Cracks in The Wall

Chapter Fourteen

The roar of a bike engine filled the streets of the Narrows as the Signal headed back towards the batcave. It was getting dark, but work wasn't over for him. Batman had called him back from patrol, meaning something important had to be happening. In an attempt to discern the problem, he surveyed the streets using different forms of vision, from the EM spectrum to microscopic and telescopic vision.

Much to his horror, he saw the energies in the atmosphere were in turmoil. The atoms in the air were warping, and the bonds of molecules were shattering. Beyond that, different forms of radiation were running rampant in the atmosphere. Fortunately, not enough to hurt anyone, not yet, at least. Everything was in disarray, as if the fundamental parts of reality were in a state of decay, and it looked like it was getting worse.

He watched as all the people around him walked around in a blissful ignorance of just how dire the situation was. It was times like this that made Duke realize the disparity between the world's protectors, and those that they protect. The world could be ending, and most wouldn't even know about it. It disturbed him to think about how often that could have happened before he donned his yellow helmet. Shaking the thought from his mind, he pressed on to the Batcave, watching in unease as the world began to pull itself apart before his eyes.

By the time he reached the batcave, he'd seen just how widespread the damage to reality was, and it was getting worse. There was no doubt that this was what he was called for. The ground in front of him opened up, revealing an entrance to the large underground garage. Hopping off his bike, he removed his helmet and headed towards the staircase leading to the Batcomputer.

"Hey, Batman! I'm here!" He called out as he ascended the steps. "There's some really weird st-," he stopped mid-sentence when he reached the top of the steps.

He froze as he finished his ascent. In front of him stood not only Batman, but the Flash. Though, that isn't what gave him pause. It was the fact that the Reverse Flash was standing there too, watching him come up the steps. Seeing this, he quickly placed his helmet back on his head, but it was a futile action, and Thawne seemed thoroughly amused by it.

"Now, now, Mr. Thomas, you really think that will do you any good?" Eobard taunted, clearly amused by the action.

Duke grunted at him, perturbed. "What's this lunatic doing here?" He questioned, his suspicious gaze not once leaving Thawne.

Batman walked forward, shoving past Thawne. "He's here because we need him here. He won't do anything unsavory. He needs our help just as much."

Duke stared suspiciously, taking a pause before responding. "I still don't trust him."

"Neither do I, but we don't have much choice in the matter right now," Batman replied, turning back to glare at Thawne briefly. "I assume you have an idea of why I called you here?"

"Yeah, everything's going wrong. I found something new in each spectrum of sight. It's like the natural order of things has been thrown off balance. What is going on?"

"The Speed Force. It's gone," Barry replied. "It's a fundamental part of the multiverse, and without it, it's decaying."

Duke stood there in a shocked silence. He wasn't particularly familiar with the Speed Force, outside of what he'd heard after the incident in the East End, but he knew it was incredibly powerful. To learn that something that important was gone, and that its absence was the cause of all the damage he'd been seeing, well, to say he was concerned would be a gross understatement of his feelings.

"That… that's pretty heavy. But what exactly do I have to do with this? The experts already seem to be here," he pointed out, looking over at Barry and Thawne.