Big Belly Burger in Central City was a sacred institution. It was the only place in the world where you could order a triple-decker cheeseburger with a side of fries and not be judged, mostly because the Flash ate there three times a week.
Elias and Barry Allen sat at an outdoor table. The table was covered in wrappers.
"So let me get this straight," Barry said, unwrapping his fifth burger. He wasn't wearing his cowl, just his red suit with the mask down. "You literally punched the concept of Evil into a wall, and the universe just... hit reset?"
"Pretty much," Elias replied, slurping a milkshake so fast the straw whistled. "It wasn't a hard reboot. more of a soft patch. Kept the good stuff, deleted the trauma. You seem happier, by the way. Less... brooding about your mom."
Barry paused, a fry halfway to his mouth. "That's... weirdly accurate. I feel lighter."
"That's the Chaos Factor," Elias winked. "I bring the good vibes."
Elias leaned back, putting his feet up on the empty chair. He was enjoying this. Just two fast guys talking shop. No doom. No gloom.
"So," Elias asked. "Who's the fastest now? Be honest."
Barry grinned. "Well, technically, I tap into the Speed Force, which is an omnipresent energy field. You just break physics. It's apples and oranges."
"I hear 'apples' means you're slower," Elias teased.
"I hear 'oranges' means—"
KRA-KOOM.
The sky didn't just darken; it turned a sickly, vibrating red.
The air pressure around Big Belly Burger dropped so drastically that the ketchup bottles on the table exploded.
Elias and Barry were on their feet instantly. Barry pulled his cowl up. Elias dropped into a combat stance, his blue quills bristling.
"Speed Force disturbance?" Elias asked.
"No," Flash said, his voice tight. "This feels like... Hate."
Four streaks of lightning tore up the pavement of the parking lot, circling the two heroes in a vortex of multi-colored energy.
Red. Yellow. White. Gold.
The vortex stopped. Four figures stood at the cardinal points, boxing them in.
To the North: The Reverse-Flash (Eobard Thawne). His yellow suit vibrated with red lightning. His eyes were burning crimson voids.
"Flash," Thawne hissed. "And... the Anomaly."
To the South: Professor Zoom (Hunter Zolomon). He looked similar to Thawne, but his aura was different—time-based, disjointed. He wasn't moving fast; he was moving forward in time relative to everyone else.
"Tragedy," Zolomon droned. "You both require... tragedy to be better."
To the East: Savitar. The God of Speed. He was a towering, metallic monstrosity glowing with blue-white energy. His armor shifted and clicked like a living blade.
"I am the Future," Savitar's voice boomed, metallic and deep. "And you, rodent, are a mistake in the timeline."
To the West: Godspeed (August Heart). His white and gold suit gleamed. He looked like a holy executioner.
"I judge the unworthy," Godspeed said, cracking his knuckles. "And you two have wasted your gifts."
Flash looked around. "Thawne. Zolomon. Savitar. August. This shouldn't be possible. They're from different timelines. Different paradoxes."
"It's me," Elias realized, his green eyes narrowing. "The Reboot. It messed with the Speed Force. It pulled the worst of the worst back into the Prime timeline."
Thawne stepped forward. The asphalt melted beneath his boots.
"I remember," Thawne smiled, a horrific expression. "I remember the old universe. I remember dying. And then... you changed the channel."
He pointed a vibrating finger at Elias.
"You stole my hate, hedgehog. You reset the board before I could win. Now? Now I'm going to erase you before you were even born."
Savitar extended a blade from his wrist. "The Speed Force is ours to command. You are a glitch."
Elias looked at Flash. "Four against two. Not great odds."
Flash vibrated, his yellow lightning crackling. "I've beaten them all before. Just... usually not at the same time."
Elias smirked. He tapped into the Chaos Factor. The air around him began to warp, turning into a comic-book style distortion. He didn't look scared. He looked excited.
"Hey, Barry," Elias said, cracking his neck. "You take the ones with the tragic backstories."
Elias pointed at Savitar and Godspeed.
"I'll take the giant metal guy and the one who looks like a Power Ranger."
Thawne roared. "KILL THEM!"
The four evil speedsters charged.
Elias didn't move. He waited until the last microsecond.
System Passive: Mockery.
"Let's see if you guys can keep up with the new patch notes."
Elias vanished in a puff of "Toon Smoke," leaving a spinning sign that read TOO SLOW! right where Thawne aimed his punch.
The battle for the timeline had begun.