Chapter Ninety-Four: Looming Darkness.
A cold rush blows through the air, the first signs of autumn. Rose circles around Olivia at the house, both of them are going face to face with each other. Claire, Hailey, and Lana are all sitting around in the farm and taking a good look at the battle.
"So, who do you think is going to win this one?" Claire asks.
"I think Rose has got this one," Lana tells her. "I mean, she's determined enough. Liv's really come a long way since she was that spoiled heiress. But, you know, Rose is Rose, and she really have something to prove."
"Yeah, I've got Rose on this one as well," Hailey says. "She's got that perfectionist tendency. Maybe not the same as Mia, but she's driven in a different way."
None of them can really argue with that one. Rose waves for Liv to come in. Liv and Rose circle each other. The first punch is thrown by Rose. Liv ducks down and blocks the hand. Rose flips over behind Liv. She tries to take the legs out from underneath Liv and then flips her down onto the ground. Rose and Liv throw hands at each other. A spinning kick from Liv causes Rose to duck and dodge the attack. She kicks the foot back.
"Who do you got in this one?" Hailey asks Claire.
"I got Liv," Claire tells her. "It's just a feeling I have."
They watch very closely to see whether or not Claire's feeling will be on point. Liv's uppercut sails over Rose's head. Rose blocks the punch and keeps punching away at her. A series of punches drives Rose down a few seconds. Rose swings the leg underneath from Liv. Liv flips onto the ground. She kips up and blocks Rose's punch. She turns her around and flips her onto the ground.
Rose blocks out the agony and bounces up. She charges Liv again. She smiles at how much Liv improves since the first time they sparred. Liv takes her down to the ground with a flipping throw. Rose bounces up to her feet and goes for a running elbow to the side of the head. Both of them block each other at the same time. Liv's knuckles wrap around Rose and rolls her over onto the ground.
"Come on!" Liv yells.
A kick comes close to her. Liv blocks the leg and then flips her over to the ground. The Queen Heiress holds Rose's leg in a knee bar to stun her. Rose rolls herself over to one side and tries to kick away from Liv. She slips out and then bounces up. She hurls more punches at Liv's. She evades all of the attacks.
A scream echoes from the barn which causes both Liv and Rose to stop fighting each other. Claire bounces up along with Lana and also Hailey. Isobel steps out of the barn and teleports several times before landing down on the ground.
Lana's head throbs the second Isobel turns up. A flicker of light erupts between the two of them.
"HE"S COMING!"
The scream rips through the air and chills the entire group. Isobel's hand glows and she fires a bolt of energy over the barn. It strikes the windmill and speeds it fast. Claire rushes over and wrestles her to the ground. Liv and Rose helps Claire restrain her.
Hailey screams out and drops down to the ground. Claire drops Isobel and then rushes over to her.
"I see worlds!" Hailey screams. "He's wiping them out. He's coming for this one! HE'S COMING!"
Claire's eyes widen. She really can't figure out what Hailey's mind is going, but she's not completely with it at the moment. One can see the horror spreading through her mind.
"What's happen?" Liv asks. "Do you have any idea?"
"They're seeing something," Lana breaths. The light connection she still has to Isobel causes her nose to bleed. She swipes a drop of blood. "There's something else coming. I don't really know what, but…"
Liv arms herself with a bow and arrow just as the sky opens up. The vortex of burning light appearing in the sky make her feel very weak indeed, but she has to stand tall. A flash of light erupts from the vortex and a figure smacks into the ground hard.
The figure smokes wearing a dark-red suit with a lightning bolt on the side. The symbol on the front of the suit resembles Jesse's in some ways. Claire moves over and feels the discharge of energy. The figure's eyes spark and he starts shaking.
"Who are you?" Claire asks.
"My name is Barry Allen. I'm the Fastest Man Alive. And I'm here to warn you the Anti-Monitor is coming for you all. Past, present, future, all fifty-two!"
This mysterious speedster flashes out in the other direction. Claire turns to Rose.
"Get Jesse! I'm going to need her help to wrangle him!"
Jean and Harry return to the ship. Lillandra greets them with a smile and bows down in front of the Phoenix. She's now wearing elegant white robes. She's more docile with the medallion where it should have been.
"Great lady, I'm glad to see you're fine," Lillandra tells her.
"I wish the entire universe would be fine," Jean says. "I think he's escaped."
"The Anti-Monitor?" Lillandra asks. "Yes, I'm really afraid that he might be."
Harry joins Kara with Jean sitting in the seat directly between Nyssa and Sara. For the first time in a long time, the seven medallion holders are back together. Just in time to fight one of the most dangerous forces the universe ever saw, the Anti-Monitor.
"I won't lie," Harry says. "I have a feeling…."
"Life's dying," Jean says. "We have to stop him."
"What has Blackfire unleashed?" Sara asks.
Jean's lips curl into a frustrated grimace. "The end."
Those were two words which explain more than enough. Harry holds his eyes shut. He senses the world shifting around him in the worst way. The only good thing is that the Anti-Monitor is not completely powered up. Harry spends a few seconds to summon his thoughts. A powerful blast echoes around the ship as it navigates throughout the universe.
"He's on his way to Earth," Harry tells them. "Our Earth."
"Of course," Nyssa tells them. "Do you think there's any way to get in front of him?"
"We will try and do so," Harry tells them. "Indigo, do you feel any strange fluctuations of power?"
Indigo only spends a few seconds before she answers. "He's attacking a planet not too far from our location. He has to recharge."
"We're going to have to catch up with him," Kara says. "Why do I have a feeling that's really not going to be as easy as it sounds?"
"Because it isn't," Harry responds a few seconds later. "We're going to have to get ahead of him. Everyone hang tight."
"I feel him," Jean says. "Blackfire tricked me! He sacrificed himself to release the Anti-Monitor!"
Jean's fingers push against the edge of the chair. Sara puts a hand on Jean's to calm her. The White Canary's calming, cooling touch causes Jean to take a deep breath and she nods. She tries not to lose it. Harry brings her back around, but there's still a prickling feeling. Being in isolation for what feels like centuries, what was centuries, does not really cause Jean to be happy.
"We're going to need you to calm down," Harry says. "I think that if we all work together, we can get in front of them. The power of seven should be enough to take him down."
"Yes, it should," Jean agrees. "It won't be easy. We're going to have to do it."
"He's vanished," Indigo says. "Brace yourself he might be coming after us."
Harry brushes his hair out. Everything is silent even though that fact could change in a few seconds. He brushes a strand of hair away from his face.
"Keep an eye out for energy spikes," Harry says. "We're going to have to be ready the second he arrives."
A blip of light flashes through Harry's eyes. The darkness swims into his mind to etch several grim images into his psyche. He notices several worlds fading into shadows in a matter of seconds. A hideous armored figure with glowing red eyes comes down on several planets throughout the entire multi-verse. The people who combat the attacker are really not able to do anything to fight them.
They see it, all of them see it. A flash of light erupts and a warp opens up through space. The ship passes through the vortex and on the other side. There's nothing other than darkness surrounding them. A corpse flows through space before shattering into dust.
"I can't believe this," Mera says. "It's so senseless."
"It's senseless," Jean agrees. "It's because he's just power. He doesn't care about anything else other than expanding his power. He just is."
"Any energy spikes?" Kara asks.
"Yes," Indigo says. "There's some minor signs of life in the wreckage as well, but it's very faint."
A figure floats through the ship with a wide expression of terror over his face. An iron pole slams through his chest and blood spills from his mouth as he swims, for lack of a better term, through space.
"Portal jump three galaxies over," Jean says. "I'm sure we have a chance to cut him off there."
They have a chance. Indigo activates the transporter and they disappear into the nothing. Tension raises while the ship containing the seven medallion holders disappear and then reappear.
Frustration builds to a fever pitch in Claire's mind. She's very close to nabbing this speedster. He's deceptively click. Claire pushes herself as fast as possible.
"Man, even when you're a female in this timeline, you're still a little bit too slow!"
Claire cannot make heads or tails of what the hell this mysterious Barry Allen even is yammering about. And she has a feeling that if even she can make heads or tails of anything, it's going to be insane. They circle around, being a long way from Kansas. In fact, Claire's pretty sure this speedster takes her for a joyride. He babbles about the Anti-Monitor, whatever that is, and then zips off.
Someone shooting lightning out of his body like Barry is, Claire figures it cannot be healthy. She stretches forward and tries to grab onto him.
"Slow down! Sorry, I can't! If I slow down, he'll find me!"
This does not really do a good job of answering her questions. No, it just raises even more questions. Claire speeds up as fast as she can go. It's just not fast enough.
"Jesse, I'm heading your direction," Claire says.
"I'm on it," Jesse says.
The speedster cuts off the first speedster. Jesse catches this speed demon around the waist and sends him into the ground. They end up flying backwards into the Arctic. They land outside of the Fortress of Solitude.
"Man, I forgot how sweet this place is! No matter what the uni…."
Claire snatches Barry around the throat. Barry quivers with the hand wrapping around his throat. He flies back so they are now both in the Fortress. The containment field surrounds Barry and causes him great discomfort. He slams into the field.
"That should hold him," Lara tells Claire.
"Well, it held me and he's slower than I am," Jesse says. "What the hell is going on?"
"I've seen it all! You got to let me out of here! If I quit running, he's going to come after me. He's got the scent! He's wiped out the timeline! Well, not a timeline, many timelines, with many infinite possibilities. I keep going back and forth, trying to find a way to stop him, and I've ended up here! Even the Dragon and his heralds, they couldn't stop him! He's gotten too strong, at least half of the fifty-two are in the process of being written out."
Claire slams her hand against the side of the cage to rattle Barry.
"Slow down and tell me what's happening."
"I keep telling you, I can't slow down!" Barry protests.
"Try," Claire says. "Please try."
"Well, I am the Flash or at least I was the Flash, Jesse's the Flash right now, at least at this moment, barring any sudden shifts of the time stream. That's the same thing that swapped Oliver for his alternate universe counterpart. And there was this thing with the Berenstein Bears changing into the Berenstain Bears which I swear was an unintended side effect, although it's left a lot of people confusion and massive amounts of nerd rage about conflicting child hood memories, the Mandela effect, you know, people remembering one thing even though it really didn't happen. Only it did, because of the speed force shifting X amount of people over to one timeline, even though there from this timeline, so they get flickers. Some have memories that directly contradict written history and they think that they are going insane. But they're not insane, they're just misplaced."
Claire blinks twice. She turns to Jesse.
"Did you get any of that?"
Jesse shrugs. "Yeah. I think he's saying that timelines are colliding to each other. And the force is empowering this Anti-Monitor thing. There's something going on, on multiple words."
"Exactly!" Barry yells with as nap of his fingers. "And he's coming for this one. He'll consume everything in his path and rewrite the universe in his own image. And it's not a good image. It's dead, decay and all that! You need to get ready."
"He's right."
A very haunted Hailey turns up in the Fortress. One almost thinks she might have seen a ghost. Actually, at this point, a ghost will be normal. She's seen something else which is far beyond a ghost.
"I've seen two worlds being destroyed," Hailey says. "And I've seen a ship with Harry and the others on it. They're going to get obliterated by the Anti-Monitor."
"Mother?" Claire asks.
"I'm sorry," Lara tells her daughter in a soft voice. "They're too far out for me to reach them."
"You need to let me out of this cage," Barry tells them. "I can lead him away for the moment. He wants me for some reason. I don't know why. I'm guessing I pissed him off in a past life or something."
"Open."
The cage opens up. Claire realizes she has to prepare for something.
"When is this happening?" Claire asks.
"I don't know," Hailey says. "The moment Harry disappears everything fades to black. I get chilled. It's awful."
Claire only imagines. They have to get ready for battle for whenever and where it will come. She can feel something in the air and they know it's only the beginning of a potential end.
No one remembers quite what depths the Anti-Monitor spawns from, other he exists. He exists to feed off of the darkness and enjoy the power. The power he absorbs from the shill thrills him pretty much like nothing else in his life. It's the only thing which keeps him going and gives him any kind of enjoyment.
It's also the only thing which stops the pain. The Anti-Monitor remembers what happens all of those years ago. He remembers being forced into the dark prison from the Dragon and his Heralds. All of those years ago, all he recalls is darkness.
"I know you're here. And you will pay just as much."
The entity who attempts to keep the Anti-Monitor at bay, the guardian of the speed force, he also moves throughout time and space. The Anti-Monitor cares little for this point. All he wants is destruction and he knows the adoptive home world of the Dragon looms nearby.
The Anti-Monitor already destroys several Earths in his process and many other planets. He will not rest until the entire multiverse is gone and he has a chance to rewrite everything in his own image. A smile crosses over his face for several long seconds.
Then the smile shifts into a frown. He hears the rumbling of a ship approaching him from the distance. The Anti-Monitor stands up when he instantly realizes who is on the ship and where it's coming from.
"It's him!"
The ship attempts to cloak itself from the Anti-Monitor and very nearly sneaks up on him. However, there are certain things which cannot be hidden from the view of the Anti-Monitor.
"I'm ready for you."
The Anti-Monitor lifts up a hand and freezes the ship. The weapon system locks onto the ship. Bursts of flames shoot out of the ship and come close to attacking the Anti-Monitor. They all bounce off of him.
"You thought yourself to be clever."
The Anti-Monitor locates the power core of the Dragon's ship. They were all inside. They will all perish by his hands with a few swift moves.
"You thought wrong."
The ship contorts and crushes like an overly large can. He could crush them all inside. The missiles launch from the ship and impact him against the chest. The armor of the Anti-Monitor shields the attacks. He's transcended something else.
"You've wasted all of this time getting them back together only to die. It's a real pity."
He contorts the core and causes the ship to explode. It goes super-nova right before the eyes of the Anti-Monitor. Everyone around and inside the ship vaporizes which causes the Anti-Monitor to break out into one of the more obvious smiles possible.
"Finally!" The Anti-Monitor yells. "Now nothing can stop me!"
The life on the planets near him on his way to Earth were irrelevant and insignificant. The Anti-Monitor plows Uranus on his path to Earth uncaring of the damage he causes. He keeps floating through time and space. Earth is in his process. The Anti-Monitor smiles and can feel the humans.
"To me my children!"
No one can see the horrors that the Anti-Monitor has created through the vastness of space. By the time anyone has a chance to fight them, it will be too late. It will be much too late. The Anti-Monitor pushes them onward and forward with a small smile on his face.
Soon, the entire world will be written into its own image.
Liv's nervousness of the entire situation reaches a brand new fever pitch. She joins Claire and the speedster, the man who calls himself Barry Allen. She isn't sure what to make of this. According to Felicity after Liv checks with her, Barry Allen currently is working as a Crime Scene Investigator for the Central City Police Department and has no super powers whatsoever.
"So, you exist elsewhere without powers," Liv says. "I'm not an expert of time travel by any means. But, you know…could that cause some problems?"
Barry shrugs in response. "Yeah, but I've always played a little fast and loose with the entire time travel thing. Perhaps I wouldn't have gotten into this mess if I did, but…a little time quake or two is nothing compared to one will happen if the Anti-Monitor is."
Hailey walks a few steps behind them. She does not look too well. Actually, she looks beyond not well, chalk white is a pretty good descriptor of how the Granger girl looks as she keeps her pace behind the other parties. She smiles as Holly step inside.
"So, what do you think?" Claire asks her.
"I think everything about this is insane," Holly says. "However, ARGUS is taking it seriously none the same and we've had our share of insane things."
"They told you about the vision, right?" Hailey asks.
"I'm not sure what to do think about that," Holly says in a somber voice. "I don't want to think the worst of this situation either. Regardless of what happens with Harry, life goes on. And we're going to have to take the fight to the Anti-Monitor one way or another. It's just what we do. It's what we have to do."
Hailey nods in understand. It does not stop her from being nervous.
"ARGUS has satellites to help deter alien invasions."
"We have a problem!" one of the agents yells from the background. "Something has broken through. They're on their way to Earth."
"They're here!" Barry yells.
Claire zips off after him in the other direction. Claire, Holly, and Hailey rush out after them. Nym joins them a few seconds later. They all look up in the sky for a vortex of dark shadows appear in the sky. Some of them engulf everything. The ARGUS agents all step outside.
"They're everywhere," Holly says after getting the report.
Liv holds her bow in hand, it seems so inadequate now these demonic creatures are circling around them.
'I'm going to need a bigger bow.'
The creatures rise up and drop down onto the ground. Claire rushes them and attacks them. She might as well be pushing air.
"Hailey, look alive," Holly tells her. "I know you're shaken, but we could use all the help out there."
"R-right of course."
Unless Hailey misread her vision, the Anti-Monitor already struck against Harry. And now the beginning of the end was afoot.
Chapter Ninety-Five: Crisis On Our World.
Darkness stretches out from space from many angles. There are no visible signs of life. There are just a few floating rock fragments surrounding space. One might be able to strain to look for the dust particles in the depths of space. No one is around to see what happens next.
A vortex rips open through the fabric of space. Harry Potter appears from the darkness in space and zips across the destroyed wasteland. He leans back and Kara flies out of the vortex seconds later. Gwen, Nyssa, Sara, and Mera follow next. Jean pops out to bring up the rear. Lillandra holds onto her goddess and they fly in silence through the vortex of space. Some of the life restores around them. Other bits of life are still decayed by the Anti-Monitor. Harry holds in his breath when passing through space until they get to a certain point.
A glowing black box with three dots representing an upside down triangle carved into it blips in space. It glows a shining bright Indigo color. Harry circles around in space and reaches out to grip the box hard. He turns over and the others take Harry's lead.
'Closer.'
In the past, Harry cannot begin to explain how he survives certain situations. This time, there's really no exception to the rule. The group of medallion holders come close to the Anti-Monitor. They appear through the shadows until they reach one of the few worlds in this sector the Anti-Monitor left alone.
Harry motions for them to follow him. They all sound off and drop down onto what appears to be some kind of relay station. The village monument is shattered. Harry puts his fingers on the door and opens it up. A wire disconnects from the panel which Harry hooks Indigo off.
"I thought for sure that would be it," Sara says finally breaking the silence. "Maybe it's just me."
Nyssa shivers. "No, it's not just you. I saw my entire life flash before us. I thought we had him at a disadvantage."
"We did, but we didn't."
Kara's the first one to pick up on the true meaning of what Harry's saying, although Gwen's very close to follow. She still tingles from her danger sense attacking her brain. She thought for a brief moment that she's not going to feel able to have anything other than an endless ringing in her head.
"Does it mean what I think it means?" Gwen asks.
"It means that we came close to dying so we could learn the scope of the Anti-Monitor's power," Jean says. "Although, I think I'm reminded how powerful he is. We just barely put him away last time."
More memories come back to them. Mera's jaw sets. "Yes, we barely did. And it cost us everything. We were all separated until we found each other."
"We won't get separated this time," Harry says. "I'm not sure how much damage was done to Indigo's drive. I suspect we'll know in a moment."
All they could do is wait to see if Indigo comes back to life. A bright spark flows out of the computer's drive. Harry lightly taps his finger on the edge of the drive.
"Booting up. Please wait one moment for system to return online."
Kara smiles even though it takes a little bit of time. The lack of life out there or the signs of it unsettle her. She does have a question though.
"Why do you think the Anti-Monitor hasn't destroyed this planet?" Kara asks. "I mean, it's on the way there. You would think that it would be something that's easy for him to wipe out. Maybe I'm going insane, but…"
"Trust me, you're not. He doesn't think the planet is worth his time. He'll just wipe it out with the rest of the multi-verse when he has full power."
Jean's statement makes several members of the group kind of uneasy. It also raises a lot more questions than it did answers. Gwen barely even holds back the most evident groan possible.
"You mean to tell me that thing's not as powerful as it could be?" Gwen asks. "And let me guess, it's getting more powerful by the second."
"Yes," Indigo pipes in out of the blue. "Each world the Anti-Monitor destroys, each universe he erases. He becomes dangerous. The Dragon and his generals were only able to set back the inevitable for years. At the cost of setting back the evolution of humanity and history by several hundred years."
"It's good to have you back, Indigo," Harry tells her. "So, what kind of damage are we looking at?"
"More than enough as he's already beginning his assault upon Earth," Indigo tells them. "We're going to beam down to the Fortress now. Everyone hold tight."
The seven medallion holders, Lillandra, and Indigo all vanish and appear in the midst of the Fortress. The bright lights show how much power the Fortress is expanding. The images of the satellite defenses around the Earth being bombarded by shadow creatures appear.
"Harry?" Lara asks. "Kara?"
"I'm here Aunt Lara, we all are," Kara says.
"We thought you were dead," Lara says.
"Hey, we thought so too," Gwen says. "So, what's the deal here?"
"I'll give you the highlights," Lara says. "I'm afraid we don't have that much time."
Claire looks up into the sky. She remembers Kara and her mother talking about the Phantom Zone. For some reason that Claire cannot properly put her finger on, this feels very much more unsettling than the Phantom Zone. Perhaps she's completely lost it. Actually, Claire has to have faith in her sanity because if it comes unraveled, it's going to cause problems.
Holly Granger leads the ARGUS team up to the sky. They launch a cannon blast. The white hot light surrounds the shadows from the sky. It's hard to get any kind of lock on them no matter how hard they try.
"They won't make it in time."
Barry holds his head up. He feels the darkness which assaults him from so many times before. There's a loud rumbling from the sky. He can see something, hear something. Another flash of light echoes as the shadows get closer to breaking through the defenses.
"I've got a plan," Barry tells Claire. "Try and keep up with me, kid."
Claire opens her mouth and Barry zips up in the direction. His movements jar Claire and she wonders what the hell he's planning on doing. There's only one way to find out and that's to follow him.
The next few minutes pass with Claire doing her best to match Barry's movements. He goes to the right and Claire trails him. One of the demonic wraiths zip over to the side. Barry follows as fast as possible rotating his hands around like a whirlpool. The hands smack down and catch the wraiths completely flush.
Claire notices something. They are getting close to home. They are breaking free. She jolts at them. A blur of light connects with the wraiths with Claire pushing herself into them. Her body burns underneath the assault of the wraiths.
"You want me!" Barry yells. "You come out here and fight me!"
A rumbling comes from behind Claire. She wonders if something fires something. The intense heat dancing closer to her makes her convinced that someone fires something at her. She sees a missile coming up from the tunnel. The shadows flicker and Barry keeps racing up the wall. His attention is on a one track mind. Claire puts her hand on his lower back and guides him away.
"Heads up!"
Barry and Claire split down the path and the missile keeps its target. It strikes a large black mass at the top. The missile explodes and then shoots back down at the speed of light. It keeps rushing until striking the ground hard. Both sides draw in their breath.
"I see him!" Barry yells.
"Yes. You're here. Right where I want you."
The voice brings chills down Claire's spine. Several slimy hands grab at her. Claire fights her way free like there's nothing to it. She knocks one of them down the path all of the way. Another dives at her foot. Claire kicks him away.
The speedster vibrates up the tunnel and hits the black mass. Several superfast speed punches accomplish sore knuckles and not that much else. Barry throws hands as hard as possible. They simply bounce off of the edge of the platform the harder Barry slams into them. He grunts and throws his hands directly into the metal gate. Barry drives himself back and hammers it even harder.
"I know you're there, Monitor!" Barry shouts. "I can see you! I can feel you!"
"Yes, you can, Speedster. But you are irrelevant the moment the Dragon comes to this universe. Surely you know that."
"It doesn't matter as long as you drop."
Barry once again swings himself as fast as possible and damages the seal for a minute. The seal heals over and sends Barry hurling down from his position. Claire races down and grabs him. The two tumble as the shadows charge down. Claire lights up the tunnel with her heat vision.
"They're resistant to heat," Claire manages.
"Barely," Barry tells her. "I don't know why you caught me. You need to get back up there before he attacks."
They are almost down at the bottom of the tunnel. Both sides rush up one more time. They race against time. The sound of a shield shattering echoes in Claire's ear. It bombards her super hearing. She can only see bright lights around her. Instincts is about the only thing which pushes Claire further up the tunnel.
Barry bombards his way through the creatures. He cares little about the scratches or the marks they leave on him. The only thing that matters is stopping the Anti-Monitor or at least setting him back. The anti-matter wave contrasts with the speed force.
All Barry has to do is run faster and higher. He pushes as fast as humanly possible. The energy around him burns as Barry picks up speed. He's faster, faster, faster, almost there, and yet so far away.
The Anti-Monitor sits in the ship. The worlds he absorbs cycles around him. The Anti-Monitor breaks out into a smile when more power passes through his body. There's something else that jars him though. The Anti-Monitor raises to his feet as several of his shadow minions cycle him.
"Keep the chamber sealed until I gain strength," The Anti-Monitor tells them. "We have one final hour before I reach that point. And then I can continue my conquest of more worlds."
Something else is wrong though. The Anti-Monitor's powers do not replenish themselves as fast as they need to. Yet, that's not the only issue. He raises a single hand to his head and a grimace follows. The Anti-Monitor refuses to throw around certain words without care. One of those words he refuses to throw around is the word "inconceivable" or "impossible". One would be surprised how much someone who travels throughout the multiverse could conceive or what they could think his possible.
"I felt your soul extinguish in my hand. And yet you live. Clever, Dragon. It's a trick that only works once. Should you be bold enough to face me I will crush you. This battle is centuries overdue."
"You're not going to get that far, Anti-Monitor!"
Another superfast breach connects with the side. The Anti-Monitor releases the cables feeding power into him. His hand starts rumbling one more time. A loud smack shakes the foundations. A second one grips the Anti-Monitor's attention harder. He walks over and pushes his fingers against the door.
"You want my attention, Flash? So be it. I should have eliminated you from the multiverse. You are a blight to it with your reckless time travel, Barry Allen."
The Anti-Monitor lets himself free despite not having strength upon. As a flicking memory from a universe a long way away once said, he has strength enough for this.
"You wanted my attention. You got it. You might be a god among men. But you are a cockroach to me, Barry."
"We'll see about that."
Barry's entire arm shatters when punching the Anti-Monitor hard in the head. He drops down onto the ground. Claire just barley pushes through the opening and super speeds at the Anti-Monitor as well. She's stronger and yet has just as much luck bombarding him with an immense force.
"You're pathetic," The Anti-Monitor says.
He snags Claire by the back of the neck and whips her back into the wall of his fortress. The shadows move to fight her. Claire struggles back despite the energy of the room draining her body of yellow solar radiation.
Barry winces and pops his elbow back into place.
"Are there any last words for me before I annihilate you both?"
"None that are family friendly."
A jumping superfast punch connects with the Anti-Monitor's skull. Barry pushes him back into the wall. Punch after punch connects with him despite his muscles aching and him getting very tired. Barry pushes himself repeatedly towards the Anti-Monitor and knocks him down the tunnel.
Both of them fly down the tunnel at an intense speed. Barry hammers his enemy's face as hard as possible.
"WHY DON'T YOU EVER DIE?" Barry asks.
The portal tunnel rips open and several wraiths spill out. It's not the dark shadows the Anti-Monitor employees. Rather it's time wraiths who chase Barry down.
"No!" Barry yells. "Not now!"
They will not answer to pleading. They never answer to pleading. Despite the Anti-Monitor shattering time and space far worse than Barry ever does, they charge him. The Anti-Monitor's not their problem.
Anti-Monitor did not account for the time wraiths. He's glad they are here. There's one less problem for him to take care of.
The other big problem hurls a large piece of his chair down the tunnel and beams him in the face. The Kryptonian summons all strength she can and nails the Anti-Monitor as hard as she can. The Anti-Monitor grabs her by the throat and squeezes as hard as possible.
"I believe that's all you have left."
Another missile comes down the tunnel. It works about as well as he did all of the other times which is not well at all. Claire takes advantage to break free and return down the tunnel to Earth. She really hopes that the people down there have a plan.
"Clara, I'm sorry. He's getting through."
She knows it. Boy does Claire ever know it.
They were getting close to the Anti-Monitor. Jean's not really certain how ready they are to be honest. She feels like they have been given a second chance. However, there's really nothing to say that they are even close to being ready.
"Jean?"
Sara's voice cut through as the group prepared to head to the highest source of concentration. It's where the Anti-Monitor will most likely be and they hope to wrap this up without too many problems. Jean's shoulders slump down with a couple of light breaths.
"You're just stalling. I hope that you're with us."
"I am," Jean says. "It's just, I remember all it took the last time we fought the Anti-Monitor. And now, it's almost like he's getting stronger."
"Yes," Nyssa agrees. "He's getting stronger. However, we're strong as well. We're going to give him a few surprises."
They move over to the cluster. Several ARGUS agents lay on the ground. Holly and Nym, as per usual, are leading on the fight. One can see that both women are just barely holding things together. One more push, and it will be over both of them.
"Well, look whose here," Nym says.
Harry appears from the shadows and both of the ARGUS agents turn towards them. A large dark shadow rises up completely to engage them. Harry decides to meet the shadow halfway with his hands whipping back and connecting with the chest of the creature. The creature howls in agony the harder Harry plants his fists into the creature's chest. The creature doubles over with Harry bombarding the creature back into the attack.
"More are on the way!" Gwen yells. "Way more than this. I think he knows that we're here."
"That much is obvious," Nyssa says. "This is going to get dangerous."
"Leave them to me."
Jean feels like her little rampage rattles the chains of the Anti-Monitor and breaks him loose. She's bound and determined to see that he does not live long enough to harm another person. Jean rises up with the Avatar of the Phoenix surrounding her. She uses the medallion to become one with it.
The same dark emotions which almost destroyed her previously prickle against the back of Jean's neck. She blocks out everything. There are a few cross thoughts entering Jean's mind. She attempts not to lose herself in the pain of them. She sucks in a deep breath before bombarding herself through the flames and the fire.
The shadows fold over one at a time. Jean's eyes screw shut and she keeps throwing herself directly at the Anti-Monitor. The Anti-Monitor's attacks come back on through. Jean's not giving up, not in the slightest.
Mera causes a large wave of water to rise up. She's not certain if this does much good. It must do something with the splash of water connecting with it.
Nyssa manipulates the dark shadows on her own. She moves than over in position for Sara to unleash a cry on them. The cry connects to the shadows and forces a ripple effect. Sara throws her head back and then drops back down onto the ground. She draws in a deep breath and unleashes another cry at them.
"I see you."
The voice of the Anti-Monitor taunts Harry. Harry's not about to play any sort of game. He conjures a flaming spear into his hand and then puts it through several shadows. He moves up and looks up into the sky.
"We can't penetrate it, no matter what!"
Harry follows a super-fast blur running as fast as he can go. The blur is chased by two demonic shadows. They disappear into a blast of light.
"I'm going up there," Harry tells them.
"Wait!"
Jean's voice cuts through. She burns through even more of the Anti-Monitor's forces. The green and blue fire surrounding her taps into energies which she could not previously without holding links to her sister-wives. The fires also restore the ground back to a somewhat healthy aura.
"He's coming down here," Jean breaths.
Harry can work with that oddly enough. Another figure charges Harry from behind. Harry bends himself back and avoids the attack from connecting to the ground. He catches the arm of his enemy and twists him around to drop said enemy down to the ground.
These entities are growing stronger. However, Harry decides to unleash an attack which will deplete or at least cut them off from the power source. Two daggers shoot from Harry's hand and impact the creatures in the chest as hard as possible.
Kara circles around them at the speed of light. She stops short and pauses for a second. An outline of two figures fighting causes her mouth to hang open in surprise.
"Claire?"
Determination fires up Claire Kent. She's never been one to give up despite the situation being lost. She feels every single bone in her body rattle and every single muscle ache. Despite the fact many will give up right now, she persists despite it. The right side of her face swells up and her lip sticks out with a disgusting purple bruise. Claire wipes the blood dripping from her mouth off.
"You know something. I'm still standing!"
"I can fix that."
The Anti-Monitor plows the future Superwoman down into the ground with a hard attack. She hits the ground with the wind knocking from her body hard and fast. She tries to get up, and then collapses with the Anti-Monitor standing down onto her chest.
"There's no one to save you this ti…."
A blinding white connects to the chest of the Anti-Monitor. The energy flares up and venom burns through his chest plate.
"Stay away from her."
Kara bombards her enemy with attacks as a flash of fire brings Claire away from the Anti-Monitor. The Anti-Monitor drops to the ground before attacking Supergirl.
Sara and Nyssa tandem attack the Anti-Monitor with two daggers down across the neck. Mera nails him with a huge punch enhanced by the power of the sea. Gwen hoists him up and flips him down onto the ground.
"You are not going to stop me!"
"That's the problem with people like you."
Harry turns up with the flaming sword and then slices the Anti-Monitor directly in the chest with it. The Anti-Monitor flies head over heels until crashing down onto the ground. Harry breaks out into a smile and attacks the Anti-Monitor with another attack.
"You always think you have the advantage."
"But, I do. My scion have failed."
Jean joins them and the seven stand together.
"But, I will not."
The shadows absorb into the Anti-Monitor. He grows in mass and his armor prepares. He steps across the ground and decays everything between his feet.
"The universe dies. But, you've lived too long, Dragon."
Harry turns to his wives. They all prepare for the battle. The Anti-Monitor returns to full power, but they are at full power as well. All they have to do is find a way to put him away for good.
Their medallions start glowing as they face off against the towering Anti-Monitor, with the anti-matter wave erasing everything as he passes. They extend their hands and bring out the light to restore what has been erased.
"Impossible!" The Anti-Monitor yells. "But, only a minor setback."
It's time for the final battle. Everything's on the line, all worlds throughout the multiverse hangs in the balance. Harry cannot fail.
Chapter Ninety-Six: Seven Versus One.
A rumble of power rises around the Anti-Monitor. The Dragon and his heralds will not put him away one more time. He refuses to go down, not without a fight. The Anti-Monitor charges up a hand and bombards his enemy with a vicious attack.
The seven heralds scatter in opposite directions. Jean holds her hands up to stop the incoming power wave and push it back towards the Anti-Monitor. The power crackles against her hands. The Phoenix summons an intense blast of power and explodes into the Anti-Monitor!
"Attack!" Nyssa shouts.
Nyssa jumps on the back of the Anti-Monitor with two conjured blades in hand and tries to attack the back of his neck. The Anti-Monitor shrugs her attacks off. Nyssa refuses to go down without a fight. She bounces back up and impales the blade into the Anti-Monitor's chest to minimal effect. She pulls out the blade and slams it into the chest one more time. The Anti-Monitor jumps back and blocks Nyssa's foot from connecting into his chest. She turns the foot back and drives Nyssa down onto the ground with a solid impact.
Her breath knocks out of her body, and the Anti-Monitor receives a double team attack from Gwen and Kara. Their punches rock the Anti-Monitor. He plucks them both out of the air by the throat. Gwen super charges her venom blasts as Kara charges her heat vision. The amplified magic causes minor amounts of damage to the Anti-Monitor. He slams hard against the wall.
"You only delay the inevitable."
He catches Gwen in mid somersault and slams her down to the ground. Sara unleashes a super sonic cry which breaks the sound barrier and causes debris to bury the Anti-Monitor. Gwen detaches from the Anti-Monitor and does a roll landing on the ground. She takes in a deep breath.
The Anti-Monitor breaks his way out of the containment unit. He thumps across the ground and attacks the heralds with everything he has.
"Stand and fight me!" The Anti-Monitor yells. "Dragon? WHERE ARE YOU?"
Ask and one shall receive as Harry pops the Anti-Monitor down across the back of the head. The helmet cracks and falls to the ground in pieces. The Anti-Monitor drops to his knees and howls in agony. Harry withdraws his sword and cracks it against the Anti-Monitor one more time to drop him to the ground. Thunderous attacks keep smacking the Anti-Monitor down to the ground!
"Enough!" The Anti-Monitor growls.
He raises his hands up to block their progress in a large wall. The seven snap back down to the ground instantly. One sees the Anti-Monitor's face. The ashen and quite goopy look tells the story of how sadistic and dangerous the Anti-Monitor is. He steps over and burns a footprint into the ground. The Anti-Monitor approaches his adversary and throws a hand out to knock them back against the wall.
"You all waste my time!" he thunders at them. "I'll crush you all like the worthless insects that you are."
One sees how deadly the Anti-Monitor and his words are. The Anti-Monitor's hands snap up and drive down to rattle his enemies. Harry blocks one of his thrusting motions and pushes back.
"Attack! Again!"
Sara, Gwen, and Kara release attacks in triplicate from the front. Mera and Jean attack from either side. Nyssa prefers her attack from behind. The constant bombardment of the energy surrounds the Anti-Monitor and shakes his knees, forcing him to one knee.
Harry's hand glows green and he charges it to the highest power possible. The warm burn erupts through him with Harry rushing his enemy as fast as humanly possible. He drives the hand through the chest of the Anti-Monitor and causes him to throw his hand back.
"No! I'm not going to lose. Not like this. Not ever like this."
The Anti-Monitor lets out his breath in a very obvious hiss when dropping down to the ground. Harry pulls the hand out of his chest and leaves him hanging with a couple more breasts.
Jean's head whips back and something dismal hits her body. She can't hold back the thoughts, the dark thoughts.
An army of dark shadows swarm above their heads. The elements which represent the worlds the Anti-Monitor kills are about ready to descend down. Jean and Nyssa throw their hands up and try and stop the attack. Gwen and Sara assault the Anti-Monitor with a combined venom blast and Canary Cry.
"You're too late," The Anti-Monitor yells.
He supercharges with power and rises stronger than ever.
"Too many worlds have died. And you are going to be the next to fall along with this world."
Harry notices the blast of power rising from the Anti-Monitor. He moves in for an all or nothing attack. If this does not work, it's not going to suck. The Anti-Matter wave catches them all. Every single fiber of Harry's body burns before the Anti-Monitor launches them into nothing.
"At last!"
Several missiles blow up the ground the Anti-Monitor stands on. The very second the dust clears, the Anti-Monitor moves to take care of the minor inconvenience.
Harry drops down to the ground. He's not the only one as the rest of the heralds drop to the ground. Mera throws her head back in particular and is very frustrated.
"He's making a mockery out of all of us!" Mera yells. "His power….it lends itself to that unfortunately."
It becomes very clear to them all how the Anti-Monitor is strong and he's not going to be stopped pretty much anytime soon. Jean's hand shakes madly. Sara is the first to grab it to stabilize her. Jean's warm hand tightens around Sara's and the two hold themselves close to it.
"I feel it! Every time he sucks power out of a world, it hurts to even breath."
Sara grows increasingly somber and nods in thinly disguised frustration. "Yeah, I feel it too. I don't know what to make of it. It's pretty awful."
Each and every single world crashes and meets its destruction by the Anti-Monitor. They end up in this vortex, this world between worlds to recover. To do what? That is the question which dogs every one of them.
Gwen pulls herself up to a vertical base. Every single muscle in her body aches, the last of which is the throbbing pain going through her head. "You know something? We can't do this forever. This game of ducking and dodging is not going to end with us beating him."
"It's the same game we've played for a long time," Nyssa tells him. "But, we have to stop him. Despair is what he wants us to feel. Hopelessness is the currency which drives him. He's just…he is that powerful."
"His power only comes from death," Sara says. "And when he shows, the people know that death is soon to follow. He drinks it up like mother's milk."
Sara pauses and lets her words hang for a minute.
"It's awful. Any ideas of how to stop him?"
Kara turns her head to the side. Claire's out of harm's way for now which puts her mind at ease. The problem is that as long as The Anti-Monitor is on this world, there's always going to be a threat. This entire threat churns Kara's stomach. She seeks comfort and power I her sisters.
"We should be able to undo what's been done," Kara tells them. "I mean, we should be able to bring everything back. Shouldn't we?"
Jean's eyes pop open and her face becomes slightly more animated. "Yes. It's possible. But it's going to acquire power. Do you think that it's going to weaken him?"
"If death is his strength, it only makes sense that life is his Kryptonite," Nyssa says. She pauses before becoming mindful to Kara. "No offense, naturally."
Kara smiles and waves Nyssa off. "Trust me, there's none taken. This is not going to be easy."
"Few things that are worthwhile are," Gwen tells her. "We're all going to have to work together to do this. And Jean…well Jean's the one who is the harbinger of life."
Harry clasps his hands together. The Heralds back off to allow the Dragon a chance to do his thing. Power soaks into every fiber of Harry's body. His green eyes flutter open while turning towards each of the women in turn.
"We better move. We don't have all that much time left."
"Great," Jean answers. "So, why are we sitting around here? We should be out there."
Harry opens a doorway and the seven disappear through it. They find themselves outside of the gate where they put the Anti-Monitor the first time. All things must stop at the beginning. The seven walk the path until they see the first world. It's a ways away from the gate.
Shadow wraiths surround the planet. Harry places a single hand on Jean's shoulder. They all crowd around to give her strength.
"I don't think they're going to let this go that easily," Gwen remarks. "Because here come the Shadow Wraiths!"
They descend on them, realizing them to be a threat to their masters. Nyssa smiles at them and opens a portal. The demonic shadows she summons amplify due to the strength and overwhelm the shadow wraiths. The area around them contorts to pitch black for a second before Nyssa pulls her hand back.
Warmth and light starts to flitter in. They are not doing nearly enough unfortunately to power the area around them. Jean's fingertips crush against Harry's arm before releasing them.
A couple of small insects scurry over the surface of the planet. It's progress, but they can do more. A couple of small plants rise out from over the surface. Jean smiles as the planet starts to slowly shift from the ashes. Only small traces of life to begin with, and then small rays of light cover the planet as the shadows vanish with howling agony.
"He's going to be pissed when he realizes what we're doing," Gwen says.
"Good," Harry tells her. "Anger will make him careless. And if he's careless, we can stop him."
Everything pops back to life with Jean holding her hands out front and center. She feels a few small budding signs of life returning. And then a sharp cry and then more cries. The cries of children and this brings Jean out to the center. Several lifeforms rise up from the ashes of the once vibrant planet and come to life one more time.
A mother and her two children, at least from Jean's perspective, reunite with one and other. They join together and more families rise up from the ashes. Magic swirls around the air and causes the vibrant towers overlooking the planet's capital city to return to life.
"I feel something," Mera says. "Buried deep underneath the rubble. Help me with it."
Kara and Gwen remove the rubble and Mera's hunch is correct. Something bubbles deep beneath the surface and that something is water. Mera places a finger on the water and causes it to rise up. The ground breaks open. Several bodies of water return back to life as Mera summons the water deep from the depths. This brings new life to the animals who call the water their home.
"Water, excellent," Nyssa breaths. "It's working, and look more of the plants are coming back to life."
"Not to mention the people," Sara says.
Jean throws her arms back and more power bubbles through her. The rush, the thrill, of bringing back new life empowers Jean. It also empowers her sister-wives and husband the deeper Jean pushes into the planet. A gateway pops open.
"Next world!" Kara calls.
They move into the next world. It's very easy to restore life on this planet. The shadows consume much quicker because of the waves of energy. Life springs, first small organisms, small planets, then more complex organisms rise up over the planet. The insects scuttle over the surface of the planet and Mera finds the water to get it flowing again.
"It just proves you can't utterly destroy life," Mera breaths. "You just need to bury it deep and hard enough."
Harry's fingers brush against the edge of the door which snaps open. Several birds come out and they fly to take nest on the trees which finally have been brought life one more time.
"I can feel it!" Sara yells. "Everything is beautiful again!"
Jean breaks out into as mile. Life is beautiful in many ways. They just have to find the right way to get everything flowing once again. Her hands clutch together when they have another world restored, much quicker than the last one. They build power and momentum.
Worlds spring back to life, undone by the Anti-Monitor. The Heralds reach through the universal barriers and correct the damage done through there as well.
Gwen freezes midway through and her head starts to hammer with a constant barrage. Her fingers clutch and rub the tip of her scalp.
"I think he's noticed what we're doing," Gwen says.
"Good,' Nyssa says. "We're ready for him this time."
Harry breaks open the barrier and meets the Anti-Monitor on a field of asteroids. The army of shadows come at them first. Jean spreads her arms and sends them all packing with a bombardment. They fly to the other side of the multi-verse with Jean breaking out into a smile.
"You are going to regret what you've done."
The Anti-Monitor steps over with a large energy pack on his back. It's depleting by the moment with every step.
"No more games. No more distractions. This is where you end, Dragon."
"I've heard it a million times," Harry tells him. "And I'm going to live long enough to hear it a million more. So, why don't we get this over with?"
The Anti-Monitor's hand flickers to life and he bombards Harry with an attack. The same attack he uses to destroy entire worlds sends fire towards one man. Harry stands in the midst and lets the beam of light connect to him. He absorbs the power.
"Shadow of the doomed world!" The Anti-Monitor yells. "Come to me!"
The heralds realize one thing. This is his final last ditch play. His form swells until he's about fifty times his normal size. He's a towering monster which practically merges with the background. He becomes one with space and shows power beyond all measure.
"I'm going to destroy you all!"
Again, Harry's heard it a million times, and plans to live to hear it a million more. And he's successfully tricked the Anti-Monitor into summoning all of his power.
"Trust me," Harry tells them.
These two words spark some fresh nervousness in the entire group. Harry's plans work well a lot of the time, but against the Anti-Monitor they have not worked about as well as they could have. His eyes glow when focusing on the adversaries coming closer to him.
Harry's medallion lights bright from the power. He grabs Sara, and drags her into the medallion. The same thing is done to Kara, Gwen, Mera, and Nyssa. Jean throws herself into Harry and Harry merges with his six wives and the powers of the medallion.
"You think your little trick is going to beat us?" The Anti-Monitor asks.
Harry raises up into a gigantic dragon like humanoid. On the shadows shoulder mounts a Phoenix who sings loud and causes the Anti-Monitor to recoil.
"Stronger together, we're stronger forever."
The dragon's fire connects with the chest of the Anti-Monitor and sends him back with a stunning blast. The Anti-Monitor summons all of the power possible and throws it back at his enemy. The two beams interlock with each other with going back and forth. Harry shoves and the Anti-Monitor shoves back.
The power of the seven rise up and strike the Anti-Monitor back. The darkness surrounding him cracks and beams of light throw out.
"No!" the Anti-Monitor yells. "I MUST!"
A glowing green flaming sword cuts through the darkness and hacks the Anti-Monitor. The power he absorbs spills out of him as quickly as he can reclaim it. The Dragon bombards him with another attack, shooting a combination of venom and fire out of his mouth while ripping the shadows away from the Anti-Monitor.
"Without your cover, you're nothing special!"
The Dragon bombards the Anti-Monitor with one final attack which cracks his body. The Anti-Monitor stumbles down to the ground.
"I'LL KILL THEM ALL AGAIN!" the Anti-Monitor shouts. "I'LL RIP HIM! I'LL TEAR HIM! I'LL DESTROY HIM!"
The Dragon knows the Anti-Monitor's last ditch attack is coming. The purple glow strikes the thick scaly hide of the dragon and propels back at him. The Anti-Monitor stumbles back and the Dragon catches the fist one more time before ripping his enemy back.
The Anti-Monitor flies back and lands down onto the ground. A concentrated attack brings the Anti-Monitor down to his knees. Green flames blow against the Anti-Monitor's chest and drives him down to his knees. A loud cough follows him and the Anti-Monitor rises up again. He receives a spiked tail swinging into his chest. The Anti-Monitor turns himself with blood spilling out of his mouth. Another couple of coughs follow as he tries to summon death around him.
No more power to summon, the Anti-Monitor's entire armor cracks off showing him to be nothing other than a withered shell. Despite the destruction, he still stands up with defiance. The Dragon bares down onto him. The song of the Phoenix cripples the Anti-Monitor and brings him down to a knee.
"This isn't over! I will rise again."
"No!"
The combined entity strikes down the Anti-Monitor. The Anti-Monitor crumbles to dust with the fire of life attacking it and sealing what remains into a white hot light. The howling of the entity fills space one more time. Then he's completely sealed away.
The medallions flicker and then Harry drops down. Sara, Kara, Gwen, Nyssa, Mera, and Jean all drop down to the ground. Their medallions release energy back into them.
"That was sure something," Gwen says.
The heralds all murmur in response. A glowing orange ball lands in the palm of Harry's hand.
"And that's all that remains of the Anti-Monitor," Harry tells them. "We've did it."
Time for them to return to Earth and checkup on everyone, but now a brand new hope comes across the land. And they cannot feel any happier.
After a moment of darkness passes, it's pretty good to see life come back to Earth. Nymphadora Tonks stands out and enjoys a few moments of life returning back to the Earth. She comes back and sees Harry standing behind her. She should be used to him popping out of the blue like that.
"Why do I feel like I missed a climatic battle?" Nym asks.
"Because you sort of did," Harry tells her. "Everyone's alright."
"Holly's a bit banged up because she threw herself in the middle of the battle," Nym says. "You know how she is. She'll survive."
The entire world will not have a single idea what happened in the few hours complete darkness came out of the world. No doubt there will be thoughts of government conspiracy and everything along those lines. Harry figures people will have their own idea.
Kara steps over to Claire and wraps a hug around her cousin's waist.
"I'll get you to the Fortress to get you checked out," Kara tells.
"I'm fine," Claire said.
"Your mother, both of them, would kill me if I let something happen to you. It's to the Fortress."
Nyssa and Sara move over to survey the damage. It's hard to belief everything, all life possible throughout the universe would have ended like this.
"Wow, we did it," Gwen comments.
"It's a great feeling," Nyssa concedes.
"Quite," Mera tells them. "I'll be back. I need to check on my people."
Harry does nothing to stop her. Mera moves in and kisses Harry. They move over to help the ARGUS agents with the damage.
A flash of light erupts and Harry comes face to face with a gentlemen wearing a red suit with a lightning bolt down the center. His eyebrow raises.
"Barry Allen, I'm the Flash, and before the universe tries to erase this version of me, I want to say thank you for stopping him. Now I can…well I'm not sure where I'm going, but it will be interesting. And….congratulations."
Those words cause the mysterious young gentlemen to flicker out of existence just as suddenly as he appears. Sara, Nyssa, and Gwen all stand in surprise.
"Dare I ask?" Sara asks.
Both of the other women shake their head. Jean rejoins them. She wraps her arms around Harry's waist and nuzzles her face into the back of his neck.
"We've done it," Jean says. "We're whole again. The world is whole again…and I'm not sure about you, but I'm in the mood to celebrate."
Sara smiles at her. "I'm not going to turn you down."
Gwen and Nyssa confirm they will not either. Harry just smiles.
"Celebration sounds great."
The world he left behind is a distant memory. This is the world where Harry's meant to be. He'll get in touch with family and friends alike in the coming days, but now it's time to celebrate the victory with his wives.