"...I took the wrong path?"
Barry muttered to himself.
He suddenly remembered a purple monster he encountered when he entered the time tunnel.
It was that monster who suddenly punched Barry, causing him to fall out of the time tunnel and arrive in this world.
Perhaps that was precisely why Barry ended up in this universe.
This was the reason he 'took the wrong path'.
Kevin's words were not difficult to understand, and Barry quickly grasped why he was there. He then asked:
"Okay, I mostly understand why I'm here, so... how do I get back?"
"That's what I need to tell you, Barry." Kevin's voice softened slightly. "If you want to return to your original universe, you'll need to go back in time again and change the past you altered back to how it was."
"...Excuse me, could you repeat that? What am I supposed to do?"
Barry asked again, as if he hadn't heard clearly.
Kevin sighed:
"No matter how many times I repeat it, what I say won't change. You cannot change the past, Barry. You can't alter a past that has become fixed. Once you try to change it, the result will be chaos across all multiverses."
This couldn't be blamed on Kevin; it was a setting provided by DC. And since the movie universe exists, then the rules of this world must follow the movie universe's settings.
Barry's mother had to die, just as Batman's parents couldn't live.
This was something DC Superheroes had to bear, and even Kevin, an outsider, couldn't change any of it.
Forcibly changing it would only lead to the collapse of the entire DC Multiverse.
The worst outcome was what Dark Flash, or this world's Barry, did in the movie.
Dark Flash rewound time countless times, causing countless multiverses to collide, annihilate each other, and eventually everything returned to nothingness.
If he didn't want all universes to be destroyed together, Barry had to go back in time and set the altered events back on track.
This was his destiny.
After Kevin finished speaking, this conversation with Barry temporarily concluded.
Looking at Barry, who sat there stunned and silent, Bruce, who had been listening for a long time, finally asked:
"He came here because he went back in time and changed something. What about you? What are you here for?"
Bruce in this world clearly also knew the dangers of altering time.
He now understood why Barry was here, but he still didn't know why Kevin was here.
According to Kevin himself, he was also a time traveler.
Had he also done something to disrupt the timeline? This was the question Bruce wanted to confirm.
"I'm just here to get something."
Kevin stated his purpose.
Mera instantly reacted: "The trident..."
"Yes, the trident. Originally, I just wanted to touch it, but I didn't expect it to cling to me now... Batman, don't look at me like that, I'm not lying this time, and I haven't changed anything in the past.
"I'm different from Barry; he's a time traveler, and I'm... well, a multiverse traveler, I suppose. I haven't been to the past of your world. For me, all time is linear.
"The time points I go to are parallel time points across all universes; there's no concept of past or future."
Or rather, it was a critical plot point, not before the plot began to unfold.
Kevin, uncharacteristically, explained a few more sentences.
Bruce, whether he believed it or not, nodded slightly, then changed the subject:
"Now that we've discussed your issues, let's move on to the next matter. Zod... what do you plan to do about him?"
"Zod... is very bad..."
Barry finally snapped back to reality. He didn't dare to look at Kevin, his gaze falling on Bruce, and he recounted what Zod had done in another universe:
"He wants to terraform Earth into Krypton, an environment suitable for their species to live in, and doing so would kill many people... at least most ordinary humans on Earth wouldn't survive.
"The one who originally stopped him was Superman, but in this world, we don't have Superman, so we thought of coming to you, Batman..."
"Yes, we certainly don't have Superman."
Bruce interrupted Barry, and just as Barry was about to ask something, he turned his head towards Kevin and said:
"But we have 'Poseidon' here."
A being with the name of a god, surely he must be stronger than 'Superman', right?
Bruce, who had never witnessed Superman, thought this.
But Kevin had a different opinion.
"I might be able to stop Zod, but Superman's existence is also necessary, Bruce. Do you remember the information I came to you to look up before?"
"...The one you were looking for that day was Superman?"
"Yes, or rather, a different individual of Superman in this world. We can find this world's Supergirl, and then go deal with Zod. One more person means one more chance of winning."
Kevin still hadn't forgotten Supergirl.
Because Supergirl in 'The Flash' was really cool. If Kevin didn't go to meet such a cool Supergirl, he would still feel somewhat regretful.
...
The matter of rescuing Supergirl was put on the agenda with no one opposing it.
There was still a little over a day until Zod's deadline, so Batman and the others had ample time.
This world's Barry, who possessed the Speed Force, went with Old Bat to rescue Supergirl, and Kevin also had Arthur accompany them.
Arthur, having lost to Kevin, had been diligently performing his guard duties ever since.
He would listen to most of Kevin's commands, and for 'orders' that weren't too excessive, Arthur naturally wouldn't refuse.
Having sent off the key personnel, Kevin himself stayed in the Batcave to browse through Batman's black tech equipment data, planning to copy them and take them back to build a set for himself to play with.
It had nothing to do with simply increasing combat power; he just wanted to build a similar set for fun.
Although Kevin wanted to see Supergirl, he had no intention of personally rescuing her.
Mainly, he was lazy, and because this was an event that was bound to happen in the original story, Kevin probably would only gain one or two skill points by going.
There was absolutely no need to make the trip.
Therefore, Kevin decided to stay and guard the home, and after Batman's consent, he gained the right to study the Bat-equipment.
Also staying behind were Mera, the King's aide, and Barry from his original world, who had lost his Speed Force.
Ever since Kevin told him he had to go back in time and change the events he had altered back, Barry's expression had been very dazed.
When Kevin had some free time, while Batman and the others hadn't returned, Barry proactively approached Kevin.
"Um... hi?"
Facing Kevin, who was sitting in front of the computer in the Batcave drinking coffee, Barry greeted him awkwardly.
He tried to put his hands into his pants pockets, but realized there were no side pockets, so he had to shove his hands into his back pockets, looking quite comical.
Kevin, holding his coffee and stirring the sugar cubes and milk inside with a spoon, turned to look at him:
"Are you some little girl who came here to randomly flirt? Just state your business."
"...It's... nothing major, it's just what you said earlier, that I have to change the past I altered to return to my own universe... I mean, what I want to ask is, is there a way that I can... return to my... that... without having to change the past again?"
"Barry Allen."
Before Barry could finish, Kevin directly called out his name, interrupting him:
"You should be very smart, right? At least your education and IQ are definitely much higher than mine, a guy who only went to a third-rate university.
"Then you should know very well that there's no such good thing in this world where you can successfully save the person you want to save and also not cause any impact on the world.
"Yes, this time you just seem to have taken the wrong path and arrived in another universe. It seems like everything would be fine if you just went back to your original timeline, but have you ever considered what if your timeline became even worse?"
Kevin's expression was very serious. Barry met his gaze and felt as if he was completely seen through by the other person, with no secrets remaining.
Barry''s mouth slightly agape, he suddenly guessed something:
"...You... do you know...?"
"Yes, I do."
Kevin still didn't wait for Barry to finish, and took over the conversation.
"I know you are the Flash, I know you went back in time to save your mother, and I know even more what happened in your world. As you can see, I am a traveler, I have seen too many things.
"So I have also seen the future that changed when you tried to alter the past. Do you want to know what it looked like?"
"I..."
"You don't have to answer, I'll tell you. It's an existence worse than this world. Diana is no longer Wonder Woman; she is the Queen of Themyscira. Arthur, like in this world, is the King of Atlantis.
"A war broke out between them, and the war even spread to the human world. Seawater submerged the land, continents sank into the water, and all the heroes you knew and didn't know died in this disaster.
"This is the future, Barry. This is what happened in the timeline representing the new future after you changed the past."
Kevin concisely explained the animated series plot to Barry.
When he saw Barry's wide-eyed, shocked expression, he knew Barry must have taken his words to heart.
Most Superheroes share a common trait: they empathize with those in tragic circumstances, whether they are heroes or villains.
Barry had indeed not seen what Kevin described, but based solely on Kevin's words, Barry could roughly imagine the devastation of that world.
He didn't even need to imagine too much; just by looking up videos and pictures of the tsunami unleashed by Atlantis online, Barry could get a general idea.
Therefore, he was even more unable to accept this fact.
Barry's expression was pained. He turned around, leaned on the railing, and forcefully hammered the edge of the fence with his hand, his fists clenched, his heart in extreme turmoil.
He had finally succeeded in saving his mother and reunited with his future mother, but now he had to go back in time and erase this altered future.
This was equivalent to Barry personally killing his own mother.
Thinking this, Barry found it even more unacceptable, his heart nearly collapsing.
"I... I already succeeded... I really did succeed... but why...?"
Kevin silently watched Barry's reaction.
After a long while, he suddenly said:
"Actually... there is a way to save your mother."
"!?"
Hearing this, Barry instantly looked up, his previously dimmed eyes lighting up again. He asked Kevin, somewhat disbelieving but also hopeful:
"How... how do I do it?"
"I'll tell you the method later, but before that, you need to regain your abilities. Without the Speed Force, even if I tell you the method, you won't be able to do what I say."
"Right... right, right, right, regain my abilities first..."
There was light in Barry's eyes. Although regaining his abilities would also be difficult, as he couldn't perfectly recreate the original scenario.
But at least there was hope.
Kevin stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment, estimating that Supergirl and the others would still be some time before returning. He then said to Barry:
"Anyway, I'll take you to get your abilities back first, and at the same time, prepare for the upcoming major battle."