[Wayne Manor - Underground Basement]
Barry Allen and Victor Stone—also known as Cyborg—lay side by side on metal examination tables in Wayne Manor's underground facility. Barry had been healed by Jean's magic and was merely unconscious from exhaustion. Victor remained deeply unconscious, his cybernetic systems running diagnostic routines while his human side recovered from Anna's devastating punch.
Anna let out a long sigh and shook her head slowly. "He really is reckless. Trying to regain the Speed Force without proper preparations, safety protocols, or even basic planning. Using nothing but chemicals and desperation."
Ethan knew Barry's reckless nature intimately—both from the movies he'd watched in his past life and from the future timelines he'd witnessed through his Chronokinesis.
The Flash had a pattern of acting first and thinking later, of breaking reality and then trying to fix it afterward. So Ethan didn't say anything in Barry's defense and simply stood nearby with his arms crossed.
The basement had become crowded with their group. Elizabeth stood close to Jean, who positioned herself beside Ethan and Anna. Kara was examining the basement's contents with intense focus—looking at files pinned to boards, studying equipment, trying to understand this strange world she'd been imprisoned in.
Batman stood opposite them all, his posture rigid and his expression unreadable behind the mask.
When Ethan and Anna had first arrived through their portal carrying Victor's unconscious form, they'd found Jean furious with Batman standing near Barry's unconscious body. Elizabeth had been attempting to calm Jean down with limited success.
Jean had explained what happened—the insane lightning experiment, the chemicals exploding, Barry nearly burning to death—and Anna had sighed in exasperated understanding.
Batman, who had remained silent throughout Jean's angry explanation, suddenly spoke with his gravelly voice, "Did Barry create a Flashpoint before this one?"
Everyone turned to look at him in surprise. Ethan's expression remained calm as he asked neutrally, "Why would you think that?"
Batman's mind was clearly working through the evidence. "From your conversation with him earlier, I could tell this wasn't the first time you've witnessed Barry creating a temporal paradox. From Barry's perspective, this is his first Flashpoint—he seemed genuinely confused about the scale of changes. But you weren't surprised at all. That leaves you, who can manipulate time, as someone who has seen Barry create Flashpoints before."
Anna whistled appreciatively. "Now I see the resemblance between you and Bruce. You both think exactly alike—same deductive reasoning, same ability to see patterns others miss."
Ethan's smile held genuine respect. "You could say that. And I'll tell you honestly—this world represents one of the worst possible endings a Flashpoint can create."
Batman's eyes narrowed behind his mask. "You mentioned Barry has a few hours before something happens. What is that deadline? How does this world end?"
Elizabeth turned to look at everyone with surprise on her face. The others all had relatively normal expressions because Ethan already knew what was coming and Anna had received confirmation from him earlier about the timeline's impending doom.
Kara didn't seem to care much about apocalyptic predictions and continued examining the papers and equipment scattered around the basement.
Jean could tell from the history of this world that time was running out. The memories she'd inadvertently absorbed from Thomas Wayne painted a picture of escalating war between Atlantis and the Amazons, of a conflict spiraling completely out of control.
Ethan looked at Batman with something approaching admiration. "Like father, like son. Both of you deserve to be called Batman—the same brilliant mind and tactical genius, it's just applied under different circumstances."
He began explaining with matter-of-fact clarity, "This world will end when Arthur Curry activates his doomsday weapon. He captured Captain Atom during the war and built a machine that can harness his power. If Atlantis loses the war, Arthur will detonate that machine and destroy the entire planet rather than accept defeat."
His expression grew more serious. "Not only that, but General Zod of Krypton will arrive in approximately one hour with several other Kryptonian survivors."
That statement finally got a reaction from Kara. Her head snapped up from the files and her eyes went wide. "That's impossible! He's—"
Ethan cut her off gently but firmly. "He's coming here for the Kryptonian scout ship on Earth and for the Genesis Chamber it contains—the technology capable of creating new Kryptonians. He already has the Codex, so he has everything he needs to rebuild his species."
Kara stood frozen in shock. Batman raised an eyebrow and spoke with dry resignation, "More aliens, huh. They'll be disappointed to discover Earth doesn't have what it used to."
Jean and Anna exchanged knowing glances. Elizabeth looked more confused than ever, struggling to follow the rapid-fire revelations about alien invasions and planetary destruction.
Kara's voice was small and desperate. "That's not possible. The Codex is with Kal... no... did they..."
Her eyes began to burn red with barely contained fury.
Ethan moved to her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Kara. Kal-El didn't make it. His escape pod encountered a spatial anomaly and was pulled into the Phantom Zone. When Krypton was destroyed, the resulting energy wave destabilized the Zone and released Zone's prisoners. They found Kal's pod floating in the void. After their experiments..."
He paused, choosing his words carefully. "They extracted the Codex from him. He didn't survive the process."
Kara's face twisted with grief and rage. "You're lying!" she shouted and tried to slap his hand away, to push him back, to reject this terrible reality.
But Ethan held her firmly and pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry, Kara. I truly am."
Jean and Anna both sighed with sympathy. Elizabeth's voice was barely above a whisper, "This is truly a nightmare."
Batman's gravelly observation carried no emotion, "Welcome to the hard part of life."
Kara's hands had found the fabric of Ethan's jacket. She held on. Her whole body shook once, and then the tears came with the raw and enormous grief of someone who had just lost the last piece of a world already gone.
He held her through it.
After a moment, he spoke again, "I know you may not believe me just from words. I can show you, if you're willing. What happened to him — exactly as it was."
Kara cried and hugged Ethan tightly, her body shaking with sobs. Through her tears she managed to speak, "Show me. I may not believe you without proof. Show me what happened to Kal."
Ethan understood her reasoning—and more importantly, he understood his own. Kara needed to be prepared for the battle that would happen in an hour. He couldn't let her be distracted by the news of Kal's death in the middle of combat. Better to process the grief now and transform it into determination.
He nodded and slowly began sending images directly into her mind through his telepathy. Just fragments, carefully selected—enough to confirm the truth without traumatizing her with every horrific detail.
Kara's expression shifted from grief to pure, burning rage. She tried to pull away, clearly intending to fly off and hunt down Zod immediately to kill him with her bare hands.
Ethan held her shoulders firmly. "He'll be here in an hour. And before you go seeking revenge, do you want to learn the truth of this world? The real truth?"
Confusion cut through Kara's anger. "What do you mean?"
Ethan began feeding information directly into her mind—showing her what really happened in this world compared to the original timeline. He included Elizabeth and Batman in this mental transmission as well, letting them all see the proper history that should have been.
His reasoning was strategic. They needed resolve to fight with everything they had to secure a better future.
Sure, Ethan could change the timeline himself, but Barry needed to learn from this experience. He needed to watch everyone struggle because of his choice. And Batman hadn't actually asked Ethan to fix the timeline yet, which suggested Thomas Wayne had something specific in mind.
After a few seconds of absorbing the transmitted information, Kara's eyes narrowed with new understanding. "If Barry fixes the timeline... will Kal be alive and happy in that world?"
Ethan answered honestly, "As long as Barry doesn't create any more mess during the correction process, yes. Kal-El will land safely on Earth, be raised by the Kents, and become Superman."
Kara's jaw set with determination and she nodded firmly. "Then it's good. I'll make sure Barry fixes this timeline—even if I have to break every bone in his body to motivate him."
Elizabeth was still trying to process all the information flooding her mind—alternate timelines, dead universes, the concept of fixed points and temporal paradoxes.
Meanwhile, Batman gestured to Ethan. "We need to talk. In private."
Ethan nodded and left with Batman, leaving Jean, Anna, and Elizabeth behind to comfort Kara.
...
After a while, both Barry and Victor began stirring back to consciousness. Victor's cybernetic eye activated first, scanning his surroundings with precision.
He immediately tried to sit up and his synthesized voice carried demand and confusion, "What happened? Where am I? Who are you people?"
Barry, whose memories of this timeline had finally settled properly into his mind, looked at Victor with recognition. "Victor! Wow, you're here too! This is... actually, this is really complicated."
His gaze swept the room and landed on Anna, Elizabeth and Jean, who were seated comfortably on a luxurious sofa that definitely hadn't been in this basement before.
They held drinks in glasses and didn't seem concerned about the two men regaining consciousness.
Instead, they were watching a television that was playing footage from the original timeline—the Justice League's battle against Darkseid, with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Flash all fighting in perfect coordination.
Then Ethan and Batman emerged from a side room where they'd been having their private conversation. Both men immediately noticed that Barry and Victor were awake.
Before anyone could speak, Kara emerged from the shadows beside them. Her face was a mask of cold fury and her eyes still held that dangerous red glow.
She moved directly toward Barry with purposeful strides.
Barry opened his mouth to greet her. "Hi, I'm—"
SLAP!
Kara's hand connected with Barry's face with devastating force. The speedster went flying backward through the air, his body tumbling end-over-end before crashing into the far wall with enough impact to crack the stone. He slumped to the ground unconscious, half his teeth scattered across the floor.
Anna whistled with impressed amusement. "Someone just beat Ethan's record for teeth knocked out in a single hit."
Kara was already moving forward, clearly intending to kick Barry while he was down. Jean quickly stepped in front of her and placed a restraining hand on the Kryptonian's shoulder. "That's enough for now."
Ethan moved to Barry's unconscious form and green energy flowed from the magic circle appread in his hands into the speedster's body. Teeth regrew, jaw bones reconnected and slowly consciousness began returning.
"He needs to be alive to fix this timeline. So please try not to kill him." Ethan paused and then added with a slight smile, "After he fixes everything, then he's all yours."
Jean turned to look at Ethan with mild reproach. "Ethan."
He shrugged unapologetically. "What?"
Jean's voice carried patience but also concern. "It was his mistake, yes. But he's trying his best to fix it. Don't hold this against him so much. You also—" She stopped herself and was about to apologize for bringing up Ethan's own timeline manipulation.
But Ethan spoke first, "That's exactly why I'm harsh on him, Jean. I don't want Barry to make the same mistakes I did. Pain and consequences are better teachers than forgiveness and understanding."
Victor was still trying to process everything happening around him. He turned to Batman with desperate confusion, "Are you part of these terrorists now? What's going on here? Why does that woman seems to be as strong as the Queen of Amazons? Who are these people?"
Ethan sighed deeply. "This is going to take a while to explain."
It only took Ethan a second to explain everything to Victor through telepathy, but the questions, existential crisis, and inevitable drama took a few more minutes. Still, after some time, they managed to convince him about Flashpoint.
...
A few moments later, Barry found himself strapped into the same chair again, surrounded by the same chemical setup, with the same antenna structure positioned behind him to attract lightning.
The storm outside hadn't abated at all. If anything, it had intensified.
But now there were more witnesses to this desperate experiment. Ethan, Jean, Anna, Elizabeth, Kara, and Victor all stood nearby, watching with varying expressions of concern, curiosity, and in Kara's case, barely suppressed anger.
Batman activated the machine again. The antenna began crackling with electrical energy.
Lightning struck Barry directly and he screamed in agony as electricity coursed through his body. But this time, the chemicals didn't explode. This time, the setup held.
And this time, it worked.
Barry's screams stopped abruptly. He stood up—no, he moved in a blur of motion, vibrating with Speed Force energy that crackled around his body in yellow arcs.
He'd gotten his speed back.
Barry instinctively reached for the ring on his finger—the one that contained his compressed costume. He activated it and the suit materialized around his body in a flash of light.
But something was wrong with the colors. Instead of the bright red with gold lightning he expected, the suit was predominantly yellow with a red lightning bolt symbol on the chest.
The colors of the Reverse Flash.
Barry turned to Ethan with wide eyes. "Is he also...?"
Ethan nodded with grim understanding. "Yeah. The Reverse Flash exists in this timeline too. Eobard Thawne is out there somewhere, probably thinking of ways to get back on you."
Meanwhile, Victor approached Kara cautiously. His human eye showed genuine remorse. "I apologize for not understanding what happened to you and for not helping sooner. But I promise you, there is still good in humanity. Not everyone is like the people who imprisoned you."
Elizabeth nodded in agreement, though her voice carried uncertainty. "There must be good people here. There have to be."
But she wasn't completely sure after what she'd seen. Monarchs like Querehsha she could understand as evil—they were monsters by nature.
But humans torturing another sentient being for experiments? Creating weapons from prisoners? She couldn't fully comprehend that level of cruelty, and Ethan had deliberately not shown her the worst of what humans were truly capable of.
After a few more moments, Ethan used his transfiguration magic to adjust Barry's costume. The yellow faded and shifted back to the proper bright red. The lightning bolt symbol took on its traditional gold color.
Barry Allen now stood properly attired as the Flash, ready for what needed to be done. His expression was serious and determined. "I'll correct this mistake. I'll fix the timeline."
He turned to look at everyone one last time—especially at Kara, whose eyes still promised violence if he failed—and then he ran.
The Speed Force crackled around Barry as he accelerated, pushing faster and faster, building up the velocity needed to break through the temporal barrier and access the timestream itself.
Batman watched him go and then cast a look at Ethan. The Dark Knight had noticed the small smile on the younger man's face—a smile that suggested Ethan knew something more important.
Ethan turned to Victor with casual authority. "Call for the Shazam kids and any other heroes still alive in this world. Tell them to prepare for the final war."
Victor's cybernetic eye focused on Ethan with confusion. "What? Why would we need—"
Before Ethan could even draw breath to respond, Batman's gravelly voice cut through the air. "He's telling the truth. Barry will fail and we have to fight the war. He's trying to prepare us to fight the Kryptonians alongside the Atlanteans and Amazons."
Kara's brow furrowed, her gaze shifting between the two men. "How could you possibly know that for certain?"
Batman didn't look away from Ethan. "Because he didn't have to show us the original timeline, but he did. He didn't have to tell you about your cousin's death, or Victor about his father—but he did. He wanted us operating with a clear mind, not fueled by ghosts. When you combine that with his knowledge of the coming war, the conclusion is logical. Barry is going to fail to travel back. It's likely related to that speedster, the one who planted the suit in Barry's ring."
Anna and Jean's eyes widened in tandem. Anna let out a soft, sharp exhale, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth despite the gravity of the situation.
"You know," Anna mused before glancing at the Dark Knight, "at this rate, you should probably just change your name to Sherlock Holmes."
Victor turned toward Ethan, looking for a confirmation that didn't involve a detective's intuition. Ethan simply smiled—a thin, jagged expression that didn't reach his eyes.
"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock," Ethan remarked, "Took you long enough to catch up. You're right."
Then, the smile vanished. The casual sarcasm was replaced by a cold focus.
"Thawne is sabotaging the Speed Force. He's pinning Barry in place, preventing him from breaking the time barrier. Barry is going to fail," Ethan stated, "And when he does, Zod arrives with a Kryptonian legion. Arthur will lose his mind and trigger his doomsday weapon of they lost the war with Amazonians. This world will face its final hour."
His blue eyes began to glow, swirling with the raw, primordial light of Genesis power. The air in the room ionized, making the hair on their arms stand up.
"So, you're going to war. All of you," Ethan commanded, his gaze sweeping across the assembled heroes. "This is one last desperate stand to buy Barry enough time to find Thawne and figure out how to actually fix this mess."
The gravity of that statement settled over everyone like a heavy blanket.
Elizabeth's hands were trembling slightly. Kara's fists clenched with anticipation. Victor's weapons systems began running self-diagnostics automatically.
Jean and Anna exchanged glances. Their expressions shifted from casual observers to warriors preparing for battle.
Batman's gravelly voice cut through the tension, "Then we'd better prepare quickly. One hour isn't much time."
The final battle for the Flashpoint timeline was about to begin.