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Chapter 745: Run, Barry!
S.T.A.R. Labs, the basement.
Clark and the others had personally escorted Reverse Flash here. Originally, they wanted to lock him up in the space station prison in outer space, but Barry stubbornly refused. He insisted on imprisoning Reverse Flash in S.T.A.R. Labs.
This place housed numerous high-tech prison cells that had been specially modified to hold various Ability Users.
After Clark and the others left, Barry came here alone.
Reverse Flash stood inside the cell, meeting Barry's gaze through the glass door.
As always, a cold smile, tinged with deep mockery, hung on Reverse Flash's lips.
He was always like this, enjoying looking at his arch-nemesis with a slightly mocking expression.
"If I were you, I would have gone for the kill the moment I won," Reverse Flash said, patting the glass and looking around.
He had participated, to some extent, in the construction of these cells, yet they had ultimately become his own cage.
"That's why you can never be me, and I can never be you!" Barry said, looking at Reverse Flash with hatred in his eyes.
"What a pity... So many years I've spent, and I still haven't changed you. I could have done it, but time didn't allow it," Reverse Flash said.
It was unclear whether this "time" he mentioned simply referred to the length of time, or some unknown aspect of fate.
In the Prime Universe, in the present, Reverse Flash had single-handedly orchestrated the birth of The Flash, causing Barry to gain the Speed Force many years ahead of schedule. He had even acted as a life mentor, teaching Barry the skills to use the Speed Force bit by bit, pushing him to grow.
Like a farmer harvesting wheat, his ultimate goal was to profit.
But Reverse Flash, this professional farmer, was ultimately taken down by the wheat. One had to admit, it was a helpless outcome.
Barry looked at the man he had respected as a life mentor not long ago, his heart a complex mix of hatred and sorrow.
"You can never return to your era. What awaits you is to live out the rest of your days in this one. You will spend the rest of your life in this prison... I will always be watching you, making you pay for what you did to my parents!"
"No! You can't do this! You might as well just kill me!" Reverse Flash furiously pressed himself against the glass door, pounding it with his fists, his twisted face contorted with rage.
"I won't kill you. I won't kill you now that I've captured you. That would only make me the same as you," Barry said coldly.
"Then what about your mother? You lock me in here, but have you thought about how to save your mother? How will you fix this tragedy? You have the Speed Force, you clearly have the power to change it all!"
Reverse Flash finally played his trump card.
Barry, who had been turning to leave, froze in his tracks. For a brief moment, confusion and struggle appeared in his eyes.
"Your mother is dead. Your father lost twenty years of his life. Your childhood and youth were filled with loneliness and tragedy. Even when you cried, there was no one to comfort you! You know there are some things your foster father could never give you."
Reverse Flash desperately tried to tempt him, his eyes filled with a bloody glint. "But you're different. You can change all of this. You can start all over again!"
Barry struggled, shaking his head. "I won't change the past. It would cause catastrophic consequences."
"Don't forget, I taught you this too. As long as you aren't reckless, anything can be changed!" Reverse Flash was getting a bit desperate but tried to feign a calm and indifferent demeanor.
Barry turned and started to walk away.
Thump!
Reverse Flash slammed his palm against the glass and said in a sinister voice, "Don't forget, Barry. On the night your mother died, I wasn't the only speedster there... Figures of yellow and red created a small vortex, roaring around your mother..."
Barry's body trembled violently. He spun around, his eyes wide as he stared fixedly at Reverse Flash.
Reverse Flash let out a low chuckle and said, "My Speed Force arc is red, so that yellow electric arc speedster... you know who that is, don't you? You should know. Your future self came back to stop me, saving your 5-year-old self, but also causing your mother's death. Believe me, I never intended to kill your mother. It was you. You caused this whole tragedy to happen."
"If you had been just a little faster, you could have taken my dagger, and your mother wouldn't have died."
"If you had laid in wait at home and attacked me the moment I appeared, your mother wouldn't have died either."
Barry's eyes were red. "But that was me from the 22nd century!"
"You can't be sure about that, Barry. What if it wasn't? You and I both have memories of the past; it's a fact that has already happened in this timeline. The fact is, you got your mother killed. You were selfish, only concerned with saving your younger self while having no time to spare a thought for your mother. If..."
Reverse Flash let out a cold laugh, slowly backing away a few steps to lean against the wall, closing his eyes.
He knew he had succeeded.
He understood Barry too well, even better than Barry understood himself. He knew Barry would definitely do it.
Swoosh!
A yellow electric arc flashed, and Barry disappeared from the spot.
Reverse Flash's eyes opened a crack. He whispered a few words and then closed them again. Only the cold sneer at the corner of his mouth had quietly grown wider...
Night fell, and countless people drifted off to sleep.
Barry quietly came to S.T.A.R. Labs alone and gently opened the super runway they normally used for training.
Reverse Flash opened his eyes. He walked to the glass door with his arms crossed, watching Barry with a cold smile. "You have the power to change reality. The Speed Force has the deepest connection with you. When you run, you will personally see things you could never have imagined... things I never told you."
Barry paid him no mind, silently activating the equipment and opening the portal. Like an ordinary human, he slowly put on his red suit and stood on the runway.
This time, he didn't use the Cosmic Treadmill. That thing wasn't something he could control himself, and besides, he no longer needed its assistance.
Barry had grown strong enough.
The yellow electric arc flickered, and Barry's lightning-fast figure shot forward, beginning to run frantically around the enclosed track.
Lap after lap, Barry's figure appeared in every corner of the runway. The electric arc from the previous lap hadn't even had time to dissipate before it overlapped with the arc from the current one.
Soon, the vast runway was filled with flashing lightning and roaring thunder, with yellow lightning bolts constantly crackling.
Reverse Flash just stood there quietly, watching his arch-nemesis continuously accelerate.
"You still maintain your innocence. That's good. You have an ability that makes people instinctively want to get close to you. That ability is far more fearsome than your Speed Force... because it's something I can never have, and it's the fundamental reason you're always able to defeat me."
"No hatred is born from nothing. The hatred between us was all built upon a predetermined beginning. You're a genius. The Speed Force was born because of you, and it has changed because of you."
"This is your first time traveling through time alone since Apokolips. You will learn the hidden truth."
Reverse Flash watched the lightning grow frantically dense, speaking in a low voice.
He knew many secrets, not just those involving the Speed Force, but those things were far beyond what the current Barry could comprehend.
Reverse Flash murmured to himself, his cold gaze gradually becoming complex. Finally, he spoke one last sentence, just as he used to when he encouraged Barry as Dr. Harrison Wells.
"Run, Barry, run!"
(end of chapter)
S.T.A.R. Labs, the basement.
Clark and the others had personally escorted Reverse Flash here. Originally, they wanted to lock him up in the space station prison in outer space, but Barry stubbornly refused. He insisted on imprisoning Reverse Flash in S.T.A.R. Labs.
This place housed numerous high-tech prison cells that had been specially modified to hold various Ability Users.
After Clark and the others left, Barry came here alone.
Reverse Flash stood inside the cell, meeting Barry's gaze through the glass door.
As always, a cold smile, tinged with deep mockery, hung on Reverse Flash's lips.
He was always like this, enjoying looking at his arch-nemesis with a slightly mocking expression.
"If I were you, I would have gone for the kill the moment I won," Reverse Flash said, patting the glass and looking around.
He had participated, to some extent, in the construction of these cells, yet they had ultimately become his own cage.
"That's why you can never be me, and I can never be you!" Barry said, looking at Reverse Flash with hatred in his eyes.
"What a pity... So many years I've spent, and I still haven't changed you. I could have done it, but time didn't allow it," Reverse Flash said.
It was unclear whether this "time" he mentioned simply referred to the length of time, or some unknown aspect of fate.
In the Prime Universe, in the present, Reverse Flash had single-handedly orchestrated the birth of The Flash, causing Barry to gain the Speed Force many years ahead of schedule. He had even acted as a life mentor, teaching Barry the skills to use the Speed Force bit by bit, pushing him to grow.
Like a farmer harvesting wheat, his ultimate goal was to profit.
But Reverse Flash, this professional farmer, was ultimately taken down by the wheat. One had to admit, it was a helpless outcome.
Barry looked at the man he had respected as a life mentor not long ago, his heart a complex mix of hatred and sorrow.
"You can never return to your era. What awaits you is to live out the rest of your days in this one. You will spend the rest of your life in this prison... I will always be watching you, making you pay for what you did to my parents!"
"No! You can't do this! You might as well just kill me!" Reverse Flash furiously pressed himself against the glass door, pounding it with his fists, his twisted face contorted with rage.
"I won't kill you. I won't kill you now that I've captured you. That would only make me the same as you," Barry said coldly.
"Then what about your mother? You lock me in here, but have you thought about how to save your mother? How will you fix this tragedy? You have the Speed Force, you clearly have the power to change it all!"
Reverse Flash finally played his trump card.
Barry, who had been turning to leave, froze in his tracks. For a brief moment, confusion and struggle appeared in his eyes.
"Your mother is dead. Your father lost twenty years of his life. Your childhood and youth were filled with loneliness and tragedy. Even when you cried, there was no one to comfort you! You know there are some things your foster father could never give you."
Reverse Flash desperately tried to tempt him, his eyes filled with a bloody glint. "But you're different. You can change all of this. You can start all over again!"
Barry struggled, shaking his head. "I won't change the past. It would cause catastrophic consequences."
"Don't forget, I taught you this too. As long as you aren't reckless, anything can be changed!" Reverse Flash was getting a bit desperate but tried to feign a calm and indifferent demeanor.
Barry turned and started to walk away.
Thump!
Reverse Flash slammed his palm against the glass and said in a sinister voice, "Don't forget, Barry. On the night your mother died, I wasn't the only speedster there... Figures of yellow and red created a small vortex, roaring around your mother..."
Barry's body trembled violently. He spun around, his eyes wide as he stared fixedly at Reverse Flash.
Reverse Flash let out a low chuckle and said, "My Speed Force arc is red, so that yellow electric arc speedster... you know who that is, don't you? You should know. Your future self came back to stop me, saving your 5-year-old self, but also causing your mother's death. Believe me, I never intended to kill your mother. It was you. You caused this whole tragedy to happen."
"If you had been just a little faster, you could have taken my dagger, and your mother wouldn't have died."
"If you had laid in wait at home and attacked me the moment I appeared, your mother wouldn't have died either."
Barry's eyes were red. "But that was me from the 22nd century!"
"You can't be sure about that, Barry. What if it wasn't? You and I both have memories of the past; it's a fact that has already happened in this timeline. The fact is, you got your mother killed. You were selfish, only concerned with saving your younger self while having no time to spare a thought for your mother. If..."
Reverse Flash let out a cold laugh, slowly backing away a few steps to lean against the wall, closing his eyes.
He knew he had succeeded.
He understood Barry too well, even better than Barry understood himself. He knew Barry would definitely do it.
Swoosh!
A yellow electric arc flashed, and Barry disappeared from the spot.
Reverse Flash's eyes opened a crack. He whispered a few words and then closed them again. Only the cold sneer at the corner of his mouth had quietly grown wider...
Night fell, and countless people drifted off to sleep.
Barry quietly came to S.T.A.R. Labs alone and gently opened the super runway they normally used for training.
Reverse Flash opened his eyes. He walked to the glass door with his arms crossed, watching Barry with a cold smile. "You have the power to change reality. The Speed Force has the deepest connection with you. When you run, you will personally see things you could never have imagined... things I never told you."
Barry paid him no mind, silently activating the equipment and opening the portal. Like an ordinary human, he slowly put on his red suit and stood on the runway.
This time, he didn't use the Cosmic Treadmill. That thing wasn't something he could control himself, and besides, he no longer needed its assistance.
Barry had grown strong enough.
The yellow electric arc flickered, and Barry's lightning-fast figure shot forward, beginning to run frantically around the enclosed track.
Lap after lap, Barry's figure appeared in every corner of the runway. The electric arc from the previous lap hadn't even had time to dissipate before it overlapped with the arc from the current one.
Soon, the vast runway was filled with flashing lightning and roaring thunder, with yellow lightning bolts constantly crackling.
Reverse Flash just stood there quietly, watching his arch-nemesis continuously accelerate.
"You still maintain your innocence. That's good. You have an ability that makes people instinctively want to get close to you. That ability is far more fearsome than your Speed Force... because it's something I can never have, and it's the fundamental reason you're always able to defeat me."
"No hatred is born from nothing. The hatred between us was all built upon a predetermined beginning. You're a genius. The Speed Force was born because of you, and it has changed because of you."
"This is your first time traveling through time alone since Apokolips. You will learn the hidden truth."
Reverse Flash watched the lightning grow frantically dense, speaking in a low voice.
He knew many secrets, not just those involving the Speed Force, but those things were far beyond what the current Barry could comprehend.
Reverse Flash murmured to himself, his cold gaze gradually becoming complex. Finally, he spoke one last sentence, just as he used to when he encouraged Barry as Dr. Harrison Wells.
"Run, Barry, run!"
(end of chapter)
