Present

"Now you're just like me," Hunter breathes as he looks down at Barry like a mad man. I stand there frozen as Barry shouts over his fathers now dead body, screaming and crying for him to come back, that he was going to be okay. "Let the darkness in, Barry."

I pull my eyes away from Barry and connect them with Hunter, feeling nothing but pure hatred course through my entire body. Before thinking, I lift my hand up and use my powers to throw him against the wall, locking him there in place just like how I had done to Eobard when Barry and I had gone back in time. My chest heaves deep breaths as I scream, focusing on everything to keep him there.

Barry stays over his father's body as I walk towards Hunter, anger radiating from me. I cant find the words to say as Hunter laughs at me, finding amusement in all of this. I hated it.

"It's good to see you're still kicking," he laughs, stopping for a moment to catch his breath. "I'll have to admit, when I figured out you were still breathing, I wanted to finish you off myself, but then I thought it'd be more fun to let this drag out a little bit farther."

I narrow my eyes as I shake my head. "You knew I was-"

"Of course I knew!" he screams over me. "I've known you for half of your life, Raven. I know more about you than you know your own self. Besides, why else would I bring Laurel here? I thought she could finish the job, but I guess I underestimated her."

I grit my teeth as I tighten my hand, my muscles beginning to cramp from the sudden force. Hunter lifts off the ground then as he stays glued to the wall, another laugh escaping his throat. I hear Barry sob from behind me once more, causing me to look over my shoulder. Seeing him so torn like this...it broke my heart, and it wasn't fair.

"You feel the anger, don't you, Flash?" Hunter breathes as Barry looks up at him, tears filling his eyes. "Now the two of us are the same...well, three."

He glances over at me in that moment, knowing that he was talking about my parents. I let out a scream as I throw him into the other wall, making sure he hit hard. He grunts from the impact before laughing, but that only made Barry more angry. Before I know it, Barry is flashing forwards and punching Hunter in the face, and then the gut, but it only makes him laugh.

"That's right, Flash, use your anger!" Hunter screams over Barry. "Just like I did."

Barry stops in that moment, a painful sob escaping his throat. I taste blood in my mouth, but I didn't care. I go to throw Hunter once again, but before I can, he looks at me and grins. "You've gotten stronger, but you'll never be stronger than me."

Before I can react, Hunter's eyes flash blue lightning as he somehow is able to unstick himself from the wall. My eyes widen in panic for a moment, but just when I race towards him to fight back, he's dashing forwards and grabbing me by the collar, dragging me along behind him as he races out of the house and down the street.

When I opened my eyes, I briefly see a flash of red lightning behind us before the next thing I know, Hunter is throwing me forwards. My back hits the hard pavement below as I go rolling into the concrete wall in an ally, the impact of it taking my breath away. When I finally stop, I barely have time to look up and see Hunter running back towards me. However, before he can reach me, I see Barry come from the side and smash into him, the two of them soaring through the air before rolling across the ground just like how I had.

I try to scramble to my feet, feeling a sharp pinch in my lower back, but I push through the pain. Adrenaline pumps through me as I race forwards, going to help Barry with Hunter. Right when they stop rolling, Hunter lands on top, but before he can land a punch on Barry, I grab him and throw him into the wall, making sure to use all of my strength while doing so.

Everything falls still for a moment as he looks between Barry and I, laughing. "Isn't this just adorable-"

Barry flashes around from behind me as he goes to hit Hunter, but before he can, Hunter turns and zooms down the ally, getting away. Without thinking, I chase after him as Barry follows, the three of us running up and down buildings. I narrow my eyes as I run as fast as I possibly can, somehow managing to get around to the front of him in time to stick my leg out and trip him.

He lets out a little scream as he falls to the ground below, not being high enough to kill him, but high enough to at least hit him hard. Barry and I run down the side of the building as we watch him hit the pavement, lying there motionless. When I make it down the ground, I snatch him up by the collar like I had earlier and throw him up against the side of the building, holding out my hand as it buzzes softly.

"This is how you repay me?" Hunter snaps as he smiles, blood on his teeth. "I save your life and you take mine?"

I had finally lost it. "You killed my parents! You took away my life, Laurel's life, Dust Storm's, and so many others. You did anything but save anyone!"

"Kill me then!" he shouts. "You won't-"

Without thinking, I plunge my hand straight through his chest, feeling his heart slowly tick down as the life drained from his eyes. I heave huge breaths as a huge weight is lifted off of my shoulders, feeling as if I was finally free. This man only brought me chaos, and he was finally gone.

I rip my hand back out as he falls to the ground, blood starting to create a pool below the two of us. A faint smile appears on my face in that moment as I look down at him, the only thought running through my mind was that this was finally over.

"Ouch, that hurt."

I bite my tongue as I turn around, seeing Hunter standing there in the flesh, alive and well. "What-"

"I was hoping there wasn't a need to make that time remnant," he sighs as he looks down at his dead clone. "You really would kill me, huh?"

Everything crashes back into me in that moment. Hatred burns in my heart as I stare at him, wishing that this was just a bad dream. Before I can act, he flashes forwards and throws me into the wall behind me, along with Barry. However this time, I didn't have the strength to get back up.

I look off in the distance where Hunter had ran off to, wishing I could make myself get back up on my feet to fight, but I knew there was no point. We needed a plan, and I knew that Barry wasn't in the right head space. I look over at him in that moment, finding him lying there with his face in the pavement, letting his tears take over.

I reach over and take his hand, knowing that it wouldn't help much, but I just wanted to make sure he knew that I was there for him. He continues to cry as I lay my head back down on the pavement, wondering to myself how we were going to win this fight.

I just knew that we had to.

-*+*-

Henry Allen's funeral was the first funeral I had ever attended.

Standing there in front of his coffin made me realize that I had never even attended my parents' funerals, and that was what ate me away as I stood there and listened to Joe West talk about Henry. It seemed to be a nice little funeral, but like I said, it was the only one I had been too, so I didn't have much to go off of.

After the funeral, everyone went back to the West house, but instead of it being lively and filled with love as it had been only a few hours before, it was filled with silence and broken spirits. Joe and the others stayed crowded around the table with food as I kept in the corner, not quite sure what to say or what to do. It wasn't until I saw Barry head outside that I decided that I needed to say something to him, but I didn't know what exactly.

I quietly follow after him as I open the door, finding him sitting there on the front porch, looking out across the street at a single lamp post. When he hears the door, he looks over his shoulder at me, nodding his head solemnly before looking back out.

I carefully shut the door behind me as I step down two steps, sitting beside him as I look out across the street with him. For a moment, we both just sit there in silence, our minds screaming a thousand words but the both of us not wanting to say it. Instead, we sat there for a minute or two, enjoying the peacefulness.

Finally, I take a deep breath. "What happened to your father, Barry..."

"I just don't understand," Barry breathes as he shakes his head, his eyes staying locked on the street ahead. "When I was in the speedforce, it felt like I had finally come to terms with my mother's death. But now...my father's taken away from me? How am I ever supposed to find peace with that?"

I turn and look at him. "Coming from someone who lost both of her parents...I never have. Every day is a reminder that they're gone and that I'm still here, but you just have to keep pushing on, Barry. You have to remember that they would want you to keep moving forward with your life, to keep smiling, and to keep living. To keep running."

Barry turns and looks at me then, a slight glimmer of hope in his eyes. "I just miss him so much already."

I stare at him for a moment, unsure on what to say. Going through all of this with Barry only reminded me of my own parents, and it felt like salt in an open wound. "We'll get through this, Barry. You still have Joe, Iris, the team...and you have me. I'll be here if you need anything, okay?"

He nods his head before looking back out across the street, a single tear falling from his eyes. I look out with him for a moment as I wonder to myself if we were going to make it out of this okay...or even better, alive.

After a few moments go by, a flash of blue lightning stops in front of Barry and I on the street, causing the two of us to stand quickly. I bawl my hand into a fist as I stare at Hunter, keeping an eye on Barry out of the corner of my eye as well.

"Bad time?" he says while taking his mask off. "I didn't interrupt anything important, did I?"

Barry starts to step forwards, but I hold my arm out and stop him. I wanted to talk first before this ended in violence. "This ends now-"

"Not yet," he spits back. "There's always more to take, Barry. Including the girl holding you back."

I narrow my eyes as Barry shakes his head. "You're going to stay away from them-"

"That's entirely up to you," he says simply before continuing. "You know me better than anyone, Raven. Meaning you know what the one thing I've always wanted is."

I bite my bottom lip. "Power."

"Close," he halfway smiles, causing my stomach to churn. "Speed. I'm here to challenge you to a race, Flash, to see who truly is the fastest man alive...on either world."

"I'm not racing you," Barry spits back, shaking his head.

Hunter rolls his eyes. "Then I guess your father won't be the only person you love that I'll take away from you."

"After all of this, you just want to know who is the fastest of you two?" I say, shaking my head with frustration. "That's all?"

"Between us two? No, no," he says with an evil grin. "Why not make this a three man's race?"

I look over at Barry as he shakes his head, his eyes starting to water with tears. "You're insane."

"Maybe," he says before taking a step backwards, glancing between the two of us. "I'll let you two think about it. I'll be waiting."

And without another word, he races off into the night.

-*+*-

I had this typed like 4 days ago and I forgot to post it, I'm so sorry guys omg. Happy 4th of July though! Stay safe and have fun!

comment and vote y'all! the end is near...