A/N: Chapter eleven. This one won't be as long as the previous ones. I promise. Updates might start getting slower as I'm starting my junior year of school and having a whole other bunch of stuff outside of that as well. After this chapter, updates might be like 1-2 chapters a month, but we'll see how it goes. Chapters might start getting shorter after this, so I can update quicker, but again, we'll have to see.
DIVIDED WE FALL: PART TWO
STAR CITY
2315 EST
Barry skidded to a halt beside Lyanna after running at super speed as he stood on a snow-covered road in STAR City, the full moon shining bright and acting as the only source of light in the entirety of the snowy, wrecked city. The city Oliver had protected for nearly five years was now just minutes away from being reduced to ashes and irreparable debris. All Barry and the others could do was rescue the civilians of the entire state of Washington and get them out. Wally, and Jesse skidded to a halt behind them as they all faced each other.
"Where're the others?" Barry immediately asked, noticing the absence of Kara, Hal, and Firestorm.
"They're tracking the bomb." Jesse explained.
"They're trying to stop it." Wally added.
Lyanna sighed. "There's no being sure if that'll work. We need to evacuate this state, the West Coast, even any nearby cities and areas in Canada."
Barry nodded. "She's right. Relocate as many people as far away from those areas as you can. North, south, east, or west. It doesn't matter. Just far away from here."
"We're really gonna evacuate the entire west coast of America and Canada?" Wally asked in disbelief.
Barry nodded his head once more, only this time it was quicker and more desperate. "If we don't, then millions of more people are going to die. And we've already lost more than enough today."
"Go!" Lyanna yelled.
Wally and Jesse nodded before parting ways at super speed, running off. Barry turned to Lyanna as the two glanced at each other with a mix of emotions. Worry. Anxiety. Concern. Numerous emotions and feelings that could not be described by the English language.
"Be careful." Lyanna pleaded.
"I will." Barry promised.
Lyanna swallowed a small lump in her throat as she quickly held Barry's hand with both of her own, giving him a nod before running off in a flash of white lightning. Barry inhaled a quick breath, allowing himself to revel in the gesture from her for a mere attosecond, which felt like days and months for him with his speed.
After the attosecond passed, Barry took off as he ran all throughout STAR City, searching, finding, and relocating civilians away from the entire west coast of America and down to states as far as away as Oklahoma or even Illinois and Virginia. He evacuated the civilians out two at a time and in five seconds, he managed to evacuate all five hundred and ten thousand people from the city away. After running through the entire city as many times as he could for another two seconds, ensuring that he'd evacuated every single person, he stopped as he skidded to a road. He got back to running as he continued doing the same he could for several other cities and other states.
"Just like we practiced, Jefferson!" Stein's voice echoed in Firestorm's mind as he landed on the top
"You sure about this?!" Jax called out as he landed on the bomb, attaching himself to it as his orange fire energy glowed across the entire bomb that was hurtling its way through the atmosphere and heading towards S.T.A.R. City.
"I'm afraid I cannot be entirely certain." Stein responded. "But we must try! Millions of innocent lives are at stake!"
"I don't know, Grey…" Jax groaned as he placed his hands on the bomb, sending waves of orange light across the bomb's surface and feeling its energy colliding with his own.
"This damn thing's too big!"
"Need a hand, kid?" Hal called out as he and Kara flew beside the bomb, remaining in the air but flying fast enough to keep up.
"Is there any way we can redirect it?" Kara asked. "Maybe take it to space?"
Stein's voice echoed in Jax's mind. "That won't work, Jefferson. This bomb is highly volatile. Any change in its course by so much as mere feet would set it off immediately…"
"Grey says it won't work!" Jax called out, looking at Hal and Kara. "We're gonna try and diffuse before it hits the city!"
"What do you need us to do?" Hal responded.
Jax gritted his teeth as he continued sending waves of energy throughout the bomb, desperately trying to diffuse it and transform it into something less catastrophic. A wave of water. A wave of debris. Anything. Anything that could save S.T.A.R. City from being bombed and destroyed. That could stop the bomb from going off.
"Get clear in case this goes wrong!" Jax yelled.
Suddenly, Jax felt excruciating pain shoot throughout his body. His inner organs felt as if they were on fire, his eyes, already orange, glowed brighter. The bomb, in its massive sphere shape, began whirring with energy. Hal and Kara exchanged worried looks before looking back at Firestorm.
"What is it?" Kara called out.
"I…can't…hold it!" Jax groaned, the energy of the bomb wearing him down as he struggled to hold it back.
"It's too much, Jefferson! It's too much!" Stein yelled in Jax's mind.
Barry skidded to a halt at an intersection in the middle of S.T.A.R. City after running at super speed for what simultaneously felt like mere seconds and elongated hours, his orange lightning flickered across his body for an extra few seconds before he completely stopped. He ran a hand through his dark brown, straight hair, which was messily hanging downward in an uncombed manner from the wind of all his running. Barry dropped to his knees as he leaned his head back, closing his tightly and breathing deeply. Exhausted. He was exhausted. Not physically from all the running, which he quite literally could have done all day. But mentally and emotionally from the weight of all that had happened just today alone.
It was only Day 1 of the war and already, the world had been turned into an ice age apocalypse, thousands to millions were dead with billions more on the way, and now, S.T.A.R. City was about to be blown to the stone age. Barry heaved a deep breath as he leaned his back down, lifting one leg up and placing the foot on the ground as he hunched over.
"Get up, son," Henry Allen said as a hallucinatory form of him stood beside Barry. "You've got a marathon ahead of you. Get up and keep running. Rest in peace later, go to war now."
"War?" Barry breathed gruffly, looking over at his mind's hallucinatory portrayal of his father.
Henry nodded as he walked closer and put a hand on Barry's shoulder. "You're a soldier now. Not just a soldier of justice when you were a CSI or a soldier of hope as the Flash…but a soldier of humanity. Of Earth. You've fought so much on this day alone and you've got God knows how much longer ahead of you."
"They won't stand with me…" Barry muttered, swinging his arm up before letting it fall as he thought of the dreaded conversation with the rest of the heroes about Flashpoint waiting for him back at Central City. "Not after Flashpoint, after this, after all the people who have died because of me…"
"Millions on this coast have survived because of you and so have their future generations, Barry. Think of them," Henry reminded him as Barry looked up to meet his father's gaze. "Get up, son. Mourn and grieve, if you must. But do it later. Now…fight. Run and fight."
Before Barry could respond, he blinked and the hallucination of his father was gone as his mind grounded him back to the rather lonely and unforgiving coldness of reality. Kicking snow off his black jeans, the young speedster rose to his feet as he heard three sounds of speedster-like whooshing behind him. He turned back to see Lyanna, Jesse, and Wally behind him as the four speedsters met.
"We've got every other part of the west coast," Wally said with heavy breaths as he and Jesse hunched over, their hands resting on their knees.
"Good," Barry nodded, not yet noticing Lyanna's gaze wandering upward to the sky. "We need to check on-"
"Barry!" Lyanna called out as she kept looking up.
Barry, Jesse, and Wally turned to face the direction in the sky where Lyanna was looking. Just a mere few hundred feet away and in the air, the sight of the bomb flying towards them was visible. As was the orange-glowing sight of Firestorm on the bomb and the flying green and blue dots indicating Hal and Kara following him.
"IT'S GONNA BLOW!" Jax screamed, writhing in pain as orange waves of energy began flowing from the bomb directly to Firestorm's body, the bomb itself whirring and starting to glow, indicating it was ready to go off.
"We have no choice, Jefferson, this is the end…" Stein's voice echoed in Jax's mind with a mix of agonizing pain and apologetic regret. "Thank you…for everything."
Jax looked back up at Kara and Hal, who were flying fast enough to be just behind the bomb. He gritted his teeth as he endured seething pain, knowing the bomb's energy was too much for him and Stein to handle. Too much energy to stop without paying a price - a costly price. But that was the price all heroes had to pay, was it not? Some sooner than others, some at costlier pay than others. Jax swallowed a lump of pain in his throat as he nodded at the two heroes.
"Stay back!" Jax yelled.
Kara and Hal's eyes grew wide as the realization dawned on them.
"No…" Hal whispered.
Kara shook her head at Jax desperately. "Don't…"
Jax turned his head back as he looked directly down at the bomb. "Do it, Grey! Do it now!"
"Hold on!" Hal yelled to Kara as he held out his Lantern ring, forming a green, bubbled shield around himself and Kara.
Jax heard one last set of words from Stein in his mind as the two absorbed all the last bits of energy being radiated from the bomb, their Firestorm body growing steadily unstable as Jax closed his eyes.
"Clarissa, Lily, I'm sorry…" Stein whispered.
The energy flew back into the bomb before the explosion went off, sending a shockwave bursting through the atmosphere as it spread for hundreds of miles throughout. The blast followed soon as Hal and Kara, still under the green bubble the former had created for them, were sent flying away. As they looked back at the direction of the source of the explosion, Kara utilized her x-ray vision to analyze the falling ball of fire that headed for the ice-covered waters. There was no bomb…but there was no Firestorm, no Stein, and no Jax either.
"Firestorm…" Barry breathed, seeing the explosion claim Jax and Stein's lives with them, his gaze softened, his eyes beginning to glisten with tears as he slowly took a step forward, looking up at the sky where the explosion occurred. "No…"
"Are they…?" Jesse asked, her voice trailing off in worry and unsteadiness.
Wally's hands ran over his hair before gripping the back of his head as he looked away, Jesse went over to his side. Lyanna took a steady step closer to Barry as she placed her hand on the brunette man's shoulder.
"Barry, I'm truly sorry about your friends," She whispered as Barry glanced over at her. "I really am.""
Barry shook his head slowly, his gaze aimlessly looking elsewhere at the ground. "What do I tell the Legends? The others?"
Lyanna gently curled the fingers of her other hand as she placed them under Barry's jaw, her skin smoothly caressing his. She gently tilted his chin upward so that his hazel eyes would meet her brown ones.
"The truth," Lyanna breathed with a juxtaposed mix of conviction and guilt as her tone softened. "But you don't have to do it alone, I can be there…"
A moment of silence followed. Wally and Jesse stood side by side as they glanced at Barry with baited breath. What would come next? Look for Jax and Stein's bodies? Go after Brainiac? Rescue Caitlin? What was next? What would come after the loss of yet another team member? Barry released a long but shaky exhale as his hands ran through his hair before clutching the back of his head, looking down, his shoulders slumped with a sense of defeat. He let his left drop down by his waist, his right shooting up to rub his eyes, which felt as if they were burning from the force he used to hold back the tears.
After several more moments of silence, save for their breathing and slight winds that blew particles of snow from the ground, Barry cleared his throat as he turned and faced the three speedsters with eyes that were steadily becoming bloodshot with an increase in red veins.
"We need to head back…" Barry muttered in an almost inaudible and weakened voice. "Tell the others, the Legends, they-"
Barry cut himself off with a sniff as he pressed his lips tightly, shaking his head before turning around and walking away.
"They deserve to know." Barry said, his voice rising and growing louder, a stark contrast to the murmuring tone he had just seconds ago.
Orange lightning coursed throughout his body before he took off at super speed, Lyanna, Wally, and Jesse following him just microseconds later. From the skies, Hal and Kara, who had gotten clear of the explosion that had claimed Stein and Jax's lives, saw the four speedsters retreating and followed them back to base. There, it was all the more clear the dreaded confrontations and conversations that would be awaiting them. Namely Barry…
"He's gone…?" Ray whispered in disbelief.
Back in the Hall of Heroes, a name for the facility coined by Cisco at the beginning of the day before the war had broken out all across the world, the Legends stood before Barry, who looked down and was unable to meet the eyes of his allies as he nodded silently, confirming their worst fears. Barry faced everyone: Lyanna, Cisco, Wally, Jesse, and Harry - all of Team Flash except Caitlin, who remained Brainiac's hostage. Oliver, Thea, Rene, Diggle, and Felicity. Hal, Batman, Diana, Arthur, and Kara. But, it was the Legends whose faces he couldn't bear to look at. Their eyes he couldn't meet. Not Sara, Ray, Mick, Nate, or Amaya's.
"I'm…" Barry tried to say, still looking as he rolled his shoulder back before forcing his gaze upward to meet Sara's. "I'm sorry…"
"That Jax and Stein are gone…" Sara responded, a bitter look on her face as she glared at Barry before taking a step closer to the speedster. "…or that all of this - everything that's happened in this past day and more - is your fault?"
"Sara." Oliver interrupted with a firm voice as he stepped forward. "Barry didn't launch that bomb, Brainiac did."
"That's not what she's talking about, Ollie." Barry murmured with realization, seeing the look not just in Sara's, but in all the Legends' and Diggle's.
"When we were under Brainiac's control, we learned something…" Amaya said, her tone stoic yet having an icy edge to it. "Something Barry needs to tell all of us. Something that his team already knows."
"Spit it out, kid," Mick said gruffly. "Out loud. To all of us. You owe us that much."
"Barry…" Hal said with a warning tone and a softened look as he shook his head. "Don't-"
"Sara's right," Barry said abruptly as he raised his head up and met the faces of all those in front of him, nodding his head. "This is my fault…all this. The Dominators invading, everything they and Brainiac have done and more…it's on me. I did this."
Confusion etched on Oliver's face as he furrowed his eyebrows. "What're you talking about, Barry?"
"I went back in time," Barry sighed as everyone - Wally, Jesse, Cisco, Harry, Lyanna, Oliver, Thea, Diggle, Lyla, Rene, Felicity, Sara, Mick, Ray, Nate, Amaya, Hal, Batman, Diana, Arthur, and Kara - listened to him. "To exactly 16 years, 8 months, and 6 days in the past from now. March 18th, 2000. It's…"
He cleared his throat as he nodded his head with heavy breaths, flickers of the memory of the fateful night his mother had been murdered.
"It was the night the Reverse Flash - Eobard Thawne - murdered my mother," Barry continued. "I went back in time and I stopped him. I changed the timeline. I created an alternate timeline called Flashpoint where my mother and my father were both alive, but things in that timeline started to spiral out of control and I realized I had to reset things to the way they were, so I…"
Barry paused once more as he recalled the moment he had gone crawling back to Eobard Thawne in his cell. The moment when the Reverse Flash, the man he hated more than anything, who ruined his life and kickstarted fifteen years of emotional torture and torment by murderering his mother, made him beg to do it again. The words even started ringing in his head as Barry momentarily glanced to the side, where he saw a hallucination of Eobard Thawne wearing his suit as well as the face of Harrison Wells. Thawne held up his hand and waved with a sadistic smile as the words echoed in Barry's mind.
"Beg me to kill your mother again."
"I'm begging you…kill my mother."
Barry immediately looked away, silently praying the hallucination would fade away as he forced his gaze back to those in front of him. The people who he knew were there. The people who were reality. Not the ones in his mind providing him self-torment.
"So, I did," Barry said, clearing his throat and stifling the instinctive rise in an octave of his voice. "But even after I reset the timeline, there were…changes that happened."
"You mean aberrations," Ray retorted, his matter-of-fact tone cold similar to that of his teammates. "Just like the ones we've been spending several months fixing and undoing."
Barry swallowed a lump in his throat as he nodded his head. "There were many…Cisco's brother died, Caitlin's Killer Frost alter ego, Iris and Joe's relationship, and Lyla and Dig…"
Diggle's jaw tightened, his face morphing into one filled with pain from the knowledge of what was going to be said and anger at the fact that it had happened. It was a look that didn't go unnoticed by Barry, who felt a weight of responsibility for the pain in Diggle's eyes that even a blind man could clearly see. Lyla, who sat in a wheelchair beside him and was still recovering from her crushed leg, had the same look of emotion and unsteadiness in her eyes as she too looked to Barry for the rest of his words.
"They had a daughter instead of a son," Barry confessed. "Baby John was originally baby Sara…"
"I had a daughter…" Diggle whispered in a pain-filled voice as his eyes began to glisten with tears. "A daughter - a…a little girl that you, Barry, y-you just…erased from my life? Took from m-me? From me and Lyla?"
Barry looked down once more. How was he supposed to do this? To look into the eyes of those around him and confess that he had essentially changed, if not destroyed their lives as well as kickstarted a multiverse war and a planetary alien invasion just by going back in time and changing things. He hadn't just caused changes to the timeline or war on Earth 1 and the entire multiverse, he had destroyed everything and everyone around them and every part of him knew it.
Clearing his throat, Barry lifted his chin up as he glanced around the room before looking back at Diggle and Lyla, meeting their eyes.
"Yes," Barry murmured in regret and shame. "I caused this…all of this. Brainiac came here for me, the entire multiverse has to face off against something…worse, much worse than all this, because Flashpoint…opened the barrier between the multiverse and something called the dark multiverse. It's where the Dominators came from…"
Barry paused as he looked down, unable to even look at any of those before him. In his own mind, he wondered what their gazes at him were filled with. Pity? Hatred? Contempt? Confusion? A loss of understanding?
"Not a second's gone by where I don't regret any of this," Barry whispered. "It's why I went to Brainiac's ship at first…to turn myself in and see if he'd let this planet go. He won't…but whatever he's done, whatever he's going to do, I want - I need - each and every one of you to know I'm truly sorry for everything-"
"That's not enough, Barry." Sara said coldly, her voice rising as she stepped forward. "This - Flashpoint, changing things - that was not your decision to make! You can't just go back and change things, Barry. Do you have any idea how difficult it is for me to not go back and save my sister? Or myself from Lian Yu? Or any of it?"
"Sara." Oliver interjected with a firm but not unkind voice.
"All these past few months we've spent trying to fix aberrations," Ray said, shaking his head in disbelief. "You just decided it was okay to make your own?"
"Jax and Stein died because of you, kid. Because of a damn war you started." Mick snarled gruffly.
"Okay, everyone, let's just take a breather." Kara pleaded as she stepped forward, holding her hands out.
The kryptonian's attempt at diplomacy was ill-fated as the tension in the room continued to boil over. Barry stepped back with a sigh and a shudder that shook his shoulder and trembled its way down his arm to his fingertips.
"You erased a daughter from my life?" Lyla breathed.
"Guys, please, stop." Cisco pleaded.
"How can we just fall in line and follow you when you're the very reason all of this is happening?" Ray questioned. "When you've caused this much damage."
"He never intended for this to happen." Lyanna retorted, stepping forward and closer to Barry while facing the Legends.
"Lyanna's right." Oliver said.
Batman stepped forward, standing alongside Oliver and Lyanna as he too turned and faced the Legends. One by one, others joined the trio. Hal, Arthur, Diana, Cisco, Harry, Jesse, then Wally. Barry didn't know what to feel. Relief that some of his allies chose to defend him? A feeling of guilt and self-deprecation knowing that he didn't deserve to be defended? Worry that cracks in the unity of the team were starting to occur and spread because of the revelation of his actions? Or worse, fear of mutiny from the Legends and the rest of Team Arrow?
"The kid made a mistake," Hal spoke up, glancing at Barry before looking back at the Legends and the others. "He didn't mean for any of this to happen and he did what he could to correct it. He's doing the same now."
"He messed with the timeline!" Sara spat.
"And how many times have you and your team done the exact same, Ms. Lance?" Batman questioned. "How many times has the timeline been damaged by your team's repetitive mistakes? Because if half the things Oliver and Barry have told me about you are true, you all have messed with time far more and for worse than Barry ever has."
"We tried to correct our mistakes, Bats." Mick gruffed in response.
"So did Barry," Oliver shot back. "You all think you have the grill Barry for making a mistake he regrets - a mistake he has been trying to fix and atone for - when you have all done the same thing but worse and over and over again?"
"He's right," Arthur added with a tone of conviction. "You all blame Barry for doing something you do in excess and refuse to acknowledge his attempts to remedy it. That doesn't make any of you the victims that you're acting like, it makes you hypocrites."
"Hypocrites?" Sara asked incredulously.
"Barry watched his father die," Cisco retorted. "In front of him! Any of us would have done the same thing he did and if you think otherwise, you're lying to yourselves. We don't have time for this. Brainiac's still out there, the world's in Ice Age 5 out there, and Brainiac has Caitlin."
"We're not doing this," Amaya said, shaking her head at Barry with disapproval. "Not under him. Not with him. Not near him."
"We can't trust him," Nate murmured. "We just can't."
"Can't or won't?" Harry asked in a demanding tone.
"Enough," Barry called out with a self-deprecating sigh, shaking his head slowly as his arms loosely hung by his sides while everyone turned to face him. "You say you can't do this with me…maybe you're right. Maybe you shouldn't have to…"
Barry inhaled deeply as he started backing away, tossing his hand up weakly to his right before letting it drop.
"Batman and Ollie are in charge, they'll be better at this than I ever could be." Barry murmured. "If anyone's injured or doesn't want to fight anymore, go with Lyla to the A.R.G.U.S. base up north, the one she took Joe, Iris, Julian, and H.R. to. You'll be safe there."
"Wh-what about you, Barry?" Wally asked as all eyes went to the speedster.
Lyanna stepped forward. As did Oliver, Cisco, and Harry.
"Allen…" Harry said in a softened tone.
"I can't do this…" Barry whispered, shaking his head as he looked down with watery eyes. "I thought I could, but I can't…I can't be around any of you, not after what I've done. You need this, I'm doing this for you…"
"What about Caitlin?" Cisco asked with a shuddered breath.
"I'll work out a plan of my own to find her and get her…" Barry sighed as he turned around and began to walk away. "The second I do, I'll bring her back here. You heard what I said, Oliver and Batman are in charge."
"Barry, don't do this." Oliver called out as he hurriedly walked after him before catching up and grabbing the twenty-seven-year-old's arm, forcing him to face him. "Hey, hey! I'm not letting you do this."
"Let me go, Ollie." Barry said softly, a pleading look in his eyes as he looked at his old friend. "You know I'd rather not make you."
"Don't do this," Oliver repeated, his voice softer as he shook his head.
"I'm sorry, Ollie." Barry whispered before pulling his arm out of Oliver's reluctantly loosened grip.
"Barry, come back here." Oliver called out as he stared at Barry's back, seeing the speedster walk out of the hangar door. "Barry! Don't do this!"
Barry was already gone. He stepped out of the hangar doors as he felt the winter cold air immediately bite at his skin. Snow descended from the sky at a steady pace yet came in seemingly endless amounts as the inches of snow on the ground began to pile up. Closing his eyes, Barry leaned his head back up and felt the snowflakes land on his body, his face, and his hair, the cold air and the dash of loneliness that came with it providing a momentary feeling of release.
He opened his eyes as he felt a particular presence behind him before turning around to face a certain speedster with a bob of blonde hair, standing behind him.
"What're you doing here?" Barry asked softly.
"Coming with you." Lyanna answered as she stepped closer. "Don't even try to run, you know I'll catch up and just follow you."
"You still shouldn't be here," Barry whispered. "You shouldn't."
"Maybe," Lyanna nodded. "But you can't stop me from coming with you. I won't let you go out there alone."
"Because of what Brainiac might do to me if he finds me?" Barry asked.
"Because of what you might do to yourself after everything that's found you," Lyanna whispered. "And I'm talking about what's on the inside. The pain eating away at you."
A moment of silence passed before Barry cleared his throat, nodding his head with a weak sigh.
"Okay," Barry breathed, looking into Lyanna's brown eyes with his hazel ones. "You can stay."
"So what do we do?" Lyanna asked as Barry looked across the site of the winter-covered city, knowing that the entire world shared its fate as an arctic wasteland.
"Project Knightfall was a success," Brainiac commented as he stood in the main room of his mothership. "I have Caitlin Snow and the Flash's allies are in disarray."
Inside the main room of the mothership, multiple Dominators had joined Brainiac. At the center of the room, a white-haired Caitlin Snow, who had been turned into her Killer Frost ego and even had a new suit for her persona, was hanging from the ceiling of the room. Her arms were over her head and eagle wide as metal restraints covered her wrists and prevented her cold powers from allowing her to break free. Her legs and ankles had metal restraints clutched onto them as well and a metal gag on her mouth that muffled anything from heavy breathing to any attempt to speak.
"I still have plans for you, Killer Frost," Brainiac said as he glanced over at the restrained metahuman's form before looking down at his hand, which began vibrating and phasing with yellow electricity coursing through, just like that of a speedster's. "As do I have plans for the abilities I've inherited thanks to my previous…assets who held off against the rest of their allies."
Caitlin huffed in response, her fists clenching tightly as cold, white fumes fell from them. However, the technological, metal restraints continued to hold her in place as Brainiac turned his gaze back to the front view of Earth, which was now covered in an arctic setting and continued to be damaged.
"How do you wish for us to proceed, sire?" One of the Dominators asked using its telepathic communication.
"Continue the hourly massacres," Brainiac commanded. "We have crippled every major government and military power of the planet, now we can fortify occupation as well as our own One World government system. Monitor the activity of Barry Allen and his allies."
"Shall we pursue them as well?" Another Dominator proposed.
A cold hint of a smile touched Brainiac's lips as he lightly shook his head, his hands clasped behind his back as the half-cybernetic, half-organic alien looked down at Earth from the view of the main room of his mothership.
"Negative," Brainiac said. "I still have one asset amongst the allies' ranks. A traitor to them but a spy for me, if you will. And soon…they will provide me with the perfect opportunity to seize Barry Allen and destroy each and every single one of his allies, then this Earth shall be mine, and every other universe shall fall to Savitar and the dark multiverse…"
A/N: Just want to say I'm sorry, it's been so long since my last update. I've just been extremely busy with other commitments both personal and professional, but I promise you all (especially to any of you that wish to see this story and this series continue), I'm not giving up on this story nor this series (as this story will be part of a several-story series). The story will likely come to an end within the next 5-ish chapters as I don't plan to drag it out much longer. Even though everything from the second chapter to now has happened within the same day.
Like I said, updates will be slower now. Not as slow as making this chapter was, but slower than my initial speed. It'll be about 1-2 chapters per month. I might be able to get the next one before the end of this month.
While I didn't want to directly paint anyone in a particularly bad light, the argument over Flashpoint and Barry's actions was meant to be more sympathetic to Barry (even while acknowledging the effects of his actions) because of how the Legends were hypocrites in the matter during the canon "Invasion!" crossover. They've literally screwed with the timeline worse than Barry has, caused more damage, and done it far more times for far less, but when Barry does it once (that too after he was emotionally unstable with no one to really pull him back from edge) and tries to atone/make up for his mistake, all bets are off and it's "let's gang up on Barry"? Really, people? Am I the only one seeing the hypocrisy here?
To be clear, I take no issue with Barry being held accountable for his actions. Throughout this story/series, I plan on making his guilt over Flashpoint and past actions an essential part of his character (especially for depth and development purposes). I take issue with the Legends being hypocrites.
I won't reveal who Brainiac's spy is until later chapters, but you are all welcome to guess in the reviews. If you enjoyed this chapter and/or this story, feel free to let me know in the reviews!
'Til the next chapter, gang!