94

"Like I told you from the beginning I am the future Flash." I heard from the cortex, my head snapping towards Cisco, my eyebrows furrowing in confusion, this catching my attention and drawing it away from my healing abilities that we had just discovered.

Cisco and I walk into the cortex, both sitting in chairs, as we were a voice identical to Barry's causing confusion to spark up in both of us, "It's like looking in a mirror. Well not quite."

"Can you pull up surveillance?" I question, "Why would Barry we out right now?"

"Hang on-" Cisco types away, tracking Barry's location then pulling up live security footage, "After we watch this, ill erase it-"

His voice faded as our eyes land on the monitor, staring at what was in front of us. Barry stood in his suit, face to face with who was revealed as Savitar. Himself.

Savitar was truly identical to Barry, the only difference was the scarred side of his face, and his different colored eye.

"You're not so scary without your armor." Barry spoke, confidence and courage in his tone.

"What can I say? I outgrew red." Savitar shrugs, his voice low, deep and raspy.

"I know what you are." Barry began, "You're a time remnant."

"This is impossible-" Cisco starts to say.

"We're staring right at it, Cisco." I whisper, my eyes not daring to leave the screen.

"A temporal duplicate created when you run back in time and meet yourself." Savitar exclaimed, calling him out, pointing right at him, "You brought a remnant to life last year to defeat Zoom. Your duplicate died, saving the multiverse, and you continued your happy little life. And it would've stayed that way, but then you decided to play God. You created Flashpoint and changed everything."

"I went to the future. My future self told me that he created time remnants to stop you. But you slaughtered them all." Barry told him, as they walked in a circle slowly, keep their distance.

"All but one. Me. I lived." Savitar threw his arms up, "But a funny thing happened when I did. You. Joe. Wally, Cisco. You all shunned me because I wasn't the true Barry Allen. I was an aberration. A disposable hero. Future you failed to mention that, didn't he?"

"How did you become Savitar?" Barry asks.

"I was broken and alone." Savitar's voice lowers, as you could practically hear the pain in his voice, "I wanted the pain to end. And that's when I realized the truth, Barry. God feels no pain. All I had to do was become one. And I only need two more things: for Iris to die so that you are driven so far into the dark that I can be born."

Tears filled my eyes, feeling guilt pool up in my chest for the villain.

But I couldn't help him. He had the face of the man I love. Deep down, the man I love was down there. Under all the layers of broken, betrayal and hatred.

"And the other?" Barry questions.

"It may sound ironic given who I'm talking to, but I'll keep that one to myself." Savitar concludes.

"What happens if I kill myself?" Barry starts to phase his hand, "If I die, then you'll never be created."

My palm reaches to slap against the button that turns on our side of the comms, Cisco immediately catching my wrist, stopping me.

"Cause and effect's a tricky thing. Didn't work so well for Eddie, did it? Shot himself in the chest Thawne's still kicking around. See, that's the thing about time travel, Barry. The more you do it, the less the rules apply to you." Savitar chuckles, his eyes wide with amusement, acting as if he was the teacher and Barry was the student, Barry's phasing hand stopping.

"But us having this conversation now we're changing the future." Barry says.

"Are we?" Savitar looks at him, "My ascendancy is nearing. When I have control of all of time, it will be you who is abandoned and forgotten."

Savitar turns, starting to move back to his suit, but before he could, Barry moved quickly, punching him, then holding him in a headlock, "You're gonna die right here!"

Savitar chuckles, "I forgot to tell you my suit's cooler than yours."

With that, Savitar's suit turned on and grabbed Barry, tossing him to the side. Eventually, Savitar got into his suit, and they both decided to lightning toss at each other, resulting in a explosion, sending them both back, Savitar disappearing.

I let out a breath, putting my head in my hands.

-

"He's all the worst parts of you." I say quietly, keeping the tears in my eyes held back, staring at Barry as he told us all everything he had witnessed last night once he called the entire team over, "He's all the hurt. All the loss- all the regret- all the anger- that you've ever held inside or ever moved on from. He's the worst version of you."

Cisco and I were keeping quiet about hearing everything and about my healing abilities, but from what Barry was telling us, it was normal for me to go that deep into it.

"It's like in "Star Trek" when the transporter splits Kirk into good Kirk and bad Kirk." Cisco spoke, stood next to me, looking at HR, "Please tell me you at least have "Star Trek" on your Earth."

"Voyager." HR corrects.

"-I hate spinoffs." Cisco huffs.

"No guys-" I look up at Barry, "This explains why Caitlin was so willing to work with him. He has a face she trusts- the face we all trust."

"Half of one anyway." Barry quietly remarked, a sigh leaving his lips.

"So when the Legends found that message in the Waverider from old you saying "Don't trust Barry Allen," it was talking about Savitar Barry Allen." Cisco chuckled in amusement, "It's all coming together in the worst way."

"You said you made Savitar?" Joe asks, Barry barely nodding, "How?"

"Peep this." Cisco goes to the write board and starts jotting down things for us to follow, "Four years from now, future Flash creates a time remnant to fight Savitar. But Savitar lets that remnant live so that it can later become Savitar. So once Savitar is imprisoned in the Speed Force, this remnant starts to go crazy. And he goes back in time to the past and becomes Savitar."

"Creating the lie that he was the first speedster, spreading the myth and recruiting acolytes throughout the ages." Julian finishes, catching on.

"That doesn't make any sense." Joe says, "Which came first, Savitar or the time remnant?"

"It's a closed loop. No beginning, no end. It's just one endless cycle." Cisco answered.

"Classic chicken and the egg scenario, I think, eh?" HR joined the conversation.

"A time remnant, it's, um it's like a duplicate of you, right? So it has your feelings, your memories.So why would he want to hurt us? Why would he want to kill Iris?" Wally asks.

Barry dodges the question, not knowing how to answer it, "HR, how's Tracy coming with the Speed Force trap?"

"Good, yeah, good. Slow." HR simply answered.

"Get her to speed up, all right?" Barry gets up, leaving the room.

"I'll do that now. Can do." HR nods towards him as Barry walked out.