Chapter 149 – The Return
Barry, Bart, and Nora didn't know what to say.
One second, the battlefield had been filled with chaos, rage, and lightning—and the next, it was over.
Godspeed was gone. Reduced to nothing. Torn apart like dust in a storm.
Dante just stood there for a second, breathing through the mouthpiece of his demonic mask, chest rising and falling. The black Void Speed Force still crackled around him before finally vanishing into silence.
He sighed.
"Okay," he muttered. "Let's go home."
Then he took off running.
No dramatic statement. No follow-up threat. Just speed. Pure speed.
Barry blinked and took off after him. "Come on," he called out, and Bart and Nora followed without question.
Wind howled past them as they all raced after Dante, but he was faster—far faster than he had any right to be on just Velocity-9. He was laughing. Actually laughing.
Dante peeled away the lower part of his mask as he ran. The air struck his face and mouth like a breath of heaven. He threw his head back.
"Ohhhhhhhhhh!" he shouted to the sky, pure joy in his voice. "YEAHHHHH!"
Barry smiled as he caught a glimpse of him from behind. That scream—loud, childlike, full of relief—made his heart warm.
Bart glanced at his father. "Why's Uncle D running all over Central City like a lunatic? I thought we were going to S.T.A.R. Labs?"
Nora chimed in, frowning. "And why is he screaming like he just won the lottery?"
Barry smiled without looking back. "Because you kids have never lost your speed. Not even once."
Bart and Nora slowed just a bit, confused.
Barry continued, "Only someone who's lost it… who knows what it feels like to be without it… would ever understand that happiness of having it back even for a minute that minute will be a life time of joy and happiness."
He looked at the blur in the distance—Dante cutting through blocks, crossing bridges, looping streets over and over like he was chasing the feeling.
"I lost my speed once," Barry said quietly. "And when I got it back… it felt like the world finally made sense again."
Bart and Nora said nothing more. They understood.
Because right now, their uncle Dante wasn't fighting. He wasn't screaming. He was just running—for himself.
Even if the Velocity-9 was temporary. Even if his body was breaking down. This moment was his.
---
Ten minutes later…
Dante skidded to a stop in front of S.T.A.R. Labs. He'd run through Central City at least a hundred times in that span, every inch of pavement kissed by his feet. Now, exhausted, he collapsed to the floor just outside the cortex.
Barry, Bart, and Nora arrived seconds later, slowing down behind him, winded but steady.
Dante leaned back, breathing heavily. His chest rose and fell like thunder as his heart pounded in his ears. He felt human again. And in the best and worst way.
Cisco, Caitlin, Patty, and Wells were waiting for them. Each of them looked at Dante with a mixture of awe and worry.
Dante raised a hand weakly and pointed at Cisco.
"Sorry, bro… I, uh… took all your Velocity-9 stash."
Cisco crossed his arms, brow furrowed. "Yeah. I figured."
He exhaled deeply and walked over. "Don't worry about it, man. I'm just worried about you. That stuff's not exactly… gentle."
Dante smiled, lips dry and cracked. "Well… I'm definitely about to die of thirst. So unless you want a corpse in here, someone please… water?"
Caitlin chuckled and quickly handed him a bottle. "Here."
He didn't even drink it at first. Just poured some on his head. The cold water ran down his face, over his neck, and onto his sweating, aching chest.
He began peeling off the remains of his black suit, his speed long gone now. The last bits of enhanced metabolism, reflex, and strength faded from his body like a dying storm. He felt it. The emptiness. The silence inside his veins.
Human. Again.
With a grunt, he pulled the suit down to his waist and tugged off the demonic mask, letting it fall beside him.
His red hair, soaked from the water and sweat, hung down over his face. Steam rose from his body where the cold water met overheated skin.
Everyone looked at him.
Barry had seen Dante's body before—the scars, the muscle, the way he wore trauma like armor—but it still stunned him. Patty looked quietly concerned, Caitlin tried to hide her admiration, and Wells remained stone-faced.
But Bart and Nora?
They looked at him like he was a statue pulled out of myth. Like a god sculpted from pain and rage and fire.
Dante didn't notice. Or maybe he did, but he didn't care.
He leaned back, wiped his face, and exhaled deeply.
"That," he muttered, "was one hell of a ride."
Bart broke the silence. "Dude… that was sick."
Nora nodded, still slightly in awe. "You really ripped his heart out."
"Yeah," Dante said. "Wasn't even trying to be dramatic. Just really wanted him gone."
Barry stepped forward and crouched beside him. "How do you feel?"
"Like someone ran a freight train through my organs," Dante said. "But emotionally? I feel… amazing."
He looked up at Barry and grinned. "I missed this. I really missed it."
Barry smiled back. "I know."
In that moment bart asked the question " dad . Why don't you give uncle d organic sped from the sped force like you did with August . I mean he's uncle d after all"
When that question was there nora looked at her father as well she was thinking about it but didn't ask
But barry and the other looked down. Barry didn't know how to say it really but Dante did
" It's not that simple kid . August was a meta just like the rest of you. He lost his sped and start using Velocity-9 so his body was okay taking organic sped from your father but for me I'm not a normal meta you see me and my brothers always had the void force inside us and we only needed a jumpstart to awake it you know my little brother awaken his power after his neck got snapped by him from the future. And my older brother got his power awaken after your father Buried him . Because your father run with my brother body and his sped force hit mt brother and awaken his power as for me well my power was awaken the same night your father got his power but in short I'm not normal not really because in me there is a void force if your father try to give me some of his power he might kill us all . There is only one time the sped force worked in my body and that was when all the void force left me but it was only to fight agents the anti monitor and that was a long story but yeah that's way "
Bart and nora looked at Dante Finley they understand everything
Bart spoke with wide eyes" wait a second you have brothers "
Dante sight " this will take forever kid . I will tell you later
I need rest this Velocity-9 is fucking my body up really bad "
Cisco sat down on the opposite side. "I'm just saying, if you mutate into some speed vampire in the next week, I'm not taking responsibility."
Dante laughed weakly. "Deal."
Caitlin knelt to check his pulse and look into his eyes. "You're dehydrated, borderline heat exhaustion, and your muscles are overworked. But you're alive."
"I'll take it," he said. "Alive's a good start."
Wells finally stepped forward. "Your reckless behavior saved lives. And ended a monster."
Dante smirked. "Didn't do it to save lives. Did it because he hurt my family."
That silenced the room for a moment.
Then Patty stepped forward and placed her hand on his shoulder. "You did good, Dante."
He nodded, the smile fading into something more genuine.
"I did what I had to do."
And for the first time in a long while, there was no storm outside. No villains. No screams.
Just the sound of the city breathing. Just a man who had burned like a meteor finally sitting down.
For now, at least—Dante was home.
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