Dedicated to NoraXSWest-AllenFam, @CamrynKissel, @joshuasmith943, @bloodypunkkk, and damianflashpoint for all of their amazingly kind support of my Arrowverse stories! You all truly help me grow :)

And a special dedication goes out to my new Flash family friends, @amorheartz, ThatSpiderKnight, @Nicholas_Thawne, and luciferandchloe2021 for all of the love you've been sending my way these past few weeks! It's a pleasure to know that we're all a part of the Flash fandom together :)

Author's Notes:

Hi, everyone! I'm so thankful to have anyone here reading another Flash oneshot of mine because all of your views, votes, and comments truly mean the world to a growing writer like me :)

As always, I hope you're all having an amazingly wonderful day (or maybe this story can help bring a smile to your face when you're down) because you all deserve nothing less than to be living your best lives!

Anyways, onto the actual description of this oneshot now...also side note, I really am a Barry and or Nora-type rambler, aren't I? Lol.

As we all know, the final episode of the Flash premiered a few weeks ago (ugh...it still hurts so much to say...) and I'll be the first to say, wow...just wow...was it SO amazing!!!

I honestly loved nearly every second of it, from the perfectly well-rounded additional plots of the side characters (especially the Snow sisters :) to the phenomenally choreographed fight sequences between our favorite heroes and returning villains and most of all, EVERYTHING to do with West-Allen.

I mean, the scenes leading up to Baby Nora's birth and afterwards were just so beautiful that they quite literally bring me to tears every time I watch and or rewatch them :)

But of course, like any typical Flash fan, the moment I finished watching the episode, so many ideas immediately sparked inside my head about how I could add to the already perfect episode and beyond (which is probably a theme you'll see somewhat frequently in my work right now. Lol).

Which leads me to why I decided to write this particular oneshot for you all revolving around Barry and Eddie's final fight sequence.

Personally, I believe that scene was just so wonderfully crafted, in both terms of character development for Eddie but also, in the way it demonstrated how no matter what circumstances were occurring or what things were at stake, Barry's unrelenting heart would never stop believing in helping those around him. Especially his friends and family.

Buuuuuuttttt...that doesn't mean I didn't think of a certain few things that could really add to the spectacle of the series' final battle, though. Particularly in the form of four extra speedsters being given a little more screen time to, you know, help remind us why we love them so much ;0

Anyways, love you all and hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it :)

And remember,

Never stop believing in the impossible :)

"The only way we can create a better world is if you believe in the impossible."

Khione's calmly spoken words of wisdom echoed vividly throughout Barry's mind, seemingly bouncing potently off of its walls' confined space as he felt the strangely serene sensation of her mystical green energy flow across his every muscle, tiny sparks of luminescent white glitter being left in his form's invisible wake inside the battered coffee house that was CC Jitters.

A sense of anticipation seemed to slowly crawl up the base of the hero's spine as he watched the faces of his allies slowly fade into the background of his rapidly racing thoughts, his scarlet red-gloved fingertips tensing with determination at his identically suited sides. He wanted so desperately to wholeheartedly connect with his friend's every word, to immediately push aside even the prospect of letting Eddie die, like he'd tried to (with the help of Iris and Jay) do with Thawne the year prior. But something buried deep inside his golden lightning bolt emblemed-chest was acting as a constant reminder as to exactly why circumstances were far from the same thing; his heart.

I know that Eddie's a good man and I really, really wanna believe that I can get through to him. That together we can bring a balance to the timeline that no one's been able to before, just like what Khione said. But then, I see her little face.

Our Sweet Nora's beautifully perfect face and it's like I can already feel her tiny body resting her head gently against my chest as I hold her for the first time after she's born. And picture the look of undeniable motherly love that will fill Iris' heart as tears of joy run down both of our faces at the indescribably amazing sight of our baby girl.

And those moments, well, they aren't just dreams, anymore.

They're the life Iris and I are going to get to live together in just a few hours after this is all over.

And as selfish as it sounds, anytime I try to help the team decide what we should do, all I can think about is the two of them. Of her.

And all the wonderful moments we would lose together if I can't save him.

But somehow as if summoned by an instinctive spark igniting vibrantly inside the speedster's chest, answering the man's silent pleas of advice. A long departed, yet still freshly experienced memory flashed inside the hero's mind, his eyes quietly falling shut in favor of letting his mind focus all its attention on solely just the singular moment forever suspended in time;

"I wanna tell you something," Nora half-smiled, her metallic, silver-nailed hands folding nervously over one another in front of her orange and pink-sweatered chest.

"I mean, you're gonna find out in a few decades anyways," she quickly added, her gentle laugh echoing around the still force mirage which the two speedsters were standing in, though her words were spoken much more to reassure her already anxious self than anything else, really.

Every step her black high-topped feet took forward seemed to bring the tiniest bit of happiness to her father's form, though that didn't stop the insurmountable longing for the feeling of his wife's hand in his own from pressing against his heart.

"But you know how the other Nora was a CSI and was following in your footsteps?" Nora asked, her hands successfully finding their place of eased comfort tucked beneath her folded black-jeaned legs.

Barry nodded, quietly, his red-gloved hands crossed casually in front of his similarly colored knees to cover up mostly the same feelings which his daughter had just displayed an uncomfortableness with moments prior.

Something which neither speedster had yet to find any form of actual success in attempting, though that didn't stop them even in the slightest from trying to be their best possible selves around each other, regardless.

Not that Nora could ever be anything less than perfect to anyone, especially me.

"Well, I kinda did the opposite. I'm a reporter," giggled Nora, excitement carrying the majority of her voice now as she looked up hopefully into her father's distant blue eyes, seemingly acting as the only light that could truly bring him out of his head's worried thoughts.

"And, and even though I love it, I'm just starting out and sometimes I'm like, how does mom even do this?" Nora admitted, her shoulders raising slightly with playful sincerity, her quickly rambled words slowly bringing a gentle smile back to her father's previously tensed face.

Honestly, I've wondered that a few times myself, too. But it doesn't take very long to realize why; because she's Iris. And she's always been able to do everything better than anyone I've ever known.

"Well, I'm proud of you," Barry stated, gently as he looked across the West living room at his daughter with what was nothing short of love filling his eyes.

"Sooo, you're not mad I didn't join CCPD like you and Grandpa Joe?" Nora asked, her lighthearted voice dropping down several octaves in anticipation of her father's response.

"Oh, of course not. I'm just glad you found a path that's right for you," Barry reassured her almost immediately for there never had been nor would there be a world in which he wasn't thrilled to see his daughter happy about anything, regardless of what it was.

Because she's perfect just the way she is, no matter what choices she makes along the way. And judging by that smile on her face, well, I'd say she made the right call.

"Phew," Nora laughed, relief breaking through the momentary thoughts of anxiety clouding her excessively racing mind as she looked up appreciatively to meet her dad's supportive gaze.

Though, not without taking notice of the lingering expression of silent self-doubt tugging down at his otherwise proudly shining face. One which she needn't in the slightest examine for there had been far too many times to count that her dad had been on the receiving end of said look.

"So, um, the thing is that I'm having a really hard time finding my voice as a reporter, but mom is teaching me to have faith in myself and listen to my instincts," Nora explained, softly, gratitude towards her mother's love slowly bringing a stronger confidence into every word she spoke.

Hearing Nora say all these amazing things about Iris...it just reminds me of some of the infinite reasons why I always believed she'd make the best possible mother anyone could ever ask for.

"And if she were here right now, she'd tell you to do the same," Nora continued, words which quietly gained an understanding nod from her father as he listened to his daughter's advice.

"And that everyone loses faith in themselves sometimes, even heroes. But learning how to keep believing in yourself, when the whole world is telling you the opposite, that's what makes a hero," reasoned Nora, the final word spoken with the most excessive amount of energetic love she possibly could because she wasn't just talking about what made someone a hero.

But rather, what made The Flash, Barry Allen, her dad, her hero.

Barry felt his heart beat start to slow down as his eyes squeezed ever so slightly tighter at the memory of his daughter's compassionate words. Ones which weren't just initially spoken to him, but for him as Khione's final cosmic particles spread across his red-suited body, enveloping the remaining sections of his upper chest delicately in its concealed casing of transportation.

It doesn't matter if Jay or Mark or anyone else says that I can't help save Eddie as long as I believe I can.

Because having a job like the one we have isn't about focusing on what we could lose if something goes wrong, it's about keeping those moments, just like every single one I've gotten lucky enough to share with Nora, as a constant reminder of what I'm fighting for; to make the world a safer place for Iris and I's family. For our kids. Our baby.

And even if it might not feel like it right now, saving Eddie is the only right decision to be made.

Because what's the point of trying to change the world for our daughter if I'm not going to change along with it?

Barry suddenly felt his slick, golden-booted feet drop lightly down onto the granite, carob-colored flooring of his family's loft's living room, their simultaneous quiet tapping noise dissipating almost instantly under the immensely deafening sound of lightning crackling furiously throughout the entirety of the usually lively home. Ruby red lines of energy momentarily spread throughout The Flash's emblemed chest in a similar formation to that of Eobard Thawne's death cross before they quickly faded into the hazed air that the hero's ocean blue eyes were now met with. A sensation that brought with it the absence of his speed, too.

Though, it took the man no more than a mere turn of his unmasked head to figure out exactly where the cause of the chaotic storm was coming from due to the four constantly flashing beams of forked lightning shooting through the miraged roof of the place that would forever look like his home.

Power which swiftly coursed across Cobalt Blue's silver armored body as the Negative Force's energy dangerously encompassed the glowing amethyst positioned intricately in the middle of the man's azure-leathered chest. Tiny, uneven sparks jumping readily out of his white, elbow-length-gloves' palms.

He's absorbing way too much power for his body to maintain functioning under, and even including his cells' increased activity, they won't be able to stabilize that quantity of negative tachyons for more than another few minutes before it kills him.

"Eddie!" Barry shouted, his voice's echo reverberating loudly around the hollow-walled space which surrounded the two opposing speedsters, the prior's gaze momentarily darting up towards the many forming branches of vibrantly glowing red energy gathering above the grinning man's head.

No, I'm not going to let him die, not like Thawne. I decided to sit by and watch Thawne kill himself last year because I thought it wasn't my choice to make. That I couldn't save him if he didn't wanna be saved. But that's not true. Nobody deserves to die like that, not even Eobard Thawne.

And there's no way I'm making that mistake again with Eddie. Not after everything he sacrificed for the team, for Iris, for me, all those years ago.

And without allowing another precious second more to pass him by (if time was even a relevant factor when one was standing inside a literal force of nature, that is), Barry immediately lunged forward, tackling the former CCPD detective through a near-identical copy of his family's old oak coffee table, reducing its white-painted structure into only shattered planks of disposable wood.

Though, the casual centerpiece wasn't the only thing that was broken by the impact for only moments after the two fighters had crashed back first into the remains of what was now a wooden scrap pile, the chaotic lines of crimson lightning seemed to disappear off of Eddie and into the tensely tainted air which was racing so rapidly through The Flash's lungs from the fall.

Barry quickly pushed himself back onto his feet, his left-gloved hand instinctively thrusting his slightly sore body back upright without even the smallest hint of his cautiously watching eyes leaving Eddie who was, though slightly less balanced, performing nearly the same standing movements as his enemy.

Eddie swiftly jerked his head to the right, anger boiling vibrantly throughout his every vein as he noticed the minimal amount of energy radiating off his armored form.

"What did you do?" He demanded, gasps of air escaping his lungs every few seconds as they slowly regained a steady intake of breaths.

"Your connection to the Negative Speed Force is gonna kill you. You have to let it go," Barry reasoned, his hand held defensively in front of his chest, a warm sensation of blood trickling ever so softly down his left cheek as he spoke.

He didn't die for nothing and I know he feels that way, too. I just have to help remind him why.

"Liar!" Eddie yelled, two streams of twisted crimson lightning erupting from his palms as he blasted the hero backwards into the beige wall opposite where The Negative Avatar was standing.

Barry felt his back slam roughly against their home's black, metal cobblestone fireplace grate, flames of his enemy's attack rushing painfully throughout his every muscle.

Though, he only allowed the quietest of moans to leave his lips, his eyes momentarily shutting as he forced his way through the energized blast until he finally fell fist-first onto the granite ground below his golden-booted feet.

He doesn't want to hurt me or anyone else, it's just the Negative Force manipulating him.

"You just want it all for yourself," Eddie stated, his head shaking knowingly from side to side for he could tell just from the look in his enemy's honest blue eyes just how desperate for victory he truly was.

Desperate once again to steal the power that was rightfully his.

Just like he stole Iris.

"I wanna save you! All that power's overloading your body! You can't survive it!" Barry panted, his left knee pressed steadily against the floor as he held both his hands out, yieldingly.

He needs to know what he's fighting for. The life that he could have, that Iris and I want to help give back to him, but we can't do that unless he's willing to fight the Negative Force's corruption.

"Shut up!" Eddie shouted, his steel-toed silver boot instantly colliding with the side of The Flash's face, knocking him roughly backwards into the edge of his family's teal blue couch as his face slammed back down against the room's cold granite flooring.

Barry felt his entire body ache with pain, his knuckles bending slightly as he tried to push himself back upright to face his friend.

Only, his foe wasn't going to give him the pleasure of regaining his own footing, but instead opted to give the hero some assistance by forcibly yanking his body upward by the collar of his unmasked, dual lightning-bolted cowl.

"You stole my life!" Eddie boomed as he angrily launched Barry into a nearby polished wooden standing cabinet, his upper chest reducing his and Iris' lovingly framed wedding photograph and champagne glasses to mere fragments as his face slid painfully across the reflective surfaces' shards.

Barry's heart beat rapidly inside his chest as his right hand's fingertips smoothly touched the previously delicate picture frame's sturdy black plastic backing, the slightest hint of hidden comfort passing through his veins at the love held just behind the split photograph's image.

Iris needs me to do this. And so do I. Because if we're going to create a better world for our daughter, for our baby, then we have to be willing to fight for it.

And never would there ever be something the hero was more willing to fight beyond all sense of strength. To sweat until his lungs were gasping for any means of breath. To bleed until his veins ran dry of any substance that was so deemed necessary for life. To die for than to protect, to cherish, and to love,

His Sweet Nora.

Barry suddenly felt Eddie's hands swiftly spin him around on the heels of his slick golden boots, the latter's left forearm immediately pressing all its force against the hero's neck as words of hatred erupted from his mouth.

Words which seemed to echo even louder inside The Flash's throbbing head, bouncing off of nearly every wall his daughter's memory had only minutes prior.

Only, with much less delicacy and comfort, that is.

"I'm not gonna fight you anymore," Barry panted, his lungs fighting back the exhaustion trying to creep its way into his muscles, the short strands of his tousled brunette hair vaguely brushing over the tabletop which The Negative Force's Avatar was so forcibly pushing the hero's head back against.

Eddie scoffed, a twisted sneer consuming his face as he shoved his enemy across the room, taking extra care to elbow him roughly in the lower back as he did so.

Though, his opposing avatar was at least able to maintain a steady upright position as he stumbled forward several inches onto the small, auburn and gray-carpeted square rug placed beside their polished front door's quaint entrance.

I should've never tried to hurt him in the first place because anything he's done to me or to my team aren't his choices. They're the Negative Force's. But right now, he does get to make his choice. And I believe he's going to make the right one.

And without even leaving a second for the still air to pass through his enemy's lungs, Eddie let blow after blow of his tightly-clenched fists lather Barry's entire body with pain, each one colliding even harsher with his slowly weakening form before grabbing the back of the hero's arm and hurling him aggressively through one of the living room's many pathetically designed, pebble-gray bookshelves.

An action which was almost instantly succeeded with a thundering clatter of splintered wood crumbling onto the ground beneath the once standing piece of decorative furniture.

Barry felt bits of the cabinet's wooden shards press against his sprawled right leg, his back only successfully sliding halfway down the wall as Eddie hoisted his body up by beneath the arms.

"You didn't stop Thawne, I did! I saved everyone! And you wanna know why?" Eddie roared, his mouth slowly contorting into a crooked smile as he excitedly watched the steady stream of blood drip down from the hero's nose, its substance slowly beginning to smear across his chin with each attack the Negative Avatar threw.

"Because I always win, Flash! Always!" Eddie declared, each single syllable spoken in unison with an agonizingly painful blow to the hero's face, the latter's head jerking sharply to the left side under the impact of his hatred.

A fact which exactly mirrored Barry's greatest foe's motivation, the very person who had taken nearly everything from him, time and time again. His mother, his daughter, and almost, his wife.

The person who was so-deemed the accomplished title of, "The Man in The Yellow Suit," all those years ago;

Eobard Thawne.

An action which was repeated several times over again until Eddie's white gloves were stained a vibrant red with the fallen hero's blood as it splattered across the beige wall that stood behind the two combatants' forms.

Barry's entire mind began to fade into the deafening ringing which echoed clearly throughout his ear drums, his blurred vision filled with only that of his own blood slowly sliding down the enclosure that supported his aching back. His head bobbed dazedly downwards as he tried his best to regain any of his senses over the sloshing of blood which was dripping from his mouth, his suited shoulder smearing the freshly spewed substance messily against its barrier. All his thoughts seemed to swirl together in a confused storm of near-unconsciousness. All except two singular words;

Iris...Nora...I have to do this for them...

A loud and incoherent moan escaped The Flash's throat at the feeling of Cobalt Blue's soiled hand grabbing the back of his already teetering neck. Though, that sensation of discomfort lasted only that of a few seconds before Cobalt Blue's hands wrapped tightly around the hero's lower chest and threw him across the room, his entire body smashing sideways through the same table he and his wife had shared meals at for so many years of their marriage. The very same one they'd talked so fondly about in recent days getting to share similar moments with their baby at. Or at least, they were going to.

No...it's not a were...I won't let it be...because Nora, our baby, deserves to have everything she needs in life...and that includes her mother and father...and nothing is going to take that away from us...from me...

It may have been seconds or hours before Barry finally found the strength inside his gasping lungs to stand back up but none of the pain which was emulating so fiercely throughout his muscles were going to stop him from doing just that. A fact which only made Eddie's glare downwards at the hero's pathetic form grow more menacingly than before.

"Don't you see what's happening? You've become the person who died trying to stop," Barry reasoned, his words interrupted every few seconds by his lungs tired panting as small flakes of wooden dust quietly shook out of his spiked brunette hair.

Eddie's offensively raised fists seemed to slowly lower to his silver-armored sides at his enemy's protests, momentary flashes of his past life, the very one he was trying to live before his death consuming his mind's every thought.

"He lies!" Boomed a mysterious voice as it bounced harshly throughout Eddie's mind, its demands ones which he somehow knew he needed to follow, though the line drawn between his current condition and his wildest dreams seemed to suddenly merge into only that of the enigmatic force's command.

"Iris isn't your wife," his enemy's harshly spoken voice reverberated constantly inside the startled man's head, his tone carrying nothing short of manipulation as the image of wilting baby blue roses shone vividly after nearly every other spark of memory.

Each one only making its ill-minded pawn's heart beat increase as confusion crept its way into his ice-cold veins.

"Kill him now and take back what's yours!" The voice roared as the delicate memory of Iris' beautiful smile pushed past the immense pressure building up in the back of his skull.

The very same wonderfully perfect smile she'd worn on the couple's first and only Christmas he was given the chance to spend with the love of his life as he gifted his girlfriend a classic silver chain locket.

"Eddie," Barry warned, his voice held steady as he watched his friend's tall-standing form shake slightly with fear under the intensity of his own mind's manipulation.

C'mon, Eddie, you're strong enough to beat this. You just have to go a little further...

"You hold the power now, use it!" The gravelly voice declared, its echo holding only that of hatred as his thoughts were filled with the glowing, cobalt blue amethyst he'd so eagerly accepted only hours prior.

But was it truly eagerness? Or was it desperation? Desperation to regain control of the life he deserved to live with his family.

The one that Barry stole from him.

"End Barry Allen's pathetic existence!" The echo yelled, furiously, driving its avatar's thoughts directly into the very memories his mind held of the so-called hero's silently calculated attempts to steal Iris away from him.

And the looks, oh the looks of what most would call innocent lip biting and awkward sibling banter acting as none other than a ruse to cover up just how much he truly loved the reporter.

But even worse, were the feelings of betrayal that coursed so vigorously through his tightly clenched fists at just the prospect of Iris genuinely appreciating the patronizingly nice facade he'd always masked his true pathetic and parentless broken heart up with solely with the intent of dragging his loyal best friend into something she'd never, ever want to be; his wife.

"You have to remain as the avatar!" Barry protested, his hands shooting up pleadingly in front of his chest once more so as to show his disorientated friend that he wasn't there to fight, but rather, to help him through the indescribable pain the brave detective was being forced to endure.

"Just shut up!" Eddie screamed, vibrant red lines of uneven electricity racing across his pupils as he crumpled down onto his armored knees, his red-stained gloves pressed as hard as they could to both sides of his throbbing head.

Though, the man's internal begging for silence was quickly accomplished for his declaration of agony was instantaneously followed up by a massive ripple of Negative energy erupting from his rapidly beating chest's amethyst, their dangerously forked spikes blasting outwards in all directions.

Chunks of wooden debris and shattered glass splintered chaotically through the previously still-standing air around The Flash as his head flew over his golden-booted feet before his entire form crashed messily through his Loft's slick cedar staircase's lower steps.

Barry stirred quietly under the immense pile of wooden scraps and broken glass which covered his battered form, the vague feeling of their small, amalgamated pieces slicing through his suit's thin scarlet fabric rising groans of pain out of the speedster's aching bones. He wanted, no needed, more than anything to stand back up and help save his friend, the very person who'd given his own life to the weakly lying man years prior. But that was a monumental feat which his battered body wasn't quite willing to oblige to the request of.

Iris...Nora...Eddie...they need you to get up now...

Though, it was only moments after the wordless request had entered the hero's mind before he felt the distinct grip of a certain demonically clawed monster wrapping its fingers around his throat and yanking his beaten body up through the small crack of red light which his pupils' blurring vision seemed to still be able to vaguely observe.

But no amount of pain could ever make the hero forget the slitless eyes and the sewn-shut lips of the black-masked villain that had been deemed the dangerous moniker of, "Zoom."

"Hey, Flash. Long time, no see," Hunter Zolomon announced, his gravelly voice matching perfectly with his swift, black-suited movements as he slammed the back of Barry's head against a nearby wall, his murderous blue eyes staring excitedly at the hero's pathetic form dangling in front of him.

"And just in case you were wondering how I'm still alive after your Caitlin look-alike tried to kill me, just thank your friend over there," Hunter sneered as he nodded to the right where Eddie's form still lay rocking disorientatedly back and forth in place, a sphere-like globe of crimson red lightning encasing his irresolute body as uneven lines of red energy pulsed ethereally around its outer layering of uncontrolled protection.

I have to get to Eddie before it's too late.

"Wrong again, Zolomon because I told you once and I'll tell you again, no one should ever thank the waste of a human being that's my ancestor for anything," Eobard Thawne scoffed, lazily rolling his eyes as he sauntered casually over next to Zoom, the echo of his slick red boots booming past all of the various ringing sounds which were fighting for control inside Barry's head.

His every step forward was followed by a small jolt of red lightning jumping off his yellow-suited back, a very fact that his enemy was silently wondering if was something that both and or all of his recently resurrected foes' possessed or if Thawne was just merely trying to flaunt his power.

His ruffled gray hair seemed to idle with almost as much superiority atop his head as his general demeanor carried, only with slightly less egotistical gestures than his hands usually preferred pulling attention to.

Though, his actual appearance in the Negative Force itself was far from bringing astonishment to the hero's thoughts, but rather, gave his mind a stronger will of determination to break free of Zolomon's firm grasp in order to punch the smug look of casual confidence off his arch enemy's face.

Honestly, it would've been more of a surprise if he'd gone down without trying to kill me again.

"No, Thawne, you're wrong because anyone who's bold enough to bring to this time a God as powerful as me must be worth at least listening to," August Heart declared, his metallic, golden gloves effortlessly reflecting the red lightning which crackled so furiously just outside the Loft's tall, delicate glass bay windows as they lay folded menacingly in front of his white-suited chest.

A very pose which resembled the same exact one he'd held when Barry infiltrated his mind two years prior in an attempt to save August's heart amongst what everyone assumed was only pure evil. Something that he'd intended to succeed at in order to not only save what could've been an innocent man's life, but also, to give his two children the lives they really deserved.

It doesn't matter if it didn't work then because I'd try it a thousand times over again if it meant even just one of those times gave Nora and Bart, my kids, a chance at a better life. One where they both got to, where he got to grow up with his Uncle.

"I am the only true God of Speed. The one who is destined to become the greatest immortal to ever possess such powers as ours," transcended the ominous voice of Savitar as his heavy, slick silver-armored suit towered over both The Flash and his fellow villains' heads, casting its dreary shadow of fear over all its beholders' faces.

At least, it would have had his so-called "allies" not already witnessed the suit in person in a similar location, nonetheless.

Though, that fact didn't stop the smallest hint of guilt from dropping down to the base of Barry's throat at the sight of his own doppelganger. The same man who'd sworn to kill his wife six years prior, only to kill H.R. Wells instead.

He isn't you anymore, Barry. He never was and he never will be.

"Oh give it a break, second rate wannabes," Zolomon snapped, his gaze holding steady on The Flash's slowly popping eyes, his grip tightening ever so slightly around the hero's neck, an action that barely crested under retaining just the amount of pressure it took to break someone's neck.

"You should know considering you are one of me after all," Thawne taunted, gesturing clearly with both of his thumbs towards himself as he paced patiently around the room until he finally scoped out the perfect position up against where The West-Allen family's cobblestone fireplace used to reside before Eddie's explosion to watch his fellow villains bloody their enemy before he would, of course, perform the famed lead role in the final act of the hated hero's life by murdering him in a similar fashion to the way he'd so generously gifted to Barry's mother when he was just a boy; a phasing hand through the heart.

Only, without the need to leave a murder weapon for his father at the crime scene, that is.

"Why don't you come over here and fight me then, huh? Get a taste of what true power feels like," Zolomon retorted, his eyes momentarily fading as swirling shadows of pitch black darkness replaced his already dangerously unhinged pupils.

Barry felt his heart beat slowly start to fasten inside his chest at the sensation of the monster's furious fingers digging deeper into his neck's skin, prompting small lines of blood to drip down the back of his unmasked suit.

The Negative Force is just trying to stall for time so it can try and regain control over Eddie. Which means all I have to do is find a way to get past them, not defeat all of them. If that's even an option, anyway.

"You artificial speed-users wouldn't know real power if it stabbed you in the back," Savitar stated, his voice so low it may as well be deemed as the growl of a cold-hearted killer pouncing upon its prey as he marched menacingly behind Zolomon.

His every step seemed to carry a weight stronger in pressure than any of his fellow speedsters, though his competitors were far from intimated by merely a walking suit of silver armor. Something which Thawne was particularly fond of opposing by going as far as to roll his eyes, agitatedly at the so-called, "God's," attempt to scare them into submission.

If I can just slip out of Zolomon's grasp while he's distracted...

Though, Barry's supposedly silent movements unfortunately did not go unnoticed by his initial captor for the monster's attention almost immediately snapped back onto the hero the second he began to squirm even slightly within his sharply-clawed hold.

"Ah, so you still have a lust for freedom, do you, Flash? That's fine because, today, I'm actually feeling generous enough to give you some," Zoom announced, his head cocking dangerously to the side as he lifted The Flash's face up to meet his unmasked one, letting the hero's dazed vision dance vividly with the pain coursing through his bruised body before he lobbed his injured prey across the room.

Lightning surged painfully throughout Barry's whole body as his back slammed against the Negative Avatar's pulsating sphere, an impact which nearly sent the hero soaring through the air a second time as he abruptly fell over their living room's soft white sofa and onto the tile floor beside it.

"Argh," Barry muttered, quietly in pain, his upper lip instinctively biting down on his lower one as he slowly pulled his blood-smeared face away from dented tile panels it was residing against.

A searing pain seemed to emulate clearly from his right side, a feeling which his gaze soon found to be a large electrical burn that had ripped straight through his red-suited covering and scorched his skin with what the CSI at least temporarily determined was most likely a second-degree burn.

Okay, yeah, that one's gonna leave a mark...

"Not so fast now, are you, Flash?" Zolomon questioned, a deep cackle releasing from his mouth as his hands slowly pulled his hellish mask over his excited face, his movements slowly leading him closer and closer to his enemy.

That is before August extended his golden-gloved hand outward in front of the monster's chest, an action which the latter did not in the slightest have appreciation towards, though took pleasure in stepping back regardless just to have the entertainment that would surely be his fellow villain's defeat.

"Let me show you what a true God can do," August declared, boldly pushing past Zolomon, ruby red energy jumping fiercely off of his slick, white-clothed arms as he approached the stirring hero.

Barry's hands finally found enough stability to push the dazed hero onto his own golden-booted feet, his mind completely ignoring the lines of dried and or fresh blood which lined his tired face as he clenched his fists tightly in front of his chest.

There may be more of them, but there's no way in hell I'm going down without a fight.