The Legends of Forever by Barry Lyga (books to read for beginners .txt) 📕

Overhead, Mick came into view, hauling Cisco behind him. They alighted in the center of the sphere, and Mick quickly erected a huge umbrella overhead to shield them as the Time Trapper returned.

“Nowhere to run,” Mick grunted, focusing. He reinforced the umbrella with steel and concrete and everything else strong he could think of.

“Space has contracted,” Cisco elucidated. “We’re almost at the end of reality. The Big Crunch. There’s no room to flee.”

The Time Trapper roared and pounded at the umbrella. Blood burst from one of Mick’s eyes as he held tight.

“What if this isn’t a Big Crunch?” Barry asked. “What if it’s a Big Bounce?”

Cisco nodded. “I see where you’re headed with this.”

“Maybe clue in the kids who flunked science class?” Mick growled, shaking as he held off the Time Trapper.

With characteristic enthusiasm, Ray piped up. “There’s a theory that says that if the universe is a closed system and collapses into a Big Crunch, that something called the Big Bounce would happen—the hyper-compressed agglomeration of matter and energy would re-explode at some point, creating another Big Bang, re-creating the universe.”

“Basically, time is a circle, not a line,” Barry chimed in.

“Is that supposed to comfort me?” Oliver asked. “A new Big Bang makes a new Multiverse? Where do we fit in there?”

Cisco jumped in. “Look at it this way: That Big Bang is the one that created our Multiverse. They’re the same. Because like Barry said—time is a circle. When you go around a circle, you don’t end up on a new circle. You wind up back at the beginning of the same circle.”

“How long does it take to get to the Big Bang?” Sara asked. “And I can’t believe I just asked that question.”

Ray shrugged. “Once the universe—the Multiverse, in this case—collapses, there’s no such thing as time anymore. It doesn’t exist, because nothing exists. So the Big Bang happens immediately. Or after an eternity. They’re the same thing.”

“My head hurts,” Mick complained, “and not just from this stupid thing.” He wiggled his fist to draw attention to the glowing green ring. “But for what it’s worth, Volthoom says everything you guys are saying checks out.”

“Oh, good,” Sara chimed in. “The evil, insane jewelry from another universe thinks we have a plan.”

“What is the plan?” Oliver asked. “I don’t see how Big Crunch or Big Bounce makes a difference.”

Barry hesitated. “I . . . I can’t run back into the past. The Iron Curtain is blocking me. But I can use the vibrational energy from the speedsters, the new Speed Force they’ve woven, and I can run forward.”

“Past the end of the Multiverse,” Ray whispered.

“Into the Big Bang,” Superman confirmed. “Into the fires of Creation itself.”

“And then keep going,” Barry said. “I can pull you guys behind me in the Time Sphere. I’ll run the entire length of history and get you back to the present.”

Ray’s lips moved as he did some calculations in his head. “Wait. At that velocity, will you even be able to stop?”

Barry shrugged, but he knew the answer, which was Probably not. He suspected that he could survive the moment of the Big Bang, shielded by the Speed Force and the Earth 27 speedsters’ vibrations that formed the new Speed Force. But then he would still need to run through all of history in order to get the team home. And he felt very strongly that he wouldn’t be able to stop, that his momentum would keep him going . . .

Until he got to the End of All Time again. And hit the Iron Curtain of Time moving at an unimaginable speed.

He preferred not to think about that, though. He would probably burn up from the speed of such a run long before he could hit the Curtain, in any event.

The question Ray should have asked: Will you even survive?

“We’re not technically on Earth 1 any longer. Johnny Quick’s formula has no upper limit here. It’ll make me even faster. Plus I’ll tap into the Earth 27 energy . . . I can do it.”

Wally stared at him. “Barry . . . That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard. And believe me—I’ve heard a lot of crazy.”

“I mean . . . in the moments before the Big Bang, there’s no there there,” Ray told him. “Nothing to run on. No oxygen to breathe. This is beyond impossible.”

“The Speed Force lets me violate the laws of physics on a regular basis,” Barry said with surprising calm and confidence. “I suspect we’ll actually be translated into pure math, an encoded bolt of electrical information shooting across the universe.”

“What’s that going to feel like?” Oliver mused.

“Like nothing. It’s the Speed Force—you won’t feel any different.”

Oliver didn’t look entirely convinced.

“It’s a moot point if we can’t trap the Trapper,” Superman said.

“He was using the machinery where he held me to manipulate the Curtain,” Cisco revealed. “I can—”

“No,” Sara said. “We need you to keep the Trapper distracted while we put this crazy plan into action. And I know your powers are tapped out. That’s OK. I have an idea.”

“I’ll get to work stripping the Time Sphere for parts,” Barry said. “Retune the chronal engines to help reinforce the Iron Curtain of Time.”

“Which leaves me,” Superman said.

Sara arched an eyebrow. “Last time I checked, it left Wally, Oliver, me, and you.”

Superman offered a polite nod. “Of course. And which one of you is conversant in both alien and future technology . . . ?”

No one spoke.

“I thought so. I’ll go to the other asteroid and make the Trapper’s machine work for us. And then destroy it.”

51

Mick dropped the shield he’d established, letting the Time Trapper’s enormous hand descend into the sphere. In the blink of an eye, Kid Flash dashed to one side, pulling Cisco along with him. Wally’s speedster metabolism had finally kicked in, and with a little superspeed “jump start” from the Flash, he’d managed to get back most of his speed.

Now he and the Flash played a desperate game of “keep away,” shuttling Cisco back and