blank looks continued. "Cause we kept getting kidnapped?"

"Well, at least something's an improvement in this timeline." Barry noted.

"Only improvement." Ruby sniped.

Caitlin brought up a satellite image of the city. "That's downtown, near the hospital." She declared.

"Iris is down there." Joe paled in fear when seeing multiple red marks appear around the image of downtown.

Nodding to the monitors, Harry added. "Looks like she's not the only one." He referred to the buildings with high thermal readings.

"Is that flames?" Jesse asked at the sight of the flame-like readings.

"That's flames, alright." Cisco rapidly nodded.

"Dragon's gonna burn the entire place and everyone there if he keeps throwing flames like that." The detective stated.

"I'm gonna go." Seth said while retrieving his sword. "Cait." He faced his mate. "I'll leave the antidote to you."

She gave him a thumbs up. "Go be a hero, I'll handle the battle here."

"You girls are coming too." Seth shocked his daughters with his words. "What's with the shocked looks, you three?"

"Dad…" Frankie clenched her hands. "I tore open the street before, I can't go out." She said, fear stuck on her face.

Looking at his other daughters, he saw the same level of fear on Ruby and Evelyn's faces. He stepped closer to them, crouching down before them. "Something's happened to your powers after being in the Speed Force, I know that and so do you guys. Your mother, too. We're gonna look into it, I promise. But you can't hide yourself from that fear, girls. You're stronger than that. Even if you're afraid of your own powers, it doesn't mean you can just hide away. That fear's gonna be there the entire time, sticking to you like a parasite."

"Did he just call me a parasite?" Magenta pouted in anger inside of her host.

"You gotta face that fear, girls. Confront it and you'll be stronger than ever." He assured them.

"I'm going." Ruby stated, cracking her fists. "It's our home, our family. We protect them. It's our job."

"She's right." Evelyn nodded.

Smiling at their confident looks, Seth turned to Frankie. "What about you, honey?"

"Of course, I'm going, too." Frankie affirmed. "This is my home, too… I'm not leaving my family to fight just to sit on my thumbs and do squat." Her clothes shifted into pinkish mass before spreading over her hands and legs, slowly enveloping the rest of her body.

"Good." Seth returned to his full height, speaking as a commander. "The four of us are gonna face Dragon, hold him off till your Mom and the rest finish the antidote." He turned his head to face Barry. "You handle the civilians, get them out of harm's way."

"Awesome." Ruby said excitedly, she'd be able to get payback now and more importantly with Dragon still having immense regenerative powers, she can fight without worrying about killing Curtis.

"As Ruby's probably guessed, Connors still has regenerative properties and can handle anything, so don't worry about hurting him." Seth said, he knew they knew that even with regenerative powers, losing the head will kill them for sure.

"Seth, you really wanna go out?" Joe asked. "You still have a bounty on your head, you'll be hunted and hated if you go out there. They might be throwing pitchforks at you."

"Then I'll fight with pitchforks in my back." Seth countered. "I'm gonna protect them no matter what." He saw Joe's hesitation. "Like I told your daughter years ago, Joe, I'm not doing this for glory or publicity. I use my powers to protect those who don't have powers. They can hate me for all I care, as long as they're alive and safe, I'm okay." He declared.

Caitlin smiled widely at his words… He's still the Lethal Protector.

X

"Everyone get away!" Iris instructed the other civilians who ran away and screamed in fear. The reporter arrived earlier and searched for any clues as to the whereabouts of the Dragon. Her search for information was unnecessary when suddenly Dragon himself appeared in the skies, raining down fire blasts at the civilians.

Thankfully, no one was hurt, and the police appeared shortly following his arrival. Iris saw them raise their firearms, firing bullets at the Dragon but all of them were brushed off or never even connected with his airborne scaly body.

"Get to safety everyone!" Iris instructed the screaming civilians as they're all dodging fire blasts that the monster was launching at them. She looked in the direction of the Dragon who continued flying in the air. "Damn guy's really intent on burning the city."

"ARGH!"

The reporter snapped her eyes in the direction of the scream, seeing that it was a young girl that tripped and fell. "You okay?!" She rushed to the girl's side, crouching down beside her. "Are you okay, sweetie?" She helped the young girl up.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She nodded her confirmation. "Thanks, miss." She expressed.

"Come here, sweetheart." She took the girl's hand and ran in the direction of the other civilians.

Unfortunately, the Dragon heard them from the skies and flew downwards, flapping his wings to gain powerful momentum. He lashed out his sharp claws as he flew down to meet them. Iris heard what sounded like a sword removing itself from a sheathe, turning around and saw the Dragon flying after them with outstretched claws.

She wrapped her arms around the younger girl, carrying her and ran away…

… Fearing they might just fall at his claws or be burnt to ashes by his flames…

WHOOSH

But a flash of yellow lightning saved them, speeding towards them and grabbed them before they could ever meet with Curtis' claws. "You two okay?" Barry asked them when coming to a stop. Iris nodded while The Dragon turned its yellow eyes to the speedster. "Oh man, he really looks like a dragon." His inner boy who admired dragons was revealing itself.

"Not the time to admire him, Flash!" Iris chastised him.

"Right, sorry." He shook off his feelings and faced the monster again that stretched out his wings, while his fangs turned red. "And can breathe fire… Cool!"

"Not cool!" Magenta declared, shooting out her tendrils and wrapped them around the Dragon's long mouth, closing it before he could expel flames. She landed in front of him, her fist reeled back and forming a mace. "Sorry for this, Connors!" She thrusted her mace into the underside of his face.

Dragon, however, remained unfazed and reeled back his right claws. He swung them for the girl's head. But an arrow flying at light-speed flew from the side, cutting off the Dragon's entire hand. The monster, with his free hand, tore off the tendrils around his mouth and screamed before stepping out of the way.

Appearing beside her in a shroud of shadows, Magenta saw her sister Eclipse reveal herself. "Nice shot."

"Don't act so surprised." Evelyn quipped. In the corner of her eye, she saw that her arrow from before was already halfway through a wall. "Our powers are different now…" She holstered her arrow and bow, before cupping her hands.

Light shot out of her hands, forming into a sword. This ability wasn't anything new, but when she used her darkness and combined it with her light sword, the blade itself expanded. Frankie thought her light blade resembled a broadsword now.

"Different… But people need our help." Using the skills she got from her uncle, she held her light broadsword like a samurai. "Let's go." She added as the Dragon's hand regrew instantly.

"Get out of here. We'll handle this with Venom." Magenta told the speedster who nodded and sped away with Iris and the little girl.

Destroyer landed beside her sisters. "Thing's still standing, huh?" She pulled out her blade. "Good, means I can still have some fun." She said excitedly.

Snarling at the girls, the Dragon jumped off the ground and flew towards them. Both of his claws grazed the ground, easily damaging the ground. When within reach, it swung its claws from downwards, intent on slashing them to pieces.

But Ruby thrusted out her Vibranium Chakram blade and blocked the right hand. Frankie stopped the left hand with jagged swords crossed over one another. Dragon chose his long-range weaponry, his flames, as he opened his maw and ignited flames. However, Evelyn appeared over his head and kicked down on his mouth. She swung her light sword and his left wing, making him howl in pain.

He retaliated when he outstretched his unharmed right wing and spun around. Curtis, completely controlled by his cross-species alter-ego, slammed his wing into the two girls in front of him, sending them rolling on the ground. Reaching behind him, he grabbed Evelyn's leg and threw her off his back. She landed beside her sisters with a groan.

Dragon reeled his head back, flames bursting out of the gaps in his teeth before he thrusted his head forward. The flames that erupted inside of his mouth came flying out in a condensed flamethrower, erupting out of his mouth and aimed at the girls.

However, a humongous pitch-black embroiled in black flames appeared before the girls and took the flames. The black flames proved superior to the red flames, causing the inferior flames to dissipate and reveal Venom's body, still clad in abyssal flames.

Venom's red eyes met the yellow ones in Curtis' head. "Friend or not, Connors, you will never touch our daughters!"

"Don't worry, Dad." Destroyer said as she pushed herself up to her feet. She raised her blade. "We're not down yet."

"We're still ready for a brawl!" Magenta morphed her hands into axes before jumping backwards and standing on the wall.

"We can still fight!" Eclipse reformed her broadsword of light.

"They definitely took after you in that respect." Venom chuckled at his own comment to his host.

"True…" Seth agreed. Like magma erupting out of its volcanic habitat, the handle of his crystal sword stuck out of his back. Grabbing it, the mutant pulled it out of his back and pointed it at the Dragon. "We're gonna defeat you and save you, Connors!"

The monster snarled before flying towards them in a charge.

Venom and his daughters responded in kind, charging to meet him.

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs)

"Holy Moses, Snow-Furys vs The Dragon, epic match!" Cisco exclaimed excitedly, thrusting his fists into the air.

"Cisco, I'm trying to work here, and you cheering my daughters and boyfriend on as they fight a dragon, isn't exactly motivating and much more distracting." Caitlin announced from the side lab where she kept working on the serum that'd revert Curtis back to his normal human self. Thankfully with Seth's notes, the basis of the cure formula and the spare formula itself, she was able to work quicker than ever before.

But she couldn't help but be enthralled by Curtis' and Seth's work. This was something she's never experimented with and… It truly shocked her, and this marvelous work was inspiring. Earth-616 science was out of this world…

"I'm close to finishing it." She announced from the lab while measuring the various components laid before her eyes. "Just need a few more minutes." Caitlin took a flask with a blue colorized substance and poured in a yellowish component. Per her calculations and simulations, the two mixtures combined and turned into a new green component.

"What then?" Joe asked the team. "How do we get it to them? Barry can't leave, not with civilians still there at the battle. He has to get them out of there." The detective gestured to the screens, showing dozens of people still at the scene.

"I could vibe there… But…" Cisco pointed a finger to the screens, aiming it at the display of Dragon fighting Venom. "I get in the middle of that fight, I'm gonna be torn into shreds." He shivered at the thought of standing in front of Curtis in that form. "So, what do we do? Barry's the only one who can get back and forth."

"Evie could do it, but she's with her family and fighting that thing." Jesse stated. "She loses focus she could get killed."

Joe shared a look with Harry, giving him a stern but also understanding look. Harrison nodded. "Cisco's right." He spun around, facing his daughter. "Go help them, give them the cure."

Jesse turned shocked. "Dad…"

"You need to get out there, as soon as Snow's done with that cure." Harrison declared adamantly.

"Which is now." Caitlin chimed in as she moved out of the lab, holding an injection gun with the green cure. "Give this Seth, he'll know what to do with it."

Jesse turned away from the doctor, facing her father. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure." He assured her. "I know you can do it. You're more than fast enough." He took the gun from Caitlin, holding it out for his daughter to take. "Now run, Jesse. Run."

Jesse smiled widely, grabbing the injection gun out of Caitlin's hand before facing the exit.

WHOOSH

With that, she quickly sped out of the facility.

X

Ruby grunted when she landed on the rooftop, the force of her gravity powers working against her and caused her to land too violently on the roof. "Damn powers!" Momentarily she thought she'd have just resorted to close-range combat and not her powers.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw a reddish glow on the ground, coming from directly behind her. Performing a jump, she got out of the way and saw that it was Dragon again. "Fucking hell, you got a thing for blondes or what, Connors!"

She got the expected answer and got a snarl as a response before it dove down to strike him.

Destroyer tightened her hold on her blade as Dragon closed in on her. At the right moment, when he's within arm's length, she lowered herself into a crouch and spun under him. With her blade in her right hand, she delivered an immediate uppercut into his stomach. Though it wasn't deep, she did manage to break his scales and cut him.

Dragon groaned, flying over her but fell to the roof due to pain. His wound instantly healed as he swung his head to face the girl. Flames burst within his mouth before he opened it and fired off two fire blasts.

"Rubs!" Eclipse shouted as she appeared before her sister. Lashing out her arms, she projects her darkness tendrils. With her onyx darkness, she deflected the fire attacks, making sure they either were sent into the skies or into the ground, away from civilians. "You okay?" She asked her sister.

"Fine, thanks to you." She nodded to the monster. "He's coming!" She declared when it flew into the air.

"I'll stun it, you pin him down!" Evelyn stated as she focused her light into an orb. Ruby nodded.

Eclipse saw Dragon flying in the air, flapping its wings and glaring at the girls. Thrusting its head out, he fired off multiple fireballs after them. Ruby and Evelyn dodged them, running in separate directions and avoided the blazing balls. Destroyer threw her blade after him, it hit his left wing and cut it. The monster howled in pain and held his damaged wing.

Using that opening, Evelyn came to a stop and thrusted out her hands. But just like back in the sewers, her orb's light amplified again, projecting out of her hands with the strength and speed of a laser. Ruby shielded her eyes because of the laser's sun-like intensity. Traveling at the speed of light, it connected with Dragon's other wing, instantly piercing through it with a burning intensity.

Without his wings, Dragon fell to the ground again. His landing caused the ground to crack, he perked himself up and faced the two.

"Losing two wings and that thing can still stand, seriously?" Ruby gritted her teeth.

"Ruby, remember." Evelyn said, and then the monster showed his advantageous ability. Whatever remains he has of his wings he tore with his own hands. New wings immediately sprouted from his back, and he flapped them. "He's still got lizard powers; he can regrow any limbs he's lost with ease. Even his wings."

"So, all we can do is wait for the cure." Ruby groaned. The monster jumped after them. Following her sister's plan, Destroyer clenched her free hand and used her powers to apply pressure on Dragon's body, causing him to fall to the ground.

But just like her sister's powers, hers suddenly amplified and caused the pressure to increase, causing Dragon's body to be hammered through the roof and into the building itself.

"Think you killed him?" Evelyn wondered, while contemplating if she should actually go down and check on his condition.

"Want me to throw you down there so you can check yourself?" Ruby retorted with a threat.

"No than…" She trailed off at her own response when she saw the ground underneath her glowing and turning red. "Dam-"

Before realization could dawn on the other sister, pinkish tendrils wrapped around both Ruby and Evelyn's forms and pulled them out of the way, just as a fireball burst through the roof. Both sisters found themselves hanging, looking up and saw their magnekinetic sister's white pseudo eyes looking down on them. "You two talk too much."

"Shut up." Ruby countered.

The three sisters looked forward, just in time to see Dragon fly out of the hole he made in the roof. "That thing is freaking tenacious!" Magenta complained.

Mentally sending a nod of agreement, the magnekinetic replied. "Yeah… But just so we're clear, we're not gonna hurt him too much, you know."

"I know, I know, I remember your old man's lecture back at the facility." Magenta stated. "But he's not making it easy on our part."

Frankie agreed, turning her eyes to face the draconic monster that looked unfazed by her sisters' attacks. "We have to attack him together, all of us."

Just as she finished her sentence, Curtis flew towards them with outstretched claws. He's ready to tear into the three Snow-Fury sisters. But black tendrils wrapped around his leg and pulled him down. Venom swung him around, getting enough momentum before he slammed him into the ground.

Looking up to face his daughters, he told them. "You three are too relaxed. Take this seriously, girls!" He chastised them. He had to take his own advice when Curtis used the spike on his left elbow and tore off the tendrils on his leg.

Facing him, the draconic monster opened his mouth and launched flames at him. Seth ignited black flames around his right fist before thrusting it outwards to meet the fire blast. Once again, his abyssal flames proved stronger than the opposing fire element.

But the collision of flames gave Curtis a chance to strike, landing behind the elemental and lashing out his claws. Quickly raising his crystal sword, he blocked the claws. Turning his left arm into adamantium, he swung it backwards and hit the monster's face.

The blow to his head disoriented him and also pushed him back.

Frankie dropped off her sisters and landed beside her father. She ran past her parent and charged the monster, tendrils sprouting out of her entire body. Locking eyes with the monster, she thrusts out her tendrils to meet him. She wrapped them around his arms and lifted him up.

When close enough to him, she formed a mace around her right hand and launched it into his stomach. It didn't break his skin, but it did make him cough up bile. Magenta continued her assault, repeatedly hurling her fists like cannonballs, sending them into his stomach in rapid succession.

Twisting his hands around as much as he could, Dragon grabbed hold of the magnekinetic's tendrils and pulled on them. He swung her into a car, causing her tendrils to release their hold on him.

Eyes shining bright magenta, the metahuman growled and raised her fists. The vehicle she fell into lifted itself into the air, tearing into multiple pieces. Curling her fingers, the pieces turned into sharp shards, sharpening with each motion of her fingers. Crossing her arms over her chest, she brought more shards to her side, making them from anything metal nearby, and made them spiral.

"Take this!" She uncrossed her arms, hurling the hail of sharp shards like snowflakes in a blizzard.

Dragon covered his entire body with his scaly wings as the shards came flying in his direction. The attack was so wide that everything behind was riddled with what seemed like bullets. Glass shattered, water hydrants burst, and vehicles were torn to shreds.

The velocity of Magenta's attack shocked her family greatly, even to unbelievable limits. The storefront glass behind Dragon was completely riddled with bullets.

"Dad." Ruby tapped her father's hand, garnering his attention as she pointed it to the monster himself.

"Really?" The elemental muttered in shock.

Magenta lowered her hands, seeing that the green scaly monster had completely covered its entire body with its wings. And every inch of his wings were covered with shards stuck to them. They merely looked stuck, not piercing into his wings at all.

Slowly spreading his wings to the sides, Dragon faced the young magnekinetic that raised her arms at him. Sneering at her, the monster lashed out his wings with tremendous speed, sending the metal shards back. They turned into a blur.

"Magenta look out!"

WHOOSH

A yellow flash of lightning sped in, grabbing Frankie and pulled her out of the way. "Made it just in time." Jesse announced when coming to a stop beside the others who turned to her in shock. She released the magnekinetic.

"Jesse?" Seth said and she smiled. Smirking back, he added. "Looks like your stubborn old man finally let you go."

"About time, yeah." Evelyn said.

"Thanks, Jesse." Magenta expressed her gratitude.

"Hold the thanks, got one more gift for you, straight from Caitlin Snow." Jesse held out the injection gun with the modified cure. "She thinks this will save Connors."

"If Mom says so, then it's true." The gravity manipulator stated as Jesse handed the gun to their father. "What's the plan now, everything we throw at him he counters with fire and attack."

"My attack barely hurt him because of his wings." Frankie commented on the monster's wing shielding ability.

"He's a tough one." Eclipse added.

Shifting his eyes between his children, Jesse and their opponent, and also at their surroundings, he stated. "Got a plan…" He turned his head, facing Jesse over his shoulder with a single eye. "Jesse, you up for some work?"

"What's the plan?" Jesse asked, immediately stating she's ready and willing to work alongside the Snow-Furys.

Nodding his acceptance, the elemental elaborated the plan. "Evie, get us out of the way with shadowporting. Jesse, use your speed to get Connors into the alley there." Jesse saw him point with a tendril. "Provoke him, get his attention, anything you can think of and lure him in there. We'll take care of him there."

"But he's got flames and spikes… Nothing I throw at him will hurt him?" Jesse gulped.

"Listen to what Dad said." Ruby told her. "He said get his attention, not hurt him. We'll win against him in the alley… This isn't the time for you to complain, Whiney."

"Seriously? Still going with that name?" Jesse groaned. She turned her eyes to the monster, showing a level of determination she hasn't shown before. "Guess it's time I get a new name."

"Damn right." Magenta said.

"Remember what I taught you on Earth-2, last year… Use that and whatever else you have in your arsenal. You're smarter than your old man, Jesse. Trust yourself." Venom encouraged her. "Where you are right now, where you're thinking you can't do this… Every hero has a moment like this. And they overcome that feeling."

As his daughters stepped closer to him, tendrils wrapping around their arms so they could shadowport when Evelyn activated her powers.

"Overcome that feeling, and become a hero, Jesse!" Seth and Venom finalized, turning to Eclipse. "Go." She nodded and they shadowported out of the way.

"So, Seth and his family trusts me quicker than my own Dad, huh… That's something alright." She bemusedly thought to herself, though she knew what that meant.

It meant she couldn't let their trust be in vain…

Speeding to a pile of rocks, picking up a few, Jesse faced the monster. She threw one rock at him. "Hey!" She got his attention. "Come on, Dr. Scaly!" She threw more rocks after him.

When the rocks hit his face, Dragon snarled, displaying his teeth again before jumping into the air. Coming close to her, he swung his right hand like a hammer. Instead of penetrating into her human form, his claws were found embedded in the asphalt.

Hearing a whistle, Dragon saw Jesse standing in the alley entrance, sticking out her tongue like a child. "Miss me, miss me, now you gott-" She realized what she was about to utter and paled. "Nope, not looking for a lizard make out session here, no way in hell."

Dragon roared, flying towards her with his claws digging up asphalt before swinging them upwards, throwing ground after her. But Jesse used her speed, time slowing to a crawl, allowing her to pick the rocks out of the air before getting out of the way when time returned to normal.

Jesse came to a stop, deeper into the alley and threw the rocks after him again. Using his wings, Dragon deflected the rocks into the walls around him. He growled again, opening his flame-filled mouth.

"Oh crap." Jesse said, fast as she might be, but she'll definitely feel those flames if they touched her.

"No, you don't!" Destroyer exclaimed, using her powers to force the monster down and into the ground. Dragon felt the immense gravity force pinning him down almost instantly, forcing him down. "Eclipse, now!"

"Got it!" She appeared over the draconic monster, pulling back four arrows. Releasing them she fired them into the backs of both thighs and cut off the spikes protruding from his elbows. Dragon reopened his mouth, intent on firing flames again.

But Magenta, whose hands are formed into hammers, jumped down and slammed both of them down his mouth, causing it to close once again. "Sorry for the tough love, Connors. But it's for your own good!" She stated as her arms split into tendrils, wrapping around his entire mouth and kept it shut.

Finally… A huge shadow appeared over them all. Looking up they saw Venom jump over them, his form turning into adamantium before falling down. With his metallic form, his density had increased significantly, causing him to descend quicker, landing on Dragon's back with the force of a small meteor.

Dragon groaned in pain at the sudden painfulness of the two attacks.

Now that he's vulnerable, open to attacks and pinned down so he couldn't counterattack, Seth pulled out the injection gun. Without giving Curtis a change to strike back again, he jammed the gun into the back of his neck. "Come back, Curtis." He ordered as he pulled the trigger, the contents of the barrel flowing through the needle and into Dragon's body who began to thrash wildly.

"How long does this cure take?" Jesse asked while stepping out of Dragon's reach, worried she might get slashed.

"Normally in a matter of seconds, but this is dark matter, might be different!" Venom exclaimed while fighting back Curtis who intensified his struggles to escape. "Connors, calm down!"

Somehow Dragon's eyes turned to face Seth, facing him with yellow eyes that quickly shifted to red eyes and then turned to blue again. His eyes quickly went through these shades of colors instantly.

It was though, the three personalities were fighting for control. Dragon fought, Lizard fought, Curtis Connors fought… It was only a matter of seconds to see which of them would come out on top.

But Seth hoped and prayed that his old mentor would be one to be victorious.

As he was thinking that Dragon somehow got his strength back and spiraled around, throwing off the Snow-Furys from his body. Grabbing his head, twisting it around, he flew upwards and roared in the air.

"Curtis fight back!" Seth called out to his friend within the body of Dragon while he gently placed his daughters on the ground. "You can win!"

The monster faced him, opening his mouth. "S- S- Seth!" He faced him with blue eyes that quickly vanished, turning back into yellow. Roaring it flew down to meet him and his daughters, lashing out his claws in retaliation.

Before any of the heroes could react, a large energy beam came flying from behind them, hitting Dragon right in his chest and sending him flying to the other side of the streets, into another alleyway.

"Wait, wasn't that…?" Evelyn shared a look with her sisters.

"It can't be?" Seth muttered.

"You've gotten slow, Seth." The five of them turned their heads backwards, seeing a familiar white-plated armored man flying in the air. His knight helmet with golden and red plating around it shone in the daylight. The visor on his helmet shining brightly with blue energy, concealing the green eyes behind them. His back's equipped with four wing-shaped thrusters, each one holding him up with energy blazing out of them. Normally, he'd wield arm blades on the sides of his arms, yet he didn't wield any now.

The familiar S.H.I.E.L.D emblem on his chest plate is smoking, indicating its latest usage in firing an unibeam. He landed on the ground, standing in front of his family and Jesse Wells. His mask dematerialized, revealing the familiar face with dark-red hair and green eyes.

Matt Stark faced his brother-in-law. "Long time no see, Seth."

"What are you doing here, Matty?" He asked Iron Knight.

"Pretty obvious, isn't it?" He countered, lifting a hand and pointing a finger to the other side of the street where he sent Seth's mentor flying. "Our scaly friend. Or rather, not-so-scaly friend… with wings. That's new." He muttered in shock.

"Let's see if the cure worked." Evelyn said.

Seth nodded and jumped out of the alleyway. Matt jumped into the air, flying after the elemental. The four younger heroes followed. The two mutants landed on the other side of the street. Both softened their facial expressions when they saw that neither Dragon nor Lizard was on the ground…

But it was Curtis Connors lying on the ground.

"He's back… Let's get him to S.T.A.R. Labs, quick."

"And get him some clothes." He noted when seeing he was stark-naked. Matt faced his brother-in-law…

Who used his tendrils to cover the eyes of his daughters and Jesse's.

X

(S.T.A.R. Labs)

Returning to S.T.A.R. Labs, with Curtis and Matt, everyone watched as Seth pulled the covers over the unconscious Earth-616 scientist on the gurney. He walked out of the side lab, in his hand is a small device no bigger than a coin.

He faced Matt. "Matt, take a look." He threw the device at him and he caught it with one hand.

"It's the chip, right?" Matt remembered the inhibitor chip very well. "I'll look at it." He walked to the console and began working on it.

Turning his face, he met Caitlin's eyes. "You're a real lifesaver, Caitlin. Your cure worked perfectly and saved Connors' life." He walked over to her and hugged her. "You're the best, thank you."

"You did most of the work, Seth." She replied, with her own arms wrapping around his form. "So, let's call it a team effort this time." He nodded his agreement.

Joe walked past the mutant, glancing at the man in the gurney. "Can't believe this timid-looking man turned into some monster that could fly, breathe fire and tear into people."

Turning around to face Joe, Seth reminded him. "You can't blame Connors for what he did as Dragon or as Lizard. He couldn't control it in either of those states, he was someone else."

"But you sure… He won't, like, turn back?" Cisco asked.

"No, we just have to fix the chip and graft it back into his neck, and he'll be fine. Trust me." The elemental assured the viber.

"Good." Barry sighed his relief. He turned to face Matt. "But Matt, what are you doing here? Thought you'd be back at 616 by now."

"Two reasons for me being back." He briefly glanced at the elemental again while the scanning continued. "But the second one's for Seth, so I'll hold off on that for now. But the first one, I'll get to it in a bit. But now…" He stood up, facing the entire team. "Seth what the heck happened? I tried opening a portal to this universe dozens of times the last few weeks and I couldn't get a single read on this universe. What happened?"

Glancing at Barry from the corner of his eye, Seth turned back to Matt and answered. "A lot happened…" His body stiffened with fear. "Wait, did something happen to Liv? The twins? Are they okay?!"

"They're fine!" Matt assured him, holding up his hands to try and calm him down. "Livia's just being a bit impatient since she's been on bedrest for months now. Storm's really losing her patience with her." They didn't know it, but there were times where Ororo almost considered freezing his wife to her bed, just to keep her from moving. "And something else happened I need to tell you, Seth."

"What?" Seth asked when seeing the serious look on his face.

Before he could answer that question, Matt's attention was diverted to the computer monitor that displayed the results of the scanning. "Hold a beat." He checked the results, his eyes widening at the results looking back at him. "What the hell?"

"What's wrong, Matt?" Joe asked him. It was never a good thing when the mutants turned shocked. It usually spells disaster.

"I was right." The nanite mutant confessed before taking the inhibitor chip. "Seth, heads up!" He threw the device to him, which he caught.

"What is it?" Seth wondered in confusion while looking at the chip in confusion.

"Look at the chip, you'll understand immediately." Matt replied.

Obliging to his friend's commands, he inspected the device in his palm. Caitlin watched him visually examine the chip and she looked concerned when she saw the level of devotion he's using. She then saw his eyes expand in shock.

"Fucking hell…" He stated in realization. "This isn't the inhibitor chip."

"It's not?" Wally asked.

"You sure about it?" Iris inquired.

"We are." Seth stated through gritted teeth. "When it was decided that this chip was to be implanted in Connors, me and Matt went over the design and tech of the inhibitor so many times we knew it like the back of our hands." He held the device up in his fingers. "That chip was designed and modified to let Connors control his transformation or be stopped."

"But that thing is completely different, it's designed so Connors could be controlled and it's also equipped with some kind of an injection mechanism, most likely to inject dark matter." Matt informed.

"You knew Connors was affected by dark matter?" Frankie stated in shock, her uncle hadn't been here long and still figured that out.

"Only way for people to get stronger here is via dark matter injection." Matt informed. "Had a feeling that's what happened here."

"But I don't understand something…" Caitlin pointed to the unconscious Curtis Connors. "Why is Dr. Connors here to begin with?"

"Before I answer that…" Matt faced the elemental again. "Seth, what was that thing you said about "a lot happened"?"

"That's a long story…" Seth stated with a sigh.

Ruby, however, jumped the gun and bluntly explained. "After you, Aunt Liv, Felicia and the Wells members returned to your respective Earths, Barry ran back in time, saved his mother from death and created a timeline, one called Flashpoint. Dad and us would have been erased from existence if the Speed Force hadn't saved us. Barry reset it because Flashpoint got too hard for him, and we're back from being within the Speed Force. The end."

Matt's eyes widened in shock. The elemental could also see that gears in his head began rapidly turning in thought. The nanite mutant glared at Barry. "You almost killed my family, Allen?!" He punched the console desk.

"It wasn't intentional!" Barry held up his hands, temporarily wondering if he should run away now.

"I better hope so, otherwise you're a goner." Matt clenched his fists, his adamantium bones creaking inside of his hands.

Narrowing his eyes in confusion, the detective noted. "Gotta admit I expected more than just a threat from you. Heck, Seth punched his daylights out when he got out of the Speed Force."

"Want me to ventilate your son? I'll happily do that." Matt offered.

"No thank you!" Barry rapidly shook his head.

"But Joe's right." Seth agreed with the detective. "What's wrong, Matt? I know you better than anyone here, something's on your mind."

Matt sighed. "Best you all know this. Relay this to Harry too, he's not here to listen after all. Cause now all the pieces are in place." He walked around the console, standing in the middle of the Cortex and faced the rest. "Remember what I told you guys when I showed up on this Earth? Following Seth's jump through the portal that brought him."

Remembering that day clear as day, Caitlin replied. "When the portal closed rather violently, a shockwave was released which formed these energy spots close to the area. Small rifts of compressed energy from the portal that turned to small portals."

Cisco recalled that. "And there were twenty-three portals that you and others were tasked to close, right?"

"Yeah, and we did close them." Matt sighed. "But strangely enough those portals returned for some reason not so long ago." Eyes widened in shock around him. "Another weird fact, they opened random places that weren't even close to the first ones. And way more appeared then before. That's how I came through and into this world."

"You sure they were the same portals? Maybe it was breaches?" Evelyn asked.

"No, they weren't. There wasn't a hint of dark matter in any of them." Matt answered his niece.

"Matt…" Seth got his brother-in-law's attention. "You're hiding something. What is it?" Matt gulped. "It's something about those portals, right?"

"The portals are gateways, doorways really." Matt started. "One side opens, the other side opens as well."

"What do you mean?" Barry asked, though he's still worried he might be riddled with repulsor blasts.

Piecing everything together, Caitlin faced the speedster. "When you ran back in time, creating Flashpoint and then reset the timeline, the portals from then must have reopened."

"Score one for Caitlin. Explains why I couldn't come to this Earth sooner, because the timeline was reset." Matt stated his confirmation. "Yeah, the portals opened from this Earth, causing them to reopen on Earth-616 and showed up all over the place. All over the world." He clarified.

"You're saying that's how Connors came to this world?" Frankie asked. Matt nodded. "And all over the world…"

"Matty!" Seth got his attention. "Where did the portals appear?"

"All over the planet, we've been getting missing persons reports like we did with Connors. Which is why I searched for him and ended up finding a portal that brought me here." Matt explained, but he saw the adamant look on his friend's face, telling him there was more than just that. "Various people have disappeared." Seth didn't budge, he wanted the truth. "Portals appeared on Ryker's Island… Fuck it." He confessed. "The Raft's compromised."

"What?!" Seth bellowed. His "other" mentally widening his eyes in shock.

"You're saying…" Ruby swallowed heavily. "Central City's done for."

That announcement left the natives with gaping mouths of shock and looks of confusion. Unlike the Earth-616ers, the natives from this Earth and the singular metahuman from Earth-2 were confused and didn't understand the shakiness and fear the others displayed.

"What's the Raft?" Evelyn asked them.

Seth's teeth ground against each other. "It's a special branch section of Ryker's Island, a jail facility for conventional criminals, like petty thieves and other small fries. But the Raft is the most dangerous part of the facility."

Ruby continued. "The Raft is a special branch of Ryker's Island. It's a super-maximum security prison. Unlike the rest of Ryker's Island, the Raft's primarily reserved for super-powered criminals who are so, so dangerous that just one of them could tear the city apart."

Seth nodded. "More than half of those criminals were bastards that me, Matt, Liv and dozens of other heroes helped capture and throw into the Raft. They're unbelievably dangerous. And without a doubt more dangerous than the ones this city's been facing since the particle accelerator explosion."

"Yeah, Central City's dead." Ruby admitted again.

"You mean our city's about to be overrun with more crazies from your Earth like Carnage?" Joe paled.

"Not all of them are at his level, but they're definitely dangerous enough to become exactly like him." Seth stated. "Fuck worse possible situation for this city." He looked at Matt. "You got a number or any idea as to who's escaped to this Earth?"

"No, not yet. We're still going through it, also because we've been stretched thin because there's been riots at Ryker's. Lots of inmates escaped and I had to take care of them with heroes and S.H.I.E.L.D." Matt revealed.

"Matt, those portals appeared in the Raft. And from the sound of it, there were more than just a few portals that appeared there, right?" Matt nodded his confirmation. "Then it sounds like it was specifically targeted."

Caitlin faced her mate. "You're saying someone created those portals and opened them there, to bring your world's worst of the worst to this Earth?" She deduced.

"Only conclusion I can reach. We do have someone here who can create breaches after all. Not unlikely for someone else to open portals." He gestured to the viber. The elemental confessed. "Means this city's about to deal with threats completely new to them- Fucking hell, Webs, that's what you meant." Seth realized, slapping himself in the face and mentally berating himself and his own stupidity.

"Webs?" Matt perked his head up. "You got another visit from Madame Web?"

"Who's that?" Barry asked.

Seth and Caitlin spent the next few minutes explaining everything regarding his visit from Madame Web in his dreams. With each detail that came from either of them, it looked like the minds of their teammates and family were about to explode from the overwhelmingly new knowledge.

When they finished, Matt chuckled hollowly. "Webs knew about this and warned you. She knew you'd be the only one to handle this."

"That's why she exists." Seth scoffed. "Can't believe it though Earth-1's about to meet 616 threats again."

"Yeah, but we'll be ready." Barry confidently stated. "We'll face them."

"No, we won't." Seth countered. "I will face them and stop them, I know more about them than anyone on the team, I can stop them. If need be, my daughters will help me."

Matt opened his mouth. "I'd stay but…" He trailed off.

Frankie shook her head. "No way, Uncle Matt, you got Aunt Liv to take care of."

"Not to mention, those prisoners that escaped from Ryker's. You need to stop them." Ruby told him.

"After…" Seth held up the chip. "You make the correct inhibitor chip for Connors. Alright."

"Will do, Seth." Matt took the chip from him. "Cisco, mind if I borrow your workshop?"

"You can use it if I'm there to help you." Cisco excitedly demanded.

Matt nodded with a smile and walked into the hallway with the viber following him.

Seth bit his lower lip. "Gonna be hard on this Earth."

"No kidding." Ruby chuckled hollowly while looking at her own hands. "Especially with the way our powers have been working against us."

"Actually, I have a theory about that." Caitlin declared, walking around to the console again. On the computers, she pulled up a 3D simulation. "I think it's because of dark matter."

"What do you mean, Mom?" Frankie asked her mother.

She pulled up a 3D image, showing a sphere with swirling orangey particles. "I think your powers were enhanced because you've been inside of the Speed Force like your Dad did last year before he got his ability to destroy breaches."

Caitlin explained. "The girls have been inside of the Speed Force, which is practically a cluster of condensed dark matter that stretches across time and space itself. I think because they've been inside of it, they've been taking in additional dark matter that's beginning to affect their powers, which is why they're struggling to control them."

"They took too much dark matter into them?" Seth asked.

"Yeah, that's what I think." Caitlin nodded. "Seth, you've been inside of the Speed Force twice now, right?"

"Three times, actually." Seth clarified. "First was when I was taken into it to learn how to use my black flames. Second was when they saved me from Barry rewriting the timeline, creating Flashpoint. The third time was when he was about to reset it, and the Speed Force told me to go back into it. But it was only for a moment, a second really."

"That's my point, Seth." Caitlin leant forward on the console. "You were only there for a moment, and you thought the girls were there for months… But the Speed Force, like I said, stretches across time and space. What was moments, seconds or months for us, could have been years or even longer inside of the Speed Force."

"You're saying time flows differently inside of the Speed Force." Seth surmised.

"Yeah, exactly." Caitlin nodded.

"Wow… That's trippy." Joe admitted in shock.

"Would that even work on Ruby?" Iris asked. "Last I checked, she's not a metahuman."

"She's not, but she was in a cluster of pure, unbridled dark matter, she must have taken some in without her knowing. While she was in there, her body and powers must have adapted to dark matter." Caitlin answered. "It's not unlikely since she took in Gravitonium."

"But how do we… Get control of this extra dark matter in our powers now?" Frankie asked while clenching her fists.

"Not gonna be easy, but it means we're gonna have to go back to basics. Retrain the three of you from scratch, in a way that accommodates your new increased powers." Seth answered.

"Your Dad's right, honey." Caitlin nodded her agreement.

"Seth…?" Everyone perked up at the new voice speaking. They faced the side lab that Seth excited before, where they saw the one-armed Earth-616 scientist, Curtis Connors standing with his one arm holding him up with the doorframe. Somehow, he had wrapped his blanket around his waist, covering the lower part of his body whilst his torso was exposed. Some of them couldn't help but stare at his missing arm. "Is that you?"

"Curtis!" He rushed over to him and helped him stand. "Are you okay?"

Chuckling he turned to him with a mock hurt look. "No jokes about my arm now, Seth? You've gotten soft."

"Give me a few seconds, then I'll have a few ready in the barrel." Seth joked and Curtis laughed back. "It's good to see you again, Connors."

"Likewise, Seth." Curtis didn't say anything or show it on his face, yet he couldn't help but see how Seth looked different. Like he was… rejuvenated in a way he hadn't seen in a long time. He… Seth Fury looked truly happy.

Feeling eyes on him, the Earth-616 scientist turned his head and saw a bunch of strangers looking at him intently. "Seth, where am I? Who are these people?" He asked the one person he knew. Briefly looking down, he quickly added. "And why am I naked?"

"Another universe, Earth-1." Seth answered, causing shock to wash over his friend's face. "And the last question…" He trailed off, not knowing how to break the news.

"It happened again, didn't it?" Seth's head snapped to him so quickly it's a miracle it didn't break his neck. "I turned into the Lizard." He deduced.

"Yes, and something else…." Seth started. "Looks like something happened to you, bringing you to Earth-1 where I assume your inhibitor chip has been replaced with another type of chip that controls you and turns you into a dragon."

"A dragon?" Curtis gasped. "How?"

"Long story old friend." Seth said.

But then a level of familiar fear came over his face. "Dear lord… Seth, did I kill anyone?" He felt a gap in his memories.

Caitlin wanted to jump in, tell the scientist that he didn't do anything bad. Even though she'd have to lie, he wouldn't feel any pain whatsoever. But a look from her mate told her it'd be to tell the truth.

"Two people, Curtis… Robert Singer and Misha Collins." Seth truthfully answered. Now everyone on Team Flash wondered if this news would trigger Curtis Connors to go through another reptilian transformation, turning him back into The Lizard or worse, The Dragon.

"Anyone else?" Curtis asked pleadingly. He received a shake of Seth's head. "Two people… I hurt you didn't I, Seth?"

"Yeah, but you know me, I'm hard to defeat like that. I'm tough." He quipped.

Shaking his head, Curtis corrected him. "No, you're tougher. I can see that."

"Thanks." Seth smiled. "I'll see if I can get you some spare clothes."

"Thank you." Curtis told him as he walked out of the Cortex. He turned his head, meeting the eyes of the people who're native to this world. "Take it, it's the first time Seth mentioned me."

"After you were a bit scaly and, in the sewers, and after he tried to save you, yeah." Joe chuckled.

"That sounds like Seth, alright." Curtis said. Remembering how they're all strangers and know nothing about him, he introduced himself. "Apologies for the late introduction. I am Dr. Curtis Connors, scientist of Earth-616."

"Pleasure to meet you, Dr. Connors." Caitlin greeted him.

Iris noted his demeanor. "You seem awfully calm despite being on another Earth, Dr. Connors."

With a chortle he answered. "In my line of work, the multiverse is nothing new. Plus, I heard everything about Seth finding a new home on another Earth from his father, and also from Matthew Stark."

"Oh, that explains a lot." Frankie stated.

"Doc, are you okay after that…" Wally didn't know how to ask about his transformation.

Curtis, who was used to that kind of reaction, stated. "I'm fine. Thank you for stopping me. And I'm sorry for all the damage I may have caused to your city, not to mention your team, Seth and anyone who's helped to stop me."

"Are you really okay, Dr. Connors?" Caitlin expressed her concern.

"I am fine." His left hand rubbed his missing right arm, stroking it as he said. "It's been many, many years since I experimented on myself, turning myself into Lizard," He had a feeling Seth told them of his life. "but it's still strange being responsible for all of the damage, the pain, the killings and not remembering any of it."

"What do you remember, Dr. Connors? Since coming here as the Lizard?" Barry stepped forward. "If I may ask."

Nodding his acceptance, Curtis replied with a heavy sigh. "Bits and pieces. It happens whenever I turn into The Lizard. It's like dreams, or even like I'm living another life, a nightmare really. I only retain some vague memories of what I have done as him. The clearest memory I have is of Seth fighting back at different places in the city." He turned his eyes, facing the three girls. "And also, of the three of you fighting me as well. Sorry to have caused you all so much pain, and also for hurting Seth."

"He's stronger than he looks." Caitlin proudly reminded him.

"I know that very well, miss." Curtis said. "It's still a horrible feeling, cause I always feel like I have to fight the Lizard inside of me, fight back or he's gonna completely take over my body." He rubbed his head. "Worse is, today… That feeling intensified, like there was more than just the Lizard."

"It was the Dragon." Evelyn stated.

"Unfortunately, yeah." Curtis understood.

Wanting to change the topic for a bit, Ruby smirked. "Hey, Dr. Connors, is it true that when Dad was your intern at a time, he changed the labels of your chemicals and caused an explosion when you mixed them."

"Yeah, that happened. He was a bit of a troublemaker back then." Curtis said. He narrowed his eyes on Ruby. ""Dad", huh?"

"Yeah, he's my father." Ruby told him.

"Well, our father." Frankie gestured to herself, Ruby and Evelyn.

"We're his daughters." Evelyn giggled.

"And mine." Caitlin chimed in.

"So that's how it is…" Curtis inspected the four women of Seth's family. "If you're anything like your father, then you're bound to become troublemakers."

"I can confirm that." Caitlin cheekily said, her daughters shooting her looks of mock hurt.

"Dr. Connors, are you okay?" Joe immediately asked him when he saw a tear rolling down his cheek.

"My apologies." Curtis brushed the tear away. "But you can't imagine what it was like last time I saw Seth. I owe you guys a great debt of gratitude for that. After he-"

"After he lost Bucky and Stef." Joe jumped in. "To Carnage."

"You guys know after all." Curtis suspected they knew about his late son and his late fiancée, and now, he was sure. He clenched his fist. "That monster took everything away from Seth… and, since he was poisoned, he became someone, something else who didn't care about his own life…. I hated seeing that in him. It was like watching a stranger wearing Seth's skin like a suit. He was a completely different person and it scared me more than being Lizard."

Since he began speaking his head hung low, but now he lifted his eyes, facing the family Seth calls his own. "But you four… You seem to have brought him back again. He's alive and overcame his past pain, and got a new family. I owe you all a great debt of thanks for that." He repeated.

"Don't worry about that, sir." Caitlin told him. "Seth… He means a lot to us all." Her daughters shared a smile with her. "We're happy to have him in our lives."

"I'm happy to hear that." Curtis nodded with a smile.

"But at least we know Alchemy didn't have anything to do with this." Barry stated.

"Bit premature to say that." Ruby countered. "If this guy can restore people's powers from an erased timeline, then there's a possibility he could also take people from different Earths, even from one that's as far as 616."

Frankie clenched her fists. "And on the off-chance this isn't Dr. Alchemy, then it means we're dealing with another threat just like him. Maybe worse."

"And from what I've heard from you and Dad, then Central City's not as armed with heroes like Earth-616." Evelyn said. "Means we gotta get stronger…"

"Connors!" Seth called out as he walked back into the Cortex, holding a S.T.A.R. Labs-issued shirts and a pair of sweatpants. "Found these, but they seem kinda ratty… So just your style, right?" He cheekily quipped.

"You really haven't changed. Thanks, I'll just go change." Curtis accepted the clothes before walking back into the side lab to change.

"And the chip is ready as well." Matt announced as he and Cisco returned to the Cortex. The nanite mutant held a small plastic container with the inhibitor inside.

"Blast working on it." Cisco admitted, pretending to dust off his shoulders.

Matt faced his best friend. "I'll return to 616 with Connors and have SHIELD agents implant it again, the right version."

"Alright… Give Liv my regards and tell her to take it easy." The elemental stated.

"Think we know better than to happen." Matt took out a flash drive, plugging it into the computer. "Seth, I know you said you didn't need me here, but the least I can do is give you a helping hand." The main console emanated a strange whirring sound while a dialog box appeared. "Let's get you going then." He pressed a few keys.

"Good day, Boss." A female voice greeted the nanite mutant.

"Who is that lady?" Cisco asked, his eyes snapping around to find the source of the voice.

"That is Friday, another AI like Jarvis, who wasn't in the system anymore." Matt said. "Must have been erased when Barry reset the timeline. Thankfully, before I left this Earth last time, his data had already been uploaded to the database I can access in my suits. So, I could easily input all of his data into Friday's operating system. And now she can take his place and help you guys with those villains."

"Who's the new boss, Boss?" The new AI asked.

"Seth Fury and Caitlin Snow." Matt answered immediately. "I'll have to go back soon, then you can add others to the control."

"They've been registered." Friday informed.

"Awesome. Thanks." Matt walked towards the side lab. "I'll check on Connors in the meantime."

"Wait." Seth stopped him. "What about that second reason, Matty? You said that was for me alone. What is it?"

Biting his lower lip, he started. "Right…" Matt reached into his jacket, pulling out a thick envelope and handed it to the elemental.

"What's this?" Seth asked when taking the envelope. Curious at its strange, dense thickness, he opened it and saw that it was filled with cash. "You rob a bank or something? What's with all this cash?"

"It's Stef's." Matt stated, causing the other mutant's eyes to expand. "It's the cash from her life insurance check. It came a couple of weeks ago. But since Stef's no longer with us, and you're here, the call came to Liv since she's the emergency contact."

"I'd… I'd forgotten all about this." He scoffed hollowly. "Can't believe it."

"Yeah… I'll check on Connors." Matt said, walking away and into the side lab.

Closing the envelope with cash, Seth nodded. But inwardly he didn't know how to feel, both about the life insurance and the news of Earth-616 villains appearing on Earth-1.

"Villains we've met… Villains we know… That's an immensely long list." Venom huffed in annoyance.

"Agreed." Seth mentally admitted, clenching his fist.

X

(Breach Room)

Harrison Wells remained seated on the platform in the Breach Room, waiting for his daughter to come and join him. He had to hand her something very important. Jesse finally walked into the room from the left side, and he began clapping his applause.

"Hey." Jesse greeted her father.

He stopped applauding her. "There she is. Heard everything from Fury and his kids… You were tremendous out there. You really were." He confessed. "I guess that's your first victory as a superhero." Jesse chuckled.

Harry looked into her eyes. "My daughter…. Jesse Quick."

Jesse mulled over the name, liking it with a smile. "Yeah. Yeah, well, I mean, I was only able to do it because you believed in me. So…"

"Uh-uh." Harry disagreed with his child, shaking his head. "I should have been that way a long, long time ago. But I-" He stammered as he tried to confess to his child. "You know, one day, you'll understand. I don't expect you to now, but… I'm always gonna worry. I'm always going to be cautious. I'm always going to love you."

The speedster let the words sink in before replying. "Dad, I know. I mean, of course I know." Her father got up from the platform, embracing her immediately when she's close enough for him to pull her in. After the hug, she pulled out of the hug and told him. "And I will always love you. Even when you drive me absolutely insane."

Both laughed before taking a seat on the platform. "So…" Jesse faced her father. "Are we going home or…"

"I think we'll stay here a few more days, run a few more tests, and also to see if this fits you." He pushed a box behind him closer to Jesse. She looked excited, like a child on Christmas Eve, and like that she pulled the box closer to her, opened it and saw its contents with a smile.

It was a red suit, made for speedsters with golden accents and thick padding. The suit was folded to fit within the box, and she could see the black and white insignia with a lightning bolt.

"Cisco did the insignia… And Snow thought this would help you, and I agree." Harrison confessed.

Jesse turned shocked. "You do?"

"I do." He replied without hesitation. "My… My…. My fear, my guilt has kept both of us back for far too long." Jesse turned her eyes to him. "You know, you've always been my hero. But now… It's time for me to let you be one for everyone else."

"Thank you." Jesse said.

Once again, the two embraced each other… The world would soon know Jesse Quick.

X

(Klyntar Cave)

After bidding both Curtis and Matt farewell, Seth walked into Klyntar Cave alone. He looked around in the big space, taking in the hexagonal pattern once again. He was in a thoughtful trance, thinking about various things.

"Wanna talk about it?" Venom asked his host.

"Don't we always talk?" Seth quipped.

He got his response when he felt a large tendril sprouting out of his back. Turning his head sideways, he saw the tendril spiral around him. The tip of it facing him before taking the shape of a fang-like teeth that sprouted into a mask.

In an instant, Seth was looking at the face of Venom with the white skull extension and red eyes. "Not like this… Not in a while." The Klyntar told the elemental. Looking with his own eyes, Venom took in the dome-like training room. "The room is actually quite impressive when looking at it."

"Yeah, not bad." Seth agreed. "But what'd you wanna talk about, Venom?"

"You know what we wanted to talk about." Venom faced his host. "You're feeling guilty about this mess with the portals, don't you? You better not be blaming yourself for those."

"Can you blame me for thinking that?" He asked him as he took a seat on the staircase on the platform. Clenching his fists, he continued. "I jumped through that portal all those years ago, jacked up on lightning and it exploded, creating portals. And just when we thought we were done with them, they returned worse than ever before."

"Bright side… We're better equipped to actually handle those guys." Venom said. "We've dealt with most of those criminals before."

"Yeah, but with the Raft inmates, it took more than just us." Seth started. "Those guys are gonna be too much for this team, not to mention the city and the police."

"Geez, thanks for the confidence." Joe admitted as he walked into the lab. The detective held a piece of paper in his hand. He saw Seth speaking to his symbiotic roommate. "Still weird you can do that."

Venom sneered. "Stick to your donuts officer." He huffed before retreating back to his host's body.

"He doesn't change that easily, does he?" Joe asked.

"You know the answer to that, don't you?" He countered. "What are you doing here, Joe?"

"Wanted to talk to you for a bit…" The detective took a seat beside him on the staircase. "While you and Caitlin were down in the sewers, monster-hunting and all, I compared some mental notes with some actual notes from previous cases, where I came across an interesting fact." He looked into the mutant's eyes. "Your old workplace, the bar that Stan owned… It's not there anymore."

"It was wrecked when the Singularity appeared." Seth stated. "And it looks like I never worked there." He huffed, facing Joe who showed an unsurprised look. "While researching why the city hates me, I also looked up places I liked. The one place that helped me when I came here is gone… Unfortunately."

"Mean you gotta find a new job." Joe chortled as he tapped his arm.

Seth chuckled back in response. "Oh yeah, you know any place that's looking for an unorthodox doctor with advanced training? Medical and military experience?"

"Actually, I do." Joe handed him the folded paper in his hand. "Julian was apparently impressed with that report that you and Caitlin came up with in a short time, and he gave it to Captain Singh. When he found out I was friends with both of them, one of them being closer, he told me to give you this."

Intrigued why the captain of the police department would want to give him a piece of paper, he accepted the paper and folded it open. Skimming through it, he widened his eyes. "A job contract at the CCPD? As a civilian consultant?"

"Thought it'd be a job as an ME, but that's already taken." Joe said. "This shocked me too, I mean, I didn't think Julian would ever vouch for anyone like this. But it makes sense to have you there with us." Seth looked confused. "Unlike the rest of us, you have valuable knowledge about the villains from 616 that'll be helpful. Having you out there in the field with me, we'd be able to determine who we're dealing with quicker than just waiting for crimes or clues to fall on our lap like we usually do in this building."

"Hold a beat, you said with you?" Seth asked. "You sure you wanna have public enemy number one beside you like that?"

"You're not the enemy to me, and more importantly I need a partner." Joe faced him, looking at his friend with determination. "You had my back today in a way that I didn't even think was possible. You made it look like you're a villain just to protect me and my job. You made it so I could still support my family and protect my city, my home. That's what I want in a partner. I need you out there, with me. What do you say?"

"You sure about this? Back on Earth-616, I used to get offers to become police captains because of my experience and expertise as a SHIELD agent." Seth noted. "I might just have more experience than your own captain."

"Then I couldn't ask for a better partner." Joe smirked, holding out his hand. Again, he asked. "What do you say? Partners?"

The corners of Seth's mouth curled, showing a smirk of his own. "Partners." With that, he shook hands with the detective. "Pleasure working with you."

"Likewise." Joe said.

As they shook hands, Caitlin entered the training room and found the two guys. "Hey." She got their attention. Noticing the paper in her mate's hand and the way the two shook hands, she asked. "What's going on?"

Turning the contract around, showing it to her, Seth answered. "I'm gonna become a civilian consultant for CCPD."

"Really? Heard about "keeping friends closer, enemies closer" but that's a bit much, isn't it?" She worriedly asked.

"Maybe yeah, I'm going to kick the hornet's nest more than a few times. But I need a job to help support our family, Cait, seeing as my last place of work is gone." The mutant told her. "You okay with that?"

"Course I am." Caitlin assured him.

"Good, I'll be going then." Joe told them before walking away.

Caitlin walked over to Seth. "Are you doing okay? You've been a little hurt and distant since the news of those portals was brought up. What's wrong?"

Shrugging unsurely, mostly on account of how he had to confess his true feelings, Seth revealed. "Guess this entire thing with the portals is bringing up some bad memories and feelings, mostly because the last villain we had from 616 was Carnage. Some of those guys might be just as worse as Carnage if they fight together. Central City's not suited for fights like that, like with what happened with Carnage and my fight."

He perked his head up in realization and looked at Caitlin. "Cait, why aren't you worried? You know one of those monsters actually fought our daughter, right?"

"Which she survived." Caitlin reminded him. "Also, I'm not worried because… This world might just face off against a dozen evil maniacs from Earth-616, but we still got you, our Lethal Protector… My Venom." She stroked his face, her words causing it to turn red and smoke emitting from his head. "I know you'll be there and protect us."

"Always… My Cure." He leant forward, kissing her heartily.

He would always protect her… their home… their family.

Threats unknown to this world, but known to him would threaten his world… and he, along with his family, would stop them at any cost…

Nothing would stand before the Lethal Protector… Not while he stands to protect his family.

X

(CCPD, CSI Lab)

"Hey, what's going on?" Barry asked both Joe and Julian when he entered the CSI lab. He had cut his date with Iris short because Joe called him, telling to come to this immediately.

"There you are." Joe waved him over from his seat on the desk. "Listen, Singh wanted me to show you guys this." He gestured to his screen as Julian and Barry stood behind him. "This happened a few days ago at Iron Heights. They tried to keep it under wraps, cause they didn't want anybody to think there was a security issue, but check it out."

He started the video, turning on the security footage from the monitor within the Iron Heights cell of Edward Clariss, AKA. The Rival.

"That's Clariss." Julian noted at the sight of the familiar criminal. Joe nodded.

"Alchemy?" Edward called out on the footage.

"Yeah… Watch." Joe nodded to the screen with his vague words.

"NO! NO!" Edward screamed in the footage as he was hurled around by an invisible force, like air itself had solidified and began punching him like a sandbag. He continued to scream as he was used like a ragdoll, slammed into every surface of the cell.

"He's dead?" Barry asked curiously.

"Watch." Joe repeated, gesturing to the footage. There was a flash of light within the cell, enveloping Edward's body and filling the screen… then it showed the cell itself… was empty.

"He's gone?" Julian asked in surprise.

"Alchemy." Barry said, hiding his shock.

"You ever heard that name before, Alchemy?" Julian asked the other CSI scientist.

Barry shook his head. "No, I haven't."

Joe suggested. "Maybe there's an invisible meta? Someone who works with Edward?"

"Maybe it's a ghost." Julian added his own suggestion. He turned to Barry. "Do you believe in ghosts, Allen?" The secret speedster remained stump. "No?" With that said, he walked out of the lab, ready to take on this new task.

As soon as he was out of hearing distance, the detective asked. "Hey, do you think this thing is part of the Flashpoint timeline, too?" He gestured to the security footage of the now-empty cell.

Barry gulped. "I have a feeling a lot of things are these days."

He was both right… and wrong… Only time will tell and reveal everything.

To be continued…

And that's a chapter, peeps!

Earth-1 gets a shocking visit and an even more shocking revelation when they get a visit by Earth-616's Curtis Connors, aka The Lizard, who turns into the Dragon at the hands of another one. The revelation lies where Seth reveals his visit with Madame Web.

The news of Earth-616 villains like Carnage showing up on Earth-1 hit the team like a freight train, but also terrified them.

But that wasn't the only shocking news to meet the team. Visitors from Earth-2, Jesse and Harrison Wells, appeared and showed that the younger Wells member is now a metahuman, a speedster with superspeed.

Harry tried and hoped Team Flash would try and aid him in his quest to prevent his daughter from following the path of hero-ing. But in the end, he had to let her do so as she used her incredible speed to help Seth and his daughters to save Curtis Connors.

Seth tried to save him single-handedly, but he couldn't do so, and his family helped him. His daughters, much like their mother, are struggling with their powers now after being released from the Speed Force. Frankie accidently opens a hole in the middle of the streets.

Matt showed up, saving The Furys and Jesse and also said what happened on Earth-616. He revealed the portals that he once closed had reappeared at Ryker's Island and also inside of the Raft, now… convincing the team that Earth-1 is now filled with Earth-616 villains.

Hope you guys like the idea of Klyntar Cave, a more combat-specific

Stay tuned and until next time, peeps!