Episode 25 - The Race of His Life

Hunter had just killed Henry, he had mercilessly killed Barry's father right in front of Barry himself. "No!" Barry screams. Henry drops to his knees like a sack of potatoes and collapses to the floor. "Dad? Dad?" Barry hurrinly kneels next to him. "Hey! Hey! Hey, look at me. Look at me. Dad. Don't leave. Not again. Not again. Dad! Come on. Come on. Come on. It's all right. No. Dad." Barry sobs as Henry lets out his final breath before dying. "No, Dad."

"I told you family was a weakness." Hunter reminds him. Barry looks up at Hunter, tears in his eyes and he starts feeling the growing anger inside him. "You feel the anger, don't you, Flash? And now... the two of us are the same."

"No! No!" Barry yelled, he speeds over to Hunter and slammed him against the wall.

"There you go, Flash! Use your anger, just like I did." Hunter tells him.

They both then super speed out of the house and Barry chases after him all over the city until he catches up with him in an alleyway. Well, at least one of them because Zoom had made a remnant of himself, the one that Barry had caught up with. They fight each other vigorously before Barry rips off Zoom's mask and looks at him as if he was going to kill him. "I got you, Zolomon!" Barry shouts at him and vibrates his hand.

"Go on, Barry. Embrace your anger. End me!" Hunter tells him. Barry hesitates to kill him, still inside a superhero, and Zoom then appears and kills his time remnant.

"Let me do it for you." He takes off his mask and speaks in his normal voice. "So close, Barry."

"Another time remnant." Barry realised.

"You see, Barry, there could be two of you. You just have to be willing to kill yourself. Yeah. You're almost ready." Hunter informs him. He then shoves Barry towards a trash can and then speeds away.

A couple of days later, they are at Henry's funeral. It was raining when he placed him on the ground next to Barry's mother. "And comfort us today with the word of your promise as we return our brother to the earth, and leave us with the hope that, one day, we'll meet again." The Priest finishes.

"Um... my father's... I can't do this right now." Barry admits.

"It's okay, Barry." Atchaco reassures him.

"Henry Allen. Henry suffered two great losses in his life. He lost his wife, Nora, and he lost Barry. He suffered guilt, embarrassment, ridicule, shame, and everything that comes with being blamed for a crime he didn't commit. Henry Allen was proof that love can get you through the darkest of days, and that love will keep him alive in all of our hearts." Joe said.

Barry then grabs a rose and puts it on his father's coffin. "I'm gonna find him, Dad. I promise you I'm gonna take from him what he took from you." Barry promised.

Later, at the West house, Barry was looking out of the window when Wally walked up to him. "Hey." Wally holds out a plate of food.

"Hey." Barry returned, facing the younger man.

"I thought maybe you should eat something." Wally said.

"I'm not hungry. Thank you, though." Barry replies.

"Yeah." Wally sighs as he sets the plate down. "Barry, um... I had no idea that you were The Flash. Or that Atchaco was Thunder, she told me. What you did for me, all the things that you and Atchaco have done for everyone, this whole city... And now this with your dad and Zoom. I'm so sorry."

"Thanks, Wally." Barry told him.

"If there's anything you need, you just say the word." Waly reassures him.

"All right." Barry replied, he then walked into the dining room where everyone else was. "Guys, Zoom's still out there. We need to come up with a plan."

"The man can crack open breaches to Earth-2. I mean, if he can do that, what else can he do that we don't know about?" Cisco wondered.

"Right after he killed his time remnant, he told me I was 'almost ready.'" Barry recalled.

"Almost ready for what?" Iris asked.

"I don't know." Barry admits.

"Yep. Classic psychopath. Why can't they ever just say what they want to do? We also have to figure out why I keep vibing Earth-2 being ripped to shreds." Cisco said.

"Seriously." Joe replied.

"It's like I'm watching 'Transformers' in 4-D, but, like, ten times more realistic and with much better acting." Cisco informs them.

"Look, if you can vibe the future, we need to stop Zoom before that happens." Joe tells them.

"I'm gonna get some air, all right?" Barry exhales and everyone watches him walk out of the door.

"I got it." Atchaco told them and she followed him.

Moments later, Atchaco walks out of the house and takes a seat next to Barry on the steps of the house. "When I was in the Speed Force, I felt like I'd finally come to grips with her death, with not saving her when I went back. And then the moment... where I'm finally at the place I can move on, my father's taken from me. How am I ever supposed to find peace with that?" Barry questions.

"I don't know, Barry, but you're gonna have to find a way to do that, or it's gonna tear you apart." Atchaco warns. "Just like it did to me.

"I just miss him so much already." Barry admits and Atchaco holds his hand in order to comfort him. Then, suddenly, Barry sees a blue streak pass his eyes. "Zoom." Barry then stands up and speeds away.

"Barry, no!" Atchaco said, shooting up. SHe goes to run after him but Triton tells her that he will be fine. She doubts it, but still listens to him and leans against the bannister.

"Bad time, Flash? Thought I'd give you some time to mourn." Zoom admits.

"This ends now." Barry tells him.

"Not yet. There's always more to take, Barry." Zoom warns him.

"You're gonna stay away from them." Barry argues.

"Well, that's completely up to you." Zoom reminds him.

"What?" Barry is confused.

"When we first met, I told you that Zoom needed to be the best. You just didn't realise I was talking about myself." Zoom recalls.

"Is that what this is about?" Barry wonders.

"A race, Barry, between you and me... to see who's the fastest. You win: this is over, and you get to be the hero." Zoom informed him.

"I'm not racing you." Barry retorts.

"Then your father won't be the only person you love that I'll take from you. Think about it, Flash. All I want to know is who's the fastest man alive on either world. I'll be waiting." Zoom replies, he glances at Barry for a moment before zooming away.

The next day, Barry is standing inside STAR Labs with the others and has informed them about what Zoom told him. "So Zoom wants to race you?" Jesse asked, making sure she was on the right track.

"He's obsessed with being the best." Barry recalls.

"Why would we trust him?" Atchaco questioned, eyebrow raised.

"He just wants to race. You know, it actually makes sense in a completely-off-your-rocker sort of way." Cisco told them, not completely believing it.

"That can't be everything he wants." Joe retorts.

"It isn't." Harry replies, turning his head to the computer screen. "This Magnetar that's being developed by Mercury Labs... Turns out, it can act as a pulsar."

"Whoa." Cisco gasped.

"What is a pulsar?" Iris asked.

"It's a power amplifier with a highly magnetised, dense rotating core that can be easily weaponized." Harry explains.

"Nah, that's not dangerous at all." Atchaco said, sarcasm evident in her voice.

"That's what happens to Earth-2. What happens in my vibes is because of this machine." Cisco realised.

"That thing is powerful enough to destroy a planet?" Iris wonders, not wanting to believe it.

"A lot more than just a planet, if it has the right power source." Harry informs them.

"Like what?" Iris questions.

"Like me. That's why he wants to race. He wants to syphon the energy I create when I run." Barry answered.

"He wants to syphon the energy off both of you." Harry explains.

"When Jay captured me, he said that he used to measure his success by counting the number of victims he had, but now he was gonna measure it by counting the number of Earths he conquered instead." Caitlin told them.

"He doesn't want to just destroy Earth-2; he wants to take out every other planet in the multiverse." Harry said.

"How many are there?" Caitlin asked.

"Infinite." Atchaco informed them.

"Yeah, well, he can do that?" Jesse wonders.

"If he can create a breach to Earth-2 all on his own…" Joe starts to say.

"He can get to all of 'em." Atchaco finished for him.

"One pulse to destroy them all." Cisco said.

"I guess I don't have a choice. I have to race him. And I have to win." Barry said.

Joe walks through the main door into the pipeline where Barry was fully suited up and ready to train. "Bare." He calls as he walks up to him. "Don't race him."

"It's not that easy." Barry tells him, facing the older man.

"Yes, it is. You just say no. We find another way to stop him, together, like we always do." Joe replies.

"And do what, Joe? Just sit around and wait for him to kill somebody else? Wally? Iris? Atchaco? You? No. No way." Barry replied.

"He needs you, Bare. He needs your speed again to get what he wants. We have the advantage here." Joe reminds him.

"All I have to do is beat him, Joe. That saves the multiverse, this whole city, all of you. I won't let another person I love die when I can prevent it." Barry tells him.

"This... isn't just about racing Zoom, is it? You want to kill this guy." Joe realises.

"Of course I want to kill him, Joe. I want to do a hell of a lot more than just kill him. I want him to suffer for everything that he's done. And he's going to." Barry snaps.

"Come on, Bare. Think about what you're saying." Joe begged.

"I have to be willing to do whatever it takes. I'm sorry, but I'm racing him, whether you want me to or not." Barry said.

"And I can't talk you out of it?" Joe wonders.

"Not this time." Barry said as he went to turn around and run.

"Then I'm sorry too." Joe apologised. Atchaco then shot a tranquiliser into Barry's shoulder and he staggered. He looked up at them before collapsing to the ground and passing out.

When Barry came to, he noticed that he was in one of the pipeline cells. "Wha…" He mumbled as he stood himself up. "What are you doing? Why did you put me in here?"

"Because you're too angry right now. You can't race him like that. Without a plan, you're... You'll lose." Joe tells him.

"Keeping me in here is gonna get everyone killed. I'm the only one that can stop him; you know that." Barry argued.

"You race Zoom on his terms, you'll lose." Harry reminds him.

"This is not your decision to make!" Barry argued.

"It is this time." Joe replied.

"No." Barry gasped.

"We all made it together." Atchaco admits.

"What?" Barry questions. "All of you?"

"Bro, I went back and forth. I was, like, a good 60/40 at first." Cisco tells him.

"Ramon." Harry grumbled.

"Yeah, yeah, we all made the decision." Cisco said, breaking eye contact.

"Come on." Barry sighed, leaning his head on the back of his cell.

"Allen." Harry said, trying to get his attention. "Allen." He repeats and Barry faces them. "This is for your own good."

"Don't do this." Barry begged. "Guys, come on. Iris? Atchaco? Cisco, come on, man." He standed pounding the glass door. "You have to let me... You have to let me stop him! You have to let me…" His begging gets muffled when they close the door to the cells and Atchaco and Joe stand behind it.

"Did we make the right call here?" Joe asks.

"Yeah, we did." Atchaco answers.

Moments later they are in the Cortex. "You okay, Joe?" Caitlin questions.

"Yeah, that was just a little harder than I anticipated." Joe admits.

"Yeah, locking up Barry... That was the easy part. Now, using our plan to take down Zoom without Barry, that's gonna be the hard part, though we do still have Atchaco, but it's gonna be a lot easier once we know where he is, Ramon." Harry said.

"Chill, man. I'm working on it." Cisco replied as he continued to type on the computer.

"Work harder." Harry told him.

"Got it. He's at the industrial park on Leawood. Give me that. Mm." Cisco informed them.

"Yep." Jesse then gave Cisco a high five.

"That is some serious nerd love right there." Iris observed.

Harry then walks over to Caitlin. "Snow. Look, everybody here would understand if you don't want to go through with this." Harry told her.

"Jay may be a monster, but there's a human inside of him somewhere I've gotten to that part of him before. I know I can do it again. I want to stop him, Harry, for good." Caitlin explained.

"Ramon." Harry nods.

"So let's go over the plan again." Joe said.

"Okay, Caitlin will distract Jay so that you and Harry can hit him with the boot. Cisco's gonna open the breach, I'll throw a lightning bolt so that he can fall right through it." Atchaco explained.

"I'll disarm the Magnetar." Harry told them.

"Destroy the Magnetar... Save the multiverse." Cisco finished.

"One more thing. We need to agree. We all made this decision together, so if anything goes wrong, we stick with it." Joe said.

"Let's load up." Harry replied, silently agreeing to Joe's terms. Joe then looks at the live feed from Barry's cell, Iris and Atchaco watching as well before they all leave.

Moments later, Harry is packing stuff into a bag that he believes he will need when Jesse walks in and clears her throat. "Hey." Harry greets her.

"Hey." Jesse returns.

"What's the matter?" Harry asked.

"You know, I've just been thinking. You know, what's... what's next?" Jesse wonders.

"What's next? We stop Zoom." Harry tells her.

"Right. Right, I guess... I don't know, I mean... After that." Jesse told him.

"I don't know. Haven't really given it much thought." Harry admits.

"Yeah, no... No, I know you haven't. Guess I've just... I've been thinking about it a lot lately. You know, I see the way you are with everyone here... Caitlin and Cisco, Iris and Joe, Barry and Atchaco, especially Barry and Atchaco. You care about these people a lot. You know, but... But my friends? They're all back home on our Earth. I guess what I'm trying to say is, you know, when this is all over, I'm gonna go back home to live my life. But if you need to stay here so that you can live yours again, I get that. I understand. It's okay, because... No, Dad. Seeing you happy, that is all I've ever wanted for you." Jesse explains. She smiles slightly before walking away and leaving him in silence.

Later, it was dark and everyone was in position and now they were just waiting on Zoom. Caitlin, Iris and Jesse were in the STAR Lab's truck while Harry was on the roof of one of the buildings, on look out. Meanwhile, Joe, Macanese and Cisco were all in their positions. "Okay. In position." Harry said.

"Copy that. We got you." Jesse replied.

"Okay. Snow, you ready?" Harry asked.

"As ready as I can be." Caitlin admits.

"Cisco. Cisco, you good?" Joe questions from where he was positioned.

"Define 'good.'" Cisco retorted.

"Ramon. You're gonna be great. Snow. When you're ready." Harry told her.

"Okay." Caitlin said.

Iris turns to face her. "You got this." Iris reassures her.

"You can do this, don't worry." Macanese tells her, the lights on her armour dimed so she couldn't be seen.

"Here we go." Caitlin nods.

At the pulsar, Hunter's lead lifts up when he recognises a familiar voice. "Jay?" Caitlin calls.

"Caitlin." Hunter is confused.

"Jay!" Caitlin calls again as she stands outside the building.

Hunter whooshes in front of her. "How did you find me?" Hunter asks.

"Doctor McGee said the Magnetar was stolen from her labs. I knew that it had to be you, so I tracked you here." She tells him and he looks at her suspiciously. "I tracked you here, Jay. No one else knows."

"I told you, if you left me…" Hunter starts to say.

"That if I betrayed you, you'd show me no mercy, I know. But I just want to explain why I did that. Please, Jay." Caitlin said.

"Talk." Hunter ordered.

"Good job, girl. Now draw him towards you." Iris instructed from inside the van.

"I made a mistake." Caitlin admits striding towards him. "I am so sorry that I abandoned you. But you have to understand, what you said to me... That there was a dark side of me... That I was more like Killer Frost than I knew... I didn't want to accept that. I tried to lock the darkness inside of me. But you knew that that was already a part of me now. And you're the only one who did. And now, I'm ready to accept who I really am."

As Hunter was getting closer to Caitlin, Harry gets his gun reader in order to shoot him and Joe was getting ready to clamp him with the boot. "Cisco, get ready." Joe said. Cisco then places on his goggles and electricity flashes in Macanese's eyes.

"I am so sorry that I hurt you. But now I want to be the one that only you know. Please, Jay. Let me try." Caitlin continued. Hunter then stood a few feet in front of her.

"One more step." Joe informed her.

"I knew you'd eventually come around, Caitlin." Hunter sighs, sounding semi-regretful. "But it's too late." He then attempts to kill her but when he places his hand through her chest, her from fuzzies, it having been a hologram, before it disappears. Caitlin had been inside the truck with Jesse the entire time.

Hunter looks around and Joe uses this time, he aims the boot at him and it clamps around his neck, shocking him. "Now, Ramon!" Harry ordered.

Cisco then uses his powers to open up a breach. Meanwhile, Joe was now trying to shoot at Hunter with a different gun but it got jammed. "Damn it." He says to himself.

"Tranq him! Tranq him!" Harry repeats the phrase with urgency.

Macanese glanced at him, waiting for him to tranquillise Zoom so she could push him into the breach. "Gun is jammed!" Joe informs them. He hurryingly grabs a pair of darts and runs over to Hunter, stabbing them into his body. Macanese sees this unfold, and without hesitating, runs forward, speed increasing every step, and pushes Joe out of the way of Zoom as Harry shoots the evil speedster. Hunter falls into the breach and grabs Macanese, both of them disappearing as the breach closes.

"Atchaco!" Joe shouts.

Later at STAR Labs, Cisco was trying to vibe Atchaco to see if she's okay, after he found out Triton wouldn't respond. However, Cisco just sighs and takes off his goggles. "Did you see Atchaco?" Iris asked.

"No, the vibe keeps changing. It's like my brain is channel surfing or something." Cisco admits.

"They must be on the move. That's why the vibe's in flux. Keep trying." Caitlin told him when Harry and Jesse walked into the Cortex.

"Hey, did you turn off the Magnetar?" Caitlin questioned.

"No, there's no messing with that thing. Whatever he did to it... We try and touch it, we try and move it... This planet's done for." Harry said.

Wally then walks in and notices the sad atmosphere. "Iris. Dad. What's wrong?" Wally wonders.

"Atchaco saved me, but Zoom… he took her." Joe answered.

"What? How?" Wally asked.

"We tried to stop Zoom by pushing him through the breach, but... he took Atchaco with him." Caitlin explained.

"Zoom was gonna take my dad, but Atchaco pushed him out of the way and got taken in the process." Iris finished.

"Well, where's Barry? Did he go after him?" Wally questioned.

"He's not with us. He's in a cell…" Jesse starts to say and Harry clears his throat trying to get her not to say anything. "...in the intake."

"Wait, you... you tried to stop Zoom alone without Barry?" Wally asks.

"Long story." Harry admits.

"Well, we have to get her back. She is our friend, she's Barry's girlfriend, not to mention a goddess. You have to save her." Wally told them.

"Wally, before Zoom took Atchaco, we all agreed that if we got him off this Earth, we would close the breaches for good, and we would never open them again, under any circumstances." Joe explained.

"Why... why would you do that? She's your friend, one that has saved everyone's lives. You can't just leave her there, you owe her that." Wally argues.

"We already agreed to it, Wally." Iris apologised.

"Well, guess what. I didn't agree to that." Wally reminds them before he starts to walk out of the Cortex.

"Wally…" Joe tries to say.

"Dad, I can't lose anyone else, I just can't." Wally then storms out.

Meanwhile on Earth 2, Atchaco wakes up in Zoom's lair, she notices she is no longer wearing her mask and is chained up in a cage. Atchaco grunts slightly as she pulls on the chains that refuse to break. "I will say, if anything, Barry sure has an ample number of loved ones to kill." Hunter admits.

"If you're gonna kill me, kill me. It doesn't matter. You're not racing anybody." Atchaco tells him.

"Come on, Atchaco. You know Barry better than that. Cybernetics be damned. If he believes he can save you, he will race me." Hunter counters.

"Not this time. We made sure of it." Atchaco tells him. She then hears chains clinking next to her and turns her head to see the man in the iron mask in his cage. "Who is that?"

"It would just confuse you." Hunter diverts.

"Try me. I know you know of vast intellect." Atchaco told him.

"I got my speed the same way Barry did. When I got struck by the dark matter and electricity, I became Zoom, the fastest man alive. Wasn't long before I had this Earth on its knees. But it wasn't enough. I wanted more. I wanted to be faster. So I created a speed drug." Hunter admits.

"Velocity-9." Atchaco realised.

"It made me faster than I ever thought possible, fast enough to break the dimensional barrier, fast enough to run to other universes, other Earths. And then, one day, on one of those other Earths, I discovered him." Hunter looks over at the man in the iron mask.

"He's another speedster?" Atchaco said.

"Yeah, you could say that. That was right about the time I discovered something else too. All that V-9 I'd been injecting into my system had a little side effect." Hunter tells her.

"It was killing you." Atchaco chuckles slightly.

"I searched for a cure. I tried everything. I even tried to manipulate the Speed Force, but let me tell you, the Speed Force, the Speed Force does not like its rules being broken. Now it's been sending its enforcers after me ever since." Hunter explains.

"So you brought him here to steal his speed." Atchaco wondered.

"I tried, but it wouldn't take. But then the skies parted, and I saw Barry, and then I stole his speed. I won. I beat the rules of the Speed Force." Hunter grinned.

"Why keep him here?" Atchaco asked.

"Trophy. And a little idea I had for fun. You see, I got so tired of being the villain, so I decided to be the hero too. I even borrowed his name, Jay Garrick." Hunter answered as he tapped on the glass. Atchaco's face widened as she looked at the man in the iron mask, this captive was the real Jay. "You know what's gonna be great, Atchaco? After I beat Barry in the race and prove that I'm the fastest man alive on any Earth, he's gonna rot in a cage just like the one Jay's in now. And then I'll take yours too, all of yours. And then I'll not just have a Flash from two worlds to keep me company, but I'll have a goddess too, all powerless and at my mercy." At this, Atchaco just glares at him.

Back on earth one, Barry was sitting down looking upset as he sat inside his cell in the pipeline. Suddenly the door opens to the pipeline, followed by the one to Barry's cell and Barry stands up and walks out to see Wally, who had released him. "Look. Everyone's gonna freak when they find out I did this, but I don't care. We need your help, Barry."

Up in the Cortex, they got an alert to Barry having left the cell. "Uh, hey, guys, Barry's not…" Jesse starts to say when Barry whooshes in with Wally. "In his cell anymore."

"Wally!" Iris said.

"What? I wasn't just gonna stand here and let this happen." Wally told them.

"You let him take Atchaco? What the hell were you thinking?" Barry said angrily.

"Allen, there was nothing we could do." Joe argued.

"You could've let me race him!" Barry shouted.

"Allen! You're not racing Zoom!" Harry told him.

"What are you gonna do? Are you gonna tranq me again?" Barry spits.

"Don't tempt me." Harry warns.

"Look, I know you guys made a pact to keep Zoom on Earth-2, but you did that without me and Wally. All right? You don't get to do that!" Barry argued, anger still evident in his voice.

"Barry, look at yourself right now; you're not okay." Cisco pointed out.

"Cisco, my dad was just killed in front of me! Do you have any idea how that feels?" Barry wonders.

"Watching someone you love die? Yes, I do." Caitlin replied.

"Cait…" Barry tried to say.

"Look, Barry. I know how cold and angry and distant that can make you. But when this happened to me, you were the one who kept me in check. You told me to stop and take a breath, and that's all we're telling you to do now." Caitlin explained.

"I'm telling you I'm good." Barry reassured her.

"Really? You're good? Because it seems to me you want to do more than stop Zoom. It seems to me you want revenge. If that's why you're doing this, Allen, you will lose." Harry warns.

"Look, you guys. I... you may not think I can do this. You may think I'm too angry. But we're running out of time! I have to beat him, and I'm going to, whether I have your help or not. So which one is it?" Barry wonders.

Later in the breach room, Cisco was placing on the headset he used when he went into the speed force to get Barry. "So how does this work?" Barry asked.

"It's the same way we took Atchaco into the Speed Force. Harry does his best Frankenstein, you hold my hand, and I vibe you there." Cisco simplified.

"All right, let's do it." Barry replied. Barry then grabs Cisco's hand and he sends him through a vibe to see Zoom in order to talk to him. Hunter knocked Atchaco unconscious so that she couldn't escape and then Barry appeared in the lair. "I'll do it. Say when and where. I'll be there." Barry informs him.

"Cisco's learned how to bring people into his vibes." Hunter noticed.

"There's one condition. You bring Atchaco back. But if he's harmed in any way, it's off." Barry tells him.

"I'll bring her, and I won't release her until after we race. Deal?" Hunter wonders.

"Deal." Barry agrees.

Later, they all arrived back to where they had fought Zoom but this time the pulsar was right in front of them when they walked in. "I tell you, Jay might be crazy-pants, but he can pick a venue." Cisco admitted.

Hunter whooshes in with Atchaco who was in chains. "Brought the whole crew with you, huh? Can't say I blame you. It's gonna be one hell of a show." Hunter tells him.

"Let her go." Barry ordered.

"After we race." Hunter reminded him.

"Cut the crap. We know you plan to power up the Magnetar so you can destroy the multiverse." Harry then points his gun at him.

"Bravo. You figured it out... almost. I don't want to destroy all of it. This Earth is at the center of the multiverse. It's the access point to every other Earth in existence. One trans-dimensional shockwave, and... poof." Hunter explained.

"Leaving just our Earth. How generous of you." Cisco said sarcastically.

"Need to have some place to hang my cowl. You might want to say your good-byes." Hunter suggests before he takes Atchaco and disappears.

"Don't worry. I'm gonna save her. We're gonna get her back." Barry reassures them.

"Yes you are." Joe smiles.

"Get back to S.T.A.R. Labs. It's safer." Barry tells them.

"We're not going anywhere. We got eyes and ears right here. " Cisco said.

"Either he goes, or we all die together." Caitlin replied.

"We believe in you." Joe said.

Barry starts walking away when Iris stops him. "Wait. Barry, kick his ass." Iris said. Barry nods before whooshes over to the pulsar where Hunter was.

"What are the rules?" Barry asked.

"One lap around the inside of this loop will produce about 1 gigawatt of energy, and I need 500-plus to power the Magnetar enough to do the job. Once it's full, I win, because there is no stopping it." Hunter answered.

"So all I have to do to beat you is stop you before that happens." Barry replied.

"Yep. It's that simple. But if, at any point, you decide you don't want to race anymore, dear old Macanese number seven will be dead as well as your little fan club." Hunter explained.

"They're not my fan club. They're the reason that I'm running, why I'm gonna beat you." Barry told him.

"Let's see what you're made of, Flash." Hunter scoffs.

"Just say when, Zoom." Barry tells him as he puts on his mask.

"Run, Barry. Run!" Hunter mocks as he finishes putting on his mask. They both then take off running int the Magnetar and it starts powering up.

"He's powering up the Magnetar." Harry realised.

"Come on, Barry. Catch up." Cisco said.

Then as Barry is running he makes a time remnant of himself and they glance at each other momentarily. "Which one's Barry?" Joe asked.

"Both of them. He made a…" Harry starts to say.

"Time remnant." Cisco and Harry said together.

One Barry continues to race Zoom while the other goes over to Atchaco. Atchaco was continuing to try and use her speed to get out of her chains when one of the Barry's showed up and finished helping her out of them. "Go, all right? Go!" Barry ordered before Atchaco could say anything.

"But…" Atchaco tries to complain.

"I'll explain later, Atchaco." Barry told her. Atchaco sighed, looked at what was going on with Zoom and ran over to the others. Zoom then runs off the Magentar and tackles one of the Barry's as the other continues running.

"A remnant? Stole my trick, Flash." Zoom said as a bright light shoots out of the Magentar. "But you're too late. Bye-bye, multiverse."

"No!" Barry yelled.

Then Zoom and Barry battle as the Magnetar starts to build, meanwhile the time remnant version of Barry runs around the base of the loop. "What's the time remnant doing?" Caitlin asked.

"He's creating his own pulse." Cisco answered.

"Why would he do that?" Jesse questioned.

"Because... if that's out of phase, it'll counteract that one." Harry explained.

"Wait, his body can't handle that." Caitlin realised.

"Then what's gonna happen?" Jesse wondered.

"He'll die." Harry stated simply.

The time remnant then runs around until he knocks the pulse out of phase, preventing the destruction of the multiverse. Sadly, he then gets ripped apart by the force of this action and dies. "NO!" Zoom yells.

Barry and Zoom then continue to battle until Barry slams Zoom to the ground and rips apart his mask before vibrating his hand and holding it over Hunter. "You're a hero, Barry. You couldn't kill me before. You won't kill me now." Hunter reminded him.

Suddenly they hear screeching coming from behind them and they see time wraiths coming out of a portal. "I don't have to." Barry then moves out of the way as the time wraiths descend onto Hunter, tearing him apart. Hunter screams as he starts mutating into a zombie-like speedster before the wraiths carry him away into a portal.

The next day everyone is at STAR Labs. "Okay, so you ran back in time and made a copy of yourself?" Wally asked.

"Well, uh, basically. Yeah." Barry answered.

"It's called a time remnant." Jesse informed him.

"It's not something that I can do every day, but I needed a way to draw the Time Wraiths out of the Speed Force, hoping they'd be more upset at what Zoom had done than they'd be with me." Barry explained and Wally was confused.

"Is that what I look like when they start talking about science?" Joe wondered.

"Pretty much." Iris admitted.

"Don't worry, Wally. It'll get easier to understand." Joe reassures him.

"Well, how does that even work?" Wally asked.

"Same way Zoom did it. I ran back in time moments before I left. It's the only way I can be in two places at once." Barry told them.

"Okay, so the time remnant, it's still you?" Wally pondered.

"Yeah." Barry nodded.

"But he died." Caitlin reminded him.

"Uh... He was willing to sacrifice himself for all of us." Barry told her.

"That's how much he loved us." Atchaco said.

"You know what? We'll just... We'll forget about it. Barry, I'm glad you're okay." Wally laughs softly.

Over in the infirmary, Harry and Cisco helped the man in the iron mask out of his mask after Barry had saved him from Zoom's lair and brought him back here. "You know what? In battle, choose your weapon wisely. All right? Some people choose a gun. I choose a Phillips-head screwdriver." Harry said.

"Oh, oh, I'm sorry. You're so particular." Cisco replied.

"Ramon, can you just please... Have you ever worked with a tool before?" Harry wonders.

"I'm working with one now." Cisco argued.

"Are you ready? One, two, and…" Harry counted before the locks clicked on the mask and they removed it, their eyes widened when they saw the man's face.

"Ugh. I don't know what's more annoying, being in that thing or listening to you two arguing about it." He admitted.

Everyone turns around to see the man in the iron mask, who was the real Jay Garrick, and he looked exactly like Barry's father, Henry, he was his doppelganger. "Um... you're…" Barry stuttered.

"I'm Jay Garrick, the real Jay Garrick." Jay introduced himself. Joe and Atchaco both look over at Barry who seemed upset. "What?"

"I'm sorry. I... I'm sorry." Barry apologised as he walked out of the Cortex. Atchaco then quickly motions to Joe to talk to him.

Moments later, Barry was sitting against the wall in the hallway when Joe walked up to him. "Bar." Joe said.

"He looks just like him. He looks just like my dad, Joe. I can't believe this. My dad told me. He told me this. He said his mom's maiden name was Garrick. I just never thought that that meant…" Barry couldn't finish his sentence.

"Barry, Barry." Joe whispered.

"I never thought it meant…" Barry tries to continue.

"Barry, he doesn't know that. He doesn't know that he's your dad's doppelganger, okay? You want me to tell him that you had to leave?" Joe wonders.

"No. No." Barry replied.

"You sure?" Joe asked.

"Yeah. I just need a minute. I'll be all right." Barry reassured him.

Later at STAR Labs, Jay had now shaved and showed and was back in his old uniform when Harry and Cisco walked in with the mask Jay had been wearing. "That's smart." Harry said.

"Because of... Yeah, and there it is." Cisco replied.

"Genius." Harry commented.

"So the reason you didn't have your powers is because there was a dampener in the mask. You see?" Cisco pointed out to him, handing him the mask.

"I don't want to see this thing ever again." Jay said before he vibrates his hand and splits the mask in two.

"So your powers are back." Cisco observed.

"I see Jay... Excuse me... Hunter... Stole your colour scheme too." Joe noticed.

"He took a lot of things that were mine, except for that." Jay points to the helmet. "That's, um... That's all him."

"He said it was his father's from the war." Iris recalled.

Harry picks up the helmet. "Ironically, on my... on our Earth... This helmet stood for hope." Harry tells them.

"Yeah?" Jay wonders.

"Yeah." Harry confirms.

"Well, maybe I can continue that sentiment, take something from him, for a change, make it my own." Jay suggests as he takes the helmet and puts it on.

"It suits you." Caitlin complimented.

"Thank you, all of you, for saving me from Zoom, especially you, Flash." Jay told him.

"You're welcome, Flash." Barry replied.

"Now all I have to do is find my way home." Jay admitted.

"And where's that?" Wally asked.

"I think you would call it Earth-3." Jay answered.

"Uh-huh. Well, I can get you to Earth-2." Cisco tells him.

"My daughter and I can help you with the rest." Harry informs him.

"We can?" Jesse wonders.

"Yes, we can. We're going home." Harry said.

Later in the breach room, Harry, Jesse and Jay were getting ready to leave for earth 2. "Okay." Harry said walking over to Caitlin. "Snow. You're a tremendous scientist, but... you're an even better person."

"Don't make me cry, Harry. I've done enough of that already." Caitlin then gives him a quick hug.

Harry then walks over to Joe. "Detective Joe West…" He said.

"Harry." Joe returns and they shake hands.

"You have great kids. You take care of them." Harry tells him.

"Same to you. You take care of that beautiful girl." Joe replies.

"Yes, sir." Harry said before walking over to Barry.

"Hey." Barry greeted him and Harry gave him a hug.

"I'm a better man than I was when I got here, and that's 'cause of you. I'm not the same either." Harry admitted.

"I'm not the same either." Barry agreed.

Harry then walks over to Atchaco and also gives her a hug. "Watch over him, he's gonna need you." Harry said. "Also, I hope it helps for what's gonna happen."

"I will and it did, don't worry… take care of yourself, okay." Atchaco reassures him.

Harry nods before walking over to Cisco. "Hey, don't be surprised if I project myself over to Earth-2 every once in a while, you know, just to throw your stuff across the office." Cisco joked and they both laughed.

"I'll miss you too, Cisco." Harry admits.

Meanwhile with Wally and Jesse. "So I guess I can't text you from another Earth, huh?" Jesse wonders.

"I guess not." Wally sighed.

"That's too bad." Jesse replied and they hugged each other. "Thank you guys, seriously, for saving our home."

"Mm-hmm." Harry agrees.

"Ready?" Jay questions.

"Yeah." Jesse and Harry answer. Cisco then opens a breach and sends Wells, Jesse and Jay home to Earth 2. Jay was holding Jesse and Harry and then super speeds into the breach, and once they were inside it, the breach closed behind them.

Later, everyone was at the West house. Barry was watching everyone before he walked out of the door. Atchaco sees him and walks out of the house and finds him sitting on the steps. She stays silent as she takes a seat next to him. "Can't stop thinking about my dad's doppelganger. Seeing him, knowing that he's out there, that should've made it easier. It doesn't. It just made me miss him even more." Barry admits.

"I can't even imagine how hard that must have been." Atchaco told him.

"We just won. We just beat Zoom. Why does it feel like I just lost?" Barry wonders.

"Because you've lost a lot in your life, Barry, more than most." Atchaco reminds him. "But you don't have to worry about that, I will help you deal with it because I am not going anywhere, I will stand by your side every step of the way, just like how you stood by my mine all those years ago."

"Thanks." Barry replies. "But I feel so hollowed out inside right now. I feel more broken than I've ever felt in my life. If I'm ever gonna be worth anything to you, I need to fix what's wrong with me. I need to find some... Some peace." Barry's eyes start to water.

"Barry, listen to me. You waited for me for years. We have been through so much together, even before." She gestures to her body. "All this. And so I can tell you, where and whenever you need to go, whatever you need to do, do it. And when you get back, I'll be here."

"Okay." Barry replies.

"I love you, Barry." Atchaco tells him and they lean in and kiss each other.

"I love you too. And I always will." Barry returns. Atchaco smiles softly as she nods before walking back into the house. Barry stands up, he looks over at Atchaco through the window. "That's why I'm so sorry. But I have to do this."

He then runs back in time to the night his mother was murdered, again. "Barry!" Nora yelled.

"Mom!" The young Barry shouted.

He arrives just when future Macanese saves his younger self speed out of the house. Meanwhile, inside the house, The Reverse FLash was just about to kill his mum. "Barry! No!" Nora sobs. "No." Tears continue to fall down her face.

Reverse Flash was about to stab her when Barry tackles him to the ground and throws punches at him. Barry then slams against the wall. "You're not gonna kill her this time. You're not gonna kill her ever again." Barry tells him. Barry then throws one final punch and knocks out the Reverse Flash. Barry looks around and then sees the earlier version of Barry who came back in time to stop it the first time fading into nothing before his eyes.

Barry then walks over to his mother who was now alive. "No." Nora cries, fear in her eyes.

Barry kneels down in front of her. "I'm not gonna hurt you." Barry reassures her but she continues to cry. "I'm not gonna hurt you. Okay? I'm not gonna hurt you. You're safe. You're safe now."