Chapter 86 – No Turning Back
Morning sunlight filtered through the high windows of STAR Labs, casting long shadows across the Cortex. Despite the new day, no one had slept—at least not well.
Cisco sat hunched over his console, dark bags under his eyes, fingers flying across the keyboard. His hair was a mess. He sipped his fourth cup of coffee, barely blinking. Beside him, Wells looked equally ragged, pacing slowly as he pieced fragments together in his mind.
They had worked through the night.
Trying to find the Black Order.
Trying to find Leon.
Barry and Caitlin walked in just as the screens lit up again, displaying traces of the void energy. Dante followed them silently, a cigarette dangling from his lips. His movements were fluid, his eyes glowing that familiar ember red.
He was Dante again.
Not broken.
Not empty.
Just… silent.
Cisco looked up and screamed, "Ohhh, I got you now!"
The group flinched.
Wells turned, raising an eyebrow. "What now?"
Cisco spun in his chair, pointing dramatically at the screen, then at Barry. "Okay, so—get this. We don't know anything solid about the Black Order. Right?"
Barry nodded slowly. "Right."
"So he might be Leon. But he also might not be Leon," Cisco said, emphasizing each word like a professor. "He's a speedster—maybe even using the Void Force, same as Dante. So it's totally possible he went back in time, saw Dante's past, and said that quote just to mess with him."
Wells joined in, eyes gleaming with the spark of a plan. "Exactly. There's no hard proof yet. But if this really is about Leon—if this whole thing ties back to him—why not go to the moment it all began?"
Barry frowned. "You mean...?"
"The day he vanished," Wells said. "After his mother died. If we can trace his final steps before disappearing, we might learn something—anything. How he ended up this way. What changed him. What made him the Black Order, if that's who he really is."
Caitlin turned to Barry, unsure. "Time travel's not without risks, though."
"But it's a lead," Cisco said eagerly. "Right now, we have nothing. This gives us something."
Barry paused.
Caitlin gave him a look—half hope, half worry.
Then Barry slowly nodded. "It's a good idea, actually."
Before he could say more, a voice sliced through the Cortex like a blade.
"No."
They all turned at once.
Dante stood at the center of the room, his expression sharp. His glowing red eyes burned with something between fury and desperation.
"What?" Barry asked, startled.
Dante stepped forward, voice firm. "No one goes back. Not for him."
"Dante—" Caitlin tried to speak.
"No!" he snapped, louder this time. "He's Leon. And I'll stop him. I have to. Even if it kills me. That's the end of the story."
Then, without waiting for a reply, he stormed out.
His cigarette burned to the filter, trailing smoke behind him like a fuse.
The Cortex fell silent.
For a long moment, no one spoke.
The room felt colder somehow.
Cisco looked at Barry. "You have to do it."
Barry's eyes flicked to the door where Dante had disappeared. "But he said—"
"We heard what he said," Wells interrupted. "And it's not about disrespecting him. It's about protecting everyone."
Jay appeared in the doorway then, having heard part of the conversation. "Dante's too emotionally involved. If this really is Leon, it's not just a fight—it's personal. That makes it dangerous."
Cisco swiveled back to the console, typing as he spoke. "And if the legends are right—if the Black Order really has traveled across Earths, taking speed from other speedsters—then he's way beyond anything we've ever faced."
Barry nodded grimly. "Stronger than Thawne. Stronger than Zoom."
"Exactly," Wells said. "And this power—the Void Force—it's not just another speed source. It manipulates gravity. Time. Existence. If the Black Order's mastered it…"
Cisco finished, "…then he didn't just become a meta from the particle accelerator. Maybe he was already a meta. Or maybe he adapted faster than anyone else. Smart. Ruthless. A one-man extinction event."
Jay crossed his arms. "The more we learn, the more likely it seems—he isn't just a product of power. He's a product of pain."
Wells nodded slowly. "Which makes his transformation all the more important to understand."
Barry stared at the center console, then at the images of Dante's childhood neighborhood that Cisco pulled up.
"You want me to go back," Barry said.
Cisco nodded. "When Dante was seventeen. After their mom died. The day Leon vanished."
Barry hesitated. "And what if I find out something that breaks Dante even more?"
Wells placed a hand on Barry's shoulder.
"Then at least we'll know the truth. And maybe... we'll know how to save both of them."
---
On the Rooftop
Dante lit another cigarette as he stared across the city skyline.
He had felt it in the room.
The shift.
The decision.
He knew they wouldn't listen.
He knew Barry would go back.
But he didn't stop him.
Because deep down, he wasn't afraid of the truth.
He was afraid of what the truth would cost.
And he knows it was time for the team to know everything
---
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