The conference room in STAR Labs was packed.
Barry stood at the head of the table, hands planted flat, eyes sharp but tired. The light above flickered slightly. Outside, rain tapped against the glass like a warning drum.
Stein and Ronnie had just arrived—damp from travel, but alert. Dr. Light leaned against the far wall, arms crossed. Iris sat beside Joe. Eddie stood near the windows, watching the storm. HR twirled his pen nervously. Caitlin and Cisco sat side by side, silent. Billy stood behind them, arms crossed, cloak still billowing despite no wind.
Barry exhaled.
"Zoom's gone," he said. "But not destroyed. Not yet."
That got everyone's attention.
"What do you mean?" Iris asked.
Barry glanced at her. Then at everyone. "The version we fought here—he was a remnant. A time copy. Zoom's real body, his true self, is still on Earth-Two. And he's not done."
Stein frowned. "If he's already sent remnants to infiltrate this world..."
"Then he'll retaliate," Barry said. "Hard. And soon."
HR tapped his mug. "You're saying we started something."
"No," Barry corrected. "He started it. We're going to finish it."
Billy stepped forward. "So what's the play?"
Barry looked at him. "I'm going to Earth-Two. To his stronghold. To end this."
The silence was immediate. Heavy. It settled in like fog.
"You can't go alone," Joe said.
"He won't," Ronnie added. "We're with him."
"Not all of you," Barry said. "Zoom's going to fight back the only way he knows how. He'll send metas through the breach. Chaos. Distraction. We have to be ready here too."
He looked around.
"That means splitting up."
Cisco leaned forward. "So who's going?"
Barry nodded. "I need a recon unit. People who can adapt, think fast, and hit harder if things go bad. Caitlin, HR, Cisco—you're with me. Dr. Light, you too. And Firestorm."
Ronnie nodded, and Stein sighed beside him but didn't argue.
Barry turned to Billy. "You stay."
Billy raised a brow. "Because I'm the strongest?"
Barry smirked faintly. "Because you're the only one crazy enough to punch anything that moves and make it look casual. And because we need you here if this city gets hit."
Billy nodded. "Understood."
Barry continued. "Superman and Batman are already en route. Billy called them before I even asked."
HR's eyes widened. "Wait, the Superman and the Batman?"
Billy just grinned.
Barry faced Joe and Eddie. "The city will need order. Panic is going to spread fast if metas start pouring in. I need you both to coordinate with CCPD, seal exit points, keep people safe. Minimal casualties."
Joe nodded immediately. "Consider it done."
Eddie crossed his arms. "And if someone gets cute with their powers?"
Barry's eyes narrowed. "Stop them."
Cisco stood. "Alright, what's the entry plan? You said stronghold—what are we walking into?"
Barry tapped the table. A small hologram blinked to life—schematics of Earth-Two, pixelated, blurry in places.
"Zoom's base is located in a twisted version of our STAR Labs. Hidden beneath the ruins of their city center. He built it on top of collapsed ley-lines—raw Speed Force energy channels."
HR whistled. "Creepy. Effective."
Barry nodded. "He's expecting us. We need to move fast, disable any breach stabilizers, and isolate him from the source. If he taps into those lines during the fight, he'll be worse than before."
"And how do we stop him from opening rifts while we're there?" Caitlin asked.
"Cisco," Barry said. "You're going to lock down the breach from our side with HR's help. Once we cross, you shut it. No one in. No one out. Until it's done."
HR leaned back. "No pressure."
Cisco smirked. "We've done crazier."
"One more thing," Barry added. "We can't bring this fight home. No matter what happens."
Everyone looked at him.
"If I fall—"
"Stop," Iris said.
"—if any of us fall," Barry corrected, softer, "we don't open another breach. No rescue. No retrieval. We end this there. We leave it there."
Iris's jaw tightened.
Billy stepped forward. "We're not letting you fall."
Barry met his eyes. "I know. But you have to be ready. All of you. This isn't just a meta. It's a speed demon who thinks he's a god."
Stein sighed. "He won't be the first we've faced."
Barry nodded. Then looked to each of them again.
"Thank you. All of you."
He turned to Cisco.
"Open the breach."
---
The portal crackled to life like a wound in reality.
Lightning swirled. Air shimmered. Earth-Two's skyline was faint behind the energy waves—dark, broken, quiet. No stars. No moon. Just faint flickers of neon buried in shadows.
Barry stepped forward first, suited up.
Caitlin followed, slipping on frost-dampened gloves.
HR adjusted his glasses. "If I die, someone delete my browser history."
Dr. Light smirked faintly. "If you die, I'm leaving your corpse in a vending machine."
Ronnie fused with Stein. Firestorm glowed with heat.
Cisco and Billy watched.
"Keep them safe," Billy said.
"Don't die until I say so," Cisco added.
Barry smirked once.
Then ran.
The breach swallowed them one by one.
And Earth-Two welcomed its ghosts.
---
In the city, chaos had already started.
A breach opened near the metro line. Another above the dam. A third in Midtown. Small squads of Earth-Two metas emerged—some familiar, some not. Flashbacks from old files. Rejected experiments. Twisted versions of people they knew.
Billy transformed in the sky, thunder cracking overhead.
Superman landed with a sonic boom.
Batman emerged from the shadows near CCPD, already issuing silent commands through private channels.
Joe ordered the lockdown. Eddie ran comms.
And above it all, lightning danced.
Because even if the war had moved to another Earth...
The battle had already begun here.