Chapter 18
Earth – 1; Central City
Cisco looked at the data from the cannon.
"Reversing the treadmill's directional velocity could make the anti-matter wave recede and funnel back into the speed cannon…"
"Destroying the machine and the wave," concludes Earth – 90's Flash.
"Ending this once and for all." Barry said with confidence and determination.
"We'll all be saved," Black Panther added.
"And freeing me from the Anti-Monitor's control." Pariah said hopefully.
Black Lightning grew weaker as he used his powers against the Anti-Monitor cannon. He said:
"Where's the future? Right here. Whose life is this? Mine. What are you gonna do with it? Live it by any means necessary."
"He's not going to last." T'Challa pointed out, watching the superhero struggle with his powers.
Purgatory
It had been a while since John Diggle, Clint, Mia, and Constantine walked through Lian Yu's forest in search of Oliver Queen. Since their arrival in Purgatory, they had seen no traces of him.
"It's gonna be okay. We're gonna find him." Diggle said, looking around.
"You don't know that," Mia said, not sharing his enthusiasm."Dad's soul could be lost forever."
"Family's everything to Oliver." Dig said."He'll come back to us."
"Anyway, we're too far away to turn back now." Clint added."Let's find him. We have to."
Suddenly, a hooded individual jumped from the trees and attacked our heroes. He kicked Diggle and knocked him to the ground. Clint tried to subdue him, but the attacker dodged his gestures, and knocked him to the ground in seconds. Mia intervened, but quickly found herself on the ground, like her friends. The attacker attacked Constantine, grabbing him by the neck and back, wanting to suffocate him.
"Whoa, Oliver, Oliver! Oliver, wait, man!"Diggle exclaimed, standing up to Constantine.
Clint then recognized Oliver, dressed in a green outfit with a long hood, almost camouflaging his face.
"Oliver! Oliver! We came for you!" he said, slowly approaching him.
"I see you, man, and I'm so sorry that I wasn't there to have your back during Crisis," Diggle said softly. "But I'm here now! I need you to come back to us! You're my brother!"
"Oliver," the Avengers archer insisted with a pleading look. "We need you. The Universe needs Green Arrow. We'll not overcome this Crisis without you. Oliver, come back with us. Together, we can put an end to all this mess!"
As he hugged Constantine, Oliver looked confused and disoriented by his friends' words. Then he ends up releasing his captive. And he looked at his allies with emotion.
"Hey John!"
He came to take Diggle in his arms, then came to greet the archer of the Avengers.
"Hey Clint!"
"It's good to see you again, Queen," Clint said with a smile.
Then Oliver joined his daughter.
"Mia, you came."
"Of course I did." said the young girl, hugging her father, sobs.
Earth – 1; Ivy Town
Ryan Choi gathered his things in his office before heading home, then looked up at his family photo, seeing him with his wife and daughter.
Iris came to see him in his office and saw the family photo.
"They're beautiful." she said. (After a silence, she continued.) "I didn't get to introduce myself earlier, Dr. Choi. I'm Iris West-Allen from Central City."
But Ryan didn't want to make conversation with the woman in front of him.
"Are you a superhero, too?"
"No," Iris replied with a sad smile. "I'm just like you. Look, I know this is a lot to ask and you're right to want to be with your family when things go bad."
Delighted to have met someone who understood him, Ryan then stood in front of Iris and asked her:
"What about you? (He noticed the wedding ring on her finger.) You clearly have someone in your life you care about. Don't you want to die holding them when the world ends?"
"My husband's not like us," said Iris. "He goes out there as a superhero day after day and faces whatever he has to to keep his city safe."
"That's really brave, Iris," Ryan answered moved. "But that's not me. See, I'm nothing like your husband."
"No, no, you're not," insisted Iris. "You're human, and we have a purpose too. We remind superheroes what they're fighting for."
"My wife, Amanda and I, just had a baby six months ago. Simone. I might not get to see her grow up."
"Don't you want to hold her knowing that you had a hand in making the world safer?" Flash's wife said.
Then it was Shuri who walked gently into the office. She looked at the professor before answering him gently:
"Dr. Choi, no one asks you to risk your life for us, or to sacrifice yourself for the world… but to help us make it safe for everyone, and for your family. You would like them to be safe, right? That your daughter can grow up safely?"
Ryan looked at the two women with emotion, not knowing what to say. If he was essential at the end of this Crisis, he could not ignore the call of fate.
"I have to go tell my wife that I would be late for dinner," he said.
Then he walked away from the two women. As Shuri joined Iris.
"Lois informed us that six more Earths are gone with to mine. We only have this Earth left to save."
"At least now we have Ryan." Ralph added, stepping into the office in turn. (Addressing Iris.) "How'd you know what to say to him?"
Iris recalled her last conversation with her husband Flash at the Waverider before heading to Ivy Town.
"Iris…"
"Hey, what is it?"
"What if this is it? What if… stopping the wave is my purpose as a Paragon? I mean, what if it's the sacrifice I have to make?"
Iris was shocked by this news, and replied:
"Well, if this is it, then I don't want you to die without me, Barry. I don't want you to be alone. I'll come with you."
"No. You can't come, Iris. I may be the one with superpowers, but… your intelligence, your resourcefulness, your heart that's your superpower and that's what's gonna help you convince Ryan Choi to be the hero he needs to be."
"Barry, I don't want to live this life without you." Iris insisted sadly. "I don't… I don't want to say goodbye."
Her husband then looked at Iris' wedding ring, then cuddled her hand.
"When I put this ring on your finger, I promised I'd always come running home to you. And if we're apart, for however long, know that wherever I go, I will be running home to you."
Then she kissed him. Like what might be her last kiss with him.
"Are you still sure you want me to go?"
"Yeah. Go find Ryan Choi and hurry back."
"I'll see you soon."
Central City
Barry took a deep breath as he put on his Flash mask and braced himself for what was to follow. The routing of its entire journey. He turned to see Cisco looking at him with emotion. Then he found out that Frost had taken on Caitlin Snow's appearance. His two friends who had followed him since he became Flash. Cisco and Caitlin looked at him sadly.
"I don't wanna say goodbye!" the Star Labs' woman said, suppressing her sobs.
Flash smirked sadly at his two friends who had been with him for years, fighting metas and protecting their city.
"You two were there the first time I opened my eyes as the Flash." declared the speedster of Earth – 1. "I couldn't be the hero I am without you guys."
Then Flash and his two friends came to hug in a strong hug. All three wanted to freeze this moment together, not wanting to separate. Then, as they parted with great reluctance, Flash asked them:
"Tell Joe and Iris I love them."
Caitlin nodded, fighting back tears:
"We will."
T'Challa, who had stayed behind to give the Team privacy, came over to the hero with a solemn look.
"It was an honor, Flash," he told him, raising his hand to him.
And the speedster shook his hand with a nod.
"I was honored to have met other heroes from other Earths," Flash said.
T'Challa nodded.
Suddenly, Flash from Earth – 90 joined his young counterpart, putting his hand on his shoulder.
"Sorry, kid, but this has to happen."
At his words, he put his other hand to Flash of Earth – 1's chest, and the young speedster felt his energy drain from him.
"Barry, what are you doing?" cried Earth – 1's Flash.
"I'm momentarily stealing your speed." the old Flash said with his hand resting on his counterpart's chest. "You play the speedster game long enough, you learn some neat tricks."
"Wait, why are you doing this?"Caitlin cried, her eyes wide in surprise.
"Novu said the Flash must die in Crisis. He never said which one."
Earth – 1's Flash collapsed to the ground, exhausted, as the old Flash of Earth – 90 rose to his feet with new speed.
Black Lightning stopped and got to one knee. The cannon made everyone tremble. Then the old Flash helped Freeland's hero to his feet.
"You're a true hero, Jefferson." he told him. "I can't thank you enough."
Then he turned to Cisco, who was amazed by the initiative of the Flash counterpart.
"Open the breach, I need to get in that force field!"
"No," Cisco whispered, shocked.
"Do you know what you're doing, Barry?" stunned T'Challa.
"I know what to do," the old Flash said firmly. "Cisco, open the breach! Let me do this! Let me save you all!"
Flash of Earth – 1 tried to stand up, but was too weak to intervene.
"Cisco, don't! Cisco, come on!"
But the Latino, still stunned, finally brandished his hand and opened a breach on the treadmill.
"Thank you," said the old Flash gratefully. (Then he turned to his young counterpart.) "Keep riding the lightning, son! I know you'll make us all proud!"
And he ran super-speed through the breach, reappearing on the treadmill, in reverse.
The young Flash could only watch him helplessly.
"Barry!"he exclaimed annoyed. "He's gonna die, Cisco!"
"You made me team leader, and sometimes, the leader has to make the tough choices." his friend exclaimed firmly.
"Flash has made his choice," T'Challa added. "The same choice we made by wanting to fight during this Crisis. And he wants to save us! Save everyone!"
Then the cannon began to shake and become unstable. Soon everything would explode.
"We can't stay here!" Black Lightning declared.
Cisco opened a new breach. Immediately everyone went into the vortex, but Flash stayed where he was.
"Flash, let's go!" T'Challa exclaimed, grabbing the speedster's shoulder.
"I can't go and let him die," the Central City's hero said.
"It was his choice!"T'Challa repeated, screaming. "If you stay here, you will die and he'll have sacrificed himself for nothing! We have to get out of here! NOW!"
Then Flash resigned himself to letting his counterpart run on the treadmill. They all left the anti-matter cannon lair.
As the old Flash ran across the mat, he felt his strength leave him, but held on. He recalled an old memory of many years with his wife.
"I have faith in you, Tina."
"Well, the truth is, I have faith in you, too…" she had replied, smiling.
He opened fully at Speed Force, running faster, and faster than he had ever done in those long years. With his run, his body began to disintegrate from the strain, but he held on, nonetheless. The cannon was overloaded with energy, and the wave of anti-matter crumbled into space. As Flash's body disintegrated into several molecules, the machine eventually exploded.
In space, the wave of anti-matter had ceased to act.
From the Waverider, the Guardians of the Galaxy had seen the wave disintegrate before their eyes. Rocket gazed at the phenomenon with astonished eyes.
"It's gone! Does that mean we won? What's just happened?"
"I've no idea," Quill replied, as stunned and confused as the raccoon.
"I am Groot?" the tree muttered with a copy of Mick Rory's erotic book in his hand.
At the anti-matter cannon, there was nothing but rubble. Around the rubble was a lightning bolt symbol with torn, tattered fragments of red cloth.
He was passed away. That Flash was gone. He had sacrificed himself to save more than one more universe from certain catastrophe.
He died for what he believed in.
And so he was gone… without regret.