Author's Note: Just a fair warning, if anyone hasn't heard of the 'villain' Mxyzptlk, or read the other DC stories I'm doing, then some of this chapter will make no sense whatsoever... Enjoy! XD

------------------------

"The balance has been disturbed. This timeline has permanently changed due to your recklessness." Doctor Fate scolded. "This all could have been avoided if you had just kept an eye on Reverse Flash."

Barry stood in front of the helm wearer, biting his lip guiltily and constantly shifting his gaze from the floor to the wall, then back again. Anything that could ensure that he avoided looking at Doctor Fate.

Mineko, who had been waiting there for several seconds, decided that this was the most appropriate time to speak. "Can you not just travel back in time and fix this?"

"It's... not that simple." Barry admitted with a heavy exhale. "Time travel seems like the easy way out, but it never is. It'll only make things worse."

Mineko cocked her head to the side and furrowed her brow. "I do not think I understand."

Barry dared a glimpse at Doctor Fate, who had crossed his arms impatiently but still waited for Barry to provide her with an explanation. "It's... uhh... Well, changing the past creates a sort of tear in time and space. As a result, the universe tries to equalise the instability by altering reality to compensate for the changes. Going back will reopen that tear, and if I fail to change her death, then space-time won't be able to repair itself as seamlessly as before. So, for example, Yan's death may have effected a dozen people this time, but if it happens again it could change hundreds and more severely."

"Then the solution is simple. Do not fail."

"If I somehow manage to save her there's no guarantee that the universe won't try and kill her some other way." Barry tried to explain, but it didn't look like Mineko completely understood. "She wasn't meant to die in our time, but she did. That leaves a mark...a scar. One that affects the future and the past so deeply that even travelling back to before it was made won't fix it."

Mineko shook her head, obviously perplexed by the entire conversation. That's when Barry finally noticed. Her hair was much shorter, so much so that it bobbed around her face whenever she moved. It was, the last time he checked, so long that on the rare occasion that she left it out it scraped across the very top of her thighs.

"H-Hey, when did you cut your hair?" Barry asked off topic.

Mineko was silent as the grave for a few moments before answering with confusion stinging her tone. "What do you mean? It has always been like this."

Doctor Fate shot Barry a very specific glare, one he knew all too well. Mineko's appearance was only one of the things that had been changed due to Yan's death. Not to say that it was a bad thing, her hair being shorter revealed her face more. It was cute.

"Oh, sorry, I must be misremembering..."

"Then can we get back to the topic at hand?" Mineko said eagerly. "You're saying that me being here, even if I attempt not to interact with anyone, has still altered the lives of people I've never met?"

"Yeah, it's pretty confusing."

"And that is why you must leave as soon as possible." Doctor Fate stated. "So much has already been altered. We do not want to upset space-time anymore than we already have."

Mineko nodded solemnly. "Then I will leave as soon as I'm able. Please just allow me a day or two to gather my things. Leaving anything behind could cause even further damage."

Fate allowed this, though he wasn't enthused by the prospect of her staying a little longer. Barry, on the other hand, was suddenly filled with dread at the idea of her leaving. He knew the day would come, but not that he would be so close to her when it did.

Barry was so lost in his own thoughts that he barely noticed when Doctor Fate left, nor when Superman arrived before he patted him on the shoulder. "Hey, pal. The good doctor giving you trouble again?"

"He always does." Barry sighed, sadness evident in his voice though he tried to hide it. "What are you doing here anyway? Didn't you have a date with Lois? Shouldn't you be getting ready?"

"Lois? Lois Lane?" Superman questioned with a bewildered gaze. "I wish."

Barry gave his friend a sympathetic look. This was apparently another thing that had been changed, and Barry couldn't help but feel guilty about it. He knew how much Clark liked Lois, and how long he'd waited for a chance to ask her out... and how hard it was to get her to agree with her eyes always on his alter ego. Now all that work was for nothing, and he was back to square one.

"Oh... right." Barry said lowly. He really hated time travel. "What I mean is... you should ask her out. I'm sure she'd say yes."

Superman smiled at his encouragement. "Maybe one day, but for now I have to skaddale. Warring alien tribes in the galaxy next door and all that."

The Man of Steel gave both him and Mineko a wave then flew out of the Watchtower. Barry barely had the chance to return the gesture before he disappeared. He was still so preoccupied with not only the fact that this world was different to how he remembered it, but that Mineko was leaving, and he wasn't even sure if she still felt the same way as he did. Perhaps this version of her never harboured any feelings towards him at all...

Abruptly, much to Barry's wide-eyed disbelief, a little man appeared in a white flash right before him. "Hey! What's the big idea you onesie-wearing doofus?!"

Barry glanced at Mineko, but she seemed to be frozen in time. In fact, it seemed like he and this tiny old man were the only things moving at all.

"Yeah, I'm talkin' to you!!" The man howled.

When he turned his eyes back to the weird little guy, a cog in Barry's mind suddenly snapped into motion. "Mxyzptlk...?! Wait, why are you bugging me? Big Blue just left the--"

"I'm buggin' you because you just messed everything up!! Again!! First it was that little Flashpoint thing, and now this!!" Mxyzptlk reaches into his pocket and pulls out a very large framed photograph of Lois and Clark together, which was clearly way too big to fit into said pocket. "The most important couple in comic book history!! The OG damsel in distress and the OG goody two-shoes!! MY OTP!! GONE!! KABLOOEY!!" He snapped his fingers and the photograph changed. Lois was replaced by a rather grumpy-looking blonde woman with icy blue eyes that appeared to be dead inside. "WHAT AM I STUCK WITH?! A MENTALLY-CHALLENGED DEATHSTROKE RIP-OFF WITH BOOBS AND PERMANENT MOOD SWINGS!!"

"...Uh...um...what?" Barry muttered.

Mxyzptlk's head turned bright red and his eyes began to sputter out with steam, not figuratively but rather literally to Barry's amazement. "I was enjoying some well-written story by actual professional writers and now you mucked it all up!! Some loser on the internet who thought they could write is at the helm now thanks to you and your STUPID plot-hole-filled time travelling!! Do you know what they named that broad?! Silvia Stone. What kinda stupid name is that?! Nineteen-sixties Marvel called, they want their alliteration back you idiots! Oh and guess what?! She ain't even related to Cyborg so what's the friggin' point!! It's almost as bad as Camille, a friggen human becoming the Queen of Atlantis! Or Batman dating some alien called Rahn! It's sickening!"

"Wait, can't you just change it all back? Aren't you super powerful?"

"Yes. Yes I am. But I want to shout at you some more and maybe see how this crappy fan-fiction stuff pans out." He crossed his arms and began to slowly float across the room. "Do you know what the worst part is? The stupid writer wants to focus on finishing your story first before they move on to the Wonder Woman one! Now THAT one is actually good unlike all of these other ones! Bastion? Now that's a real man!"

Barry blinked rapidly, not really understanding a single thing Mxyzptlk was saying. Regardless, the fifth-dimensional being continued on his continuity-concerning rant "At least you and Superman still die in this reality. The writer almost skipped that crap because they were too lazy. Oh by the way, before I go, I can't have you spoiling reality for all your pals so I'm gonna 'Will Smith in Men In Black' your memory away." 

"I'm pretty sure you don't have to do that. I have absolutely no idea what you've been talking to me about."

"Nice try, but I'm not takin' any chances. I don't want anyone else knowin' that you guys exist in comic books and poorly-written fan fiction in a different dimension. That Deadpool guy from Marvel figured it out and he just got annoying. Not that he wasn't always annoying."

With a click of his fingers, the man was gone, and within seconds Barry couldn't recall anything that had happened. He squinted, scratched his head, but still didn't remember the previous events. Eventually he just shrugged it off and assumed that he had simply zoned out - which wasn't exactly uncommon for him.

"I should go..." Mineko's voice jolted him back into complete alertness. "I must prepare for the journey back."

Barry's heart dropped. "You don't really want to go, do you?"

"Want and need are two entirely different things. There is no choice. There never was."

"There's always a choice..."

Mineko's eyes fluttered closed, as if she were trying to compose herself. She was hurting just as much as he was, maybe even more. Returning after everything she had seen was almost cruel, but she believed it to be necessary. Duty before emotion, that's how she had always been. However, she allowed herself a small indulgence in the form of a kiss placed gently on Barry's cheek. The boy's heart leapt from its previous slump and thumped like a winning racehorse on a betting track. He gasped, only slightly, enough to let at least a little oxygen into his lungs that had suddenly been relinquished of all air. Somehow, after his shock and nervousness had dwindled, the sorrow hit him harder than before. This was not a kiss of friendship, nor of admission, nor of blind naivety, this was a kiss of goodbye.

"I will... see you at the apartment. I'll catch a ride with Wally." She said grimly, but Barry didn't believe her for a second.

"Why not come with me now?" He said desperately. "I want to spend some time with-... I mean, I want to make sure you're fully prepared."

"I have a few things I must do first." Mineko's voice grew smaller the more she permitted herself to speak. "Please, these are not matters that I can discuss with you yet."

Barry wanted to stop her. To tell her how much he wanted her to stay, but he was childish enough to trust her. Despite every part of his being begging him not to let her go, he did, and once he was back at his apartment he realised just how much he regretted it. He waited. Minutes, hours, all day, but she never returned to him. He didn't even know if she was still in his era... or if she had been dead for centuries.

————————————————