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Star Labs
Night
Julian opened his eyes, disoriented, as he became aware of his surroundings. He was in a strange room, handcuffed to a pipe. A redheaded woman was in the room with him, staring down at him stoically.
"Where am I? Who are you? What's going on?" Julian, demanded, moving to stand but the handcuff pulled him back down.
"In order, you're in a secret base, my name is Natasha Romanoff, and as for why are you're here, that's the kicker," Natasha said as she sat down in a chair and crossed her legs. "We know you're Alchemy."
"What?" Julian asked appearing stunned.
"Alchemy, guy who kidnaps people, turns them into Metahumans, worships this guy called Savitar," Natasha listed.
"I'm sorry, still not following. You think I'm Alchemy? That's absurd," Julian dismissed as Natasha stood up, pulling out Alchemy's mask.
"This is the mask of the man who calls himself Alchemy. You were caught wearing it. How do you explain that?" Natasha demanded.
"You, you're trying to set me up," Julian said, turning paranoid. "Who the hell are you? FBI? CIA?"
"I'm gonna leave you alone for a while, see if you feel like talking after a little alone time," Natasha said as she got up and walked towards the door.
"I want my phone call, when do I get my phone call?" Julian demanded as Natasha shut the door.
"How are you feeling Jay?" Barry asked as he walked into the med bay, where Caitlin was checking him over.
"Not too bad for a guy who got beat up by a myth," Jay quipped and Barry smiled.
"He just needs some rest, but he'll be fine," Caitlin assured him and he nodded.
"You stopped him, well done Barry," Jay praised.
"It was nice having you out there with me," Barry said and Jay smiled.
"Yeah, I never had a sidekick before," Jay said jokingly and Barry chuckled.
"Oh, I'm your sidekick?" Barry asked.
"Well, as the senior partner," Jay began.
"Senior citizen is more like it," Barry joked and the two chuckled.
"I bet your dad would have been proud of you," Jay mentioned and Barry's good mood evaporated.
"Yeah. Listen um, why don't just take it easy. I'll see you later," Barry said quickly before leaving.
As Jay stared after him, a little guilty for opening an old wound, Caitlin pat his shoulder.
"He knows you weren't trying to hurt him. But the loss of a parent is one of the hardest things to get over, trust me," Caitlin told him.
"You okay?" Clint asked as Barry walked into the cortex here he, Wanda, Cisco, Natasha, Sam, and Steve were waiting.
"Fine. So Nat, you're usually pretty good at reading people. What do you think?" Barry asked.
"If this Julian is playing a game, he sure is dedicated to whatever role he's playing. I think he's telling the truth," Natasha said and Barry nodded.
"Alright, what about this box? Cisco, you figured anything out about it yet?" Barry inquired.
"It's nothing," Cisco said ominously.
"It has to be something," Steve argued and Cisco shook his head.
"No, I mean the box is literally nothing. I've run it through every test I could possible think of, not a single reading. Nothing. It's like the box doesn't even exist," Cisco said bewildered as The Avengers exchanged confused glances.
"How is that possible?" Wanda asked and Cisco shrugged.
"Figuring that out might be the first clue we have to Savitar," Steve noted and Barry nodded.
"Well, while we try to figure that out, maybe we should focus on Julian," Sam noted.
"Maybe the reason Julian thinks he isn't Alchemy is because he doesn't remember it," Steve said and Barry looked over at him. "When Zemo activated Bucky, afterwards Bucky didn't remember anything."
Barry pulled up his cowl and sped into the room Julian was currently being held in. Julian jumped as he saw The Flash, his entire being vibrating.
"Have you been blacking out recently?" Barry demanded, his voice disguised by the vibrating in his body. "Losing time, waking up somewhere different with no idea of how you got there?"
"No," Julian said but Barry could tell he was holding something back. "I've had enough of these baseless accusations, especially from The Flash, the hero. The great hero!"
"Julian, I'm trying to help you! But I need you to trust me," Barry tried to reason with him.
"Says the man in a mask," Julian said dryly and Barry sighed.
"If that's the only way you'll trust me, then fine," Barry said and pulled back his cowl.
Julian started, staring at Barry in stunned shock for a few seconds. Then, his face morphed into one of anger and that of someone who had been betrayed by one who you trusted.
"I should have known. It all makes sense now. The unexplained absences, your passion for Metas, your general thumbing your nose at authority. I'm sure you had a good laugh behind my back," Julian said bitterly.
"Believe it or not Julian, there were a few times where I actually wished I could have told you," Barry said honestly.
"So why tell me now?" Julian demanded.
"Because I need you to trust me Julian. You are Alchemy; I just don't think you're aware of it. Now, have you been blacking out?" Barry demanded.
"Yes," Julian in a small, quiet voice.
"When did it start? Let me guess, when you found the stone?" Barry asked and Julian sighed.
"My sister, Emma, died when I was twenty. It really broke the family the up you know? Mom and dad weren't speaking; they wouldn't even stay at the house. One day, I was there alone and she came back to me. She stood right in front of me, clear as day- a ghost or a vision, I don't know, but she was real," Julian explained.
"What happened?" Barry asked.
"She told me about the stone, where to find it; she told me if I got it, it would bring us back together again. At that point mate, I would have done anything to have her back," Julian said thickly and Barry nodded.
"I can relate," Barry said thinking of Flashpoints.
"So, I mounted an expedition to India. Days we searched, weeks, nothing. And then we found it," Julian said with a haunted look in his eyes. "The next thing I remember, I woke up in my hotel room. I…didn't remember anything, and that's when the blackout's started. There was a news report saying that every other member of my team had been found, dead at the site. I panicked, I thought they were gonna blame me for their deaths, so I ran. I ran to America."
"What happens when you black out Julian? What happens?" Barry asked.
"I hear a voice and then, nothing," Julian sighed. "You're telling me that I become Alchemy during these blackouts? But…he's a monster; he's been terrorizing people for years!"
"Julian, he's not you, just like it wasn't you back at that dig. Julian, I know this is hard to believe, but you need to accept what is happening to you," Barry told him.
In the cortex, Steve was walking in as Caitlin sat at the computer. Caitlin looked up and saw him.
"Hey," Caitlin said and Steve nodded.
"Hey," Steve said.
"Look, um, I wanted to thank you for what you said this morning. It helped," Caitlin thanked him and Steve smiled.
"I'm glad," Steve said.
Caitlin returned the smile when she saw something on the screen of the computer. Paling, she pulled out her phone and tented Barry.
In the room with Julian, Barry's phone buzzed with a text. Frowning, he pulled it out.
'Cisco's work shop! He opened the box!' his phone read.
Paling, Barry turned and sped off. He sped into Cisco's workshop, where he saw Cisco, appearing in a trance, staring down at the box that seemed to glow with a blue like energy. Behind Cisco stood Savitar.
"Bow to your god," Savitar said before grabbing Barry and speeding off.
In the cortex, Steve and Caitlin watched horrified on the screen as Barry was pummeled by a force they couldn't see.
"What's going on?" Clint asked as he, Wanda, Wally, Jay, and Natasha walked in, seeing what was happening on the screen.
"Savitar," Wanda said, being the only one besides Jay and Wally who could see the armored speedster.
"Cisco opened the box," Caitlin said in a hurry.
"Barry needs help," Jay said but groaned in pain as he moved to go.
"You're still hurt Mr. Garrick. Wally, go assist Barry. The rest of you, follow me. We need to get the box from Cisco," Steve ordered.
"Wait, take me with you kid," Clint told Wally as he pulled out his bow.
Wally nodded, grabbing Clint and speeding away as Steve, Wanda, and Natasha raced out of the room and in the direction of Cisco's workshop.
In the speed lab, Barry was thrown across the room, landing hard on his back. Wally raced in, setting Clint down.
"I can see him," Wally said as he laid eyes on Savitar.
"Where is he?" Clint asked as he notched an arrow.
"Right there," Wally said as he pointed at Savitar.
Clint nodded, firing the arrow. It hit Savita and exploded.
"Did that hurt him?" Clint asked.
When the smoke cleared, Savitar was seemingly unaffected. Savitar then turned around and roared at them.
"Not really," Wally said a little panicked.
Savitar then sped over, grabbing Clint and throwing him to the side. As Clint hit the wall, hard, dropping his bow, Savitar grabbed Wally and threw him over by Barry.
In Cisco's workshop, Steve, Wanda, and Natasha burst in, seeing Cisco with the box.
"Ramon, put the box down and close it," Natasha ordered.
"I'm gonna save Dante," Cisco said, ignoring her.
"Cisco, whatever you're seeing, it's not real. It's Savitar, playing on your vulnerably," Steve tried to reach him.
"You're a good brother Cisco," Dante/Savitar whispered in Cisco's ear.
"Cisco put the box down, please," Steve said as he took a tentative step towards Cisco.
"I won't lose him again," Cisco said as he held up a hand as if preparing to Vibe blast Steve. "I won't lose my brother again!"
"Cisco, I'm sorry about this," Wanda said as her hands glowed.
Wanda sent a low powered energy blast at Cisco. It hit him in the chest and he flew into the table, going over it as he dropped the box, the stone falling out. Steve raced over, putting the stone in the box and closing it.
In the speed lab, Savitar had deployed the spikes in his arms and was stepping over to Barry and Wally when he disappeared in a flash of light.
"You okay?" Barry asked Wally in a groan.
"Fine," Wally said cheerfully.
"That's the adrenaline talking. Clint, you alright?" Barry asked as he sat up.
"I've lived through worse," Clint said as he pulled himself to his feet.
Later, everyone had gathered in the cortex, Barry sitting down as they all stared at the box.
"You three sure you're okay?" Steve asked as he looked at Barry, Clint, and Wally.
"Bumps and bruises Cap, I'm more worried about this thing," Clint said as he gave the box a distasteful look.
"It obviously has the power to mess with our heads," Sam said and Cisco winced.
"Cisco," Barry said and Cisco looked over at him. "If we can't use this box, Julian might be our only link to Savitar."
"I think we can use both of them. If Caitlin's right and this thing messes with brainwaves, I have a plan," Cisco said.
Later, they all stood in the speed lab, Julian in a chair as Cisco was preparing a machine.
"So what am I doing here?" Julian asked.
"Julian, today when I was fighting Savitar, he and Alchemy have the same voice. I don't think there is an Alchemy. I think it's Savitar, speaking through you," Barry explained.
"Savitar clearly possess someone who rallies worshippers," Caitlin added.
"But he's like a poltergeist, he needs a medium to manifest himself," Cisco added.
"You," Barry finished.
"So each time this Savitar comes to an earth, he possess someone? This is just getting weirder and weirder," Sam muttered.
"Weirdness aside, what does that mean?" Julian asked.
"We think we figured out a way to sync your brain to the stone," Caitlin explained.
"Which should allow us to speak directly to Savitar," Cisco continued.
"If you want to be free of this, you need to trust us," Barry told the obviously hesitant Julian.
I've never liked you Allen," Julian said as he looked over at Barry. "Having a little séance with your friends isn't going to change that."
"We don't need to like each other Julian, but we need to trust each other if we want to stop Savitar," Barry told him and Julian sighed.
"Alright, we'll try it," Julian gave in.
"Deep breaths," Cisco said as he put a helmet that reminded Barry of Cerebro from X-Men. "Count backwards from ten."
Julian started to count but hadn't even finished ten before he passed out. Cisco snapped his fingers in front of Julian's face but he was out cold.
"So how long until this works?" Natasha inquired.
"We're not sure," Caitlin began. "It could take a minute for his brainwaves to-"
She cut off as Julian came to with a scream. However, when he spoke, the voice of Savitar came out of his mouth.
"Hello Barry," Julian/Savitar said as he looked at the speedster. "It's been a while."
"Savitar," Barry greeted coolly as Julian/Savitar took a look around at The Avengers and Team Flash.
"None of you are on your knees. It's a smart move to bow before a deity," Julian/Savitar warned them.
"There's only one god, you aren't him," Steve said firmly and Julian/Savitar gave a chilling smirk.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that Steve," Julian/Savitar said, taking them all by surprise.
"You know who I am?" Steve found his voice.
"I know all of you, Sam, Clint, Natasha, Caitlin, Cisco, Wanda, Wally, the fake Wells, even Joe and Iris. I know your fears, I know your weaknesses, I know you better than you know yourselves. I know your destinies. You call yourselves The Avengers, but you are nothing! You will all fall by my hand! The reign of The Avengers has come to an end!" Julian/Savitar ranted, disturbing them all.
"Who are you?" Barry demanded and Julian/Savitar laughed evilly.
"I am the one enemy you can't defeat Barry. The one enemy no one can defeat," Julian/Savitar promised.
"Then why haven't you come and defeated us all already?" Wally demanded.
"It's because he can't," Wanda realized. "You're waiting for something."
"You did this to me," Julian/Savitar said as he stared straight ahead at Wally. "You Wally, you trapped me in eternity. Your future self, you did this to me!"
"Me?" Wally asked stunned.
"And now the age of my freedom is at hand. You will feel my wrath, the wrath of Savitar!" Julian/Savitar ranted.
Having had enough, Barry turned off the device and Julian came back to himself.
"Did it work?" Julian asked.
Later, everyone was in the cortex, freaked out by what they'd seen.
"Do you think what he said was true? About The Avengers falling by his hand?" Wanda asked softly.
"I don't know," Steve sighed. "But worrying about it won't help us. We need to make sure he never gets out of where he's trapped."
"How do we do that?" Clint wondered.
"The stone," Jay said as he walked in.
"Jay's right, the stone's been the key to everything. It's how he controlled Julian, it's how he's created more Metas," Barry said.
"So we destroy the stone and Savitar is gone for good. Simple," Natasha shrugged.
"It can't be destroyed. I mean it's been around forever, there's a reason for that," Julian pointed out.
"Why don't we just put it back in the ground, where it came from?" Wally asked.
"Someone would just find it again and we'd be back where we started," Clint pointed out.
"We need to make the box disappear forever, somewhere it can never be found. There's only one way to do that: Throw it into the speed force," Jay said to their surprise.
"Wait, you can do that?" Wally asked.
"Oh yeah. The Speed Force is eternity, an endless void of time and energy," Jay said and Barry whipped his head towards Jay.
"What'd you just say?" Barry asked hoarsely and they all looked at him confused.
"The Speed Force is eternity, an endless void of time and energy," Jay repeated.
"Eternity," Barry repeated and Steve and Natasha's eyes widened.
"My god," Steve whispered.
"What?" Cisco asked as they all looked confused.
"Savitar said Wally's future self trapped him in eternity. Savitar is trapped in the Speed Force," Natasha said and everyone's eyes widened.
"Okay, so if we put the stone in the Speed Force-" Cisco began.
"Savitar would escape," Wanda finished.
"So that's a definite no then," Clint said.
"But then what do we do with the stone?" Sam asked and Barry had a thoughtful look on his face.
"If we can't make it disappear, then we can put it some place where no one could get it and get out alive."
Argus base
Later
"Put it some place where no can get it and get out alive. Put it some place that even inside help won't guarantee that," Barry told Lyla as he handed her the box.
"I Know just the place," Lyla said and Barry held up is hand.
"Don't tell me, I don't wanna know. No matter what happens, no matter what I or anyone else says, never tell us where that stone is. Guard that secret as closely as you do the lives of Diggle and your child," Barry warned her.
"This thing scares you that much huh?" Lyla asked as she looked at the box.
"The box doesn't scare me, neither does what's inside. The guy who wants to use it? Yeah, he scares me," Barry admitted.
Star Labs
Same time
Cisco is in his workshop, fixing the mess that had been made when he had been under Savitar's spell, when he gasped as he got a Vibe.
Cisco's Vibe
Cisco found himself on a street of a place he had never been. A great battle had obviously taken place here, as the area was completely trashed. He walked down the street, looking around in horror, wondering what could have done this. He saw a body on the road, an arrow sticking out of its chest. As he approached, he saw in horror whose body it was.
"Clint?"
Clint didn't respond, he simply looked up at Cisco, his eyes staring without seeing. As Cisco looked up, he saw two more bodies. Tony was on the ground, pale, appearing asleep in his armor, the face visor up to show his pale face. Steve was leaning his back against a building, positioned as though he was sitting down. His face was invisible to Cisco from this angle, but it was obvious it was Steve. It was also obvious like Clint and Tony, Steve was dead.
"Stop!"
Cisco looked forward and saw a scene that, for weeks afterwards, would haunt his nightmares: Barry, dressed in his Flash suit, cowl down, was obviously hurt. He was on his knees, panting as he stared up at something with horror. Savitar was holding Wanda from her back. Wanda was heavily pregnant, seven to eight months, and had a cut along her temple.
"Please, don't! I'm begging you!" Barry pleaded desperately.
"It's okay Barry, it's okay," Wanda choked out, obviously realizing what was about to happen but not wanting Barry to be hurt more than he already was. "There was nothing you could have done. I love you. Thank you…for making me feel how it was to be loved."
"You lose Barry," Savitar taunted him before he shoved his spike through Wanda's back and into her chest, into her heart…
End Vibe
Cisco, completely overwhelmed, leaned over the table, causing into to fall down again. Cisco stumbled over to the wall, sliding down in so he was leaning against it as he sat. His breathing was hard and labored as his mind tried desperately to process what he had just seen.
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