"Cisco, Thea!" Without her power ring, Caitlin could control ice to glide through the air, though not as fast.
She'd been waiting anxiously indoors. Seeing them safe, she rushed to hug them both enthusiastically.
Their voices seemed a bit loud, and two more people emerged from the room—a man and a woman. The man was in his fifties, very thin, with a scholarly face, stern demeanor, and black-rimmed glasses. The woman was slightly plump, appearing around twenty years old. She seemed very conscious of her image—even while hiding in this underground shelter, she'd tried to make herself presentable.
Cisco, who'd been hugging Caitlin, caught a glimpse of the newcomer and jumped in fright, immediately reaching for his weapon.
"Cisco, don't be rash! He's not the person from your memory!" Caitlin quickly grabbed Cisco.
Their commotion drew the attention of the somber Thea and Robert Queen from the other side.
This sight even surprised Thea. Harrison Wells? Or rather, Reverse-Flash?
Gray energy gathered in her palm as she prepared to cast a massive slow-time field.
"Wait, wait! Thea, he's not the person from your memory. He's this spacetime's Harrison..." Flash's expression was ugly, but he still stopped Thea.
Only then did Thea look closely. Indeed, there was no Speed Force reaction in his body. Forget Speed Force—he didn't even have ordinary energy. Just a regular person.
"Uh, now that everyone's here, let me introduce you." Flash glanced at Caitlin. The current Caitlin was more human than the original timeline's Killer Frost, but only toward familiar people. This mutual introduction task fell to him alone.
"This is Cisco Ramon, my best friend, and this is Thea Queen, a superhero from our world."
After speaking, Flash glanced at Robert Queen's expression and added, "She's the daughter of our world's President—President Moira Queen..."
Flash searched his vocabulary, trying to explain with simple, bland words. Fortunately, everyone present was intelligent. They all nodded in understanding. Only Robert Queen murmured softly, "Moira..."
Next, Barry introduced the current spacetime's people. First was the old man who removed his hood, revealing white hair: "Uncle Robert Queen. In this spacetime, he's Green Arrow. That father-daughter pair over there are Dr. Harrison Wells and his daughter Jesse Wells."
Thea rubbed her forehead. Honestly, she disliked this world. Everything here contradicted her core values. All she could do was mobilize her army to defeat Steppenwolf and feed him to the dogs.
But such a large-scale battle couldn't avoid innocent casualties—that's why she'd hesitated to commit.
As Barry was about to explain the current situation, she raised her hand to interrupt. "Barry, Caitlin—where's Reverse-Flash? If your pursuit is over, I'll take you back. You shouldn't get too involved with parallel spacetimes."
At the mention of Reverse-Flash, Barry glanced at Caitlin, his emotions low. Of course, since Thea had seen him ten minutes ago until now, his mood had been consistently down. This world was filled with despair—that pervasive decay in the air, earth, and rivers was deeply unpleasant.
"I witnessed it personally. Reverse-Flash was killed by another speedster. The superheroes of this spacetime call that person Godspeed." His mother's murderer was dead, yet Barry felt no joy—only deep sorrow. Especially remembering Reverse-Flash dying before him, the peace and relief on his face, left a bitter taste.
Reverse-Flash is dead? Thea glanced at Caitlin, who nodded slightly, confirming the news.
"I can't go back. Godspeed's goal is to kill all speedsters. He's my enemy. I must deal with him here." Barry's answer was very superhero-like—see one villain, punch one villain. Thea suspected he also thought: "It's someone else's house, breaking it won't hurt."
Rather than let Godspeed lurk around causing trouble, better to kill him on this Earth.
"But my speed is far inferior to his. Godspeed has absorbed the Speed Force from several parallel spacetime speedsters. Now he's also obtained Reverse-Flash's portion. He far exceeds me," Barry said dejectedly.
Thea thought for a moment. "That's easy to handle. We can..."
She hadn't finished when—BANG! Robert Queen slammed his hand on the table, glaring at Thea menacingly. "You're not my daughter. My daughter wouldn't ignore such tragedy just to discuss defeating some Godspeed! You're just a stranger wearing her face!"
Thea took deep breaths, feeling deeply wronged. Waves of energy leaked from her body. The temperature rapidly dropped, liquid in containers began trembling slightly, and the air seemed to freeze.
She was truly aggrieved. Things had to be handled one at a time. What was wrong with dealing with Godspeed first? She had neither responsibility nor obligation here. Why was Robert forcing his will on her?
"I don't need anyone telling me what to do. You're not my father either. He was kind, compassionate, and considerate of others. You just have a face like his. You're not him at all!"
The two locked eyes stubbornly, neither yielding.
"Wait, wait! Let's not fight among ourselves. We can discuss this—we don't have to go after Godspeed." Seeing the tension caused by his situation, Flash rushed to mediate.
"Barry, you don't understand. I can sense it—this old man has hostility toward me. This hostility has existed since we met."
Thea's understanding of emotions was now unmatched. Once she got serious, she immediately detected the anomaly.
Upon hearing this, Barry instantly sided with Thea. If the other party held hostility, what was there to discuss? Having been thoroughly manipulated by Reverse-Flash, Barry was now both fragile and sensitive. He hated deception most.
Needless to say, Caitlin already had frost gathering in her palms, ready to go on a rampage.
The situation's sudden shift left the spectating Harrison father and daughter bewildered. Were their tempers always this explosive? Ignoring his frail body, Harrison stepped between them both, signaling them to stop.
"My sensing is never wrong. Mr. Robert Queen?" Thea desperately wanted to understand where this hatred came from. Did this world know she was Malcolm's daughter? That possibility wasn't small. What her original timeline accepted calmly might not apply here.
Robert Queen hesitated for a long time until Harrison frantically gave him significant looks. Only then did he reluctantly say, "You're not my daughter at all. I knew at first sight—you look exactly like the person who killed my daughter."