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(General P.O.V)
Barry Allen.
The self proclaimed fastest man in the world.
Yet, there were a few things even he couldn't escape from...
For the last 3 months, Barry had been having the same recurring nightmare.
He would find himself in pitch darkness, staring at the emptiness of the void and at the thing that laid beyond his perception.
The darkness would then offer its hand for him to take.
And he would refuse. Fighting with everything he had.
Denying its existence lest he went insane. Decrying its presence lest he lost himself in the dark depths.
Visions of his sins and failures would hound him endlessly. Up until he finally woke up, drenched in sweat.
Each night was a struggle to hold on to his ideals. But with Iris and his friends, he managed to stay strong.
All the while keeping it all to himself.
He never told anyone about the nightmares.
He didn't want to burden them.
Then one night, instead of showing him his shortcomings and failures, the darkness showed him his mother.
It promised reunion. Not in death but in LIFE.
And for the first time, the Flash's will faltered.
It is said, stare into the abyss for too long and it will stare back.
Infinite mass punch.
An attack rooted in physical laws of the material world. An attack that carried with it the force of a white dwarf star.
Terrifying power.
In comparison, it still couldn't hold a candle to Davian's cosmic authority. In it's passive state, it formed a barrier that was basically indestructible.
And that was only its defensive capabilities.
The field of power that surrounded Davian, shone brighter when it was used to create a zone of reality warping around his body.
The Flash's attack had blown apart the entire conference building with one of those punches.
And even without taking into account the further desiccration of the corpses in the building, the power behind the blow threatened his companions.
So Davian did the only thing possible, he absorbed all of it through energy transferrance, a function of the sin of pride within him.
All that power was taken in and stored. In the end, the Reaper's defense proved too much for the punch to break through.
The Flash disappeared again in a burst of speed.
Davian turned to his companions, shunpo timely depositing him right in front of Deadman, an open palm holding back the Flash's fist from punching a hole through his friend.
The speedster had doubled back, going after the weaker of Davian's squad.
When that didn't work,
Another force of impact hit the Reaper dead on.
His skin rippled from the second Infinite mass punch but otherwise the energy was transferred into Gluttony's bottomless belly.
Davian narrowed his eyes at the Flash, grabbing his wrist to stop him from running away.
"You tried to kill me. Understandable. You tried to hurt my allies, unforgivable."
With glowing eyes, all the accumulated power from the Infinite mass punches, was released through the palm placed flat on the Flash's chest.
The Flash widened his eyes, then he begun vibrating his molecules at a frequency similar to the shockwaves that assaulted his body.
Th ground beneath and behind him cratered as the entire U.N sank into a mile wide trench.
The buildings toppled over, smashing and colliding onto each other.
"Azarath! Metrion! Zinthos!"
Raven called out, taking to the air.
Her soul self, a massive dark Raven, flared out its wings... stopping time, thereby halting the destruction unfolding.
"You can't fight here Davi!"
Raven called out, shadow tendrils of mystical might leaving the tips of her fingers and reinforcing the structure around them.
"The planet won't survive!"
Davian realized she was right. He released the Flash and quicker than the speedster could escape, Davian tapped him on the chest, tagging him with his energy.
Now no matter where or how far the Flash ran, Davian could track him down. Even if he escaped to another dimension.
The speedster was off again, giving them a brief respite to strategize.
"Shiva, Cheshire, Deadman. The three of you back up Raven. I need to deal with certain fools."
The Reaper said while staring at the Quintessence. Teleporting away, he forcefully dragged them with himself.
(Different Universe)
Hera blinked in confusion when she and the others, found themselves floating before a purple sun.
To their front, standing in space without anything to stand on was Davian.
He had his back to them, head tilted in a gesture of contemplation, hands in his pockets and his silver hair tied into a loose knot.
"Where are we? What is this place?! Why did you bring me here?!"
Hera demanded, a noticeable quiver in her tone.
"I'm warning you Reaper. I am the Queen of Olympus. You risk a war by abducting me."
Yet Davian stayed silent.
"Answer me dammit!"
"Oh for the love of all that is good and pure, could you please shut up?".
Highfather cut in from where he was standing beside her.
"You Old Gods are nothing but mewling whelps with too much arrogance than brains."
Hera turned his way, shocked anger apparent on her visage.
"You watch your mouth Izaya! Who do you think you're talking to?!"
She tried to call onto her divine might, only for all the energy to slip out of her grasp.
"That won't work."
Davian informed her, speaking for the first time since they arrived.
"I have negated your divine domains. Even your immortality. The only reason you can survive out here is because I allow it."
The words stunned Hera to silence. Say what you will but she was no fool.
The situation had turned out quite unfavorably. Now the only thing to do was to comply lest the situation escalated.
"You created your own universe?"
The Wizard Shazam questioned, sounding impressed.
"And one so complete, it can exist without parralel branches? How extraordinary."
Mamaragan spun in place, taking in the stars twinkling from thousands of light years away.
His mystical senses were suppressed but he could still tell, for a new and young universe, it was on a class of its own.
And everything, the brush strokes of reality and the canvas that was space, were all connected to one focal point, the Reaper.
Davian shrugged at the compliment.
"This is the culmination of everything I have been working towards. Of course it's Extraordinary."
Despite saying that, Davian felt in his mind there was more he could do.
While the feat of creating his own universe was positively grand, he couldn't get rid of the memory of that gray space.
The void above voids. He had a feeling that his universe would only attain completeness if he upgraded it to that level of spatial dimension.
But the Quintessence didn't know that. They were so easily impressed and he was yet to even name the dimension.
"Regardless, I brought you here to eliminate any escape routes," The Reaper declared, facing them.
The maniacal smile on his face gave them all chills.
"In other words, Quintessence, welcome...to your graves."
*******
A scarlet and yellow trail, basically invisible to everyone, passed through Central City.
This was of course the Flash. He knew he'd fucked up. Majorly. What was he thinking going up against that guy?
The only choice he had now was to leave the city, maybe even the dimension. But despite the urgency, he couldn't help it.
There was one thing he needed to do first.
"Iris."
Barry muttered, vibrating through the walls of the Citizen Newspaper building, just to catch a final glimpse of her.
To be clear, the Flash felt no remorse for what he had done. Try as he might to conjure up the feeling of guilt, he couldn't.
He could vividly recall the horror on Shazam's face as Barry killed all their friends. Each death more cruel than the preceding one.
He stared at his hands, still contained within the walls of the building Iris worked in.
Even at his incredible speeds, the blood on his hands and costume remained unscathed by the searing winds.
The speed force provided a protective membrane around him that dealt with drag and friction.
However, he couldn't let her see him like this.
"Iris..."
He muttered, entering Flash-point and appearing before her frozen form. His hand reached out to her, to caress her beautiful face.
She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid his eyes on. And maybe she would understand one day. That he had to do what he did. That the League had to die.
He still didn't have a concrete answer why, but what did it matter? He knew it was the right thing to do. Every bone in his body sung with conviction.
Maybe she wouldn't see him for the unfeeling monster he was.
An inverse of his former self. Maybe she wouldn't compare him to Thawne, like he definitely was.
"You're...my salvation, Iris."
Barry whispered.
When he blinked, he found his vibrating hand shoved in through her chest. How did that happen?
"Huh..."
He...didn't understand why he did that...
No.
He did.
Gently retracting his hand from her chest, his palm was now stained with blood and fragments of her torn heart.
The Flash stared at the wide hole on his girlfriend's torso. Her face remained serene, death was yet to catch up with her.
And yet again...the horror didn't come. The self hatred was not present. The only thing he felt was...the absolute confidence he was right in his actions and motives.
He knelt before her, took hold of her palm and smiled.
"Don't worry Iris. In this way, our connection will endure beyond both life and death. I shall treasure your SOUL."
Getting to his feet, a sigh escaped him,
"I need to leave before that guy catches up to me. I still can't beat him head on, even with speed."
He turned his eyes onto the roof of a building across the street.
A small smile worked its way onto his face.
"But first, I need to deal with a certain peeping tom."
*****
On said roof of said building, the Reverse Flash, aptly named as he was the greatest rival of the Flash, backed away slowly.
He'd witnessed what Barry had done in the U.N and had followed him here.
The fact that he killed Iris, his so called 'lightning rod' did not inspire much confidence in Thawne, on his chances to survive an encounter with this new Flash.
"That's...not good. Shit."
Thawne stated, speeding away only to get clotheslined out of nowhere, then smacked onto the door leading to the roof.
"Hello, Thawne."
The Flash greeted cooly, one hand retracted, pulsating with the intensity of a power drill.
"Barry- I mean Flash. Lovely day, what are you-"
Thawne started nervously.
"Quiet."
Barry cut in lowly and menacingly, placing the vibrating hand right under Thawne's chin.
"I need to know how to tap into the negative speed force, and how to combine it with the real speed force."
He demanded, eyes glowing with greed.
"I bet that will make me faster. Faster than him."
"Are you...really Barry...?"
Thawne asked in alarm, he couldn't even vibrate out of the hold the Flash had on him.
The grin on Barry's face grew wider.
"Actually, a thought just occured to me. I could just siphon all your speed away. That would be more effective than simply telling me how to do it, right?"
Thawne shook his head in horror.
"No. Hold up, let's think this through first."
"I have."
The Flash responded, plunging his vibrating hand through Thawne's chest.
Wisps of black smoke started wafting from the wound on Thawne's chest. A gasp escaped him as he felt his speed being drained.
"Wait...Barry!" Thawne pleaded,
"Not my speed! Flash! Not my speed!"
*******
Davian had just finished dealing with the Quintessence when he popped up behind the Flash and a shriveled up Thawne.
"Not my speed Barry...please not my speed Flash. My speed it's gone...its all gone."
The latter muttered weakly, lying on the ground before the Flash.
The Flash's form was wreathed in red and yellow streaks of power. The electric energy of both opposing speed force alignments was highly volatile. Enough to melt his friction resistant costume into his skin.
"Ahh yes. The power to be the fastest! The power to be the strongest!!"
Declared the Flash.
"Fastest?"
Davian chuckled, cracking his knuckles,
"Not even close. And strongest? Boy, you don't know what real strength is. Let me demonstrate."
"What-?"
Barry glanced backward, his once bright red eyes now tainted by the negative speed force he absorbed from the Reverse Flash, widening with a mix of recognition and madness.
"Already here? And to think I thought those guys would have occupied you- oof!"
Like a ghost, Davian appeared before the Speedster, a fist digging into the Flash's gut.
The Flash coughed, falling to his knees and puking his guts out, all over Davian's boots.
The Reaper narrowed his eyes in disgust.
"Gross."
A backhand slammed onto Barry's face and he was off, shooting through the side of a different building, shattering the glass pannels before landing onto the street a block away.
Tires screeched and horns blared out from that direction.
Davian turned his attention to the Reverse Flash.
He looked at one of the fastest characters in all of fiction and turned away, walking to the edge of the roof while musing to himself,
"How the great have fallen."
"Wait...please."
Thawne gasped, trying to reach out with a thin, shriveled up hand.
"Help me..."
Davian stared forward blankly.
"It's too late for you. Your body won't survive...though your soul might."
A trail of scarlet and yellow ran out of the city, only to hit a shimmering purple barrier around the perimeter.
Davian had locked down Central City upon tracking the Flash here. He didn't feel like chasing the Speedster down all across the globe.
"Please..."
Thawne pleaded, his body beginning to break apart into ash. Ironically, the legs were the first to go.
Davian finally spared him a look, purple eyes staring at the speedster's pitiful form.
"No."
He coldly delivered, dashing Thawne's last ray of hope.
******
The Flash's body bounced off the barrier, slamming onto the 'welcome to Central City' sign, before his momentum carried him away.
He dug a groove with his body.
Dragging himself up, his regeneration worked it's magic and his broken hand was soon fixed. It happened even faster than before. In only an instant.
"Is this the effect of fusing speed force with the negative speed force?"
He muttered to himself, the side of his face which had been torn apart by Davian's slap healing up as well. Though not as fast.
"The combo does give you a boost in regeneration."
The voice of his enemy commented from above him.
"The negative speed force huh? So you stole your Nemesis' speed?Interesting."
The Flash stared at the immaculately clean boots before his eyes, then they tracked upwards, landing on the owner.
"But if you think that will protect you from me, you're solely mistaken."
Davian growlesld down, eyes glinting with the promise of retribution.
The Flash got to his feet, resolve still burning within him. He was right. So everyone else had to be wrong.
"You know, it's said Superman has to constantly restrain himself to avoid accidental fatalities," Barry started with a frown, rubbing his still-aching cheek.
"He's not the only one. I'll settle the score for that slap. Right Now."
His form blurred forward, afterimages of his hands left behind as he punched out billions of times in a second.
Each of his hits did nothing however. The field of energy around Davian protected him from harm.
Physical attacks weren't working, so he changed the strategy.
Blitzing around the Reaper, a red and yellow tornado appeared around him. This move was meant to disorient, and when the target is getting light headed from a lack of air, that's when the Flash would attack.
There!
Barry dashed forward, only for Davian's kick to slam onto his face out of nowhere.
The hit packed a lot of power. The Speedster's teeth shattered and jaw broke.
His body flew off, crashing through a store front, through the back wall and out onto the street on the other side.
The Flash groaned, blood and bits of teeth, pouring out of his mouth, while straining to put his hands under him.
Eventually he pushed himself up, facing the end of the street where Davian was calmly and methodically approaching from.
'Not even a single hair out of place.'
The Flash realized bitterly.
Time to pull out all the stops. The red electric energy from the negative speed force ran down his left hand.
Streaks of the yellow, belonging to the real speed force, ran down his right hand.
What then, would happen if he combined the two?
He brought bith hands together and found out.
A massive beam of red and yellow energy surged down the street, amid the screams of the civilians caught in the crosshairs of the battle.
The beam hit Davian dead on, the unstable energies colliding with his barrier chaotically. It warped but held on.
Then he pushed back, and the speed force energy rippled out, creating an explosion of power that swallowed the entire street.
Almost everybody instantly died.
Almost, because a man had survived. This man was a scientist working for Kord industries.
He'd been enjoying the day with his wife and two kids when the unstable speed force energies exploded, destroying everything in their path.
Chris, the name of the scientist had watched his family disintegrate before his very eyes.
When the energy hit him, it had a different effect. A more unpleasant one. Chris was ripped away from the Time-stream.
He would later find himself outside of time. A realm he described as a 'lockbox safe from the manipulations of time and space. A wasteland of the forgotten.'
He would also swear vengeance on the Flash and the Reaper before donning the moniker of Paradox.
Once the wave of destruction had passed, the Flash was shellshocked to see that even such a volatile attack had failed to rattle the Reaper.
Fine then.
If he couldn't beat the Reaper head on,
"Then I'll just have to outrun you."
With a burst of speed force energies, the Flash took off deeper into the city.
There was no need to look back, he knew Davian was following right behind.
"Outrun?"
Davian asked from Barry's front, already having outpaced the latter.
"There is nowhere to run, Bare."
The Reaper taunted, calling the Flash with his nickname.
"You will pay for killing all those people."
Barry changed directions, streets blurred around him as he quickly came upon the barrier's boundary once more.
He didn't have enough speed for another Infinite mass punch but if he vibrated his molecules on the same frequency as the barrier...
Zzztttt!
Krwack!
"Son of a bitch!"
The Flash cursed out in pain, his body assaulted by the energy running through the barrier.
"It's...sentient?"
He speculated, staring up at the huge dome.
Bam!
He felt himself get grabbed and a second later he was slammed onto the barrier again, this time on the West side of the city.
His surroundings blurred once again as his back met the hard barrier a second time. This repeated for half a dozen instances.
Finally the Flash found himself kneeling in front of Davian, head bowed, breathing heavily with his eyes wide and set in an expression of disbelief.
He'd never been thrashed so thoroughly before...
His body was steaming, the speed force doing its best to heal his spine, broken limbs and liquefied organs.
The familiar loathsome boots appeared in his vision.
"Had enough yet?"
The Reaper questioned.
Barry found himself nodding.
"Good, now answer me this."
Davian used the tip of his shoe to lift up the Flash's chin.
"The souls of the people you killed...where did they go?"
He might have looked calm but underneath he was seething in anger. He should have absorbed that attack instead of trying to push it back to the Flash.
That was a rookie mistake. And people died as a result.
The Flash's shock intensified even more. And a new emotion surged up within him.
Fear.
Instead of answering, the speedster phased through the ground, undisturbed.
That was the only avenue of escape left. He'd underestimated the Reaper.
He wasn't just too powerful, he was also very perceptive!
~~~~~~~~~
The second the Flash sank through the ground, he enacted his plan.
A time remnant detached from him, phasing through the soil and onto the surface, before running away the opposite direction of his other self.
His rate of accelaration took him from supersonic to FTL in a matter of moments. And right before he could crash onto the purple barrier around the city, a speed force vortex appeared and he entered it.
If he couldn't beat Davian in the present, then maybe with some help from a certain paranoid detective, he could do it in the future of the past.
Images of timelines and alternate dimensions passed by him, none of which was the one he particularly wanted.
He couldn't go back a few days or even weeks. The time remnant went back a full 2 months.
There was much to prepare after all.
Unknowingly, Davian was privy to the Flash's plan.
And after absorbing Thawne's soul he knew how to better tap into the capabilities of the Speed force.
Therefore, creating a Time Remnant that followed the Flash back to the past was easy.
With the tag of energy he had on the Speedster, there was nowhere the Flash could escape to.
~~~~~~~~~~~
(Main timeline)
(The Present)
The day was peaceful in the park.
Birds chirped excitedly, ducks floating serenely on the clear lake.
The steady drip of the central fountain as it sent water cascading down beautifully gave the entire place a calming atmosphere.
Pockets of people could be seen enjoying their time in the sun.
It was midday and the city was only just receiving the dire news on the tragedy that had taken place in New York.
A tragedy caused by their city's top hero no less!
If that wasn't indication enough, the purple barrier around Central city that had just sprung up, had people even more worried.
The ones in the park, were mostly clueless about all that.
A park was a place to relax and unwind from the pressures of the concrete jungle around them.
But here, here they could hide away from all of it.
Just like a certain old couple was doing. They had been together for the last 30 years.
And the bench they sat on had been a part of their lives for decades.
"Move!"
A fast moving object burst out of the ground, blasting through the two senior citizens, turning them into a bloody mist.
The Flash materialized briefly, staring at his blood-soaked body in disgust.
"Yuck. I have old people in my mouth now."
A teenage girl, part of a group of four teens, couldn't contain her scream as she witnessed the entire incident.
The Flash turned his gaze their way. In an instant he was in the middle of them.
Or rather their remains. On his left hand, he held the screaming girl by the neck.
"See what you made me do."
He brought her closer, savoring the scared look on her face.
"F-flash?"
"Really Barry? Bullying an highschooler?"
Davian calmly appeared in front of the bench.
"That eldery couple had 10 more years in this world. You stole that from them."
He said evenly.
"And of the 3 kids you just killed, one of them would have grown up to become a decorated General. One who would play a vital role in stopping an alien invasion."
Davian closed his eyes, rubbing his brows in mental exhaustion.
He could end this. Just snap a finger and it would be over for the corrupted speedster before anyone else died.
He wouldn't even need to snap a finger! He could think it!
The problem was the missing souls...
It's what stopped him.
And there in lied the problem.
He was attuned to the domain of death and souls more than anyone else he'd met. So how were they disappearing from his senses?
Once dead, a soul would and should be escorted to the afterlife by the shrouds or other types of Death gods. This wasn't the case here.
That, compounded with what he had learned from the Quintessence, clued him on the existence of a larger scheme.
One designated to deal with him.
He couldn't kill the Flash because he was the only lead he had to getting some answers.
But that didn't mean he wouldn't make it hurt. Davian raised a single finger, pointing it Barry's way.
"Put her down. Now."
He ordered.
"Come closer and I snap her neck faster than you can blink."
The Flash scoffed.
"Are you sure about that? I can blink pretty quickly."
Upon the drop of his words, the Flash's hand was severed from the elbow and Davian had the girl in her hands.
"Aarrggh!! You bastard! You took my hand!"
The Flash yelled, holding the section that was spurting out rigorous amounts of blood.
Davian quietly healed the girl's bruised neck through his power over flesh and even boosted her body's immune system.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save your friends. But once I get their souls back, I'll bring them back. I promise."
He told her, gently rubbing her head.
She looked up at him dumbfoundedly.
"Who- why?"
"Shh, you're in shock. Get to some place safe, while I deal with this maniac."
Davian pushed her in the direction of the other fleeing civilians.
Thwack!
Out of nowhere, a punch landed on the Reaper's face. The shockwave produced, threw the girl away screaming.
A purple shroud covered her and the other civilians in the park, teleporting them away.
"That's payback for my hand!"
The Flash cackled.
"It grew back the very next second, so I guess that punch was more for ruining my fun. You won't steal away my destiny Reaper!"
The Reaper took note of the Speedster's words. So, just like he'd thought, there was a purpose and reason behind the Flash's insane actions.
"Well done. I felt that."
Davian grinned, staring down at the shorter man.
"Doesn't mean it hurt though. I didnt even move from this spot."
The Flash found himself immobilized in place. Retracting the fist that was still pressed on Davian's cheek became a fruitless endeavour.
Unbeknownst to him, Davian was holding him in place using the essence of Sloth, one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
Pride was energy manipulation to an insane degree and an overwhelming presence that would leave others in awe or terrified.
Gluttony was a bottomless dimension where anything that entered it would be devoured and turned into power or simply stored.
And Sloth could induce lethargy on a target or completely immobilize them like a statue.
Davian was yet to use the rest, although he knew what their individual abilities were.
The hold was conceptual in nature and breaking out of it required power that a speedster simply didn't possess.
Even blinking for the Flash was hard.
"Now let me show you how you throw a punch."
The Reaper brought a hand up and oh so very slowly, he thrust it forward.
In the eyes of the Speedster however, this punch carried the cumulative power of half a dozen Infinite Mass Punches.
It was a death sentence that upon landing, even with his enhanced regeneration, he wouldn't survive.
What a surprise it was, when a massive black colored lightning fell from the sky and hit Barry right on top of his head.
Even Davian was momentarily surprised. His sloth induced hold was deactivated and the Flash immediately created distance between them.
"Whew! That was close. You're powerful. Desire really outdid themselves with you."
The Flash spoke, but it wasn't his voice.
Davian narrowed his eyes, before nodding to himself.
"I understand now. You both are and aren't Barry."
The thing before him shared the Flash's features but the disparity in personalities was like day and night.
Where Barry was kind...this version of the Flash felt no remorse and was intentionally cruel.
Chesha Neko was slowly unsheathed, dying the entire park with its glorious light.
The Flash whistled.
"Damn, that sword is immensely powerful. I might take it as a souvenir once you're dead."
"Shikai."
Davian released his zanpakuto. His immense Reiatsu doubled in intensity.
"I could deal with you without using this...but, I need to free all the souls contained within you. That's what you've been doing. Consuming souls of the people you kill just to keep up with me in my base form."
Davian finally knew where the souls were disappearing to. Anyone the Flash killed would have their soul absorbed into him.
"Tch. Don't get cocky. This body is merely a puppet! My true form could undo you with a thought. You would be the one struggling to keep up!"
The entity within Barry shot back heatedly.
Then it's mood changed, a mocking grin on his face.
"But you are not wrong per se. You grew wise to our plans too quickly. Now I suppose you want to know why everyone wants to kill you."
"Not really. There are always people trying to kill me."
Davian shrugged, twirling Chesha Neko, before unravelling it into strings that covered his right hand. "Comes with being a badass."
Plus, the Quintessence had become very vocal once Davian introduced them to Papa Fred's special interrogation practices.
"Ooooh such a big bad Reaper."
The entity sneered,
"Too unfortunate then, that you couldn't stop them from taking Rama Kushna. But I'll tell you what, beat me and I'll give you all the answers you want. Especially...about dear old Dad."
At this, the Entity's face changed.
"He ran away like a coward when it was clear he couldn't defeat my Master."
"I highly doubt that."
Davian replied, flipping him the bird.
"But if beating you to death is the only way to get answers out of you, then I'll happily oblige...Empty Hand."
The being within the Flash was rendered speechless.
"How-"
Taking advantage of that brief moment, a string bullet shot out of the tip of Davian's middle finger.
The string blasted Barry's head apart, sending brain matter and blood flying out. Only for tendrils of black energy to piece the brain back together.
"That might have worked on the puppet but not on me. Not when I'm the one in control."
Empty Hand cackled madly, speeding off towards the city outskirts.
"Then all it means, is if I kill you in his body...you're done for."
Davian said to himself, disappearing in a gust of wind.
Hovering in mid-air, the Reaper thrust his right hand down. Purple threads shot out of his fingers, weaving together and creating giant spikes that flew down, slamming onto the ground and shattering the streets.
The familiar scarlet and yellow trail evaded all the projectiles unscathed, only to land in Davian's trap.
The barrier around the city started shrinking and with Empty Hand's speed, he crashed right onto it at terminal velocity.
The Flash's entire body was turned into paste, like a bug on the windshield of a car.
The barrier continued shrinking, selectively ignoring the buildings, people, animals and the environment.
Eventually it was only as big as a hot air balloon. Only stopping when it was about the size of a small car.
The dome's bottom molded into a sphere that Davian pulled his way.
Chesha Neko extended from the threads wound around his hand. The gleam along its edge hinted at the blade's formidable sharpness.
Then Davian swung out a million times in a single second, sword phantoms overlayed on top of one another.
The purple sphere exploded into a massive energy bomb, wisps of darkness left floating in the air, after the attack landed.
Davian held his hand flat, aiming for the coalescing darkness before him.
"Give it up already! I cannot die!"
Empty Hand's voice was affected by a weird tonal inflection, making him sound inhuman despite the vaguely humanoid body reforming from the darkness.
"Hadō #99. Goryūtenmetsu (五龍転滅, Five Swirling Dragons of Destruction; Viz " Five Dragon Destruction")
As soon as Davian completed the chant, his energy ruptured, forming 5 dragons made up of Davi Energy.
The dragons sped forward, encompassing the entire area Empty Hand occupied, in destructive purple flames.
Flames that shone like a second sun in the air. The light show was too high profile for people to miss, some of them standing on the sidewalk to film the fight, while the smart ones high tailed it out of the scene.
The flames burned with the intensity of the sun, Davian regulating the heat radiating out so as to not harm anyone.
Unexpectedly, the flames imploded, disappearing into Empty Hand's mouth.
He slurped it all up, sighing in contentment as he rubbed his belly.
"Thanks for the snack."
Davian looked at him as if he was a fool.
"Even if you absorb it, that energy is still mine to command. Explode."
"Uh oh."
Empty Hand muttered, then ruptured into chunks of nothing.
This time when he reformed, Davian was right there, waiting for him.
The Reaper's strings shot out, weaving through Empty Hand's/ the Flash's body.
"I've grown tired of this farce. I shall read your soul myself and learn what I want. Whether you survive or not is none of my concern."
Empty Hard's face split into a wide knowing grin.
"Sure, go right ahead."
(Davian's P.O.V)
'Reiatsu was never meant to be wielded like this.' I thought to myself, pushing it into his soul.
Here's the thing. This guy possesses many Authorities. Unlike my single one however, I could tell Individually, he was weak.
All those authorities were being borrowed from somewhere. They weren't his authorities. Just a tap into the raw power that an Authority gave you.
I guess having many of them made up for the disparity in power between an original authority and a borrowed one.
That said, he contained enough authorities that I could kill his body but not his soul. Every attack I unleashed his way had healthy dose of Respira mixed in.
But while his body always got wrecked badly, he could pull onto that power through his soul and fix or replace his physical form.
Such a nuisance.
I couldn't unleash bankai on him either. My Reiatsu would more than multiply hundreds of times and the planet would be shattered in an instant as a result.
This was what my instincts told me.
So when I say I was growing tired of the farce. I meant it.
Eventually, wielding Reiatsu like a knife, I tore through his outer barrier and gazed upon his soul.
Immediately, my viewpoint widened immensely.
Space relocated around us and for a full second I was exposed to the lowest of all dimensions.
The dwelling of the true manifestation of chaos, darkness and all things unholy.
Empty Hand was on his knees before me, hands spread out, chest thrust out with a gloating expression on his face.
"You fool! You gazed into the Great Darkness! Even I, his Right Hand knows better than to gaze so flippantly! Your soul shall be devoured!!!"
While he was right that I could feel something trying to jerk my soul away, I didn't see what the big deal was.
For starters, the pull was so weak it was like a kid trying to forcefully pull you somewhere. I could just shrug it off.
And secondly, the effect seemed to be a passive ability of the Great Darkness.
The most mysterious entity in Nick's memories right next to The Phantom Stranger. At least the latter was locked in the dungeons of my tower, so I could learn anything about him if I wanted.
The Great Darkness was just...God in his opposite form. All his patience and creation turned into wrath and destruction, then personified.
And I was facing him.
I had noticed I didn't have Chesha Neko with me. It's weight was missing from my hand.
"A mental projection."
I mused, staring around.
"Gazing into his soul, which is disgusting by the way, allowed you to pull my mind into your realm."
I spoke to it.
I didn't see what the scary thing about this guy was.
He was just a massive fluffy cloud with ominous pale orbs that I think were eyes, and numerous black tentacles that...oh now I get it.
Despite that, I remained fearless. I was a God now. What did I have to fear?
[You have his arrogance]
The thought appeared in my mind, soft and amused.
"Huh..."
I tapped my ears.
"This is not how I thought a meeting with an eldritch cosmic being would go. I'm supposed to be driven mad, right?"
A piercing wail accompanied by a series of seriously vocal unknown and alien languages, echoed through the walls of my mind.
"Gah! Stop that!"
I flexed the full effects of my Reiatsu, undoing the whole effect instantaneously.
"I keep grudges you know..."
I glared at hus terrifying visage.
"Be careful what you wish for."
He answered giving me the feeling he was enjoying playing with me.
This is bad.
It meant, this thing wasn't worried at all about what I could do. I needed answers and then I wasn't wasting a single more picosecond here.
"We made a deal with your guy over there."
I pointed at Flash/Empty Hand. He was still kneeling, facing away from the Great Darkness.
[Oh yeah yeah...that guy]
The Great Darkness nodded as if he was only just noticing Empty Hand.
[He's not that important. But you, you are...]
Oh really...
Empty Hand's shoulders shook at the statement from his Lord and Master.
The dark cloud trembled before forming into a tornado that blew up into the sky. Then it was swept away by some unseen force, revealing a shapely figure.
My lips thinned, fists tightening.
"Are you mocking me? You have no right to take her form."
Rama Kushna's face split into two, lips widening unnaturally.
"She's the goddess of Karma and balance, dear boy."
It appeared behind me, caressing my shoulder.
"That means she's equally connected to the dark just as she is to the light. Similar to dear old Pops..."
I snorted,
"No matter how many times you try to bait me with that bullcrap about a father I never had, it's not gonna work. I wanna know, why...why have him ruin Barry's life? Why kill those people? Was it all to get at me?"
"Hahahaha don't be silly dear boy, you inflate your self importance'...is what I would have said to anyone else. But the truth is yes, yes Reaper. It was all for you."
It whispered, coming to stand directly in front of me.
I couldn't bear the fake softness on Rama's face.
"Change back."
I curtly told It.
We held gazes for a while before It stepped back and shifted into Raven.
I saw red and then in the blink of an eye, I was staring at Powergirl's huge cleavage.
"Sorry, wrong pair of jugs that second time."
It laughed with Kara's voice.
I swear...I'm going to kill this thing.
A glint appeared in its eyes.
"See, that's why. That's why I went to such elaborate lengths to hurt you. That fire. That drive."
It clapped, a cushy throne made of Shadows appearing under it.
"Unlike the others, you possess the power to fuel that fire. In other words, Davian Mabuz, you interest me, because you have the power to kill me. You are the True Godslayer. First of his kind. Desire that little twerp really went all out. Hahahaha!"
What...
I shook my head.
"Then why are you picking a fight with me? If you know I could kill you, wouldn't be wise to stay on my good side?"
I wanted to hear It's reasoning.
"That's an obvious answer, ain't it?"
Powergirl's body shifted into someone tall and statuesque. Shiva. Grr this asshole...
"It's in my nature, my young disciple."
It said with Shiva's authoritative tone.
"Stop. You're not her. I won't tell you a third time."
I gave the final warning.
"I fight on the side of chaos and darkness, my opposite fights on the side of light and order."
It explained, still wearing Shiva's face.
"Why wouldn't I want to mess with someone who can potentially end us both? Should I greet you and play nice then?"
It continued, standing up.
"Before you, I could not foresee death. Now I can."
The whole chamber chilled over, shiva's eyes colder than I'd ever seen before.
I didn't avert my gaze even once. Shiva's body threw back it's head and laughed, then It shifted into another body.
This one was male. Golden skin that glowed with power, hair in different shades; there was green, yellow and white. And the eyes, I felt like they could see into me.
It was unnerving.
It smiled with the new face, an amiable smile. But one that sent shivers across my spine. Goosebumps broke out of my skin.
When was the last time I'd been this nervous?
"The fool down there was both acting on my orders and his own. He is a part of me with autonomous will just like the rest of my agents of chaos and destruction."
TheGreat Darkness recounted, slowly flying closer.
"He gathered all the necessary information, worked his sources, and struck when the iron was hot. Good for him, he was a minor inconvenience at least."
"Minor inconvenience?"
I bit out in disbelief.
"He killed inn-"
"Innocents?"
It cut in, snapping it's fingers.
"There! Done. All of them are back to life along with everyone killed in the UN conference building, I believe it's called."
What?
"Hell, I'll even heal up the little speedster he took possession of. Your Time Remnant has a handle on the Paradox situation so I won't help with that."
"Why?"
I asked, grabbing him by his pretentiously gaudy outfit.
"Why do all this? Why fuck everything up and then fix it all as if we didn't live through it?!"
The grin on It's face dropped into a blank expression. I found myself immobilized. My Cosmic Authority flared up around me. It would protect my mind at-
Crash!
It's numerous Authorities burst through mine like wet paper. I was terrifyingly powerful. But this thing was on an entirely different level.
"To make you understand what it is you're coming to kill. Next time we see each other boy, do not stand opposed to me."
His mouth came closer to my ears.
"Oh, and before I forget..."
My head immediately started aching. The words he whispered to my ears felt like the Enochian language but slightly different.
"You want more power? master more authorities."
He tapped my shoulder and the hd on me dissapeared.
"Maybe in the final battle you'll give me a good warm up."
His palm was placed flat on my chest.
Bam.
He exerted a little force and I felt myself get thrown out of his dimension forcefully.
::---------------------------------::
And that ties up the whole Paradox situation a few chapters back.
7247 words.
Tell me if you spot any typos.
Advanced chapters in my Patreon.
Patreon.com/Saintbarbido.
::------------------------------------------::
(General P.O.V)
Barry Allen.
The self proclaimed fastest man in the world.
Yet, there were a few things even he couldn't escape from...
For the last 3 months, Barry had been having the same recurring nightmare.
He would find himself in pitch darkness, staring at the emptiness of the void and at the thing that laid beyond his perception.
The darkness would then offer its hand for him to take.
And he would refuse. Fighting with everything he had.
Denying its existence lest he went insane. Decrying its presence lest he lost himself in the dark depths.
Visions of his sins and failures would hound him endlessly. Up until he finally woke up, drenched in sweat.
Each night was a struggle to hold on to his ideals. But with Iris and his friends, he managed to stay strong.
All the while keeping it all to himself.
He never told anyone about the nightmares.
He didn't want to burden them.
Then one night, instead of showing him his shortcomings and failures, the darkness showed him his mother.
It promised reunion. Not in death but in LIFE.
And for the first time, the Flash's will faltered.
It is said, stare into the abyss for too long and it will stare back.
Infinite mass punch.
An attack rooted in physical laws of the material world. An attack that carried with it the force of a white dwarf star.
Terrifying power.
In comparison, it still couldn't hold a candle to Davian's cosmic authority. In it's passive state, it formed a barrier that was basically indestructible.
And that was only its defensive capabilities.
The field of power that surrounded Davian, shone brighter when it was used to create a zone of reality warping around his body.
The Flash's attack had blown apart the entire conference building with one of those punches.
And even without taking into account the further desiccration of the corpses in the building, the power behind the blow threatened his companions.
So Davian did the only thing possible, he absorbed all of it through energy transferrance, a function of the sin of pride within him.
All that power was taken in and stored. In the end, the Reaper's defense proved too much for the punch to break through.
The Flash disappeared again in a burst of speed.
Davian turned to his companions, shunpo timely depositing him right in front of Deadman, an open palm holding back the Flash's fist from punching a hole through his friend.
The speedster had doubled back, going after the weaker of Davian's squad.
When that didn't work,
Another force of impact hit the Reaper dead on.
His skin rippled from the second Infinite mass punch but otherwise the energy was transferred into Gluttony's bottomless belly.
Davian narrowed his eyes at the Flash, grabbing his wrist to stop him from running away.
"You tried to kill me. Understandable. You tried to hurt my allies, unforgivable."
With glowing eyes, all the accumulated power from the Infinite mass punches, was released through the palm placed flat on the Flash's chest.
The Flash widened his eyes, then he begun vibrating his molecules at a frequency similar to the shockwaves that assaulted his body.
Th ground beneath and behind him cratered as the entire U.N sank into a mile wide trench.
The buildings toppled over, smashing and colliding onto each other.
"Azarath! Metrion! Zinthos!"
Raven called out, taking to the air.
Her soul self, a massive dark Raven, flared out its wings... stopping time, thereby halting the destruction unfolding.
"You can't fight here Davi!"
Raven called out, shadow tendrils of mystical might leaving the tips of her fingers and reinforcing the structure around them.
"The planet won't survive!"
Davian realized she was right. He released the Flash and quicker than the speedster could escape, Davian tapped him on the chest, tagging him with his energy.
Now no matter where or how far the Flash ran, Davian could track him down. Even if he escaped to another dimension.
The speedster was off again, giving them a brief respite to strategize.
"Shiva, Cheshire, Deadman. The three of you back up Raven. I need to deal with certain fools."
The Reaper said while staring at the Quintessence. Teleporting away, he forcefully dragged them with himself.
(Different Universe)
Hera blinked in confusion when she and the others, found themselves floating before a purple sun.
To their front, standing in space without anything to stand on was Davian.
He had his back to them, head tilted in a gesture of contemplation, hands in his pockets and his silver hair tied into a loose knot.
"Where are we? What is this place?! Why did you bring me here?!"
Hera demanded, a noticeable quiver in her tone.
"I'm warning you Reaper. I am the Queen of Olympus. You risk a war by abducting me."
Yet Davian stayed silent.
"Answer me dammit!"
"Oh for the love of all that is good and pure, could you please shut up?".
Highfather cut in from where he was standing beside her.
"You Old Gods are nothing but mewling whelps with too much arrogance than brains."
Hera turned his way, shocked anger apparent on her visage.
"You watch your mouth Izaya! Who do you think you're talking to?!"
She tried to call onto her divine might, only for all the energy to slip out of her grasp.
"That won't work."
Davian informed her, speaking for the first time since they arrived.
"I have negated your divine domains. Even your immortality. The only reason you can survive out here is because I allow it."
The words stunned Hera to silence. Say what you will but she was no fool.
The situation had turned out quite unfavorably. Now the only thing to do was to comply lest the situation escalated.
"You created your own universe?"
The Wizard Shazam questioned, sounding impressed.
"And one so complete, it can exist without parralel branches? How extraordinary."
Mamaragan spun in place, taking in the stars twinkling from thousands of light years away.
His mystical senses were suppressed but he could still tell, for a new and young universe, it was on a class of its own.
And everything, the brush strokes of reality and the canvas that was space, were all connected to one focal point, the Reaper.
Davian shrugged at the compliment.
"This is the culmination of everything I have been working towards. Of course it's Extraordinary."
Despite saying that, Davian felt in his mind there was more he could do.
While the feat of creating his own universe was positively grand, he couldn't get rid of the memory of that gray space.
The void above voids. He had a feeling that his universe would only attain completeness if he upgraded it to that level of spatial dimension.
But the Quintessence didn't know that. They were so easily impressed and he was yet to even name the dimension.
"Regardless, I brought you here to eliminate any escape routes," The Reaper declared, facing them.
The maniacal smile on his face gave them all chills.
"In other words, Quintessence, welcome...to your graves."
*******
A scarlet and yellow trail, basically invisible to everyone, passed through Central City.
This was of course the Flash. He knew he'd fucked up. Majorly. What was he thinking going up against that guy?
The only choice he had now was to leave the city, maybe even the dimension. But despite the urgency, he couldn't help it.
There was one thing he needed to do first.
"Iris."
Barry muttered, vibrating through the walls of the Citizen Newspaper building, just to catch a final glimpse of her.
To be clear, the Flash felt no remorse for what he had done. Try as he might to conjure up the feeling of guilt, he couldn't.
He could vividly recall the horror on Shazam's face as Barry killed all their friends. Each death more cruel than the preceding one.
He stared at his hands, still contained within the walls of the building Iris worked in.
Even at his incredible speeds, the blood on his hands and costume remained unscathed by the searing winds.
The speed force provided a protective membrane around him that dealt with drag and friction.
However, he couldn't let her see him like this.
"Iris..."
He muttered, entering Flash-point and appearing before her frozen form. His hand reached out to her, to caress her beautiful face.
She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid his eyes on. And maybe she would understand one day. That he had to do what he did. That the League had to die.
He still didn't have a concrete answer why, but what did it matter? He knew it was the right thing to do. Every bone in his body sung with conviction.
Maybe she wouldn't see him for the unfeeling monster he was.
An inverse of his former self. Maybe she wouldn't compare him to Thawne, like he definitely was.
"You're...my salvation, Iris."
Barry whispered.
When he blinked, he found his vibrating hand shoved in through her chest. How did that happen?
"Huh..."
He...didn't understand why he did that...
No.
He did.
Gently retracting his hand from her chest, his palm was now stained with blood and fragments of her torn heart.
The Flash stared at the wide hole on his girlfriend's torso. Her face remained serene, death was yet to catch up with her.
And yet again...the horror didn't come. The self hatred was not present. The only thing he felt was...the absolute confidence he was right in his actions and motives.
He knelt before her, took hold of her palm and smiled.
"Don't worry Iris. In this way, our connection will endure beyond both life and death. I shall treasure your SOUL."
Getting to his feet, a sigh escaped him,
"I need to leave before that guy catches up to me. I still can't beat him head on, even with speed."
He turned his eyes onto the roof of a building across the street.
A small smile worked its way onto his face.
"But first, I need to deal with a certain peeping tom."
*****
On said roof of said building, the Reverse Flash, aptly named as he was the greatest rival of the Flash, backed away slowly.
He'd witnessed what Barry had done in the U.N and had followed him here.
The fact that he killed Iris, his so called 'lightning rod' did not inspire much confidence in Thawne, on his chances to survive an encounter with this new Flash.
"That's...not good. Shit."
Thawne stated, speeding away only to get clotheslined out of nowhere, then smacked onto the door leading to the roof.
"Hello, Thawne."
The Flash greeted cooly, one hand retracted, pulsating with the intensity of a power drill.
"Barry- I mean Flash. Lovely day, what are you-"
Thawne started nervously.
"Quiet."
Barry cut in lowly and menacingly, placing the vibrating hand right under Thawne's chin.
"I need to know how to tap into the negative speed force, and how to combine it with the real speed force."
He demanded, eyes glowing with greed.
"I bet that will make me faster. Faster than him."
"Are you...really Barry...?"
Thawne asked in alarm, he couldn't even vibrate out of the hold the Flash had on him.
The grin on Barry's face grew wider.
"Actually, a thought just occured to me. I could just siphon all your speed away. That would be more effective than simply telling me how to do it, right?"
Thawne shook his head in horror.
"No. Hold up, let's think this through first."
"I have."
The Flash responded, plunging his vibrating hand through Thawne's chest.
Wisps of black smoke started wafting from the wound on Thawne's chest. A gasp escaped him as he felt his speed being drained.
"Wait...Barry!" Thawne pleaded,
"Not my speed! Flash! Not my speed!"
*******
Davian had just finished dealing with the Quintessence when he popped up behind the Flash and a shriveled up Thawne.
"Not my speed Barry...please not my speed Flash. My speed it's gone...its all gone."
The latter muttered weakly, lying on the ground before the Flash.
The Flash's form was wreathed in red and yellow streaks of power. The electric energy of both opposing speed force alignments was highly volatile. Enough to melt his friction resistant costume into his skin.
"Ahh yes. The power to be the fastest! The power to be the strongest!!"
Declared the Flash.
"Fastest?"
Davian chuckled, cracking his knuckles,
"Not even close. And strongest? Boy, you don't know what real strength is. Let me demonstrate."
"What-?"
Barry glanced backward, his once bright red eyes now tainted by the negative speed force he absorbed from the Reverse Flash, widening with a mix of recognition and madness.
"Already here? And to think I thought those guys would have occupied you- oof!"
Like a ghost, Davian appeared before the Speedster, a fist digging into the Flash's gut.
The Flash coughed, falling to his knees and puking his guts out, all over Davian's boots.
The Reaper narrowed his eyes in disgust.
"Gross."
A backhand slammed onto Barry's face and he was off, shooting through the side of a different building, shattering the glass pannels before landing onto the street a block away.
Tires screeched and horns blared out from that direction.
Davian turned his attention to the Reverse Flash.
He looked at one of the fastest characters in all of fiction and turned away, walking to the edge of the roof while musing to himself,
"How the great have fallen."
"Wait...please."
Thawne gasped, trying to reach out with a thin, shriveled up hand.
"Help me..."
Davian stared forward blankly.
"It's too late for you. Your body won't survive...though your soul might."
A trail of scarlet and yellow ran out of the city, only to hit a shimmering purple barrier around the perimeter.
Davian had locked down Central City upon tracking the Flash here. He didn't feel like chasing the Speedster down all across the globe.
"Please..."
Thawne pleaded, his body beginning to break apart into ash. Ironically, the legs were the first to go.
Davian finally spared him a look, purple eyes staring at the speedster's pitiful form.
"No."
He coldly delivered, dashing Thawne's last ray of hope.
******
The Flash's body bounced off the barrier, slamming onto the 'welcome to Central City' sign, before his momentum carried him away.
He dug a groove with his body.
Dragging himself up, his regeneration worked it's magic and his broken hand was soon fixed. It happened even faster than before. In only an instant.
"Is this the effect of fusing speed force with the negative speed force?"
He muttered to himself, the side of his face which had been torn apart by Davian's slap healing up as well. Though not as fast.
"The combo does give you a boost in regeneration."
The voice of his enemy commented from above him.
"The negative speed force huh? So you stole your Nemesis' speed?Interesting."
The Flash stared at the immaculately clean boots before his eyes, then they tracked upwards, landing on the owner.
"But if you think that will protect you from me, you're solely mistaken."
Davian growlesld down, eyes glinting with the promise of retribution.
The Flash got to his feet, resolve still burning within him. He was right. So everyone else had to be wrong.
"You know, it's said Superman has to constantly restrain himself to avoid accidental fatalities," Barry started with a frown, rubbing his still-aching cheek.
"He's not the only one. I'll settle the score for that slap. Right Now."
His form blurred forward, afterimages of his hands left behind as he punched out billions of times in a second.
Each of his hits did nothing however. The field of energy around Davian protected him from harm.
Physical attacks weren't working, so he changed the strategy.
Blitzing around the Reaper, a red and yellow tornado appeared around him. This move was meant to disorient, and when the target is getting light headed from a lack of air, that's when the Flash would attack.
There!
Barry dashed forward, only for Davian's kick to slam onto his face out of nowhere.
The hit packed a lot of power. The Speedster's teeth shattered and jaw broke.
His body flew off, crashing through a store front, through the back wall and out onto the street on the other side.
The Flash groaned, blood and bits of teeth, pouring out of his mouth, while straining to put his hands under him.
Eventually he pushed himself up, facing the end of the street where Davian was calmly and methodically approaching from.
'Not even a single hair out of place.'
The Flash realized bitterly.
Time to pull out all the stops. The red electric energy from the negative speed force ran down his left hand.
Streaks of the yellow, belonging to the real speed force, ran down his right hand.
What then, would happen if he combined the two?
He brought bith hands together and found out.
A massive beam of red and yellow energy surged down the street, amid the screams of the civilians caught in the crosshairs of the battle.
The beam hit Davian dead on, the unstable energies colliding with his barrier chaotically. It warped but held on.
Then he pushed back, and the speed force energy rippled out, creating an explosion of power that swallowed the entire street.
Almost everybody instantly died.
Almost, because a man had survived. This man was a scientist working for Kord industries.
He'd been enjoying the day with his wife and two kids when the unstable speed force energies exploded, destroying everything in their path.
Chris, the name of the scientist had watched his family disintegrate before his very eyes.
When the energy hit him, it had a different effect. A more unpleasant one. Chris was ripped away from the Time-stream.
He would later find himself outside of time. A realm he described as a 'lockbox safe from the manipulations of time and space. A wasteland of the forgotten.'
He would also swear vengeance on the Flash and the Reaper before donning the moniker of Paradox.
Once the wave of destruction had passed, the Flash was shellshocked to see that even such a volatile attack had failed to rattle the Reaper.
Fine then.
If he couldn't beat the Reaper head on,
"Then I'll just have to outrun you."
With a burst of speed force energies, the Flash took off deeper into the city.
There was no need to look back, he knew Davian was following right behind.
"Outrun?"
Davian asked from Barry's front, already having outpaced the latter.
"There is nowhere to run, Bare."
The Reaper taunted, calling the Flash with his nickname.
"You will pay for killing all those people."
Barry changed directions, streets blurred around him as he quickly came upon the barrier's boundary once more.
He didn't have enough speed for another Infinite mass punch but if he vibrated his molecules on the same frequency as the barrier...
Zzztttt!
Krwack!
"Son of a bitch!"
The Flash cursed out in pain, his body assaulted by the energy running through the barrier.
"It's...sentient?"
He speculated, staring up at the huge dome.
Bam!
He felt himself get grabbed and a second later he was slammed onto the barrier again, this time on the West side of the city.
His surroundings blurred once again as his back met the hard barrier a second time. This repeated for half a dozen instances.
Finally the Flash found himself kneeling in front of Davian, head bowed, breathing heavily with his eyes wide and set in an expression of disbelief.
He'd never been thrashed so thoroughly before...
His body was steaming, the speed force doing its best to heal his spine, broken limbs and liquefied organs.
The familiar loathsome boots appeared in his vision.
"Had enough yet?"
The Reaper questioned.
Barry found himself nodding.
"Good, now answer me this."
Davian used the tip of his shoe to lift up the Flash's chin.
"The souls of the people you killed...where did they go?"
He might have looked calm but underneath he was seething in anger. He should have absorbed that attack instead of trying to push it back to the Flash.
That was a rookie mistake. And people died as a result.
The Flash's shock intensified even more. And a new emotion surged up within him.
Fear.
Instead of answering, the speedster phased through the ground, undisturbed.
That was the only avenue of escape left. He'd underestimated the Reaper.
He wasn't just too powerful, he was also very perceptive!
~~~~~~~~~
The second the Flash sank through the ground, he enacted his plan.
A time remnant detached from him, phasing through the soil and onto the surface, before running away the opposite direction of his other self.
His rate of accelaration took him from supersonic to FTL in a matter of moments. And right before he could crash onto the purple barrier around the city, a speed force vortex appeared and he entered it.
If he couldn't beat Davian in the present, then maybe with some help from a certain paranoid detective, he could do it in the future of the past.
Images of timelines and alternate dimensions passed by him, none of which was the one he particularly wanted.
He couldn't go back a few days or even weeks. The time remnant went back a full 2 months.
There was much to prepare after all.
Unknowingly, Davian was privy to the Flash's plan.
And after absorbing Thawne's soul he knew how to better tap into the capabilities of the Speed force.
Therefore, creating a Time Remnant that followed the Flash back to the past was easy.
With the tag of energy he had on the Speedster, there was nowhere the Flash could escape to.
~~~~~~~~~~~
(Main timeline)
(The Present)
The day was peaceful in the park.
Birds chirped excitedly, ducks floating serenely on the clear lake.
The steady drip of the central fountain as it sent water cascading down beautifully gave the entire place a calming atmosphere.
Pockets of people could be seen enjoying their time in the sun.
It was midday and the city was only just receiving the dire news on the tragedy that had taken place in New York.
A tragedy caused by their city's top hero no less!
If that wasn't indication enough, the purple barrier around Central city that had just sprung up, had people even more worried.
The ones in the park, were mostly clueless about all that.
A park was a place to relax and unwind from the pressures of the concrete jungle around them.
But here, here they could hide away from all of it.
Just like a certain old couple was doing. They had been together for the last 30 years.
And the bench they sat on had been a part of their lives for decades.
"Move!"
A fast moving object burst out of the ground, blasting through the two senior citizens, turning them into a bloody mist.
The Flash materialized briefly, staring at his blood-soaked body in disgust.
"Yuck. I have old people in my mouth now."
A teenage girl, part of a group of four teens, couldn't contain her scream as she witnessed the entire incident.
The Flash turned his gaze their way. In an instant he was in the middle of them.
Or rather their remains. On his left hand, he held the screaming girl by the neck.
"See what you made me do."
He brought her closer, savoring the scared look on her face.
"F-flash?"
"Really Barry? Bullying an highschooler?"
Davian calmly appeared in front of the bench.
"That eldery couple had 10 more years in this world. You stole that from them."
He said evenly.
"And of the 3 kids you just killed, one of them would have grown up to become a decorated General. One who would play a vital role in stopping an alien invasion."
Davian closed his eyes, rubbing his brows in mental exhaustion.
He could end this. Just snap a finger and it would be over for the corrupted speedster before anyone else died.
He wouldn't even need to snap a finger! He could think it!
The problem was the missing souls...
It's what stopped him.
And there in lied the problem.
He was attuned to the domain of death and souls more than anyone else he'd met. So how were they disappearing from his senses?
Once dead, a soul would and should be escorted to the afterlife by the shrouds or other types of Death gods. This wasn't the case here.
That, compounded with what he had learned from the Quintessence, clued him on the existence of a larger scheme.
One designated to deal with him.
He couldn't kill the Flash because he was the only lead he had to getting some answers.
But that didn't mean he wouldn't make it hurt. Davian raised a single finger, pointing it Barry's way.
"Put her down. Now."
He ordered.
"Come closer and I snap her neck faster than you can blink."
The Flash scoffed.
"Are you sure about that? I can blink pretty quickly."
Upon the drop of his words, the Flash's hand was severed from the elbow and Davian had the girl in her hands.
"Aarrggh!! You bastard! You took my hand!"
The Flash yelled, holding the section that was spurting out rigorous amounts of blood.
Davian quietly healed the girl's bruised neck through his power over flesh and even boosted her body's immune system.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save your friends. But once I get their souls back, I'll bring them back. I promise."
He told her, gently rubbing her head.
She looked up at him dumbfoundedly.
"Who- why?"
"Shh, you're in shock. Get to some place safe, while I deal with this maniac."
Davian pushed her in the direction of the other fleeing civilians.
Thwack!
Out of nowhere, a punch landed on the Reaper's face. The shockwave produced, threw the girl away screaming.
A purple shroud covered her and the other civilians in the park, teleporting them away.
"That's payback for my hand!"
The Flash cackled.
"It grew back the very next second, so I guess that punch was more for ruining my fun. You won't steal away my destiny Reaper!"
The Reaper took note of the Speedster's words. So, just like he'd thought, there was a purpose and reason behind the Flash's insane actions.
"Well done. I felt that."
Davian grinned, staring down at the shorter man.
"Doesn't mean it hurt though. I didnt even move from this spot."
The Flash found himself immobilized in place. Retracting the fist that was still pressed on Davian's cheek became a fruitless endeavour.
Unbeknownst to him, Davian was holding him in place using the essence of Sloth, one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
Pride was energy manipulation to an insane degree and an overwhelming presence that would leave others in awe or terrified.
Gluttony was a bottomless dimension where anything that entered it would be devoured and turned into power or simply stored.
And Sloth could induce lethargy on a target or completely immobilize them like a statue.
Davian was yet to use the rest, although he knew what their individual abilities were.
The hold was conceptual in nature and breaking out of it required power that a speedster simply didn't possess.
Even blinking for the Flash was hard.
"Now let me show you how you throw a punch."
The Reaper brought a hand up and oh so very slowly, he thrust it forward.
In the eyes of the Speedster however, this punch carried the cumulative power of half a dozen Infinite Mass Punches.
It was a death sentence that upon landing, even with his enhanced regeneration, he wouldn't survive.
What a surprise it was, when a massive black colored lightning fell from the sky and hit Barry right on top of his head.
Even Davian was momentarily surprised. His sloth induced hold was deactivated and the Flash immediately created distance between them.
"Whew! That was close. You're powerful. Desire really outdid themselves with you."
The Flash spoke, but it wasn't his voice.
Davian narrowed his eyes, before nodding to himself.
"I understand now. You both are and aren't Barry."
The thing before him shared the Flash's features but the disparity in personalities was like day and night.
Where Barry was kind...this version of the Flash felt no remorse and was intentionally cruel.
Chesha Neko was slowly unsheathed, dying the entire park with its glorious light.
The Flash whistled.
"Damn, that sword is immensely powerful. I might take it as a souvenir once you're dead."
"Shikai."
Davian released his zanpakuto. His immense Reiatsu doubled in intensity.
"I could deal with you without using this...but, I need to free all the souls contained within you. That's what you've been doing. Consuming souls of the people you kill just to keep up with me in my base form."
Davian finally knew where the souls were disappearing to. Anyone the Flash killed would have their soul absorbed into him.
"Tch. Don't get cocky. This body is merely a puppet! My true form could undo you with a thought. You would be the one struggling to keep up!"
The entity within Barry shot back heatedly.
Then it's mood changed, a mocking grin on his face.
"But you are not wrong per se. You grew wise to our plans too quickly. Now I suppose you want to know why everyone wants to kill you."
"Not really. There are always people trying to kill me."
Davian shrugged, twirling Chesha Neko, before unravelling it into strings that covered his right hand. "Comes with being a badass."
Plus, the Quintessence had become very vocal once Davian introduced them to Papa Fred's special interrogation practices.
"Ooooh such a big bad Reaper."
The entity sneered,
"Too unfortunate then, that you couldn't stop them from taking Rama Kushna. But I'll tell you what, beat me and I'll give you all the answers you want. Especially...about dear old Dad."
At this, the Entity's face changed.
"He ran away like a coward when it was clear he couldn't defeat my Master."
"I highly doubt that."
Davian replied, flipping him the bird.
"But if beating you to death is the only way to get answers out of you, then I'll happily oblige...Empty Hand."
The being within the Flash was rendered speechless.
"How-"
Taking advantage of that brief moment, a string bullet shot out of the tip of Davian's middle finger.
The string blasted Barry's head apart, sending brain matter and blood flying out. Only for tendrils of black energy to piece the brain back together.
"That might have worked on the puppet but not on me. Not when I'm the one in control."
Empty Hand cackled madly, speeding off towards the city outskirts.
"Then all it means, is if I kill you in his body...you're done for."
Davian said to himself, disappearing in a gust of wind.
Hovering in mid-air, the Reaper thrust his right hand down. Purple threads shot out of his fingers, weaving together and creating giant spikes that flew down, slamming onto the ground and shattering the streets.
The familiar scarlet and yellow trail evaded all the projectiles unscathed, only to land in Davian's trap.
The barrier around the city started shrinking and with Empty Hand's speed, he crashed right onto it at terminal velocity.
The Flash's entire body was turned into paste, like a bug on the windshield of a car.
The barrier continued shrinking, selectively ignoring the buildings, people, animals and the environment.
Eventually it was only as big as a hot air balloon. Only stopping when it was about the size of a small car.
The dome's bottom molded into a sphere that Davian pulled his way.
Chesha Neko extended from the threads wound around his hand. The gleam along its edge hinted at the blade's formidable sharpness.
Then Davian swung out a million times in a single second, sword phantoms overlayed on top of one another.
The purple sphere exploded into a massive energy bomb, wisps of darkness left floating in the air, after the attack landed.
Davian held his hand flat, aiming for the coalescing darkness before him.
"Give it up already! I cannot die!"
Empty Hand's voice was affected by a weird tonal inflection, making him sound inhuman despite the vaguely humanoid body reforming from the darkness.
"Hadō #99. Goryūtenmetsu (五龍転滅, Five Swirling Dragons of Destruction; Viz " Five Dragon Destruction")
As soon as Davian completed the chant, his energy ruptured, forming 5 dragons made up of Davi Energy.
The dragons sped forward, encompassing the entire area Empty Hand occupied, in destructive purple flames.
Flames that shone like a second sun in the air. The light show was too high profile for people to miss, some of them standing on the sidewalk to film the fight, while the smart ones high tailed it out of the scene.
The flames burned with the intensity of the sun, Davian regulating the heat radiating out so as to not harm anyone.
Unexpectedly, the flames imploded, disappearing into Empty Hand's mouth.
He slurped it all up, sighing in contentment as he rubbed his belly.
"Thanks for the snack."
Davian looked at him as if he was a fool.
"Even if you absorb it, that energy is still mine to command. Explode."
"Uh oh."
Empty Hand muttered, then ruptured into chunks of nothing.
This time when he reformed, Davian was right there, waiting for him.
The Reaper's strings shot out, weaving through Empty Hand's/ the Flash's body.
"I've grown tired of this farce. I shall read your soul myself and learn what I want. Whether you survive or not is none of my concern."
Empty Hard's face split into a wide knowing grin.
"Sure, go right ahead."
(Davian's P.O.V)
'Reiatsu was never meant to be wielded like this.' I thought to myself, pushing it into his soul.
Here's the thing. This guy possesses many Authorities. Unlike my single one however, I could tell Individually, he was weak.
All those authorities were being borrowed from somewhere. They weren't his authorities. Just a tap into the raw power that an Authority gave you.
I guess having many of them made up for the disparity in power between an original authority and a borrowed one.
That said, he contained enough authorities that I could kill his body but not his soul. Every attack I unleashed his way had healthy dose of Respira mixed in.
But while his body always got wrecked badly, he could pull onto that power through his soul and fix or replace his physical form.
Such a nuisance.
I couldn't unleash bankai on him either. My Reiatsu would more than multiply hundreds of times and the planet would be shattered in an instant as a result.
This was what my instincts told me.
So when I say I was growing tired of the farce. I meant it.
Eventually, wielding Reiatsu like a knife, I tore through his outer barrier and gazed upon his soul.
Immediately, my viewpoint widened immensely.
Space relocated around us and for a full second I was exposed to the lowest of all dimensions.
The dwelling of the true manifestation of chaos, darkness and all things unholy.
Empty Hand was on his knees before me, hands spread out, chest thrust out with a gloating expression on his face.
"You fool! You gazed into the Great Darkness! Even I, his Right Hand knows better than to gaze so flippantly! Your soul shall be devoured!!!"
While he was right that I could feel something trying to jerk my soul away, I didn't see what the big deal was.
For starters, the pull was so weak it was like a kid trying to forcefully pull you somewhere. I could just shrug it off.
And secondly, the effect seemed to be a passive ability of the Great Darkness.
The most mysterious entity in Nick's memories right next to The Phantom Stranger. At least the latter was locked in the dungeons of my tower, so I could learn anything about him if I wanted.
The Great Darkness was just...God in his opposite form. All his patience and creation turned into wrath and destruction, then personified.
And I was facing him.
I had noticed I didn't have Chesha Neko with me. It's weight was missing from my hand.
"A mental projection."
I mused, staring around.
"Gazing into his soul, which is disgusting by the way, allowed you to pull my mind into your realm."
I spoke to it.
I didn't see what the scary thing about this guy was.
He was just a massive fluffy cloud with ominous pale orbs that I think were eyes, and numerous black tentacles that...oh now I get it.
Despite that, I remained fearless. I was a God now. What did I have to fear?
[You have his arrogance]
The thought appeared in my mind, soft and amused.
"Huh..."
I tapped my ears.
"This is not how I thought a meeting with an eldritch cosmic being would go. I'm supposed to be driven mad, right?"
A piercing wail accompanied by a series of seriously vocal unknown and alien languages, echoed through the walls of my mind.
"Gah! Stop that!"
I flexed the full effects of my Reiatsu, undoing the whole effect instantaneously.
"I keep grudges you know..."
I glared at hus terrifying visage.
"Be careful what you wish for."
He answered giving me the feeling he was enjoying playing with me.
This is bad.
It meant, this thing wasn't worried at all about what I could do. I needed answers and then I wasn't wasting a single more picosecond here.
"We made a deal with your guy over there."
I pointed at Flash/Empty Hand. He was still kneeling, facing away from the Great Darkness.
[Oh yeah yeah...that guy]
The Great Darkness nodded as if he was only just noticing Empty Hand.
[He's not that important. But you, you are...]
Oh really...
Empty Hand's shoulders shook at the statement from his Lord and Master.
The dark cloud trembled before forming into a tornado that blew up into the sky. Then it was swept away by some unseen force, revealing a shapely figure.
My lips thinned, fists tightening.
"Are you mocking me? You have no right to take her form."
Rama Kushna's face split into two, lips widening unnaturally.
"She's the goddess of Karma and balance, dear boy."
It appeared behind me, caressing my shoulder.
"That means she's equally connected to the dark just as she is to the light. Similar to dear old Pops..."
I snorted,
"No matter how many times you try to bait me with that bullcrap about a father I never had, it's not gonna work. I wanna know, why...why have him ruin Barry's life? Why kill those people? Was it all to get at me?"
"Hahahaha don't be silly dear boy, you inflate your self importance'...is what I would have said to anyone else. But the truth is yes, yes Reaper. It was all for you."
It whispered, coming to stand directly in front of me.
I couldn't bear the fake softness on Rama's face.
"Change back."
I curtly told It.
We held gazes for a while before It stepped back and shifted into Raven.
I saw red and then in the blink of an eye, I was staring at Powergirl's huge cleavage.
"Sorry, wrong pair of jugs that second time."
It laughed with Kara's voice.
I swear...I'm going to kill this thing.
A glint appeared in its eyes.
"See, that's why. That's why I went to such elaborate lengths to hurt you. That fire. That drive."
It clapped, a cushy throne made of Shadows appearing under it.
"Unlike the others, you possess the power to fuel that fire. In other words, Davian Mabuz, you interest me, because you have the power to kill me. You are the True Godslayer. First of his kind. Desire that little twerp really went all out. Hahahaha!"
What...
I shook my head.
"Then why are you picking a fight with me? If you know I could kill you, wouldn't be wise to stay on my good side?"
I wanted to hear It's reasoning.
"That's an obvious answer, ain't it?"
Powergirl's body shifted into someone tall and statuesque. Shiva. Grr this asshole...
"It's in my nature, my young disciple."
It said with Shiva's authoritative tone.
"Stop. You're not her. I won't tell you a third time."
I gave the final warning.
"I fight on the side of chaos and darkness, my opposite fights on the side of light and order."
It explained, still wearing Shiva's face.
"Why wouldn't I want to mess with someone who can potentially end us both? Should I greet you and play nice then?"
It continued, standing up.
"Before you, I could not foresee death. Now I can."
The whole chamber chilled over, shiva's eyes colder than I'd ever seen before.
I didn't avert my gaze even once. Shiva's body threw back it's head and laughed, then It shifted into another body.
This one was male. Golden skin that glowed with power, hair in different shades; there was green, yellow and white. And the eyes, I felt like they could see into me.
It was unnerving.
It smiled with the new face, an amiable smile. But one that sent shivers across my spine. Goosebumps broke out of my skin.
When was the last time I'd been this nervous?
"The fool down there was both acting on my orders and his own. He is a part of me with autonomous will just like the rest of my agents of chaos and destruction."
TheGreat Darkness recounted, slowly flying closer.
"He gathered all the necessary information, worked his sources, and struck when the iron was hot. Good for him, he was a minor inconvenience at least."
"Minor inconvenience?"
I bit out in disbelief.
"He killed inn-"
"Innocents?"
It cut in, snapping it's fingers.
"There! Done. All of them are back to life along with everyone killed in the UN conference building, I believe it's called."
What?
"Hell, I'll even heal up the little speedster he took possession of. Your Time Remnant has a handle on the Paradox situation so I won't help with that."
"Why?"
I asked, grabbing him by his pretentiously gaudy outfit.
"Why do all this? Why fuck everything up and then fix it all as if we didn't live through it?!"
The grin on It's face dropped into a blank expression. I found myself immobilized. My Cosmic Authority flared up around me. It would protect my mind at-
Crash!
It's numerous Authorities burst through mine like wet paper. I was terrifyingly powerful. But this thing was on an entirely different level.
"To make you understand what it is you're coming to kill. Next time we see each other boy, do not stand opposed to me."
His mouth came closer to my ears.
"Oh, and before I forget..."
My head immediately started aching. The words he whispered to my ears felt like the Enochian language but slightly different.
"You want more power? master more authorities."
He tapped my shoulder and the hd on me dissapeared.
"Maybe in the final battle you'll give me a good warm up."
His palm was placed flat on my chest.
Bam.
He exerted a little force and I felt myself get thrown out of his dimension forcefully.
::---------------------------------::
And that ties up the whole Paradox situation a few chapters back.
7247 words.
Tell me if you spot any typos.
