Coming To Light 2*

(Date: 2 Jan 2016)

"I am craving a big belly burger right now." A familiar and gentle voice spoke to the man next to her in the bed. "It's morning Cait," came the reply. But the woman just snorted, "Please Mike?"

"Fine..." Mike gave in and got out of bed, a gluy-like thing covered his naked torso, and a second later, a simple black t-shirt and a blue overcoat formed on top of it. On his lower part, his red sweatpants turned into black jeans.

Looking at her husband changing clothes in a matter of seconds, Caitlin lets out a jealous sigh, "I want that." She muttered in envy, making Mike chuckle at her. "I'll be back, freshen up." The black-haired man spoke and headed towards the window instead of the door of the room.

"Hmm, no." Came the answer from the brunette, who moved to Mike's spot on the bed, enjoying the warmth. Shaking his head, the symbiote holder let out a sigh before opening the window. As soon as he was fully invisible, he jumped out of the condo and stuck himself to the side of the window, and closed it from the outside, before jumping out of there, swinging from building to building.

Since normal crimes were fully gone from Central City, the only thing that was left was the metahuman problems. But thankfully, Cisco was dealing with that. Anyone that had a problem with their powers was now coming forward and Mike's anti-metahuman cuffs, the engineer took the device and changed it to accessories. Such as watches for both genders, necklaces, and many other things.

Now, the only problem was the metahuman invasion from another world. But that was being handled by Flash and Toxin without the knowledge of the people. This brought a Golden Age for the city, a Golden Age of peace.

People weren't afraid to let their doors unlocked at night. Though there was still some uneasiness adventuring in the night for young people, 99% of the time, nothing would happen. And if something did happen, Flash was on the case in a matter of seconds.

Though there were some car accidents, again, that would be handled by the guardians of the city. Which lead to a huge wave of people wanting to move to Central City for its security and peace.

After almost 8 minutes of swinging across the city, Mike landed in an alleyway near the shopping district. Turning back visible, Mike got out of the alleyway and entered the crowd of people.

Back at the house, Caitlin took Mike's pillow and cuddled with that. After a minute, she chose sleep over preparing herself for food.

'Don't forget about me,'

"Yeah, I get it. A bucket, I know." Mike answered back, whispering to his partner. Reaching the fast food restaurant, Mike headed directly to one of the screens that take orders, disappointing the girl at the counter.

Going through the breakfast menu, Mike found what he thought Caitlin wanted, ordering a couple of Hotcakes, Hash Browns, a large coffee, and 5 Egg Muffins. After paying and waiting for a couple of minutes, his order was done.

Exiting the restaurant, the vigilante headed towards the best ice cream shops. Once in, he headed straight towards the fridge that had large buckets, taking two of the chocolate flavor, he headed to the cashier, who was a man this time.

Giving the guy a good tip, Mike exited the shop and mixed in with the crowd of people. With his Spidey sense, the host noticed that no one was paying him attention. With a smile, the buckets of ice cream were gone from his hand, 'FINALLY! Was about to take a slice of pancreas today.'

Letting out a sigh at his friend and partner, he went with the flow of the crowd to exit the place. But before he could, a sharp pain entered his arm that was holding Caitlin and his's breakfast. Shocked, Mike spun around, wanting to swat his attacker that had somehow gone under his radar.

"Oh, feisty," The attacker spoke in a carefree manner. Looking down at the knife that was locked in his right arm, Mike absorbed the bag of food into himself and with his free left hand, took out the weapon. That's when he saw the tip of the knife was gone and at that moment, 'MIK-'

Sensing his partner's alarm, Mike was about to make his move.

"Boom" The attacker spoke, his hood hiding most of his face. With that command, [BOOM!] A mini-explosion knocked the people around Mike away, burning some that were too close, while those that were a bit far away but still in the range were knocked back with some broken bones or small injuries.

But the one with the most danger was the focus of the explosion. Though he was knocked back, Mike didn't care. Because he left like he was back fighting Darkseid the second time. Though the hero tried very hard to not let out his voice, he couldn't help it when his flashback and this pain got together.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH" Mike screamed at the top of his lungs, clutching hard his right shoulder with his left hand. His eyes closed because of the pain, blood exiting from the gaping hole where his arm should be connected.

'MIKE' Toxin shouted in pain, but also a concern. But his partner didn't answer, holding his shoulder in pain. Willing the parts that were near his shoulder, Toxin controlled the parts that were away from the explosion and covered the fatal injury. Stopping the bleeding was his first priority and once that was done.

Toxin started decreasing the pain going to Mike's brain. In a matter of seconds, the cry of the hero was gone, but he was now panting, getting oxygen back in his lung. His attacker let out a predatory smile under the hood.

Looking at the man, Mike's eyes were screaming vengeance, but first. 'How are you? ' He asked his partner.

'Other than missing some body parts just like you, fine.'

The surrounding people were now away from the two men, circling them while others had phones, taking video of the event taking place in front of them. But the most surprising thing that they were focusing on was the thing covering the injured man's shoulder.

"Hello, Spider-Man." The attacker spoke, giving a graceful bow to the man on his knees. "Or do you prefer Toxin here?" He continued, but when his hunt didn't reply.

"Oh, c'mon Miky, giving me the cold shoulder?" The man spoke, surprising Mike but on the outside, Mike gave no other expression other than promising a world of pain to his attacker. "Who are you?" Mike asked, making the aggressor laugh.

'I couldn't sense him at all...' Toxin spoke, but Mike said nothing.

Once the man stopped laughing, he took his right hand, and waved at Mike, taunting him and then placing it on the hood of his trench coat. Slowly revealing his burnt face and the crazed look in his eyes.

But that wasn't what was surprising Mike and Toxin, it was the face that he was staring at. Only one person in this world should have that face other than him and it was Barry. But there it was, Mike's face staring back into him in the absence of a mirror, except for the scar on half of his face of course.

"Doppel-" Mike spoke, his eyes wide open in surprise, "Ganger" The burnt Mike finished.

Meanwhile, people were already posting about this reveal, but again, their main focus was that they now had a face behind one of the scarlet guardians, Toxin.

The videos and pictures being posted were now traveling the internet at high speed.

Somewhere else, in a house, a brown-skinned woman was on her computer, typing furiously before, she immediately stopped, her eyes wide open in terror. "Iris? What's wrong?" But the woman, Iris didn't answer.

Worried, the man moved behind her to take a look at what she was seeing that had her so terrified and when he saw the news, "Mike..." The man spoke before he was gone with a gust of wind.

Back to the scene, Mike stood up with a glare and without any care, he charged at his attacker, who met his tackle.

Dodging the incoming fist by ducking underneath it, Mike's doppelganger launched his own punch, hitting Mike straight in his guts. "You know," the attacker spoke again, dodging an overhead punch and throwing a straight at Mike, who dodged it by tilting his head to the side.

Grabbing the straight right arm with his left full strength, making the doppelganger flinch in pain, Toxin formed a fist under Mike's left arm and threw a powerful uppercut, making the man float for a second.

Letting his arm go, Mike clenches his remaining hand, wanting to tear through the man. But stopping him was a red blur, Flash. Instead of stopping the fight, the speedster threw his own punch.

With his speed and strength, Barry would have exploded the man's head, killing him. But thankfully, Mike had already sensed him coming into range. "Zoom's partner, don't kill." The older twin spoke quickly.

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Flash decreased his attack as much as possible. The doppelganger still in the air had no time to dodge the speedster's attack, which lead to him slipping on the ground a couple of times and crash-landing very hard on a wall, making him puke blood and then lights out.

Panting from anger, Flash was about to continue his assault on the knocked-out man, but a firm hand on his shoulder stopped him. "Take him to the cell, we need to investigate him," Mike told him, the burnt on his face and body slowly healing thanks to his symbiote's help.

By the time Barry had his anger in control, other than Mike's missing arm and the surroundings being trashed, it looked like nothing happened.

Giving him a reluctant nod, Flash took the passed-out doppelganger and was out of there. Letting out a sigh, Mike looked at the people slowly getting closer to him in caution, also ignoring the injured people nearby.

Turning his focus on them, "I don't have time to answer any questions! Get the injured to the side and help them!" The man ordered the approaching people, who froze. Taking that opportunity, he turned invisible and flew out of there, heading directly towards S.T.A.R. Labs.

A couple of days later:

"Annnnd voila," Cisco shouted, taking the cloth off of the object in the middle of the Cortex, showing it to the people, but especially to the man missing an arm. "Woah..." Mike muttered, impressed, and walked up to the prosthetic metal arm.

"I know," Cisco answered with a chuckle. "It has multiple features, such as camouflaging so that instead of steel, it'll look like your actual arm." Cisco continued, taking the steel arm and bringing it closer to Mike, struggling because of it's weight. "A little help please."

"Right," Barry nodded with a chuckle and helped him to put it on the Cortex desk. With that, Cisco turned back to Mike and Caitlin, continuing from where he had left off. "The reason why it's so heavy is, well, because of all the lasers and rockets in them." As soon as Caitlin heard that, her grateful stare turned to glare at the engineer, who immediately put up his hands in surrender.

"He requested it!" Cisco spoke, pointing at Mike, who now had Caitlin's pointy glare at him. "What?! It's cool!" Mike defended himself, earning a scoff from her and Iris, "Men..."

Releasing a sigh of relief, Cisco continued, "Anyway, with your strength, you shouldn't have any problem with its weight. Bu-" Before Cisco could move on, Mike immediately gripped where his right arm should be with his remaining hand, his teeth clenched in pain, "But that..." Cisco spoke, waiting for Mike to get over it.

Once he received a nod from Mike to continue, instead of Cisco, Caitlin took over. "I couldn't find a way to eliminate the phantom pains..." The engineer nodded at him, "though it is connected to your brain and will feel like an actual arm, we couldn't find a way to eliminate the pain."

Standing back straight after they disappeared, Mike waved his left hand in front of him, "It's fine Cisco. This is way better than nothing at least. And for the pain, Toxin and I are already working on something. So, there's no need to be sorry about it. Same for you Caitlin."

"But wha-" Caitlin spoke up, her inside filled with worry, concern, and also anger. But surprising her, Mike brought her in his arm, "I'll be fine, Cait. Zoom is still weak and injured. As long as we find him before the end of two months, we'll win." Though she wanted to say other things because of the anger and guilt, her mouth wouldn't open, only ending with her hugging Mike tightly.

Giving the rest of the team a signal with his eyes, Mike and Caitlin were left alone in the Cortex. "It's all my fault." Caitlin spoke up after a while, her voice breaking due to tears and anger. "Cai-"

"NO, IT'S MY FAULT MIKE!" Caitlin shouted at him, burying herself into him even further, "If only If only I didn't ask for food that morning!"

"Listen to me, Caitlin Allen." Mike spoke up, his voice gentle, but stern as well. "This is not your fault. You were simply fulfilling your duty as a mother, while I was doing mine, as a father and husband. I provide for you. I don't regret losing my arm, Cait." Mike told her, breaking the hug and making his wife look up at him by raising her chin.

"If I could give another limb for another round of Big Belly Burger to make you happy, I would gladly." Giving her a smile filled with happiness, "Anything you crave, anything you desire, anything you want. I'll give it to you." Mike told her, gently kissing her pouting lips, before backing up again, "I've said this before, I'll say it now. All you have to care about is this." Mike spoke, removing his hand from Caitlin's shin to her belly, "Our child."

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"Where are you going?" Mike groggily asked, rubbing his eyes while half asleep. Giving him a peck on his cheek, "Shopping," The brunette answered with a giggle and was about to walk away. But Mike didn't let her go. "We can shop later, right now, back to sleeping..." He muttered sleepily, taking her wrist with his right hand and bringing her back to the bed.

Giggling at that, she traced her husband's warm right arm with a look of hurt and guilt before shaking her head. "I'll be quick, I promise," Caitlin answered back, now placing a gentle kiss on Mike's warm, fleshy, right hand.

"Want me to come with?" The man on the bed asked, his eyes still closed but Caitlin knew that if she answered yes right away, he would be up and be ready in under one minute. "No, you take your beauty sleep." She answered back mockingly.

"Ha. Ha. You funny." Mike sarcastically answered back, letting her wrist go. "I know," Caitlin answered back with a bit of a cocky attitude, making Mike chuckle.

"Bye," Caitlin spoke before exiting the condo.

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Walking for a bit among the crowd, she sat down on a bench, looking at her watch. Two buckets of ice cream next to her and a bag of Big Belly Burger on top of the ice-cold buckets. Though she knew that the food would get cold, that wasn't her priority.

Counting down the seconds on her watch, once the minute hand had reached the number 10, she looked up at the crowds, analyzing them, watching them carefully while remembering what had happened, no... What should have happened.

***********************************************************

"How did you know he would be there?" She asked the man in the metahuman cell. Making the doppelganger smile at her. "I didn't" He answered, confusing the team that was back in the Cortex. "I was shopping. Needed to have the most important meal of the day, you know." The man continued with a smirk.

"I saw him enter the ice cream shop when I had just finished with my breakfast." With her fist clenched in anger, Caitlin was about to interrupt him, to tell the truth, but he beat her to it.

"It's true. First, I wanted to fight him face to face, you know. But like, come on. He's the Spider-Man. He'll easily beat me and then probably kill me once he saws my face." Mike from another world spoke, his smirk not fading at all.

"So, I got an idea. Why not make my partner's job easier?"

"You mean Zoom? Jay Garrick?" Caitlin asked, but she only made the prisoner laugh.

"Hahahaha, No, no, you got it wrong." The man spoke again, "You guys already know about it. Though I say partner, it's more of an exaggeration." The "fake" Mike told them, making Caitlin frown.

"The real name of the speedster is Hunter Z-something. Don't remember. Grumpy fellow, though." He spoke, turning his back to Caitlin and walking away, as much as the metahuman cell allowed him.

"Why are you telling us this?" Came Barry's voice through the speakers in the cell. "Because I was... No, I want to see what you'll do." The half-burned Mike spoke, his tone still cocky, angering Caitlin, who was in the pipeline alone.

"Anyway, I was enjoying my breakfast, a blueberry slushy and a burrito. And when I was done with it, I was walking aimlessly, you know. Making a plan on how to make Miky focus on me. That's when I saw the man, walking carefree in front of me, absorbing the ice cream buckets inside him." He spoke, his smirk on his face.

Turning back to stare at the angered ice metahuman, "So, I took my knife and made the first move." He answered with a twisted smile.

**********************************************************

Getting up from the bench, Caitlin entered the crowd assassin creed style, her eyes cold and angered, but it was hidden behind her persona of a normal person. Before reaching her target, her right foot hit an uneven crack in the sidewalk, which led her to bump into a man.

"Oh, I am so sorry." She apologized her left hand on the man's right shoulder and her right on the man's ribs. Giving him an embarrassed nod, she walked away back to her bench that had her bucket of ice cream and bag of Big Belly Burger.

Taking the bag with her right hand, a misty fog was surrounding her hands and a second later, it was gone. "Time to head home," She spoke to herself, a smile on her face. Walking the other way and exiting the district on foot. Ignoring the commotion that was happening behind her.

"I hope Mike's hungry," She thought out loud, just to ignore the cry of pain happening behind her, a cry that was so similar to the voice that she loved listening to. And after about 10 seconds, the cry stopped, and instead, a sound resembling the window breaking replaced the scream.

Exiting the district, her gentle and normal persona cracked, an angry and wrathful expression taking place. 'That's for hurting MY Miky!'

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With Cisco:

"Bette, I have to do this, okay?" The engineer told his girlfriend, who sighed at him with a mix of frustration and tiredness. "You always say that Cisco. Ever since Harry has fixed that stupid goggles, you're always on it!" The redhead yelled at him while stuffing clothes in her bag. "When was the last time we did something? You're always cooped up in S.T.A.R. Labs!" Staring directly at him, his goggles in his hands, clenched in fist.

"I KNOW!" Cisco shouted back, remembering the vibe, remembering the vision when the Eye destroyed everyone. "BUT I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING! I CAN'T HAVE MY FRIENDS DIE ON ME!" He snapped at her.

"Cisco, how many times do I have to tell you? THAT'S IN THE FUTURE, ONE OF THE BILLIONS OF POSSIBILITIES! YOU EXPLAINED TO ME YOUR POWERS!" She snapped back, turning to look at him directly in his eyes. "If all you're worried about is the future, you won't be able to live your life Cisco..." The redhead muttered softly, trying to convince him to let it go.

But unfortunately for her, "Then I have to do everything I can to make sure that possibility doesn't come true." Cisco told her, then sighing in pain, he turned his back, heading back to the common area, with his goggles in his hand.

"Fine then, go chase your future. I'll live my present." Bette answered back, continuing to pack her clothes in the bag. Once she was done, she turned towards the doorway and that's when she saw Cisco frozen there, not moving.

Though she was worried about him, her pride wouldn't let her call his name in that way, but she still pushed through. "Cisco?" After almost 3 seconds, he answered back, "It's... Nothing." He answered her, but she knew it was something, maybe another vibe. His back was soaked in sweats that weren't there a second ago, "What did you see?" She asked him, leaving her bag and going to him.

But before she could touch his shoulder, Cisco flinched away from her touch, his eyes drilling through hers in horror, almost as if he was hurt looking at her, which made Bette frown. "What did you see?" She asked again, her previous anger and frustration gone.

But it came back when Cisco replied, "Didn't you say you wanted to live your present?"

"What?" She asked back, shocked by the snap back. "Go away, Bette. Leave Central City. We're done." He spoke again, each word piercing her, and then with the last sentence, Bette found herself looking at a blurry Cisco, who had entered their room.

Taking the bag from their bed, he closed it and brought it to the redhead, "Leave." He spoke with... anger. "Fine! You jackass," She spoke through the pain and took the briefcase, walking out of the apartment.

As soon as Bette had left. Cisco took his phone and called his friend, the younger twin first. "Hey, Barry." He greeted, running his free hand through his long hair. "He's back... Meet me back at the lab." The engineer hung up, not explaining anything else.

Letting out a sigh mixed with pain and relief, 'She'll be safe,' He thought to himself, going to the almost empty closest, another pain shot through his body, compared to what he saw, this one was in his heart, but Cisco ignored it and took one of the jackets that Bette had gifted him.

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Hello there.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I wanted to try this FLASHback-style writing (hehe). Let me know what you think of it.

The main reason why I tried a new style was that I had faced writer's block. But this style made it easier to write this idea.

News: Flash is about 80%-85% done, ignoring the chapters in pat-reon.

Depending on when you read this (pat-reon or webnovel), It should already be almost finished or finished already.