"Tell me it's not true. Tell what we saw and experienced was a lie — it was some kind of illusion," said Barry, walking back and forth.
"I'm afraid…it was true," uttered Cisco.
"No?"
"My equipment is detecting high levels of residual energy," explained Cisco. "Plus, I just checked the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), and all the atomic clocks have detected anomalies."
"Which would occur due to reverting time," finished Barry, who immediately became pale. The room entered an eerie quiet before Ralph spoke:
"I'm done." He immediately headed to the exit.
"Oh, calm down. What do you mean by that?"
"Like I said, I'm done."
"You can't just leave," said Iris.
"Yes, I can. I reluctantly signed up to fight normal crime in this city and a few meta-humans. But someone who can blow the world with a finger and revert it back as if nothing ever happened? That's beyond my pay grade."
"Come on, Ralph," persuaded Barry. "I know things looked bleak, but we still have hope."
"Oh, what kind of hope?"
"Well… we are alive, aren't we? That's something."
"Yes, because of his mercy. But if you continue with this kind of thinking, we won't be for long." No matter what the others said, Ralph walked out and did not stop. His departure dealt a great blow to the team's morale.
"I can't believe he just bails like that," complained Wally.
"You can't blame him considering the situation," said Wells.
"You're on his side?"
"No, but I understand his choice."
So, would you do —"
"Enough, Wally," said Joe with a raised voice. "Now is not the time to be fighting amongst ourselves. We must think of what to do." Unfortunately, no one could provide him with any decent idea.
Edward showed up the next day as usual. He was indifferent to everybody and immediately forced Barry and Wally to undergo his tests. He was more severe this time around, as he would push them to the limit for three straight days before leaving. He would give them a potion to replenish their fatigue whenever they were tired. Then, he would disappear for one day before doing the same thing.
By the second week, Wally became useless as his connection to the Speed Force was not deep enough for this level of research, so he no longer participated.
"We are still missing the last piece," said Morgana. "However, we now have enough data to calculate the missing link."
"And how long would that take?"
"50 years. Do you want the exact number down to the second?"
"No need," replied Edward. In hindsight, 50 years was not long, especially since they could use time dilation and not worry about time back home.
"So, what do you want to do? Do you want to use more drastic measures?" asked Morgana.
"No need. We can push Barry further and gather more data; this should reduce the time needed for the final calculations."
"As you wish."
As soon as Edward walked into the room, he knew something was wrong — he could no longer read the other people's minds, not just Barry and Wally.
"What have you done?" he asked the Speedster.
"You're too strong and must be stopped. Otherwise, this world could come to an end because of your whim."
"We were so close, Barry. My research was so close to finishing that you would never see me again. Why do something stupid?"
"How do we know what you say is true? Are we supposed to believe YOUR words?" added Caitlin.
"There is no need to talk with him," said Cisco, and the team immediately acted. An armor similar to Savitar materialized around Barry and Wally. But they were not the only ones. Every team member had similar armor.
Cisco shot a few blasts in the air to open portals, allowing countless people to walk in. Edward first saw Oliver Queen or the Green Arrow, and all his team members walked into the room. Everyone had unique armor.
The next to enter was Supergirl (Kara}, who walked out, followed by her cousin (Superman, Clark Kent) and a group of superpower individuals from Earth-38. Following them was the Legend of Tomorrow, a group of individuals with a mission to preserve the space-time continuum. All the members had one connection to Flash or Oliver in some capacity.
The last group to arrive was composed of Speedsters. Edward immediately recognized the first person as Jay Garrick, usually known in the comics as the first Speedster. He had to take a moment to recognize the other two.
He did not watch all of The Flash but remembered specific videos online by accident or by choice of later seasons. So, he recognized the two of them: one was someone called Godspeed and should have been a villain unless he remembered correctly. The other one was Barry's daughter from the future.
Edward calmly looked at the team, focusing on their armor.
"An armor powered by energy from the Speedforce itself? This must be one of Wells' works," he commented.
"His calmness unnerved me," said Diggle through their communication system."
"It's just a bluffing tactic, " Oliver responded, not hiding his voice. However, Edward paid no attention to him but glanced at Barry. "I'm curious how you put this team together."
"Does it matter?"
"The unknown is eating me alive." Sadly, no one would answer him, so he had to cast a Divination Spell to get some answers. Over the years, he had made great strides in this field of magic that always eluded him. Plus, he's learned he can achieve way more if he lets Morgana do the divination instead of him.
'So, it was a time remnant,' he thought. He believed he had captured all of them, but the Speed Force hid one and even sneaked it out of this blocked timeline. The remnant was the one who put up this time, and Edward even believed the Speed Force allowed it to access Barry's memories.
He looked at Barry in the eyes, "I respect you, Barry. Despite the despair you faced when confronting my power, you never gave up simply because you were a hero. Sadly, your foolish actions will cause you the death of everyone that you care about. But don't worry, I'm not as cruel as you would like to think — I won't lay hands on this planet."
"Attack!" roared Barry and Oliver simultaneously. Sadly, their attempt was useless. A shield appeared around Edward to block all their attacks. Moreover, everyone soon noticed their bodies were rapidly disintegrating into tiny particles.
"What have you done?" roared Barry, but Edward calmly looked at him with no words. He had used all the power of Netheril to use one of his most powerful laws — Destruction. As such, despite all members of the team wearing Speed Force Armor equivalent to Tier 7, meaning they could survive the sun's destruction, no one survived this attack.
The Speedsters, Krytonians, and Martian Man Hunter were the last survivors. Their power or physiology allowed them to siphon more power from the force and delay their inevitable death. Alas, the pain of watching their loved ones die had almost broken them down mentally.
"You could have avoided this," said Edward with a cold and callous indifference. He pointed his finger at the Speedster and forcefully drew out their Soul Flame; he did not care for their last look of regret, anger, and resentment.
"What are you going to do?" asked Morgana.
"Experience what it's like to be a Speedster with the highest affinity with the Speed Force."
"It should hate us right now, so do you think it's a good idea?"
"I only need to draw its consciousness into a battle with my Willpower; this should buy us enough time."
"Since you've thought of everything, let's proceed."
