Chapter 119: Whispers of the End
The screen in the Cortex dimmed. The last image of Dante—standing with his chest pierced and smiling through the pain—faded into black.
But none of them moved.
They stared at the screen again. And again. And again.
As if watching it over and over might change the ending.
As if Dante would move, would dodge the blow this time. As if the moment of his death hadn't really happened.
Silence hung over STAR Labs like a noose.
Then, finally, someone spoke.
It was Wells.
His voice, usually sharp and precise, came out low and grim. "That force… the one eating the world in that recording. It's not a metahuman event. It's not a storm or a rupture. It's… Antimatter."
They turned to look at him.
Cisco frowned. "Antimatter?"
Wells nodded. "It's legend. Rumor. No concrete data, no firsthand accounts—just whispers in dark corners of scientific journals and destroyed universes. But the stories all say the same thing."
He walked to the center console and tapped several keys, pulling up a red-tinted simulation on the main screen.
"Antimatter… is the antithesis of everything we know. It is the opposite of matter itself. When it touches our world… it doesn't just destroy. It erases. Completely. No people. No energy. No remnants. Nothing."
The room was quiet as they watched red waves flood through a simulated Earth, devouring everything in its path.
"According to the lore," Wells continued, "Antimatter is the weapon of a being known as the Anti-Monitor. A cosmic entity older than the multiverse itself. He uses it to collapse realities, to wipe out Earths one by one."
He looked up at Barry, eyes narrowing.
"That ship in the sky… the one from Nora's video… the one you and the others were running toward. That has to be the final battle. The place where the end begins."
Barry's jaw tightened. "We were all there… me, Kara, Oliver, Batwoman… we all ran toward it like it was our last stand."
Wells nodded again, solemn.
"There's a prophecy tied to it. Something ancient. It says: When the end times come, only a few heroes will stand against the Anti-Monitor. They shall rise… and conquer the Old Doom."
Cisco leaned forward, face pale but voice sharp.
"Okay, but hold on. Then why wasn't Dante with them as well "
Everyone turned to him. Even Barry.
"I mean, let's be honest," Cisco continued. "Dante is stronger than all of you. Than Barry, Batwoman, Oliver… even Kara . We all saw the recording. The way he moved. The way he fought. He wiped out an entire legion of Antimatter soldiers in two moves."
Caitlin nodded. "He didn't even flinch."
Nora still sat quietly, eyes puffy and red, but she gave a soft whisper.
"He… he was like a god."
Barry didn't deny it.
He couldn't.
He'd fought alongside Dante. He'd trained with him. He knew—on his best day, even with the full Speed Force behind him, he couldn't match Dante's raw power. Not in a straight fight.
And the video… proved it.
So why?
Why wasn't he called?
Why wasn't he among the final defenders?
Why didn't they bring him?
Wells shook his head, the weight of uncertainty pulling at his shoulders.
"I don't know," he admitted. "Everything I've said—about the Antimatter, the Anti-Monitor—it's all built on legend. Most of it unverified. Maybe… maybe they didn't want him there."
Cisco scoffed. "Why not? That makes no sense."
"Maybe…" Caitlin said slowly, "maybe they were afraid of him."
Nora looked up. "Afraid?"
Caitlin nodded. "Think about it. What if the people planning this final stand… saw Dante as a threat instead of an ally? What if they thought his power was too unstable? Too dangerous?"
Cisco frowned. "They used Oliver and Batwoman. Kara. Barry. They used us. They trusted all of them. But Dante?"
Wells muttered, "Dante scared people."
Barry's voice finally broke through. Quiet. Controlled.
"Dante never wanted to be a hero. He never smiled for the camera. He never played by the League's rules or followed the Justice protocols. He wasn't soft. He wasn't diplomatic."
He paused, then added, "But he never turned his back on us."
The silence returned.
Patty walked forward and gently placed a hand on Barry's shoulder. He looked at her, lost in thought.
"He died smiling," Barry whispered. "Like he knew what was coming. Like he was meant to buy us time."
Cisco rubbed the back of his neck. "It just feels wrong, man. That he wasn't called. That they left him out of whatever this final stand was."
Wells exhaled sharply and looked Barry dead in the eye.
"Whether it was a choice or a mistake, it doesn't matter now. What matters is this…"
He pointed to the red wave still displayed on the screen, swallowing Earth after Earth.
"The war is coming."
No one spoke after that.
Because they all knew.
Nora had seen it. Dante had fought in it. And the shadows of that war were bleeding into their timeline.
The Anti-Monitor wasn't just a myth anymore.
He was real.
And he was coming.
And this time… Earth might not be enough.
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