Spider Lost

by FumbleFeatures

Peter Parker/Spider-Man is flung into a new world unfamiliar to him. A world of heroes similar to his own, but endlessly different. Landing in a city called Gotham, Peter initially just wants to go home. Making new friends and enemies along the way, can Peter adjust to this new world or will he crumble under the mounting pressure of Parker luck?

17. Chapter 17 - STAR Attraction Part 3

S.T.A.R. Attraction Part Three: The Greatest Hero You've Never Heard Of

DC Universe – Prime Earth

Gotham City – S.T.A.R. Labs Basement

16:42

Booster felt the rush of an overwhelming physical sensation pound his body as his eyes began to see and his ears began to hear. He crashed into the monitor behind him, and, for a moment, he wondered why Electro had not killed him like all the others. Then he looked about himself and realised, he was killed. The loop had a new start point, but nonetheless he had died like all the times before.

But now, he was alive again. It was odd, his body had no time to process his death, it was over so quickly. One moment he was standing looking at Electro, the next he felt himself crash into the monitor and fall to the ground once more, just as he had when the MFD exploded moments earlier.

'Right. New loop…' he thought as he quickly pulled himself up to his feet, faster than the other heroes who were groaning and groggily readjusting themselves as they tried to work out what had happened.

Spider-Man was next to stand, he groaned as he stood back up on his feet, "Ugh… Everyone okay?"

Booster immediately spoke before anyone could waste time deliberating about what had just happened, "Quickly! Everyone remember the loops?"

"Y-yeah… I think that's what is giving me a headache right now." Nightwing replied as he stood up rubbing his head mildly perplexed.

Booster rolled his eyes at the complaint; compared to him, Nightwing had no idea how much of a 'headache' the loops could cause, "Good. Then listen, we're in a second loop, starting from this point here. No time for details other than, yes, we died again, Flash has no power, Wally West is unconscious over there," he pointed to Wally's form, everyone aside from Flash who's eyes widened in disbelief and relief, looked at him with confusion, "and Vulture is going to try and attack us…"

Vulture grinned back with confused eyes, one could even say fascinated, as he made eye contact with Booster, he moved to reply, Booster didn't let him, "But ignore him, Electro will appear in about a minute and kill us all…"

"Wow, at least let us get our bearings, Booster…" Canary said as he stood up and immediately began stretching.

"I'd love to boss, but last time we were killed the moment we got them… Skeets."

"On it, Booster." He replied while running his diagnostics, "He's telling the truth; this is the new 'save point' as Spider-Man called it. There is a second EMP and Electro appears to be supercharged. If my calculations are correct, based on Max Dillon's current power level, I predict a 0.1% chance of survival this time round."

"Thanks for the pep talk, Skeets…" Spider-Man replied.

"No problem. It's quite an improvement from the first timeline of this loop…"

"Do we even want to know what it was last time?" Nightwing added.

"Last timeline's survival chance was 0.01%... Every little helps, Nightwing."

"Wow… and now it's gone up to whole tenth? Guys, I really think we have it in the bag this time…" Spider-Man replied with heavy irony.

"You're being sarcastic." Skeets replied, mildly unapprovingly.

"Really?! No… Not at all!"

Vulture watched the group curiously and saw as the electricity around him began to coalesce into a singular point, outline the silhouette of a human figure, he grinned and went to attack before pausing and thinking. His mind was now filled with the memories of his prior deaths during the last loop, and if the golden dressed Justice Leaguer and his robot was telling the truth, then what was the point?

There was no joy in killing Spider-Man if he would be imprisoned in a singular moment of time, not even remembering it. Then he heard the hum as Electro's form was fully realised next to him, he was different, no longer a man, but a glowing deep blue humanoid form of pure electricity. Pure power.

Vulture then made a decision, if what he had heard was true, than they had time to figure out how to stop the new EMP, lots of time. He might as well enjoy the ride before that, and what better way than by killing Spider-Man, at least once before young Mr Dillon had the chance.

He rushed to Spider-Man before Electro fully adjusted to his new physical form, flying directly at him as he flung razor sharp blades at him from his wings with every flap of them.

Felling the all too familiar tingle, Spider-Man flipped and twisted out of their path calling as he did so, "Really, Vulchey? You'll be stuck in the loop too! What purpose could this possibly serv—Gah!" he was pinned to the monitors behind him by Vulture who managed to bait him into dodging directly into his path, the screens exploded with a crash.

"The purpose is… I get to experience the satisfaction of ki—Agh!" his face was webbed up as he felt Spider-Man's foot connect with his chest launching sideways into the wall.

As he landed and stood back up, he ripped the webbing off his face with his metal, talon-like, claws on his hands. He had enough practice by now to almost do it instinctively, never once cutting himself, he grimaced and went to call out an insult only to have his ear drums pierced violently as he was launched back into the wall once more by sonic waves.

Canary continued screaming at Vulture, keeping him fixed to the wall before he could no longer take it and he passed out from the pressure, she stopped screaming and Vulture slumped down to the floor, lying down unconscious.

There was no time to celebrate, Black Canary saw the flash of blue in her peripheral and turned to face it and scream in its direction. It was gone from sight; she felt the hairs of her neck stand as her long blond locks began rising with the static behind her. She whipped around with a round house kick directly to Electro's head who had somehow managed to teleport to her back.

The kick never landed; Canary was blasted backwards off the platform. Her body connected with the metal railing, denting it as an audible crack was heard. The shift in her form telling everyone, much to their horror that her back was broken.

Her bent body bounced slightly off the railing before falling down the 20-foot drop, her grapple gun never fired, she never caught herself, instead everyone was petrified with terror and waited a moment before they heard the awful sound of her body hitting the floor.

Peter felt the denial creeping in, the feeling that Canary couldn't possibly be dead, she was just there… ready to fight. How could she be gone, just like that. Truth is, he knew better than to follow that denial, she was dead, gone in moments. In fact, he knew she was dead before she hit the floor, before she hit the railing.

She was fried by Electro's blast immediately; her corpse was nothing more than a charred husk of burnt flesh when it connected to the metal railing. They all knew it, none could accept it, even when seeing the spray of ash exploding out from her back as her spine was bent by the railing.

"Dina—!" Flash screeched the moment he saw his friend cooked before his eyes; his body was wrenched from the ground before the words could be finished.

Flash was being held by his neck by Electro, he didn't try to fight, he just looked past the villain's shoulder and watched with complete dismay as his friend's corpse hit the railing and bounced off it.

Nightwing was pale as ghost as he heard Canary's body hit the floor, he was so stunned that he was completely numb, he hadn't even noticed that Flash had been grabbed by Electro despite the display happening only a few feet away.

Electro screamed at Flash, "You! This is your power! How do I stop the loop?! The EMP?"

Everyone's attention snapped to Flash and Electro, and Booster felt a stab of terror stab him, 'He remembers the loop? We're so fucked…Wait, he's not causing the EMP? Then what is?' being his only thought as he watched Nightwing snap out of his shock.

Nightwing leapt towards Electro's back with his Escrima sticks raised ready to strike. He didn't even notice being killed by the bolt of lightning that sparked from Electro's shoulder who never even turned to look at him. Dick's burnt carcass flopped onto the floor and his burnt Escrima sticks began rolling away

Flash didn't respond to the question, instead he felt a realisation hit him, taking him out of his stunned denial of his friends' deaths, 'my power?' he thought as he grabbed Electro's arms.

"Don't even try it, you can't take it back, it's mine." Electro snarled.

It was true, he couldn't. Flash felt helpless.

"The loop?!" Electro screamed in his face.

"I don't know, Sparky… Guess you're just as stuck here as the rest of us…" Flash replied with a smirk.

Electro snarled. Then Flash suddenly dropped back on to his feet as Electro disappeared from everyone's view and reappeared behind him. Clearly his questioning was over.

A blue fist shot out from Flash's chest holding his still beating heart. It stopped beating and Electro wrenched his arm out from Flash's back. For a moment, his eyes went wide, and he dropped the heart as a moment of lucidity came over him, he felt lightheaded and took a couple steps back in fear and disgust at himself. He killed people before, but this, this felt too brutal…

He turned to Spider-Man, Booster Gold and Skeets who had watched all three of their friends' gruesome deaths happen within the span of a few seconds, "You!" Electro screamed at Spider-Man as he fired a bolt of electricity at him.

The Bolt was stopped by a translucent blue sphere which was surrounding the two remaining heroes and the robot. Booster checked the status of the force field he had managed to surround them in a moment before Electro fired.

It was wide enough to cover himself, Skeets, Spider-Man and even Vulture who still lay slumped in the corner, groggily muttering to himself, he was clearly conscious now, but he wasn't aware enough to be able to do anything. Nonetheless, Booster fired an energy beam at Vulture, which shifted into a hard light rope and wrapped around him tying him up.

He looked across the room and grimaced as he saw he couldn't have the force field cover Wally West who lay on the other side of the room, he turned around and ran to Spider-Man, grabbing his shoulders, "Spider-Man! Spider-Man! Focus, we can save them, loops remember?"

"I- y-yeah, right! Yeah! What's your plan?" He replied as he flicked away his horror at Electro's sudden power, and personality shift as well as the bodies of his friends.

"You tell me! He's your villain!"

"I- I don't know. I've never seen him this powerful before, or this… bloodthirsty. I don't even know if Max is still in there!" He said as he looked past Booster's shoulder at Electro who was still screaming as he continued firing electricity at the force field.

"Then put him back in! Electro can remember the loops, if you can talk him down, we can still save everyone!" he turned away from Spider-Man and stood next to him staring at Electro who was still firing at the force field wildly.

Spider-Man nodded at Booster before looking to Electro, "Ma-!"

"Don't call me that!" Electro's voice was desperate, scared and angry all at once.

"Electro, stop this! You don't have to do this! Look around you, what happened to the man you used to be? The man who'd give anything to go back to get his normal body back?"

"He's gone! I have so much more power now! Why would I ever go back?"

"I— Electro, just think for a moment… You've never been this brutal before, is this what you want to be… is that?" Spider-Man replied as he gestured to the bodies around him, "You have all this power, think of all the people you could help, who you could save!"

"And what about me! I can't remember anyone trying to save me!"

"That's not true, Electro ever since your accident, all I've ever wanted to do is to help you."

"No! You don't even know me! You just can't accept that not everyone wants to be like you! Not everyone wants to rescue kitties from trees, or to stop grannies from having their purses snatched. I can't even walk down the street without people running away screaming! Why should I care about them?"

"You're wrong, Electro! Don't feed into their fear, don't be the villain everyone sees you as… you can choose to be better than them! That's all it is Electro, a choice. Every day I get up and choose to help people. No matter what they think of me…"

"Oh boohoo! So what? Jameson wrote some mean words about you! Don't think for a second that makes us the same!"

"No Electro… We're not the same. All the crap the Bugle painted me as, they still painted you and all the others as worse… But words don't define who you are! Your actions do… An-and I believe in second chances, third chances, fourth chances! You've done a lot of bad things Electro, but your life doesn't end there! As many times as it takes, I won't give up on you! Don't let other people define you, you have the chance to turn around and make this right, to do good!"

The electricity managed to die down as Electro stopped firing and looked at Spider-Man with curiosity, "How? How can I ever go back from this?"

"I live by a philosophy Electro, if you have the power to good things, to help people, it's not just a good idea to do those things, it's your responsibility to do them… You missed the mark the first time! So what? So did I when I started out! I was angry and I let myself ignore all the bad that was going on around me. And that anger cost me, I lost so much because of it…

"That's why I do what I do… Think of the pain and anger your accident caused you, think of the pain you caused others because of it, look around Electro! Remember this and never forget it! Hold it close to your chest… And decide to do good not in spite of it, but because of it. Because you know what can happen if you don't.

"You've been falling down this one hole ever since you got your powers, letting your anger control you, letting Doc Ock control you, letting them drag you down it, but you have control of yourself Electro, not them… you have the power to rise above that hole. To be your own person… I'm not saying you have to be exactly like me; to wear a mask and fight crime… sometimes being a hero is just doing the right thing when the opportunity presents itself. And sometimes it's hard… If it wasn't, the world wouldn't be like this, but it is… but don't let the world choose who you are, make the hard choice… turn away from the villain everyone's already decided you are."

"But it's not my choice, Spider-Man… The Doc would never let me just leave. He's always looked out for me; I owe him my life…" Electro replied, though he sounded unsure of himself.

"No. You don't. Don't let Octavius turn you into his soldier… I'm paraphrasing here, but Captain America once told me, 'It doesn't matter what the press says, it doesn't matter what the politicians or the mobs say, it doesn't matter if everyone tells you something wrong is right. No matter the odds, no matter the consequences, if you believe something is wrong, then when the press or the mob or the whole world tells you to move. You have to plant yourself like a tree and say: 'No. You move.'"

"'You move…' I like that. You know that wasn't a bad speech, Spider-Man." Electro's head perked back up and he smiled, it was not comforting, "But here's the thing, I don't think the Doc's wrong… If the world wants us to move, then we'll move it!" He began shooting even more lightning at Booster's force field.

"How did you take the complete opposite message of what I was trying to say!?" Spider-Man yelled at Electro before sighing and muttering to himself, "Fuck… I really thought I had him that time." Peter didn't like swearing, but it felt necessary this time.

"It really was a good speech, Spider-Man! I for one found it very moving…" Skeets hummed.

"Thanks, Skeets. Booster, how long will the force field hold?"

Booster appeared to be lifting his goggles to wipe away a tear from his eyes, clearly Peter's speech had an impact on him as well, "Oh, uh, forever… It's just gonna' get more powerful the more juice he hits it with."

"So, we just stay here? But what about the others? We gotta' bring em back…"

"I know, I know… Just let me take a second to prepare myself. You know, dying over and over really sucks…"

"Is there any other way? Skeets, can you like, start the loop again manually…"

"I can't, Spider-Man, unfortunately it is out of our control, Booster has to die…" Skeets replied.

"I'm really sorry, man…" Spider-Man said as he put his hand on Booster's shoulder.

Booster smiled back as he replied, "Don't be. I'm the only one with the power to change this, you said it yourself, it's my responsibility to use that power…"

He turned and looked at Electro who was yelling maniacally as he fired, "As soon as I've finished you, Spider-Man, I'm gonna' find a way to end this loop and I'll bring your head to the Doc, then with my new power we'll take over this whole world! Then, we'll find a way home and show everyone else there just how powerful we've become!"

Booster sighed and was about to lower the forcefield then he paused, Electro's lightning became even brighter, and he saw as a warning flashed across his gauntlet, "No… That's impossible."

Impossible as it was, it still happened, Electro managed to overload the forcefield, and it exploded into particles of blue light before fading to nothing in the air.

Booster saw where Electro was facing and rushed to cover Spider-Man's body with his own, Electro created a blade with his lightning in a thousandth of a second as time seemed to slow to halt around him, he stabbed it right through Booster's heart.

It came out of his back and pierced Spider-Man too. They were both dead before they even knew it and then, once more. Everything was erased in a flash of white.

Gotham City – S.T.A.R. Labs Basement

16:42

Once more Booster hit the ground as all the sensations of living washed over him at once. He immediately jumped to his feet, "Okay, speeches don't work!" he called.

"What are you talking about?" Spider-Man replied as he pulled himself to his feet, "Is everyone oka—?"

"Flash doesn't have his powers and there's an unconscious man in the corner, apart from that everyone's fine, but we won't be in like a minute when Electro arrives…"

"What how the hell does Electro manage to take on all of u—" Spider-Man was cut off.

"He's juiced up, it's bad… You nearly talked him down last time but, honestly, you should've quit while you were ahead, he really misinterpreted the last part of your speech…" Booster replied as he activated his forcefield around everyone on the platform, just in time to stop Vulture who had clearly been listening and decided to act earlier to get his kill before Electro.

"I gave a speech?" Spider-Man muttered to himself.

Nightwing looked at the winged villain as he slashed and pierced at the forcefield which deflected all his blows, "New loop?" he asked.

"New loop." Booster replied as he activated three more forcefields just beneath the other one.

"So how do we play this?" Black Canary asked.

"I don't know, nothing we've tried has worked so far, but including the first time we've only done this part like twice. Electro is faster than all of us, he mentioned something to Flash here, I think he's absorbed his powers…"

"Electro has the speedsters, well… speed? That's bad, right?" Spider-Man asked the group.

"Yup. Real bad, I also think he remembers the loop each time, which is worse," Booster looked up and grimaced as he saw Electro manifest in the air behind Vulture and immediately began firing at the outer forcefield, "and… probably why he's begun manifesting faster… crap. I think he's starting to get the hang of his new abilities… the good news is, I don't think he's causing the EMP anymore, and I don't think he's figure out how to stop it yet either."

"Oh joy… so what, we keep losing until he just figures it out through trial and error?" Spider-Man breathed out.

"Maybe not. How tough are these forcefields, Booster?" Canary asked as she approached the edge and began inspecting their protective bubbles.

"Real tough, they should absorb all the power he's hitting them with…"

"That's something at least—" Nightwing stopped talking as he watched Electro blast through the first forcefield and began hitting the second.

Booster immediately activated another forcefield inside their bubble as the first layer was destroyed, "I wasn't finished…" he replied as he rolled his eyes.

"That happen last time?" Canary asked.

"Yep, he's powerful enough to overwhelm them, which shouldn't even be possible I'd like to add…" Booster replied.

Spider-Man immediately began rubbing his temples as he desperately tried to think of a solution to their growing problems which had only just been dumped on everyone except Booster's lap.

"It's definitely possible. If he's absorbed my powers, he hasn't just got my speed, he's got my lightning as well, that's probably pure speed force energy juicing him up. Add that to his normal bioelectricity and it'll be difficult to stop him." Flash replied as he turned Wally West over to his back and attempted to wake him, to no avail.

Canary watched as yet again the outer forcefield was destroyed, and, yet again, Booster made another layer, "Can they hear us?" she nodded to the villains.

"No, I've made sure to block all sound waves from coming out while we discuss our options…" Skeets replied.

"Wow, great idea, Skeets, why didn't I think of that?" Booster replied.

"Good you didn't, or Spider-Man's speech would've been pointless…" Skeets offered back.

"It was pointless anyway, but thanks for picking up my slack this time."

"No problem." Skeets replied, not noticing the mild offense Spider-Man took from Booster's comment

"We're sitting ducks here, we need to think of a solution, fast." Nightwing replied as he went to help Flash lift the unconscious man in a similar suit to him, "Also who's this guy? Another speedster?" he nodded to the man who now rested unconscious between his and Flash's shoulders.

"Wally West!" Booster, Skeets and Flash all replied at once.

"Umm… Not to belabour a point, but Wallace is a kid. And in Jump City. And black… this guy is none of those things…"

"The original Wally West, from the old timeline. You want me to explain the whole shift in the space time continuum? Or do you want to help the rest of us figure out how to stop electric blue over here?" Booster replied as he activated yet another forcefield to replace the outer layer.

"Sorry, you're right…" Nightwing shook away the growing feeling of knowing the stranger on his shoulder, "so, any ideas?"

"You think sleeping beauty over there still has his powers? Another speedster could help us tip the scales…" Spider-Man replied.

"I don't know, we've never even survived long enough to see him wake up!" Booster replied as he sighed as he kept putting up more forcefields to replace the ones Electro kept destroying.

Clearly, Electro was getting angrier and that just meant he was destroying them quicker. Booster now had to keep replacing the forcefields two at a time, "We need something to buy us more time… this is not a permanent solution, he's—there goes another one! I'm open to any suggestions…"

Booster kept replacing the forcefields at an increasing rate, soon Electro would be able to get through all four of them, with little trouble. He added a fifth for good measure.

Spider-Man looked around and spotted the generator behind him, unlike the MFD it didn't appear destroyed, in fact it appeared perfectly intact, "I got one, but I doubt it'll buy us more than a couple minutes at most… I need someone to disconnect the generator from the building's grid…"

"On it." Nightwing replied as he approached monitors and connected a wire from his arm into the computer system, immediately hacking into it as a holographic display appeared.

Skeets flew up next to him and scanned the computers and, in less than a second, had overridden Nightwing's hack as well as implemented his own as he disconnected the generator from the grid, "Sorry Nightwing, didn't mean to step on your toes, but I'm quicker, I thought it'd save more time."

"Don't be. Thanks!" Nightwing said with a genuine smile before turning to Spider-Man, "Spidey, what's your plan?"

"It's very dumb and even more painful…" Spider-Man replied as he looked about him, he expected the lights to go off when the generator was disconnected, then he remembered the new EMP was still coursing through the building keeping everything on, "Goldilocks, these forcefields, can we still send attacks out?"

"We can now!" Booster replied as he changed their settings, still opening as many up as he could to counter Electro's relentless attacks, he had gotten to five now, the max he could have at once without diminishing their effectiveness, not that the effectiveness mattered in the face of Electro's new power level.

Spider-Man nodded before shooting a web to the generator and holding on to it, pulling it tight enough that it wouldn't hit the ground while keeping it slack enough so he could move relatively freely.

"What are you up to?" Black Canary asked.

"Trying something that worked in the past, I'm gonna' try to ground him!" he replied.

"Won't you be fried?" Booster asked.

"Only if I'm touching the floor! Wait, you don't know that? I thought you said education was better in the twenty-fif—?"

"Oh, shut up, like you never skipped school!" Booster replied as he rolled his eyes.

"I'm a nerd… I loved school." 'hated some of the people at school, but that's beside the point…' "Anyway, give me more head room!" he nodded above him.

Booster nodded in reply and increased the height of the forcefields.

Spider-Man leapt into the air, as high as he could go without leaving their bubble, and fired a web at Electro. Electro disappeared with a grin and reappeared a few feet away, a second webline flew towards him. He avoided it. A third webline. He dodged. A fourth. Dodged. Fifth, sixth, seventh even eighth before Spider-Man landed again. Electro avoided them all.

"He's too fast…" Flash replied with a sigh as he looked up from the side of the monitors where he had rested Wally, still trying to wake him.

"Yeah… Your powers are real pain in the ass, I hope you know that… Wait! Black Canary, I need you to scream."

Canary looked at him curiously, "If he's as fast as Flash, soundwaves will be way too slow…"

Neither of them saw as Flash smiled to himself a bit wiggled his head as if to say, 'I'm flattered.'

Neither noticed, Spider-Man continued, "I know. Can you widen it? Give him just enough space either side to avoid it but keep him locked in."

"You're gonna' bait him… Not bad. Why both sides though, I can trap him fully…"

"No. Electro's dumb but he's not Rhino dumb. He'll just dodge behind your wave and flee as far back as he can before it can reach him, but if we can give him some space, I don't think he'll give up his attack."

"Great plan, let him destroy all the forcefields! Tell you what I'll just give up on them right now if you want!" Booster called with annoyed sarcasm as he desperately tried to keep up with Electro's attacks.

"We don't want him to give up his attack, we gotta' keep him distracted for this to work, besides I need him to be putting juice out when I hit him. I'll tag him with a line while he's swapping sides… You gotta' keep the fields up as long as you can, Goldeneye…"

Booster just rolled his eyes.

Black Canary nodded to Spider-Man, "Okay, I trust you. Flash powered or not, he's still your villain, you got the edge here… Booster, Skeets, whoever, unblock the sound waves on three… One… Two…

"Three!" Spider-Man leapt up again, and time seemed to slow for him as he released a breath, calming his mind.

Canary screamed as Booster deactivated the barriers blocking the sound from escaping.

Electro smirked as he moved fast enough to see the sound waves coming at him in slow motion, he flew back for a moment before noticing some space he could go to avoid the blast radius of the hero's scream. Allowing him to continue attacking the annoying forcefields.

Spider-Man saw as Electro instantly re-manifested on the left side of Canary's scream, he shot a webline straight at him with his free hand while he was still rising in the air. Electro halted his attack on the left and reappeared on the right of the sonic waves, ignoring Vulture who was sent flying backwards by the blast from Canary.

Spider-Man instantly fired a second webline with his free hand as he still continued to rise. Electro was gone again, back on the left. He fired again. Electro swapped sides again. It happened three more times, Spidey firing, Electro swapping sides, never once stopping his attack. The outer layer was destroyed. Again.

Spidey reached as high as he could get again and felt his body beginning to descend. He fired once more to the side Electro was on, the same again.

Electro's grin never left his face as he realised their plan. Knowing it didn't matter because he was simply too fast.

The next layer was destroyed. Spider-Man began to fall as he shot another line. Again, Electro dodged, and again, he destroyed another layer. He was exerting too much energy now, soon the forcefields would be destroyed completely, neither Booster nor Skeets would be fast enough to put another up in time.

The third layer was destroyed only two were left. He fired again as quickly as he could, faster than he'd ever moved before, he fired it even before Electro had manifested on the opposite side to avoid his last line.

He manifested for less than a fraction of a blink of an eye, before once more avoiding the line. Peter was getting dangerously closer to landing now and he saw in slow motion as the second layer was destroyed.

Only one layer remained. Peter breathed again and closed his eyes as an idea sparked quicker than he believed any thought could ever move across the synapses of a brain.

He blocked out all thought, all noise, all sight as he extended his Spider-Sense around him. Feeling Electro's presence.

Without ever opening his eyes, he aimed the shooter of his free hand at Electro's position and let go of the line attached to the generator at the same time.

He moved his wrist of his 'free' hand and pointed it at Electro as if he was about to fire, relying on the mockery Electro had been employing against him. He knew his enemy would dodge only at the last moment to taunt him as he had been every time before.

As he 'prepared to fire' with his 'free' hand, he twisted his other wrist as quickly and subtly as he could to the other side of Canary's scream, firing a line from it just moments before he fired from his arm aimed at Electro. Before even Electro had moved to dodge his other line.

The feint worked, as the webline from the arm aimed at Electro flew towards him, his villain moved to the other side right into the line Spidey had just fired from his hand that was holding the line connected to the generator.

Electro manifested around the line and Peter pulled it tight, as tight as he could. It was conductive and he felt the static running through his body as he twisted in the air and reached back for the line attached to the generator before it touched the ground only a foot below him.

He heard as the layer of their protective bubble was popped, and he felt the static grow within him as he knew Electro was moving at near light speed, attempting to hit Spider-Man with another bolt and fry him.

Electro fired and Peter felt through his Spider-Sense that his body was less than an inch away from being fried by the lightning bolt when he felt the end of the line from the generator lightly stroke his finger. Faster than he had ever moved, faster than even lightning can travel less than an inch, he grabbed the line.

The lightning bolt just connected with Peter's chest before it fizzled into nothing as Electro began spasming and crying in annoyance and pain as Peter pulled the line of the generator tight. Suspending himself only a foot from the floor at an angle as he clung to Electro's writhing form as the villain felt his power being sapped from him.

"No!" Electro cried as he felt himself being immediately drawn into the generator.

Spider-Man called out in anguish as he felt all of Electro's power coursing through his line, through him, and into the generator. Thankfully, Electro wasn't in control of the current anymore or Peter would've immediately been fried. Instead, it only hurt, immensely.

Electro's form withed, twisted and fizzled as it sent out sparks across the room, making Canary stop screaming as everyone moved to avoid the sparks.

It didn't last long fortunately. Within moments, all of Electro's power had been sapped from him as his body was disintegrated into nothing and the generator began to whir and jump about violently.

Peter landed as soon as Electro disappeared, thankfully he had already felt the last of Electro's power leave the line on the generator, and he managed to let go of it just a moment before he hit the ground.

Spider-Man dropped to his knees and began breathing again, deep, heavy breaths as clouds of smoke were gently flowing out of his body.

"Wow, I can't believe that worked… That appeared far easier than I expected…" Skeets called out.

Everyone glared at him, especially Spider-Man who heavily disagreed on the supposed easiness of the entire ordeal.

"Skeets!" Booster cried with annoyance and disbelief.

"Why the hell would you say that?!" Nightwing yelled to the little robot next to him.

"What?" Skeets replied.

"You never say it was easy!" Canary chimed in.

"Man, it's like hero 101…" Flash piped up.

"Why not?" Skeets replied before a he looked up as he heard a whooshing sound on the other end of the room.

"That's why…" Spider-Man said as he stood up and looked at Vulture who had clearly recovered from being blasted by Canary.

"Sorry. But, if it helps, my diagnostics tell me your chance of success has risen from 0.15% to 97% now that Electro has been subdued." Skeets offered as he observed the heroes rushing to action.

Vulture snarled as he saw the generator that was practically shaking at the other end of the platform, "Don't think that just because Electro has been grounded that I will give up so—Agh!"

He was cut off as a web encased his face, he recoiled from the hit and went to rip it off with his claws when he felt his head being struck again by another projectile.

Nightwing had thrown one of his escrima sticks at the Vulture's head at almost the exact same time Spider-Man had fired his web, and both struck his face within a second of each other.

Vulture stayed conscious and tried to catch himself with his wings, only to feel something wrap around his legs and begin pulling him down.

Canary had fired her grapple at his feet and immediately pulled as soon as the bolas on the end tangled themselves round his legs. Vulture resisted as best he could, but Canary wouldn't give, putting them in a ridiculous looking tug of war match which Canary was slowly winning.

Booster decided to help out his ally and flew right behind Vulture and fired a concussive blast at his back. Sending him flying face down to the floor of the platform as Canary continued to pull him down.

Vulture crashed onto the platform and rolled painfully along the floor before skidding to a stop. He went to move only to be immediately cocooned by a heavy dose of Spider-Man's webs.

Booster sighed a breath of relief, "Well that actually was pretty eas—"

"Have we learned nothing? Don't you say it as well!" Spider-Man said with a harumph as he walking to Flash and Wally by the computers, "Any luck waking him?"

"Nada. He's out cold, nothing is stirring him, it's like he's comatose…" Flash replied as he stood back up.

"If we can't wake him, is there any way you can like… I don't know, borrow his speed?" Black Canary asked as she untangled and recalled the grapple back into the grapple gun.

"Yes and no. I could theoretically. But not without my powers, I don't have access to the speed force anymore, I'm basically just a regular guy right now. Besides, even if I could, this Wally is nowhere near fast enough to go against Electro if he's got my speed."

"Wow, way to insult the dude in a coma…" Spider-Man replied.

"I'm not—I… You're messing with me…" Flash smirked.

"Little bit…" Spider-Man replied.

"My point is, I remember the other timeline now, parts of it at least… Wally was slower than all of us… It's why he was destroyed by the MFD, he couldn't keep up with me and Bart."

"Who the hell's Bart?" Nightwing replied.

"My grandson from the future I thin—" The generator hopped slightly, taking Flash out of his memories, "How long will that hold him by the way?"

"Not long, I was hoping we'd have just enough time to get this guy up bu—" Spider-Man stooped talking as the generator exploded and Electro began rebuilding himself above it, "Aw come on! I thought it'd last longer than that!"

"Probability of survival has dropped to 0.0001%" Skeets added.

"Not helping, Skeets!" Canary, Booster, Nightwing and Flash all yelled at once.

"Hey, could you not have given us at least a minute, Max?" Spider-Man yelled at the steadily reemerging form of Electro.

"Will you, for once in your life, shut up!?" Electro growled with poison as he rebuilt himself and grabbed Spider-Man by the neck.

"Me and my big mouth, huh?"

Booster Gold slapped his forehead in annoyance at the repetition of events, they were going to die again.

They did. Electro fried them all.

Gotham City – S.T.A.R. Labs Basement

16:42

The moment Booster returned to the world of the living, he managed to catch himself in flight before he hit the monitor and crashed to the floor.

He immediately started speaking as he dropped to his feet "Alright, everyone listen! Speeches don't work, and neither does trapping him in the generator!"

"What are you talking abou—" Spider-Man begun groaning out as he pushed himself up off the floor.

"Electro! He's gonna' show up in like 10 seconds and kill us all. Flash you haven't got any powers, our best idea is to try and wake up Wally but even he's too slow apparently." Booster said as he immediately blocked the platform with 5 shields, stopping the noise from escaping.

"Are we in another loop?" Nightwing asked as he too stood back up.

"Yep. And there's no time for me to explain things properly this time—" Electro manifested and started firing at the forcefield in moments, "Or any time at all for that matter…"

Electro poured everything into his blasts and shattered each layer in seconds, Booster only had time to reactivate the last forcefield again before that too was obliterated.

"We're dead." Booster said, utterly defeated, this was too quick.

How could they ever come up with a solution if this was the power Electro had? The speed.

"Yeah, you are! And it's gonna' stick this time." He disappeared from sight in flash of bright light.

Everyone began desperately looking for him except Booster who braced himself for a death which never came.

"I- where'd he go?" Booster found himself asking.

Suddenly the generator began jostling and shifting about as all the monitors turned themselves on.

No one moved, not even Vulture who stayed floating behind the heroes, watching the monitors with interest.

Electro's face appeared on the screens, "Ahahahaaa… You shitheads really messed up big time, trapping me in the generator just gave me an idea! If it's still connected to the building, then it's still connected to the EMP… I can just stop the loop from within."

"Shit…" Booster felt the word just fall from his lips.

Was this it? Was this really how it ends?

The room grew brighter as Electro began cackling even louder as he started to absorb the EMP.

"Oh yeah, baby! That's some real good stuff there. All that power!" Electro's voice from the monitor called with sick glee.

"Something isn't right…" Skeets said.

"Yeah, we're all completely doomed… That's what's not right." Booster said as he dropped to his knees.

"No. I don't believe Max Dillon will be able to contain the power of the EMP, he's absorbed well over 200% of his current power level already and the EMP has lost none of its energy." Skeets corrected.

"What, how?" Booster replied.

"I'm not sure…"

Spider-Man rushed to the monitor, "Max, stop! You're gonna' kill yourself doing this."

"Oh sure, you'd love for me to stop wouldn't you, Spider-Man? I ain't falling for that."

He began cackling like a madman.

"Skeets…?" Booster asked.

"He's at 10,000%, the EMP has not changed at all."

"So, what's gonna' happen?" Nightwing asked.

"I'm fairly certain he'll continue to absorb the EMP until he can't contain it, and he'll explode taking whole building with him…"

"But the loop will still be active?" Booster questioned as he stood back up.

"I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be… the EMP hasn't changed at all…"

Booster thought for a moment about the last loop he was stuck in, "The whole building destroyed in a second? Well, just like old times, I guess…" he shrugged, concerningly nonchalant about the whole thing, much to everyone else's confusion and horror.

"What? I mean you tried to warn him…" Booster replied candidly as he looked at Spider-Man.

Electro continued to laugh wildly until his face on the screens changed, he stopped cackling, "Wait, I can't stop it, what is this—? No! Why can't I stop it? I—Agh! I can't take anymore, stop! Stop! Help!"

Suddenly the monitors became brighter than anything anyone had seen, like looking directly into the sun from an inch away. Everyone's retinas were burned instantly, and everyone was blinded, which would have been painful, and terrifying had the rest of their bodies not also been destroyed completely.

Electro had exploded along with the generator. A wave of bright, white lightning destroyed the whole building in less than a second. Killing everyone.

Gotham City – S.T.A.R. Labs Basement

16:42

Booster once again caught himself and landed on his feet, "I—I think that was our dumbest death yet…"

Spider-Man groaned and pushed himself off the floor, "What are you—"

"Shut the fuck up!" Electro had already manifested and fried Spider-Man in an instant as he yelled, "whew… that feels better."

Everyone else watched with horror, "Spider-Ma—!" Nightwing called before he was fried next.

Then went Canary, then Flash. Electro ignored the sleeping man on the floor as he rushed to Booster and wrenched him from the floor by the fabric just below his chest, "You! You're the only one who remembers the loops!"

"Don't forget Skeets, he automatically analyses the data each time…" Booster replied with an uneasy smirk, trying his best to hide the gulp of fear in his throat, 'Fuck! He finally figured it out!'

"You mean that thing?" Electro asked as he pointed at Skeets and shot out a blast of lightning which fried him to pieces before the robot could fire off an attack.

Booster looked mildly enraged and upset, "Wow, you're such a dickbag… I get you want to 'kill us all' or whatever, but was frying my pal Skeets really worth it? I coulda' just told him not to attack…"

Booster shot his arm out and attempted to fire an attack of his own only to feel himself thrown to the floor as Electro fried his gauntlets.

"No weapons or fancy gadgets now… Tell me how to stop the loop."

"I—" Booster was about to say he didn't know, he was about to tell the truth, another idea sparked in his mind as he pushed himself off the floor and spat back at Electro, "Never! I'll never tell!"

Electro started firing a non-lethal current into Booster's body, "I'll get it out of you sooner or later, I don't gotta' kill you to make you hurt!"

'Actually, my deaths have been pretty painless so far…' Booster thought, in spite of the pain coursing through his body as he fell to the floor and began writhing in agony. He decided not to mention it and give Electro any ideas.

"I—Agh! I'l-ll n-neve—er Agh! T-ell… y—yo-ou!" He managed to cry out against the current.

Then Booster had a thought, if Electro just continued to torture him the loop wouldn't restart, everyone would just stay dead. He couldn't accept that.

He yelled a taunt at Electro, "I—w-won't te-ll you! T-orture m-e a-s, mu-uch a-as yo-u like! N-no matte-rr h-ow many time-s-s you k-k-i-ill me-e! I won't t-tell!"

Electro paused his assault, as he grinned sickly, "Now that's not a bad idea… Wanna' bet?"

Electro continued his assault and shot more power into Booster and slowly increased the current, clearly attempting to kill him, painfully this time.

It was painful, it did hurt, Booster felt as if every cell he had was on fire as Electro prolonged his death as long as possible. At least his taunting worked.

'What was I thinking?! This is a terrible idea!' After ten minutes, Booster was fried to a crisp.

Gotham City – S.T.A.R. Labs Basement

16:42

Booster caught himself and put up his five layered forcefield bubble as soon as he could, "Listen up everybody! We gotta—"

Electro immediately manifested and blasted through all the forcefields instantaneously.

"Shit…" He said before he was fried to crisp.

Gotham City – S.T.A.R. Labs Basement

16:42

Booster caught himself and put up his five layered forcefield bubble as soon as he could, "Everyone—!" He was fried as Electro blasted straight through the bubble.

Gotham City – S.T.A.R. Labs Basement

16:42

Booster caught himself and put up his five layered forcefield—He was fried before they were finished.

Gotham City – S.T.A.R. Labs Basement

16:42

Booster caught himself— He was fried.

Gotham City – S.T.A.R. Labs Basement

16:42

Booster cau—Fried.

Gotham City – S.T.A.R. Labs Basement

16:42

Booster—Fried.

Gotham City – S.T.A.R. Labs Basement

16:42

Bo—Fried.

Gotham City – S.T.A.R. Labs Basement

16:42

Fried before he even realised, he was alive.

Gotham City – S.T.A.R. Labs Basement

16:4—

Fried.

Gotham City – S.T.A.R. Labs Basement

Fried.

Gotham City – S.T.A.R. Labs B—

Fried.

Gotham City –

Fried.

Got—

Fried.

G—

Fried.

Fried.

Fried.

Tossed about. Tortured. Fried.

Heart ripped out.

Brain cooked into soup.

Broken neck.

Fried.

Decapitated.

Fried.

Suffocated by Spider-Man's webs after Electro stole the shooters from his corpse.

Fried.

Vulture was given the honours of stabbing Booster as Electro kept him writhing on the floor.

Fried once more.

Over and over. Again, and again. Booster would be killed.

Sometimes the others would die first, sometimes Electro would go straight for the Golden ticket. Some were painless. Some were quick. Some were instant. Others were none of those things.

Electro became bored of the simple kills and started to implement more painful methods of killing. Then he would switch back to the quick kills. He swapped back and forth hundreds of times.

Booster stopped counting the amount of times he died. It became pointless. Every few deaths, Electro would question him on how to end the loop. Finding more and more creative ways to torture Booster in his desperate attempts to steal the information from him.

Information he would never have. Information Booster couldn't even give if he wanted to. Dear god, did he want to. He just wanted it to stop. To finally die and have that be the end of it.

Sometimes Electro wouldn't even question him. Sometimes he'd ignore them all completely as he tried to disable the EMP himself. He even attempted absorbing it a few more times, only to explode as he had the first time.

"Hahahahaaaa! I can't believe you're still trying that!" Booster taunted before he had a hole shot through his head.

In spite of the peppering of comedy at Electro's expense. Booster hated every moment of the loop.

He knew he couldn't stop it. But more importantly, he knew it didn't matter what he wanted. It mattered what everyone else needed. He was the only one able to save his allies from certain death.

Not that they also weren't dying, of course. They were. But they were blessed with ignorance. Many times, they were killed before they even knew what was going on.

Sometimes Spider-Man put up a fight when he managed to dodge a strike. One time it actually landed, making both Booster and Electro pause for a second and share a look.

One time Flash managed to hit Electro with a computer keyboard. But if Booster was honest, it looked as if Electro allowed the hit to land before he obliterated the once speedster.

Black Canary caught Electro off guard once and managed to pierce his eardrums. It was a victory which lasted half a second. Dead. All dead.

Nightwing swept Electro's legs out from him once. Electro just fried him while he lying on his back.

Booster was fried, among other horrific ways to be killed, so many more times.

Gotham City – S.T.A.R. Labs Basement

16:42

Booster caught himself as he watched as everyone else was killed around in less than a thousandth of a second.

Electro landed and walked over to him, "Why won't you just tell me?! This can all end. Are you really just going to watch me kill you and your friends over and over?"

Vulture began calling out in confusion, completely shocked at the sudden death of all the heroes bar Booster and the sleeping man, "Electro wha—"

"Can it, Vulture! I'm not in the mood to explain it all to you again!"

Vulture paused and became silent when he saw the hatred in Electro's eyes.

"You know you can't win…" Electro attempted to reason.

"No. But I can lose. Again, and again… And that makes you, my prisoner."

"Getting to kill you and Spider-Man over and over again? I can live with this prison… You and I both know it's just a matter of time. While you're just holding me prisoner, the rest of the world is frozen, there's nothing but you and me. We're the only ones really living right now."

"Yeah, that's true… But face it, you're just as trapped as me. I'd rather spend an eternity in hell with you, Electro, than let you loose on the world. Sure, you can kill me, sure you can get you're kicks… But you'll never really win, the way I see it, you're just as much of a loser as me. And that's something no one wants to be."

Electro grabbed him in a thousandth of a second and tossed him to the side, keeping him alive.

While Booster was still flying through the air in response to the toss, Electro moved so fast Booster appeared static, frozen in space, he sliced at his legs and arms with a blade made of lightning, separating them from his form and cauterising the wounds immediately.

Booster crashed into the monitor when Electro slowed himself to observe time moving again, he fell to the ground as his limbs flew about the space around them.

Booster started screaming when he noticed all his limbs were gone, he couldn't feel much pain as clearly shock had overwhelmed his body with hormones immediately and numbed him nearly entirely, unfortunately, it was not an unfamiliar sensation.

"Agh, you bastard! My limbs? Again!" Booster screamed at the villain.

"Fuck you! How do I end the loop?!" Electro yelled, his voice was desperate now, enraged.

Booster stared to feel pain and fought the urge to scream in agony, "My answers still not changed dick for brains… I'll never tell you."

"Oh, shut up! Stop with the whole 'honourable hero' routine, we both know you'll reach your breaking point eventually… I know who you are Booster Gold, I saw it all when I was trapped in that thing! You're not a real hero like these guys were… You just came here for your own goals, to save that guy," he gestured to Wally West's still comatose form, "Well guess what, I know I can't kill you… not without starting again. So whaddya' think of this!"

A blast of Electricity struck Wally and fried him to ash in an instant.

"Oh, how original… Fry the sleeping dude! Let's not pretend we haven't done this whole charade before… You keep killing these dudes so much it's started to lose its edge." That was a lie, Booster was fighting the urge to cry, he was so tired.

The truth is, no matter how many times he saw them die, it hadn't lost its edge. Every time cut him as sharply as the first. Every time made him just want to give up and tell Electro the truth… he didn't know how to end the loop.

He didn't need to. As he sat there, limbless, aching, feeling the agonising burns on each of his stumps as the shock subsided, he saw a shift in Electro's expression, "You… You don't know how to stop it, do you?"

"Of course I do!" Booster yelled from behind the pain.

"No… I remember all the loops. You didn't know how to stop the first one, and you don't now… How could you? You're an idiot…"

"Takes one to know one." Booster mocked back, "It took you like what, 200 tries just to figure that out?" It was far more than 200… "Man, Spider-Man said you were dumb… He didn't say you had the mental aptitude of a toddler…"

Electro growled in response, "I'm gonna' make this life your worst…"

"Good luck with that! My life was plenty shitty before you ever came into the picture… I swear, the moment this loop starts over—"

"It won't start over! This is it! No more games! I'm gonna' find out how to stop it and then I'll finish you."

He desperately began shooting out waves of electricity through the whole building, all of them frying everything and everyone, all the scientists, Sarah, Silas, Buddy, Anne/Clayface, even Count Vertigo. The only people he spared with his waves were Vulture and Booster.

The whole building was atomised in moments, all that was left was a wide crater of ash and dust in the middle of the city. The platform being the only part of the building remaining intact. Suspended 20 feet off the ground by its steel supports.

Then he saw it, the EMP. A white dome of lightning covered the whole area above them and around them.

"And there it is! Plain as day… No walls or circuits for it to hide in anymore... This time I'll destroy you! I swear!" Electro shouted to the EMP which was pulsing above them, like an omnipotent presence looking down on them.

"Haha… wow. You're really losing it now. News flash, EMPs can't talk back!" Booster laughed to himself.

Electro ignored Booster's taunting and began firing at the EMP wildly, only to see the dome absorb his lightning and flicker brighter for a moment. He'd tried to overload it before, through the building.

But it felt different this time, this time he could see it. This time, he could see the reaction. It felt less secure now, more vulnerable.

He grinned to himself and fired a bolt and kept it firing, feeding more and more into the EMP, hoping to overwhelm it completely as he had the forcefields.

He continued firing in spite of Booster's taunting, in spite of Vulture eventually flying down, walking over to him and questioning him. Electro answered all his allies questions and explained everything even while firing.

Electro knew he couldn't absorb the EMP, not without exploding. But he knew he could overwhelm it if he just kept pushing. He knew. It had to work. Had to.

It didn't work. All his power, all the bioelectricity and speed force energy he poured into it. All of it just made the EMP glow brighter, but it never once gave out.

Eventually after pouring all his energy into, it for five minutes straight he gave up and fell to his knees, "Gah! Why won't you stop?"

"What's the matter? Performance issues?" Booster quipped back.

"Shut. Your. Mouth. Actually, that gives me an idea…" he pointed his finger at Booster and fired a controlled bolt, destroying his tongue.

"Electro!" Vulture cried in shock as he watched, and Booster began crying out in gargles of incoherent babbles, "calm down… You've always been a hothead but look around you… this is absurd!"

"No! This is power!"

"This is unnecessary brutality! I've never shied from getting my Talons dirty, but this is something else! There is no logic to this! No plan! This… This is grotesque! You've gone too far this time, Max!"

Electro didn't react to Vulture calling him by his name, he and Doc Ock were two of the very few people whom he allowed to call him by his birth name, "Too far for you! Vulture, I like you but don't think I won't end you, too… You have no idea the amount of times I've gone through this! I'm not giving up just because you've lost your nerve!"

"So, what are you going to do? Just wait for this man," he gestured to Booster's writhing form, "to die of thirst?! The loop will still start over all the same! You have an opportunity to try again from the beginning… use a cool head, we can work with the heroes and end the EMP, then we kill them…"

"They'll adapt, they always do… No. I can't risk it… Look around, we've already won, I can work this out…"

Vulture sighed with resignation, "I'm sorry Electro, this is too much, even for me."

Vulture flung a blade from his wings directly at Booster's head as he lay slumped on the floor, angrily muttering to himself with tears in his eyes.

The Blade never hit Booster. It was disintegrated by a blast from Electro in moments.

"You really shouldn't have done that, Vulture." Electro said as he approached Vulture.

"Look at yourself, Electro! Look at what you'r—" Vulture's sentence ended as soon as his life did.

Electro smiled sickly as he fried his friend… his friend.

Suddenly, the smile dissolved off his face. He felt his lip quiver a bit as he felt a pain grip his heart… "Gah! Why? Why couldn't you just…?" if he had tear ducts, he thought he might've actually cried for Vulture.

He then looked around himself and truly saw the scope of what he had done. He sat on platform floor and slumped his head down…

He watched as Booster crawled towards him, he felt no joy in watching the display… instead he felt something grab him, cruelly. A sensation he hadn't fully felt in ages… guilt.

He heard the whispers of memory fill his head, the words of Spider-Man started playing once more in his mind, 'That's all it is Electro, a choice'.

He observed the barren crater around him, the bodies of all his victims. They landed on Vulture again, they stayed there.

Lying motionless, featureless and smoking slightly as the last remains of flesh burnt to ash. He had no face, no eyes, no anything… He was indistinguishable from any of the other fried husks around him.

But Electro knew it was the body of his ally… his friend. The only one who he had with him while he spent a week trapped in a box.

The only one who stood by him, even as Dr Octavius turned his back on him and left him in his cage.

The pit in Electro's stomach grew as he had the most aggravating, yet sobering, realisation. Spider-Man was right. He was stuck in a hole.

Giving in to his anger. Destroying everything and everyone around him over and over again. Because it was the easy choice. It was the only way he knew how to act.

"What… what am I doing?" He softly muttered to himself.

He knew he had to rise out of his hole. Even if it didn't last, even if it was only once. He had to. It was the only option left if he wanted to save his friend.

But even as he realised this, that he had no other choice left but the hard one. It still felt almost impossible.

It was made easier when he heard a gurgle from across the platform. Booster was still crawling closer, stumbling and falling with every other movement he made.

It was pitiful to watch. Painful. Hard. He made his choice. He'd rise out of his hole, at least a little bit, and accept defeat.

He said something he never expected to say as he raised his palm towards Booster and fired one last lightning bolt, "Sorry…"

Gotham City – S.T.A.R. Labs Basement

16:42

Booster caught himself and dropped to the floor once more, but he didn't say anything. He just felt himself slump down on his knees and he began crying.

"Ugh… Everyone okay?" Spider-Man's voice called before he noticed Booster and paused.

They all paused when they saw him. The rawness of his desperate sobs filling the room. Causing everyone, except Vulture, to feel a stab in their hearts.

"Booster…" Skeets sombrely sounded as he analysed the data from his suit, seeing every death and loop the man had endured.

Canary was the first to move as soon as she managed to stand again, "Booster… Are you okay? What is it?" she immediately knelt in front of him.

Booster looked up, straight past Canary's shoulder as she turned to follow his gaze, "Is it over?" he asked, "are we done. Please tell me we're done."

Booster was speaking directly to Electro who had manifested himself in an instant behind Canary, his face was sincere, "We're done. No more loops… No more deaths." He paused, "For now at least." He hadn't managed to fully crawl out of his hole.

At least he was honest about it. That was the thought that comforted Booster somewhat as he stood up and dried his eyes. Canary never letting go of his shoulder or taking her eyes off his face.

Booster nodded resolutely to Electro who nodded back. They both noticed the venom in Booster's gaze as he looked at his torturer.

After a moment of Electro convincing Vulture to stand down, they explained everything. The loop. The fact that none of them knew how to end it. That Electro had inadvertently stolen Flash's powers. Electro didn't mention killing Vulture, mercifully, Booster didn't either. A look was shared, it said all that needed to be said.

But Booster mentioned, with a heavy voice, that he had died too many times to possibly count.

Skeets counted them, he had the data, "687 times… Booster has been killed 687 times."

Booster reeled when he heard it… It felt like less. It felt like more. It felt like nothing was real anymore. That this was all some horrific dream. Then something woke him up and made him realise it wasn't.

Everyone watched as Nightwing immediately strode over to Booster with fervour and a serious expression. Booster paused within himself only to feel himself grabbed in the tightest hug he had ever felt.

He relaxed into it as he held his tears back. After a moment he wrapped his arms around the other hero.

They held the moment for a few seconds before separating, Nightwing put his hands on Booster's shoulder and gave him a nod with a face of sheer respect. Booster nodded back.

Spider-Man felt his heart ache at the sight before immediately turning towards Electro and approaching him with fire in his step.

Electro began to speak, "Spider-Ma—"

Whak!

Electro twisted his head in response to the hardest punch he had ever felt. He stood back up and softly growled and his fixed his enemy with a glare.

Spider-Man ignored the agonising jolt of electricity he felt running through his veins as his fist connected with Electro's face, "I'm guessing since you just let me hit you… You're gonna' stand down?"

"…yes."

"Good. Then one more for luck before we get to work." He arched his fist back once more, Electro didn't move.

"Wait, Spider-Man, stop." Booster said.

"Sorry. You wanna' take this one, Booster?"

"No. I'm not gonna' hit him. No one is…"

"You forgive him?" Spider-Man spoke, uncharacteristically harshly, he'd never felt so enraged at Electro before, "After everything he's just put you through?"

"I don't forgive him. But smacking him around isn't gonna' solve anything. We all need to work together to stop the loop. Truce?" He directed the last word to the two villains.

"Truce." Electro replied.

Spider-Man sighed and took a step back.

Flash looked about the room, uneasy about the tension in the air, he broke it as he asked, "so, any ideas how we break this loop?"

"I mean… shouldn't we start at the beginning, the cause? Do we even have any idea what's causing this EMP if it isn't Electro?" Black Canary asked.

Skeets chimed in, "Actually, yes… I have been passively scanning everybody in the room while you all spoke, and I think I've figured out what caused both EMPs"

Skeets waited until everyone was looking at him and he received a nod of affirmation from Booster, the robot continued, "Each EMP possessed unique properties… Neither behaved in a fashion typical of any known, civil or naturally occurring, electro-magnetic pulse. The closest comparison would be a repetitive pulse train, but neither appeared man-made, but rather as if the EMPs themselves were extensions of a living entity."

"Makes sense… I'm guessing the first one was the result of Electro being stuck in the MFD." Flash interrupted.

"But Electro was imprisoned in the generator. Not the Magnetic Field Disruptor." Vulture stated, knowing this for a fact as he was the one working to free him for a whole week.

"Correct. Electro was trapped in the generator, however as the MFD was linked to it, each of them was feeding into, and absorbing, the other. The EMP was the result of Electro's bioelectricity being constantly supercharged and delivered through the building. Every time he absorbed too much he would explode, and a pulse would be sent out into the city, causing the blackouts but always keeping S.T.A.R. Labs full operational…

"However, there was another dormant property to the first EMP, one which did stem from the MFD. And when Flash entered the building, the EMP reacted, causing the dormant property to become active."

"The speed force…" Flash muttered with realisation

"Correct again. Flash's link to the speed force was severed as the EMP absorbed nearly all the excess energy within him. That is what caused the MFD to start rapidly approaching its chrysalis state."

"So, you're saying, I caused the explosion which killed everyone?" Flash replied with shock and guilt.

"That's why you always died first! You exploded outward while everyone else was obliterated by the MFD…" spider-Man said as he remembered seeing Flash explode from within several times.

"So, if Booster hadn't showed up when he did…" Nightwing muttered with a dark realisation.

"Everyone would've died. Permanently. Yes." Skeets spoke.

"Wow… that's scary to think about…" Black Canary said.

"Something's not fitting right in my brain though… Electro, you needed me and Flash to free you. How did you know that?" Spider-Man asked.

Electro stared at everyone for a moment, he felt many harsh looks, but no one moved to stop him from answering, "I don't know… I saw a lot of things when I was in the generator, I didn't understand any of them, but I heard this… voice that kept telling me that I needed the Flash."

Booster and Flash immediately turned to Wally who was still unconscious, they had moved him, so he was leant against the wall minutes earlier.

"Kid Flash… He was the one trapped in the MFD! He was why the first EMP stole my speed force… and he… Haha! He tricked you! You never needed me to get free. He did!" he pointed to Wally with a grin of pride.

Electro and Vulture snarled in response to Flash's mocking.

"Okay… But if all that's true…" Nightwing began as he ignored his confusion surrounding the ginger elephant in the room, "then why did Silas Stone only ask for Flash?"

Vulture replied, "Dr Stone didn't request Flash's presence. Clayface impersonated him, under instruction of myself and Count Vertigo, and told Dr Charles to request him shortly after she had spoken to the real Silas…

"We didn't want to arise any suspicion so we didn't mention Spider-Man, we hinged on the fact Dr Stone would have mentioned the name himself, due to Electro's message broadcast through the facility.

"It was only after Clayface returned to his role as Anne that Silas confronted them both and asked them to isolate themselves as they had misheard the message. By that point we merely hoped the Justice League would be smart enough to notice the connection and send Spider-Man themselves…" Vulture finished.

"Which we were…" Canary replied with a smirk.

"Apparently so… Though, I wouldn't be so arrogant, Electro's presence was not exactly subtle even with the misinterpreted message." Vulture remarked back with disdain.

Booster was rubbing his temples in annoyance as he tried to keep up with the information being thrown at him while wrestling the fresh trauma he was desperately trying to bury, "Okay! Okay… That explains the first EMP, what's the deal with this one…"

"I think I've figured it out…" Spider-Man said, "I'm not gonna' pretend I'm some expert on whatever the hell the speed force is, but I can make an educated guess, it's the source of your power, right?"

Flash nodded in response; he was going down the same path as Spider-Man in his head.

"So, after we freed Zappy McMurderphile over here, he absorbed the excess speed force from Flash, and… Kid Flash?" Flash nodded again, Spider-Man continued, "Kid Flash's speed force energy left the MFD and re-entered the building's circuitry, causing the second EMP and keeping us powered. Sound about, right?"

"You're almost entirely correct, Spider-Man." Skeets beamed back.

"Almost?"

"The EMP isn't powering the building, bug-brain… It was still there when I destroyed the whole place." Electro replied.

"Bug-brain? Come on where's the creativity, Maximus?"

"I was gonna' call you fuck-wad, but thought that'd be too nice, you annoying cu—"

Skeets analysed what Electro was about to say and cut him off, "Electro is correct! This second EMP isn't powering the building, it is in fact encasing the whole plaza. We are basically in a bubble of speed force energy right now. It is connected to the circuitry, but exists entirely separate from it."

Booster sighed heavily, "Do you know how to end it, Skeets?"

"The speed force is not a phenomena I am all that familiar with…" Skeets replied with mild embarrassment.

"I'm familiar with it, though. Hey Sparky, any chance I could get my powers back?" Flash asked.

"Nuh-uh. I'm keeping them. They're too good to just give up… Besides as soon as we end this loop, I'm finishing you all for good."

"Nice to know where we stand, I guess…" Nightwing muttered.

"If you don't give me them, we're trapped…" Flash offered, "Forever."

"No. If you need them to end the loop, then just tell me what to do with them and I'll end it…" Electro offered."

"Electro, we don't have time for this, just giv—" Spider-Man began.

"No. We've got nothing but time, I'm not giving the powers back."

"We're not just gonna' let that happen." Nightwing stated, looking between Canary and Flash for confirmation who both stood there staring at each other, "Right…? Right?" neither responded to him, all eyes were on Flash.

There was a tense moment in the room before Flash sighed and spoke, "Fine… You keep the powers, but follow my instructions to the letter!"

Electro nodded.

"Seriously?!" Spider-Man and Nightwing yelled at once.

"We don't have much of a choice." Flash offered.

"Flash, are you sure about this? You heard what he said, they'll kill us as soon as it's over… And we know we won't survive, Booster's already confirmed as much." Canary spoke, diplomatically, still eyeing Booster with concern who was uncharacteristically silent once more.

"Yeah… They probably will, but while we're stuck here, they hold all the cards… We can't just leave the rest of the world frozen forever…"

"And if we lose and they get out?" Spider-Man asked, severely, this entire line of thought went against his whole code.

"Then I trust our friends to stop them. We can't stop everyone else from living just because we're afraid of dying." Flash spoke back as he looked to Booster, he nodded back with tired eyes.

"No. This is insane. How are we having this discussion? We can't just let Electro keep your powers!" Spider-Man protested.

"It's not your choice, Spider-Man…" Flash said as he approached Electro, "Okay, Sparkles, listen up. You need to hit him with lightning, but not your lightning, the Speed force's…" Flash spoke as he gestured to Wally unconscious on the other side of the room.

"Flash… You can't do thi—" Spider-Man ended his protests when Nightwing held his arm out and shook his head, his face indicating he was just as annoyed as Peter but that he accepted it was Flash's decision.

"What's the difference?" Electro asked.

Flash sighed, "The difference is, your bioelectricity will just fry him, but the speed force should wake him up, give him back his powers. When you move at super speed you generate energy around you. You probably didn't notice at all because, well look at you, but that's how we get our powers."

"So, the problem was me hitting the EMP with my lightning, not yours…"

"Yes."

"So why do I gotta' hit that dude? Why can't I just go straight to the source?" Electro asked.

Flash sighed, "He is the source! The EMP is being caused by his power… We need to wake him up and reconnect him to the speed force."

"Are sure this will work, Flash?" Canary asked.

"Please tell me, you're sure." Booster added quietly.

"Mostly. If I remember the other timeline correctly, we hadn't discovered the speed force there before Kid died… But I'm certain that's Kid Flash's power, otherwise Sparky would've been able to stop it already."

"So how do I hit him with your lightning and not mine? Most times I think I was using both…" Electro asked.

"You've gotta' go fast. Move at super speed until you feel the energy around you, then you've got to grab the lightning that your body is creating and throw it… But not your lightning, just the speed's. It took me a few tries to get it right the first time, but you've probably got a head start since you're…"

"Made of electricity?"

"Yeah."

"Got it… but if that's all I gotta' do, what's stopping me from just killing you guys now?"

Booster looked at Electro, he was staring directly into his eyes.

"Electro… we had a truce." Spider-Man offered back as the tension rose again, "Are you that afraid of a fair fight?"

"You know, Spider-Man. You were right…" Electro stated as he chuckled to himself.

"I was? I mean, yeah. Of course I was…"

"I am stuck in a hole, but it's my home, I ain't ever going back… We will always be enemies."

"Electro don't do this…" Spider-Man pleaded.

"I wasn't finished… The truth is, I dug too far down last time…" He looked to Vulture as he spoke, "So I'll keep the truce. Until we do this, end the loop. Then the truce ends… You better be ready; it was getting disappointing how easy it was to kill you."

"Sorry…?" Spider-Man shrugged back, "and trust me, I'm gonna' try my hardest not to die this time. I'm putting you away Electro, just like back home."

"Promises, promises." Electro stated with a sick grin before he started shifting, moving sided to side at super speed, his form looking like it was dissolving into itself as his after images overlapped, "How fast do I have to go?"

Flash watched on intensely, he started to see the flickering of yellow lightning sparking from his body, "There, grab the yellow lightning! Don't hit him with blue…"

"Yellow, huh? Starting to get nostalgic for my old look." Electro joked back.

"We'll get you back to how you were, Electro, I promise." Spider-Man called.

"Don't you dare!" Electro replied as he felt himself grabbing the Speed force energy around him, he pulled it into himself and fired it at the comatose hero, "I'm liking blue."

As soon as the bolt of lightning connected with Wally, there was a bright white flash of light, and everyone felt themselves being thrust off the floor by a powerful blast. Once again, they all hit the sides and landed about the space, once again Vulture was thrown off the platform, once again he caught himself with his wings.

Booster and Spider-Man were the only ones able to catch themselves in time. Booster had practice and instinctively caught himself in flight and landed safely on his feet after a moment, whereas Peter managed to catch himself on the wall as he looked around the room.

"Congratulations, everyone. The loop has been ended." Skeets offered to the room of groaning and complaining heroes and villains.

Unlike the last loop, no one remembered the lives they had lived within this loop. No one except Booster and Electro of course.

As everyone was groaning and getting to their feet, Spider-Man noticed that Kid Flash was gone from view, "Ugh, where'd our Deus Ex Speedster go?" he called.

Everyone stood back up and began looking frantically around for him. Flash desperately pleading in denial and anger at himself as he did so.

"You idiot! You fried him completely!" Booster yelled with rage at Electro.

Electro turned and yelled, "I was just doing what I was told! Not my fault he couldn't take it!"

Vulture landed next to Electro, "I am still very perplexed by nearly everything that has recently transpired, but well done, Max. It would seem as if you freed us and managed to kill the one man who would be a threat… Now, as the loop has finished, shall we revisit our talks of a truce?"

Electro smiled with pride and sick satisfaction as he turned away from the smoking singed spot on the floor where the stranger once lay, "I guess this is it, for real this time… Don't worry Booster Gold, you die first this time, I'll make it quick."

"Thanks for the consideration…" Booster muttered back with disdain.

"The least I could do." Electro shrugged back before firing a bolt of lightning at him.

The bolt crashed into the monitors behind him as Booster disappeared completely from view in a blur of yellow, red and white.

"What?" Electro started looking around himself, desperately trying to see where Booster went.

He couldn't see anything. Then another blur flashed in front of his vision, he moved to attack, he was pushed backwards by a blow he didn't feel until after he landed on his back and skidded along the platform.

He looked up and saw as Booster Gold was suddenly next to Vulture, looking very confused before he quickly readjusted and moved to attack as Vulture did the same.

Flash smiled with pride and joy as tears began to build themselves in his eyes, "Wally…"

Electro moved at super speed and began frantically flying about the room, trying to find the blur, he couldn't. He ran past Nightwing's static form and attempted to stab him through the stomach while he past, using the opportunity to take out as many heroes as he could as he looked for the blur.

He found the blur. As he shot his arm forward, Nightwing was gone with the blur. Kid Flash was moving so fast even Electro with the Flash's powers couldn't see him as anything more than a watery after image of color.

Electro felt a blow land on his face as he crashed into the wall. He had been sent flying several feet by the hit and hadn't even noticed it happening until after he landed, "Where are you? I'm not afraid of you!"

"Then why is your voice shaking so much you big baby?" A mocking voice was heard through the room by everyone, though no one had standing spoken, "What's the matter, too fast for you?"

Electro watched as Vulture suddenly disappeared from vison, making Spider-Man Nightwing, Canary and Booster all pause their attack as they had surrounded him, attempting to subdue him. Instead, they just looked around at each other in confusion as they stood in a circle around the spot Adrian was less than a second ago.

Booster turned to face Electro with a smug smirk, "Ohohooo… You're so screwed now…"

Vulture appeared next to Electro unconscious. He had been thrown into the wall after being tied up with wires that had clearly been ripped out of the computer on the opposite side of the platform, evident by the flickering of sparks coming out of the sizeable whole in the machine.

"No! No! I have all this power!" Electro shouted in disbelief as he moved in super speed again and rushed to the clump of heroes in the middle of the room, he moved to attack until the blur emerged in front of his sight.

He was slower this time, Electro could see his features, Kid Flash was smiling at him darkly as he appeared in front of the static group behind him. Electro didn't miss a beat; he swung his fist at Kid Flash.

Wally watched with both pity and amusement as the villain moved in slow motion, he grabbed the arm that Electro threw at him and wrenched it to the side, causing the villain to twist until Kid Flash was standing behind him, holding his arm against his own back in a painful arm lock.

"That's the thing, Papa Smurf, these aren't your powers… And you have no imagination when it comes to using them." Wally spoke, and everyone turned to the voice. They could see him now.

He'd slowed his body down to normal speed as he violently shook Electro up and down in a blur as the villain let out a serious of vibrating cries of annoyance and dizziness, "Come on… you can get out of this! Just go faster and phase through my grip…"

Barry was stunned, Wally had never been this fast before, and he had never been able to use an ability like phasing before, but now he was talking like an expert… Like him.

Electro was getting desperate now, he relied on his own powers for a moment, trying to escape the grip. He sent out a wave of bioelectricity from within his body, and he felt himself being dropped to the floor as Kid Flash let him go and retreated to avoid it.

"That's cheating. What happened to 'I have all this power!'? Here let me show you how it's done." Wally replied as he skidded along the floor away from the blast before immediately rushing forwards towards Electro again.

His arm vibrated at super speed as he shot it right through Electro's chest. However, unlike when Electro had put his fist through people's chests, there was no death. Just a cry of fear and confusion.

"See. Now let's put all this Speed force where it belongs…" Wally nodded to Barry as he started vibrating Electro once more, causing the villain to scream in annoyance, frustration and terror.

Electro dropped to his knees as Kid Flash pulled his arm out of his chest, all the sparks of yellow lightning leaving his body as it appeared to manifest around Wally's still vibrating arm. Electro's connection to the speed force was severed completely, never to be found again.

Wally walked up to Barry and put his non-vibrating hand on his mentor's shoulder with a smile, "Miss me?" he asked.

"I— I'm—"

"Right… You probably don't remember me." Wally said with a sad smile, fighting the tears as he touched Barry with his other hand and returned his powers to his friend.

Barry writhed for a moment as he felt the speed force join him again, he let out a relieved sigh and looked into his nephew's eyes, "Kid… I remember." he pulled Wally into a massive hug, "How could I have ever forgotten you?"

Wally felt confusion at Barry's words for a moment before settling into the embrace.

The other heroes, watched with a mix of confusion, curiosity and happiness before they were taken out by Electro's words, "Oh whoop-de-fucking-doo! You got your powers back, so what? I still have loads of juice from being in that—" he felt a foot connect to his face as Spider-Man had wandered up next to his kneeling form and knocked him prone.

"Good for you, you get to stay blue! Gotta say though Electro, it clashes with your eyes…" Spider-Man responded as he grabbed him by the foot.

Peter was glad for the electric insulation in his new suit as it meant he could pull off his next move. He threw Electro in the air before he could react and shot a line to the generator, the same generator Booster had asked Skeets to disconnect from the main power grid as he explained his idea to Spider-Man a moment earlier while the two Flash's hugged.

He kept the other end of the line in his shooter before aiming at Electro's rising body and shot it on to his back. He then fired a taser web at the generator, kickstarting the surge of power, causing Electro to cry in annoyance and frustration as he was absorbed into his old prison.

He was grounded. Stuck in a generator once more, "How long will that hold him this time, Skeets? He's still blue so clearly, he's still got some extra juice."

"Correct, but without the Flash's speed, he will be contained for at least six hours according to my data…" Skeets replied.

"That's plenty of time…" Spider-Man replied with a sigh of relief.

"It's over… Finally, over." Booster called with immense relief and exhaustion as he dropped to his knees again and began crying in joy.

Canary sat down next to Booster with a smile as she put her hand on his knee in a comforting gesture.

Nightwing spoke up, "So who is this guy? How are there two Wally West's now?"

"Your best friend, Dick." Wally said with a painful voice, "At least I was…"

Nightwing flinched in response, it hurt to hear somehow. It hurt to even look at him, he didn't know why.

"But you don't remember, I guess… How much has changed since I've been gone?" Wally asked Barry.

"A lot. I can't remember everything from the old timeline, but I know that we need to talk about it… We'll debrief on The Watchtower; we've got a lot to catch you up on…" Barry replied with an empathetic smile.

"So do I…" Wally replied as he stared directly at Spider-Man, "Especially for you, Spider-Man."

Spider-Man gulped in response, he had no idea why Wally, a veritable stranger from another timeline even knew him, let alone what he possibly had to say to him, but the fact he had to say it to him filled him with immense dread.

"Fun… even people from other timelines know more about me being here than I do… That's just so great." Spider-Man said with grim sarcasm.

Suddenly, Peter felt a bristle in the back of his mind, 'Oh now you're awake! Tell you what, buddy, you missed an absolute shit show... I think. I can't remember it, but it sounded like one at least.' The Other rumbled in confusion, 'I'll tell you about it while we do clean up.' They brushed his mind in acceptance, they still felt tired.

The following hours were spent reporting back to Dr. Stone and Dr. Charles and explaining everything. As best they could without giving away sensitive information, they were appropriately vague about everything.

Everyone remembered the first loops but no one except Booster and a generator bound Electro remembered the second, which made it easier. It did mean that everyone looked at Spider-Man oddly as he carried the generator on his shoulder to which he just shrugged and waved.

They put a call out to the Justice League and informed them they'd be back soon for report, Superman even dropped by to pick up Electro in the generator while he flew him to spare cell designed for Livewire at Stryker's Island.

Vulture, Count Vertigo, and Buddy Standler, A.K.A. Condiment King, were carted away by the GCPD for holding before they'd be tried and most likely sent to Blackgate Penitentiary. Or potentially Arkham for Buddy following the inevitable psych evaluation…

Clayface was willingly cuffed with a specially designed straitjacket while Canary and Booster explained to the officers how he was manipulated against his will. He would inevitably go back to Arkham and hopefully face no additional charges as all the present Leaguers, as well as some of the staff, including Silas and Sarah, were willing to testify on his behalf if necessary.

All in all, it took a couple hours. Everyone offered their thanks, apologies and goodbyes to Silas and Sarah and the rest of the staff for their aid, compliance as well as the inconvenience and potential PTSD following the absurd and terrifying events.

Kid Flash stayed at the back, in silence, ignoring the confused looks. As well as the cold shoulder he was receiving from Nightwing. He didn't take it personally; his friend had no idea who he was and had work to do.

Every now and then Dick would look at him and offer an uneasy and apologetic, yet still confused and scared, smile which Wally would offer back. But no words were spoken.

Spider-Man tried chatting to Wally about what he said before Flash told him to wait until they were back at base. Instead, they just chatted about mundane things, like the faces of all the staff around them and the mess that was the last loop.

Flash never left Wally's side during the whole ordeal, except once to talk with Sarah and Silas.

Later…

The Watchtower

When arriving on The Watchtower after completing all their housekeeping duties at S.T.A.R. Labs, Wally received more odd looks from the staff and heroes alike, while he wondered in amazement at the difference in design of the satellite. The fact there were civilian staff and even the very fact there were so many more heroes present.

There were a lot of Justice League members in the old timeline too, he wouldn't debate that, but here it seemed like the roster was… unlimited. Like anyone who put on a suit and fought crime was offered a spot, even some of the younger heroes…

The fact the team was so open about The Watchtower around the people in Gotham blew his mind as well. Telling him that either the secret had already been shared by the Reach like in his timeline, or, more likely based on the tone, they never hid it in the first place.

He saw so many faces he'd only encountered on the streets or seen on the news. But when he saw a young blond woman dressed like Superman fly over head with Captain Atom, John Stewart and a differently dressed Green Arrow following along as they made their way to the Javelin dock, he truly felt bewildered by the differences.

Even the heroes he knew, such as J'onn and Superman, whom he saw for a moment at S.T.A.R. Labs were dressed differently, he was shocked when he saw just how much had change despite everything still feeling so familiar. It was like there was an aura of uncanny valley over the whole reality he found himself in.

After a T-Sphere scan from Mr. Terrific confirmed Wally was really from this reality, albeit shifted in time. The entire team, as well as Booster, Skeets went to the briefing room with Batman to discuss what had transpired in S.T.A.R. Labs. While Wally was led by Mr Terrific and Miss Martian, who'd shortly arrived upon request, to the med bay for more tests.

Wally looked at Barry hesitantly, "We won't be long… I promise."

Wally nodded, before he turned to Miss Martian, with red eyes "Please tell me you remember me, M'Gann…" His voice was becoming shaky now.

She flinched slightly, "I— It'll be okay, Wally… I promise. If you remember, then I'll remember. I'm sure of it." She put her hand on his shoulder as he smiled softly at him, "We'll wait until you guys arrive." She said as she looked to Flash and Nightwing.

They both nodded in response.

Peter immediately recognised the look on Wally's face, he felt himself a couple weeks ago. The realisation that the world you knew is gone from reach, maybe forever… He felt his heart ache with empathy, he wouldn't wish that feeling on his worst enemy.

Not that his worst enemies would care all that much. If Otto's current scheming was anything to go by at least.

Either way though, he knew, Wally would be hurting. A lot. He knew his friends had to be there for him, even if they didn't know why they were friends.

But Peter decided then and there, he would be one of them, he would make sure Wally never went through the feeling of absolute dread and loneliness he felt on his first day in this world. He knew Wally would need it when the dread and acceptance finally seeped in, the absolute raw ache. The pain.

Soon, Batman and the team as well as Skeets and Booster, were stood in the briefing room, awaiting Canary's report as team leader.

"Batman, can I let Skeet's explain?" Batman glared at Booster Gold with tempered rage, he had gone to S.T.A.R. Labs in spite of express orders from himself not to, "I—He has all the information, it will be more concise and factual than anything any of us will be able to tell you."

Batman replied, "I don't want to hear the report from your robot, Booster… You weren't even suppose—"

Canary interrupted, "Batman. Listen to Skeets, Booster's right…"

Batman grumbled a sigh of acceptance. Skeet's lit up and began explaining, "After arriving at S.T.A.R. Labs at 14:41, a surge of Speed force energy was emitted by Barry Allen, causing the whole facility to be caught in a loop and frozen in time."

Everyone looked at each other confused, except Booster who kept his head down.

"However, we were unable to find the cause of the issue within S.T.A.R. Labs, which we later confirmed was an EMP caused by the joint entrapment of Wally West and Electro within the generator and Reach Magnetic Field Disruptor respectively.

"This meant we were destroyed by the excess energy which had managed to build within the MFD, destroying the world several times. This caused the loop to start over, each time however, the team acted with more haste under the direction of Black Canary. In spite of the action of Booster and myself who merely served as a distraction for the team many times."

Yet more confusion, Spider-Man moved to argue, he was stopped by a look and shaking of the head from Booster.

Skeets continued, "As the team, being in such close proximity to Flash the moment his powers activated the loop, were the only people able to remember each explosion. Nightwing was able to ascertain the cause of the explosion as being the generator within the basement due to the clues being dropped by Count Vertigo. The team were able to establish, due to the continued evidence, that Flash and Spider-Man would be able to free both Electro and Kid Flash, again respectively."

Many times, someone went to correct the story, Booster shushed them with either a look or a statement to the effect of, "You don't have to lie on my account."

Skeets went on, "When Electro was freed, we realised he had inadvertently stolen Flash's power. It was at this point; Booster had realised he was in over his head and attempted to flee, only for him to also be killed. However, we realised later, despite being unconscious at the time, Wally West was in charge of a second EMP and was manually resetting the timeline to before our deaths."

"What are you talking about, you said—?" Canary interrupted.

"My data was incorrect, Black Canary, this is the truth of the matter, no matter what Booster and myself may have told you earlier… The team was able to subdue Electro several times in spite of his newfound powers, however he destroyed everyone several times… But, due to the nature of the loop and everyone's memories of it being intact—"

"That's a lie! Why are you—?" Nightwing started.

"I am incapable of lying, Nightwing. As I was saying, eventually, after many brave sacrifices from the whole team, Flash had figured out what was causing the loop and had—"

"No. You figured out the cause of the loop, Skeets…" Flash protested.

"While I did offer assistance, I can hardly take the credit."

"Take the credit? Booster, you and Skee—" Spider-Man was cut off.

"Booster and I were liabilities for the most part. You are correct—"

"What? No—"

"You do not need to defend Booster or my actions under his orders, had we not been present the loop would've most likely been stopped before it even began. Nevertheless, Flash was able to deduce that Kid Flash, who had arrived unconscious was causing the loops, saving us all every time. Spider-Man managed to talk Electro down and we made a truce as Flash instructed Electro on how to return Wally West's powers."

Everyone stood wide eyed in disbelief at the lies they were hearing.

"After Wally had awoken and his connection to the speed force was returned, Wally subdued both the villains and Spider-Man was able to trap the weakened Electro in the generator, saving everyone."

"What a load of horse shit!" Flash yelled in disbelief. Everyone was taken aback. "What? It was! That is not what happened, what are you playing at Booste—"

"Please Flash, I already got enough of an earful at S.T.A.R. Labs… I'm sorry I compromised everything; I've learnt my lesson I won't show up unannounced again." Booster replied half-heartedly.

"Booster! Why are you doing this, if you hadn't shown up—" Canary was stunned as she spoke with shock.

"If I hadn't shown up, you would've been able to do your mission without interruption… I compromised the whole mission… I know. You already said so the first time."

"Batman, I don't why, but Skeets is lying that is not what happened." Nightwing offered in a pleading voice.

Batman glared at them as he pulled up the screen, he was looking at on to the holographic display, "Skeets' report matches the data he has shared with me, he can't be lying."

"Then the data has been altered!"

"It can't be… I am a twenty-fif—"

"Obviously it can! Or we wouldn't be looking at a complete fabrication." Spider-Man spoke flabbergasted.

Batman paused, "Booster you're suspended from the Justice League until further notice."

"What?!" Everyone yelled.

"As far we know, this is what happened." Batman spoke, "There is no alternative."

"Correct, the time dilation has altered all of your memories, this is the true sequence of events."

"So that's it? You're not even going to hear what we have to say, about what actually happened?" Nightwing asked as he stared between them.

"I have already heard what I needed to hear, but as far as the Justice League is concerned, Skeets' report is the truth." Batman said bluntly. "Well done all of you, in spite of Booster's meddling, you succeeded in your mission and captured two of Spider-Man's villains as well as a member of the Light."

"This is bullshit…" Nightwing muttered under his breath.

"Seconded… Also, Booster captured Condiment King too, don't forget him." Spider-Man muttered, still severely annoyed by the discussion that just transpired, clearly Batman either knew more than he was letting on, or he was being frustratingly stubborn. It was probably both.

"Spider-Man, I wish I could." Batman sighed.

"Was that a joke?" Spider-Man muttered in disbelief, "Did you just make a joke? After dismissing everything we just said… You crack a joke?! I can't believe what's happening today…"

Everyone ignored him as they turned to Booster with confusion, "Why? Why are you doing this?" Canary asked.

"Because that's how it has to be…" Booster replied, darkly.

"Booster, you're dismissed. We will have a hearing about whether or not you're to be reinstated in two weeks, until then, you have no access to any Justice League benefits. Please hand over your ID card…" Batman stated, plainly as he took the ID card Booster readily offered.

"Batman, this is insane!" Nightwing argued.

"Not to mention, you're being a surprisingly crappy actor right now. It's like you're choosing to let us in on the fact that you know Skeets' report isn't the truth…"

Batman gave the softest ghost of a smile as he grunted in approval, "This is what has to happen… Booster, ignored direct orders and compromised a League mission he wasn't even supposed to be part of. That's the end of it… I suggest you all leave it at that.

"Flash, we need to run some more tests on the new Wally West, report to the med bay, Nightwing go with him as, if he is telling the truth, you two were friends... we need to figure out why the timeline has changed, Miss Martian will analyse Flash and Kid Flash's memories."

"He said he needed to speak with Spider-Man, too." Flash said with confusion about the whole briefing.

Batman nodded, "Understood. Spider-Man go with them…"

"Sure… Whatever you say… boss…" Spider-Man muttered back.

"It was a request. Not an order… You're free to leave, but I knew you wouldn't. I can tell you see a bit of yourself in Wally, understandably based on your own recent arrival here..."

"I— Goddamnit, I'm going. But not because you asked me to!" He pointed at Batman angrily before muttering "I hate when he's right…"

"Join the club…" Nightwing replied, "We're gonna' talk about this properly, Batman…"

"Yeah, count me in for that, too…" Spider-Man agreed.

"Me three…" Flash also jumped in.

"You're welcome to, but I think you all know this isn't my choice…" He looked to Booster.

They all looked at him too as each of them softened their confrontation and nodded at him one by one.

He returned the gesture with a smile each time.

Eventually, they shuffled out, not seeing the point in arguing with Batman anymore… Skeets' report was all that mattered, their words would only be dismissed. All of them knew Batman was lying to cover both him and Booster, but they didn't know why.

As Booster Gold, Black Canary and Batman were left in the room alone.

"So, care to explain, Batman, Booster?" Canary asked as she crossed her arms in disapproval.

"There's nothing more to say, except this. Good job… Both of you."

"Don't forget Skee—"

"I'm not congratulating the robot…" Batman replied as he looked at Booster and Canary's fixed glare, he sighed, "And you, Skeets…"

"Thank you, Batman." Skeets replied.

"In spite of that… Booster, if you could try to follow my orders next time…"

"Sure… If you want the world to end." Booster replied with a shrug.

Batman sighed as he smiled, it was almost a chuckle. Almost, "I'll see you at you're hearing in two weeks, Booster. Though I imagine for you, it'll be more like two hours…" Batman spoke as he walked to the door to leave.

Booster crossed his arms as he offered a knowing smirk in response, Batman turned just before he left the room and gave him a small nod. He left.

"So, Batman knows…?" Canary asked.

"Knows what?" Booster replied.

"That you're not as much of a joke as everyone thinks you are…"

"I am as much of a joke as everyone thinks I am… Batman just knows not to be a dick about it…" He was kidding, but there was a sadness in his voice.

Canary chuckled softly as she replied, "You know, first couple loops where I had no idea what was happening notwithstanding, it was nice teaming up with you, Booster.

"Thanks, but uh, we've teamed up heaps before…"

"Let me guess. The old timeline?"

"Yeah… Good old Justice League International days…" He said proudly. Sadly…

"Did we get along there?"

"We got along better than we do here… or did here I guess."

"I- I'm sorry, Booster…"

"Don't be. I'll always have the memories… Besides we're cool now, right?"

"Yeah, we are… I wish I could remember."

"Eh, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, Guy Gardner was a real dick sometimes."

Canary snorted, "Yeah, that sounds like Guy…"

"Listen, Booster… You're hiding it better than I thought you would be… But I can tell what Electro put you through… I just—" She sighed as she walked over to the table in the corner and picked up a sticky pad and pen from the attached drawer.

"Huh, didn't expect the Justice League to have a stationary drawer… How 21st century…"

"People need to write things, Booster." She finished what she was jotting down, "Like this, here."

She handed him a post-it note with a series of digits on it.

"Oh wow… I'm flattered bu—"

"Cool it, hot shot… I'm married, remember?"

"Oh right, yeah… Green Arrow. Hey, I've been meaning to ask, I mean you don't wear a mask, but Oliver Queen is like a famous billionaire. So, how does that work…? Do they just think he's married to a superhe—?"

"Just take the fucking note, booster!" Canary said with an exasperated chuckle as she basically pushed it into his chest.

"Right… sorry. Thanks, but why?" He said as he gently took it from her hands.

"Because I'm a qualified therapist, Booster."

"Really? I thought you owned a flower shop?"

"What?"

"Probably a timeline thing, forget it."

"I mean, I like flowers…" She said as she tilted her head to the side in curiosity at the idea.

"Hah. Well… Thanks, Canary… I- uh… I guess I'll give you a call sometime…"

"I hope you do… I get you want to keep what really you do quiet, for some reason, but… What you've just gone through, promise me you won't bottle it up… whenever you're ready to talk about it, I'll be there to listen… Just err, try to book in advance…"

"Don't worry, one appointment will be enough, I'll just travel back and reuse the same time slot again… save you the work." He chuckled sheepishly as Canary smirked back at him, "I- Thank you, really. I, uh, listen… I've gotta' get going. I got somewhere else I gotta' be for now, can't be late."

Canary chuckled softly, "Where're you headed where you could possibly be late…?"

"I'm, err, visiting an old friend…" Booster replied with a smile, to which Canary nodded.

As he started walking away, Canary called after him, "Hey, Booster!" he paused his walk and turned his head back round to face her, "You're a much greater hero than anyone gives you credit for… maybe even yourself… I hope you know that."

He let out a soft chuckle again as he smiled and called back, "Of course I know it… I'm Booster Gold, the greatest hero you've never heard of!"

He pressed his palm to his gauntlet and he and Skeets disappeared in a flash of blue light.

Dinah was left there, in the meeting room, smiling softly to herself behind painful eyes.

Meanwhile

As Flash, Nightwing and Spider-Man made their way to the med bay to see Kid Flash, Wonder Woman intercepted and approached Spider-Man, "Spider-Man… a moment?"

"You guys go on, I'll catch up." They nodded and went on.

As Diana watched them leave, she smiled at them and turned back to Peter, "So, I've read the report Batman sent, quite a first mission… did you follow my advice at least?"

"Trust your team and try not to die? Yeah, mostly… Except for the fact we did die… Quite a few times actually…" he replied.

"So, I saw, Booster Gold compromised the mission, and in spite of that you still managed to succeed, well done." She replied.

Peter paused, he knew Booster and Batman were hiding the truth for a reason, but he had no idea what it was… It didn't make sense to him.

Sure, he knew how it felt, to be treated like a joke a menace… To know not to argue how everyone sees you and just get on with it, do the hero job anyway. But this? It felt wrong.

Booster Gold was a hero, he sacrificed himself over 600 times to save them all, and he took none of the credit. It just didn't sit right with him.

If Booster wasn't going to stand up for himself, than Peter would, "I gotta' tell you something, Wonder Woman."

"What?"

"That report is a lie…"

"What do you mean?" She said with suspicion.

"I don't know, but Batman and Booster… They faked it… The truth is, we didn't save S.T.A.R. Labs, we didn't stop the explosion that destroyed the world… Booster did. Truth is, if he wasn't there, we all would've died, everyone would have died."

"But why would Booster not take the credit if that's what happened, he's always been after fame for as long as I could remember…"

"Yeah, that's just the thing! That's what Nightwing told me… And I got it at first, but when it came down to it… He led us all. He got us to save the world, and he died. Over and over just to save us… You told me to trust my team, and I did. But the truth is, I'd trust all of them with my life, Booster included. Especially Booster. He put himself through hell to make sure we made it out."

"That's… But why would Batman lie about it?"

"I think Booster told him to… but, you said yourself, not knowing what you're allies are capable of can be life and death. And I'm telling you now, Booster Gold is more than capable of being a hero… One of the best."

Wonder Woman looked to the floor in confusion and disbelief, "I will need to talk with Batman about this…"

"I—I don't know. I mean he's a time traveller, right? He must know something we don't… I think it must have something to do with Wally… I mean that's why he showed up in the first place. Skeets said he needed to 'save the timeline'… maybe that's why he can't take the credit. Maybe that's why no one can no what Booster really does…"

"Either way… If he's hidden this, Booster Gold will have his reasons. But Batman will tell me…"

"Yeah. I get it… but the thing that bothers me the most is…" he paused as he looked out the window beside them, staring off into the distance space dotted along the darkness of space.

"What is it, Spider-Man…?"

"I could tell that Electro put him through hell… we all could. I've never been so pissed at one of my guys like that… Well, that's a lie. Not him, at least… But Booster just looked so tired, maybe he was so tired that he didn't want the credit, he just wanted to be done with it. Booster just, he didn't look like the same guy he was when he came in you know… I'm worried about him."

"If Batman knows, he'll look out for him… Trust me, he always looks out for his team… Perhaps to Booster, maybe you and the team knowing the truth was enough."

"Yeah, maybe… But I just don't get it; I mean why let everyone else think he's a joke? Booster Gold is a hero. A real one… But no one believes it… And he lets them. Why?"

Wonder Woman sighed for a moment as she too looked out into space from the window besides them, "With what you just told me, I think I might understand why Booster Gold would let others believe he isn't a real hero… I think it's something we all go through at one point or another…"

"Yeah, what's that?"

"I think maybe… he doesn't quite believe it himself…"

"Yeah… I can relate to that…"

Diana put her hand on Peter's shoulder, "You're stronger than you realise, Spider-Man. I hope one day you'll see yourself as others do… And, if what you've told me is true, I hope Booster does to…"

The Next Day

Chicago – Highland Park Cemetery

08:30 AM

Only moments passed for Booster, but for the rest of the world, many hours had gone by. He stood in front of the grave as he read the name that was carved in its stone, 'Ted Kord'.

The emptiness of the grave in front of him hurt to look at it did to find out his best friend was killed. He had seen, Ted several times since… But it never mattered much, he could still never be any more than what he was the day he was killed.

The events were slightly different in this timeline, but the core event was the same. Maxwell Lord still pulled the trigger. Booster still hated him. Wonder Woman still snapped his neck. Booster would always remember her fondly for that.

He sighed heavily as he stared at the grave, "Hey, Skeets. What do you think happens when we die?"

"Sorry, Booster. I'm not programmed for metaphysics…"

"Yeah, but what do you think?"

"It's not a matter of thought, Booster. It's a matter of faith. It's up to what you believe, but again, I'm not really programmed for that…"

"Me neither… Never had much faith in an afterlife, in God. I mean, I just experienced death more times in one night than I can count…"

"Would you like me to remind you of the numbe—?"

"No! No. Definitely not." Booster sighed, "What I'm trying to say is… when I was trapped in that loop, when I died, over and over, I never saw any light at the end of any tunnel… no pearly gates. No flames. No grim reaper. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. Whatever other words they use for 'fuck all' in this century… So, it just makes me think, where's Ted…?"

"Where do you want him to be?"

Booster felt his eyes wet at that question as he looked down at the ground below him, "I think you know, Skeets…"

"I do, Booster. I'm sorry…"

"Don't be… You know, buddy, It just isn't fair, is it? Ted gets shot, and he's never coming back… But for some reason fate just gives me as many tries as I need… why? What makes me so special? I know that I died, I felt most of them… I felt the life returning to me every time I woke back up… But Ted probably doesn't even know he's dead. He was just alive one minute, the next… nothing. It's not fair. It's not fucking fair!"

Booster fell to his knees as he started crying unapologetically. He kneeled there for a few minutes softly sobbing to himself.

When Booster's tears began to slow and his sobs began to soften, Skeets spoke once more, "You were not the only one to die, Booster… but, other than Electro, you were the only one to remember every instance."

Booster breathed out a heavy breath as he wiped his eyes under his goggles, "What're you getting at, Skeets?"

"Perhaps whatever you encountered on the other side is as inaccessible to your mind now as the deaths themselves are to the others… Maybe the soul remembers what your mind can't, and every time you came back you forgot whatever you saw after you died."

"Ha… Maybe." Booster replied with a smile beneath his red eyes, "That's not a bad theory, Skeets. I thought you said you weren't programmed for metaphysics?"

"I began researching it while you were crying."

"Ha. Haha. Hahahahaaa! Oh, Skeets, don't ever change… Thanks, buddy. That helped… Don't know if I believe you, but… I'd be lying if I said it didn't offer me some comfort to entertain the idea."

"No problem, Booster."

"Could you do me a favor?"

"Of course."

"Head on home for now, I'll meet you back there soon."

"Sure thing, Booster." Skeets blinked out of site as he returned to their base outside of the time.

Booster sighed once more as he dried his eyes properly. He stood tall and pressed his hand to his arm and once again, disappeared in flash of blue light.

Chicago, Illinois – Ted Kord's Apartment

5th March 2019 – Roughly Two Months Before Ted Kord's Death

Ted Kord made his way to the door as the knocking got louder and louder, "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming…" He muttered to the person on the other side of the door.

He opened it to see his friend Micheal Carter, A.K.A. Booster Gold, on the other side, holding up a six pack of beer with a big smile on his face.

"Booster? Hi."

"Hey, man, long time no see!"

"We saw each other like two days ago…"

"Oh yeah, of course we did… I was joking… obviously."

"Sure…" Ted replied with a suspicious smile, "well, come on in… I assume those aren't just for show?" He nodded to the six pack.

"Nope. Sorry to show up unannounced, but thought we could use a break."

"Ugh, you can say that again… Victoria's been on my ass all week, I could use a pick me up."

"Well consider me it!" Booster replied as he entered the apartment, "how is your sister, by the way?"

"She's good! We got a new—" Ted shut the door behind him.

This day. This one day… Booster had lived it more times than he could count. The only day he could visit without disrupting everything.

It never lasted long enough. But it was their day. It always would be. As long as Booster lived, he would never forget this day. He would never forget Ted.

Author Notes:

And that's a wrap on the Booster Gold story arc! I love BG and I wanted him in this fic from the get-go. I hope I did him service for any devout Booster Gold fans out there… I know people came for Spidey in DC and I know he took a bit of a back seat in these chapters, but I hope his impact was still felt.

Ending might be a bit rushed I'm sorry about that, but this chapter is long enough without the added interactions with Sarah and Silas, even if I really did enjoy writing them both… Maybe I'll give them something to do/little cameos in future.

Also struggled with how to do Booster at the end, debated having him and Wally reset the entire timeline, so NO ONE remembered anything, but I thought that was too mean, then debated having Batman ACTUALLY berate him and Canary attempt to stand up for him, but I felt that was kinda a no-go since let's be real, Skeets' report WAS horse shit…

I hope I found a happy medium where Batman knows Booster isn't a joke but lets him take the fall sometimes so he can be the best hero he can be because it means he can do his job with less interference…

Also, for anyone curious, I've decided the old timeline is more closely like YJ but still different, in my mind, since we know Ted Kord already died in that world, JLI happened BEFORE YJ, and they became the Justice League we see in the show.

Also, no, Civil War has not happened yet in 616161 but I still stoke Cap's speech because it's a good speech... In my head he just gave to Peter when he was feeling down about the Bugle and JJJ... Not as good I know, but get off my back, I do this for free... jeez.

Anyway, unless I ABSOLUTELY smash out chapter 18, the next chapter will be the Xmas special which will be mostly standalone-ish. M'Gann, Peter, Dick, Barry and Wally's discussion about the timeline and Peter's role in what Wally was talking about will be in chapter 18 so don't be confused if the Xmas special comes out first…

I also want to get the Miles one shot done soon, but wanted to crack out this finale to STAR Attraction first so here you go.

Love to all my readers and thanks for all the folks who've left Kudos and reviews, big appreciation for all of that stuff.

Honestly, I don't know why my chapters are so long, I just can't stop writing them… I thought I finished this chapter like 6 hours ago but just had to keep adding more… It's why I take so long with uploads sometimes, but this one I REALLY just put in the hours every day this week pretty much.

As always, stay beautiful and keep smiling :)

Fumble