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Chapter 750: The Flash is Dead
Barry's body trembled as he looked at the living room.
His mother was sitting there quietly, just as he remembered. It was a habit of hers.
Unconsciously, Barry's eyes turned red, and tears flowed down his cheeks, nearly impossible to hold back.
How long had it been since he'd last seen his mother?
Over twenty years.
How many twenty-year periods does a person get in their life?
"Mother..."
Barry murmured softly.
*Swoosh!*
Just then, two figures rushed into the living room almost simultaneously. A violent lightning storm erupted without warning. Yellow and red lightning intertwined tightly, and the super-speed lightning racing around the room whipped up a massive hurricane, instantly tearing away all the decorations.
Barry's expression changed, and he let out a subconscious roar: "No!"
It was just like this when he was five. He had heard the noise from the living room and rushed downstairs, only to see something he would never forget for the rest of his life.
It was the beginning of a nightmare that would last for over twenty years.
His hand rested on the door. But just as he was about to pull it open and charge in, teeth gritted, ready to join the fight, time seemed to freeze for an instant.
The Flash, entangled with the Reverse-Flash, in a flash of lightning, gently shook his head at the red-eyed Barry, his mouth opening as if to say something.
Barry froze, his expression shifting. Was that... his future self stopping him? But why! How could he bear it!
In the next moment, The Flash was once again locked in combat with the Reverse-Flash. Amidst the vibrations of the Speed Force, the two clashed, their speed so fast it was invisible to the naked eye.
With red eyes, Barry watched his mother at the center of the hurricane, letting out miserable and terrified screams as the gusts of wind cut into her, leaving behind slash after slash.
Just then, another door was flung open.
"Mom?"
A five-year-old Barry stared blankly at the scene in the living room. Too young to understand what it all meant, he wondered why the room was suddenly so colorful. Why was his mother screaming?
"Run, Barry! Run!" Barry's mother screamed at her five-year-old son.
Little Barry was still bewildered.
Gritting his teeth, the Barry from the future hesitated for a moment. Forgetting about saving his mother, he quickly picked up speed, grabbed his younger self, and with a flicker of a Yellow Electric Arc, placed the child on the main road outside.
This was exactly what he had experienced in his childhood. He clearly remembered that day when he was five; just after entering the living room and seeing the flashing lights and his screaming mother, he had suddenly appeared on the quiet street.
So, the one who had saved him was himself, returning from the future for the first time...
It was as if everything had been predetermined by some being.
Barry immediately returned to the house. The battle between his 22nd-century self and the Reverse-Flash had reached its climax. The Reverse-Flash, brandishing a dagger, seemed to have become furious. Pushing through the attacks of the 22nd-century Flash, he lunged toward Barry's mother.
"I can't kill you, but I can kill your mother!"
The Reverse-Flash roared, a red glint flaring in his eyes as he thrust the dagger straight at Barry's mother's heart.
"No!"
Barry was on the verge of going insane. This was a scene from a Nightmare, something he absolutely could not tolerate. He immediately lifted his foot and charged at the Reverse-Flash, who was about to deliver the fatal blow.
History, it seemed, was about to change from this moment forward.
In an instant, the entire world blurred. Scene after scene began to fade, even turning into a bizarre, frame-by-frame state, constantly overlapping.
The images began to freeze. Rifts appeared in the scenes, which were now on the verge of collapsing.
Barry's Sanity was long gone. He charged forward recklessly like a raging bull, his mind consumed with a single thought: stop the Reverse-Flash from killing his mother.
The closer he got, the slower the scenes' Transformation became, and the denser the Rifts grew.
An imperceptible tremor began to spread, as if the entire world were shaking. A terrifying Aura emanated from all around—the Aura of a world collapsing, the Aura of the Timeline struggling.
It was as if every centimeter Barry advanced brought him one step closer to the abyss of Destruction.
"Do you want to die...?"
Tony's voice echoed faintly. A powerful binding force held Barry fast. Time stopped, and everything fell silent.
This wisp of Tony's Willpower had returned once more, intervening in Barry's attempt to save his mother.
Without Tony, Barry could have indeed changed the Timeline. A simple tackle on the Reverse-Flash would have been enough; a two-on-one fight was an easy win. A new world would begin, everything would change, many people would die for no reason, and many would strangely survive. All events would proceed in a different direction.
A new Timeline would branch off, and a new Parallel Universe would be born from Barry's intervention.
But... that was a scenario without Tony, without the One True God having nailed the Timeline in place.
If Tony didn't stop Barry now, Barry would truly die.
The Backlash from an entire Timeline overseen by the One True God could easily blast Barry to smithereens.
"Let me go!"
Barry was like a madman, his eyes bloodshot and his face twisted. His eyes nearly bulged from their sockets as he stared, transfixed, at the dagger in Reverse-Flash's hand inching toward his mother.
"You'll die. And even if you die, you won't be able to change anything. You'll just die for nothing! You never should have listened to Reverse-Flash's goading. You should have never come back..."
Tony's hand clamped down on Barry like an iron vise.
"Besides, even if you do manage to change the Timeline, you will definitely regret it. Time will not allow you to toy with it so easily," Tony said coolly.
What Tony recalled now was the image of Barry begging the Reverse-Flash to kill his mother...
That was the cruelest scene of all.
A superhero who had successfully changed the Timeline, begging his greatest enemy to go back in time and kill his own mother. There is nothing crueler than that—all just to correct the altered Timeline.
But... even after The Flash let the Reverse-Flash kill his mother, the Timeline still didn't return to its original state. Time would play with Barry until he was broken.
The slightest difference could cause an earth-shattering change in the direction the Timeline developed.
"Let me go! You bastard!!" Barry screamed himself hoarse.
In his struggle to break free from Tony's control, the Battle Suit on Barry's body began to shatter. His muscles tore from the excessive strain, only to be quickly repaired by the Speed Force in a repeating cycle.
Tony watched him silently for a moment, sighed, and released his grip.
Tony wasn't Barry's keeper. He couldn't stop Barry at all costs, only to be resented for it.
To be honest, the fact that he could send back a wisp of his Willpower to stop Barry was already generous enough; there was no need to do more.
Tony, after all, was not a superhero.
He had warned him, he had intervened—he had done all that was expected of him. Since Barry was still stubbornly seeking death, Tony certainly wouldn't stand in his way.
However, he felt a measure of regret, and his gaze towards Barry was filled with pity.
"From this moment on, The Flash is dead. Earth has lost another superhero, and the Justice League has lost a founding member," Tony shook his head.
(end of chapter)
Barry's body trembled as he looked at the living room.
His mother was sitting there quietly, just as he remembered. It was a habit of hers.
Unconsciously, Barry's eyes turned red, and tears flowed down his cheeks, nearly impossible to hold back.
How long had it been since he'd last seen his mother?
Over twenty years.
How many twenty-year periods does a person get in their life?
"Mother..."
Barry murmured softly.
*Swoosh!*
Just then, two figures rushed into the living room almost simultaneously. A violent lightning storm erupted without warning. Yellow and red lightning intertwined tightly, and the super-speed lightning racing around the room whipped up a massive hurricane, instantly tearing away all the decorations.
Barry's expression changed, and he let out a subconscious roar: "No!"
It was just like this when he was five. He had heard the noise from the living room and rushed downstairs, only to see something he would never forget for the rest of his life.
It was the beginning of a nightmare that would last for over twenty years.
His hand rested on the door. But just as he was about to pull it open and charge in, teeth gritted, ready to join the fight, time seemed to freeze for an instant.
The Flash, entangled with the Reverse-Flash, in a flash of lightning, gently shook his head at the red-eyed Barry, his mouth opening as if to say something.
Barry froze, his expression shifting. Was that... his future self stopping him? But why! How could he bear it!
In the next moment, The Flash was once again locked in combat with the Reverse-Flash. Amidst the vibrations of the Speed Force, the two clashed, their speed so fast it was invisible to the naked eye.
With red eyes, Barry watched his mother at the center of the hurricane, letting out miserable and terrified screams as the gusts of wind cut into her, leaving behind slash after slash.
Just then, another door was flung open.
"Mom?"
A five-year-old Barry stared blankly at the scene in the living room. Too young to understand what it all meant, he wondered why the room was suddenly so colorful. Why was his mother screaming?
"Run, Barry! Run!" Barry's mother screamed at her five-year-old son.
Little Barry was still bewildered.
Gritting his teeth, the Barry from the future hesitated for a moment. Forgetting about saving his mother, he quickly picked up speed, grabbed his younger self, and with a flicker of a Yellow Electric Arc, placed the child on the main road outside.
This was exactly what he had experienced in his childhood. He clearly remembered that day when he was five; just after entering the living room and seeing the flashing lights and his screaming mother, he had suddenly appeared on the quiet street.
So, the one who had saved him was himself, returning from the future for the first time...
It was as if everything had been predetermined by some being.
Barry immediately returned to the house. The battle between his 22nd-century self and the Reverse-Flash had reached its climax. The Reverse-Flash, brandishing a dagger, seemed to have become furious. Pushing through the attacks of the 22nd-century Flash, he lunged toward Barry's mother.
"I can't kill you, but I can kill your mother!"
The Reverse-Flash roared, a red glint flaring in his eyes as he thrust the dagger straight at Barry's mother's heart.
"No!"
Barry was on the verge of going insane. This was a scene from a Nightmare, something he absolutely could not tolerate. He immediately lifted his foot and charged at the Reverse-Flash, who was about to deliver the fatal blow.
History, it seemed, was about to change from this moment forward.
In an instant, the entire world blurred. Scene after scene began to fade, even turning into a bizarre, frame-by-frame state, constantly overlapping.
The images began to freeze. Rifts appeared in the scenes, which were now on the verge of collapsing.
Barry's Sanity was long gone. He charged forward recklessly like a raging bull, his mind consumed with a single thought: stop the Reverse-Flash from killing his mother.
The closer he got, the slower the scenes' Transformation became, and the denser the Rifts grew.
An imperceptible tremor began to spread, as if the entire world were shaking. A terrifying Aura emanated from all around—the Aura of a world collapsing, the Aura of the Timeline struggling.
It was as if every centimeter Barry advanced brought him one step closer to the abyss of Destruction.
"Do you want to die...?"
Tony's voice echoed faintly. A powerful binding force held Barry fast. Time stopped, and everything fell silent.
This wisp of Tony's Willpower had returned once more, intervening in Barry's attempt to save his mother.
Without Tony, Barry could have indeed changed the Timeline. A simple tackle on the Reverse-Flash would have been enough; a two-on-one fight was an easy win. A new world would begin, everything would change, many people would die for no reason, and many would strangely survive. All events would proceed in a different direction.
A new Timeline would branch off, and a new Parallel Universe would be born from Barry's intervention.
But... that was a scenario without Tony, without the One True God having nailed the Timeline in place.
If Tony didn't stop Barry now, Barry would truly die.
The Backlash from an entire Timeline overseen by the One True God could easily blast Barry to smithereens.
"Let me go!"
Barry was like a madman, his eyes bloodshot and his face twisted. His eyes nearly bulged from their sockets as he stared, transfixed, at the dagger in Reverse-Flash's hand inching toward his mother.
"You'll die. And even if you die, you won't be able to change anything. You'll just die for nothing! You never should have listened to Reverse-Flash's goading. You should have never come back..."
Tony's hand clamped down on Barry like an iron vise.
"Besides, even if you do manage to change the Timeline, you will definitely regret it. Time will not allow you to toy with it so easily," Tony said coolly.
What Tony recalled now was the image of Barry begging the Reverse-Flash to kill his mother...
That was the cruelest scene of all.
A superhero who had successfully changed the Timeline, begging his greatest enemy to go back in time and kill his own mother. There is nothing crueler than that—all just to correct the altered Timeline.
But... even after The Flash let the Reverse-Flash kill his mother, the Timeline still didn't return to its original state. Time would play with Barry until he was broken.
The slightest difference could cause an earth-shattering change in the direction the Timeline developed.
"Let me go! You bastard!!" Barry screamed himself hoarse.
In his struggle to break free from Tony's control, the Battle Suit on Barry's body began to shatter. His muscles tore from the excessive strain, only to be quickly repaired by the Speed Force in a repeating cycle.
Tony watched him silently for a moment, sighed, and released his grip.
Tony wasn't Barry's keeper. He couldn't stop Barry at all costs, only to be resented for it.
To be honest, the fact that he could send back a wisp of his Willpower to stop Barry was already generous enough; there was no need to do more.
Tony, after all, was not a superhero.
He had warned him, he had intervened—he had done all that was expected of him. Since Barry was still stubbornly seeking death, Tony certainly wouldn't stand in his way.
However, he felt a measure of regret, and his gaze towards Barry was filled with pity.
"From this moment on, The Flash is dead. Earth has lost another superhero, and the Justice League has lost a founding member," Tony shook his head.
(end of chapter)
