The Flash : Please Kill Me (Complete Remake)

Chapter 21: Rogue Time and System Upgrade (REMAKE)

The air in S.T.A.R. Labs felt like a knot had just been tied in a very important, very fragile string. Barry had accidentally time-traveled. Again. And then, he'd come back, having averted a disaster, but the ripples… oh, the ripples were everywhere. Cisco, who had been killed by Wells in the original timeline, was now alive, but the memory of his death, a phantom limb of reality, still lingered.

" Seriously, Barry? One time travel, and you almost erase Cisco? You're like a bull in a china shop, only the china shop is the entire fabric of reality. And I'm the guy who has to pick up the pieces. Again."

Adam watched Wells, who was calmly explaining the paradoxes, his face a mask of scientific concern. But Adam saw the subtle flicker in his eyes, the almost imperceptible smirk. Thawne was enjoying this. He was testing Barry, pushing him, shaping him. And Adam knew this was his chance. He needed a death from Thawne. A death that would give him a skill to fight against this temporal manipulation.

He also knew the original timeline. He knew what Wells had done to Cisco. He couldn't let it happen again. But he couldn't just blurt out the truth. Not yet.

"So, if Barry changed the past," Adam mused aloud, leaning against a console, "does that mean the future is completely different? Like, what if someone who was supposed to die… didn't? Would the universe just… forget? Or would it try to correct itself?" He looked pointedly at Wells.

Wells paused, his eyes narrowing slightly. "The intricacies of temporal mechanics are vast, Mr. Stiels. Such hypotheticals are… complex."

"Complex, or inconvenient?" Adam countered, a challenging glint in his eye. He was pushing. He was baiting. He needed Thawne to react.

Later, as Barry was struggling with a new metahuman (a minor one, a distraction for the real threat), Wells was giving him instructions, subtly guiding him into a vulnerable position. Adam saw it. A calculated move. A setup.

"Barry, look out!" Adam yelled, even as he moved. He knew what was coming. He knew Thawne would react to his interference. He deliberately placed himself in the path of a collapsing piece of equipment, knowing Wells would be the one to "deal" with him, quickly and efficiently, to maintain his cover.

The yellow blur was instantaneous. A cold, impossible sensation. A vibrating hand, not quite a punch, but a precise, calculated strike that sent Adam flying. He felt the impact, the sudden, jarring pain, and then… darkness.

[SYSTEM ALERT: DEATH DETECTED. CAUSE: BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA (REVERSE-FLASH).] [LIVES REMAINING: 3/4 (Current Life Activated)] [DEATHS ACHIEVED: 6/20 (Next System Level: Level 5)]

[SKILL ACQUISITION: 'MINOR TEMPORAL MANIPULATION (INSTINCTIVE)' HAS BEEN UNLOCKED!] [DESCRIPTION: Grants a rudimentary, instinctive ability to subtly influence localized temporal flow (e.g., brief, unconscious perception of temporal echoes, slight resistance to temporal distortions).]

Adam gasped, his eyes snapping open. He was back in his apartment, disoriented but alive. He felt a strange ripple in the air around him, a faint echo of time itself. He concentrated, and for a split second, he saw a fleeting glimpse of a past moment, a shadow of an event that had just occurred.

" Holy crap. 'Minor Temporal Manipulation'! Now I can probably tell if Barry's late for dinner because he's actually late, or because he accidentally warped five minutes into the future. This is going to be incredibly useful. And incredibly annoying. Thanks, Thawne, you murderous time-traveler. You just gave me a superpower."

He quickly changed, his heart still hammering. He raced back to S.T.A.R. Labs. The metahuman was apprehended. Barry looked shaken. Wells was calm, observing.

"Adam!" Cisco exclaimed, rushing over. "Dude, what happened? You just… vanished! And then you were back! It was like you time-traveled!"

"I… I don't know," Adam feigned, rubbing his head. "One minute I was there, the next… everything went black. And then I woke up a few blocks away. Must be my 'enhanced common sense' again, telling me to get out of the way of collapsing buildings. And maybe my 'Minor Impact Absorption' really kicked in."

He looked at Wells. Wells met his gaze, a subtle, almost imperceptible nod. A silent acknowledgment. Thawne knew Adam was a variable. And Adam knew Thawne was his ultimate skill source.

" Okay, being killed by a time-traveling supervillain who knows all your secrets, even ones you haven't made yet? That's a new level of awkward. But hey, Level 4! More lives, more fun! And a temporal skill! This is going to be a long, complicated game."

He felt the System hum with satisfaction. He had gained a crucial skill, and he had initiated his next System Upgrade.

[SYSTEM ALERT: LEVEL UP REQUIREMENTS MET! INITIATING SYSTEM UPGRADE TO LEVEL 4!]

[LEVEL UP REWARDS:] [1. PERMANENT DEATH COUNTER INCREASE: +1 (Current: 4 lives per killer)] [2. NEW SYSTEM SHOP ITEMS UNLOCKED!] [3. FUNDS ACCUMULATION TIER INCREASED! (Next: $2,000,000)]

Adam grinned. He had just leveled up. And he had a new, terrifyingly useful skill. The game was getting harder, but he was getting stronger. And he was coming for Thawne. Slowly, subtly, but surely.

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