"You can't save them all, Flash, not even you." Abra Kadabra tells me, "You've got to choose who lives and who dies. You ready for that?"
I glance at him and promise myself I would save them all. And then, I save the easy one right in front of me, J'onn, about to be killed by an evil doppelganger of Shayera.
One down. 2 more groups to go.
My top priority has to be Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman. Right now, J'onn's evil doppelganger is frying their brains.
Shayera and John are about to be killed by evil Batman's batarangs. They travel at a rate of say, 300 feet per second. I can get there in time.
But I have no idea how long it takes to fry a person's brains. That's my top priority.
When I first got my speed, I used to push myself. I ran like my life depended on it. But this isn't for records. This is for my friend's lives, and these friends happen to save the world daily.
I'm called the fastest man alive. But just how fast is that, exactly? Let's find out.
How fast to I have to be to save my friends? Faster than magic? Faster than a speeding bullet? Faster than... Light?
I know I'm taking a huge risk right now. Last time I ran this fast, I disappeared into the Speed Force, and almost didn't return. And I said that if I ever went that fast again, I didn't think I'd be coming back.
But so what? So what if that happens again? So what if I disappear and never come back? None of that matters right now. The way I've always seen it is this: The world needs a Superman. It can live without the Flash.
I'm comforted in knowing that if I disappear, they won't go rogue. I was told that when they thought I was dead, Superman almost killed Lex Luthor, but refrained. I know the world will be safe if I die tonight.
I run into the clearing where their brains are being fried, and I knock out the evil puppets Abra Kadabra had made, and am on my way to save Shayera and John before they can even process what happened.
I've got about 1.5 seconds left to save them. "I'll save them all" is sounding a bit insane right now. But I have to find an extra push. Somehow, I do.
Abra Kadabra appears, and starts babbling on about something. but I'm ignoring him. Nothing he says matters right now.
I somehow make it to Shayera and John in time.
The batarangs are about to pierce them. I grabbed the weapons out of the air in time and knocked the evil doppelgangers out.
There were 0 seconds to spare. I slow to a stop, breathing heavily. I notice a lot more lightning swirling around me this time than last time- I had gone way faster.
"Flash? What did you do?" Shayera asks, gasping upon seeing me as she processes what had happened.
I pushed myself harder than I ever had before. I was willing to give up my life to save all of you. I probably had, actually. I know the world needs you all more than it needs me. But I'm not going to tell her and John that. I couldn't put that weight on them.
"I had to." I state simply in response. There was a sharp pain, and I feel dizzy, just like last time. And, just like last time, I disappear into the Speed Force.
I can only imagine what my friends were thinking at this moment in time. They were probably devastated that had happened again.
But what can I say? I like to dramatize and mess with them.
Not really. That was a joke. At a really bad moment, but eh, who cares?
Not me. Not now. This place is pure bliss. I don't wanna leave. I can have everything I ever wanted here. And it can last forever.
Get a hold of yourself, Wally. Don't fall into the temptation. This is just fantasy; None of it is real. I have to escape. I've got to help my friends. Abra Kadabra has said a lot that I'm the only one who can defeat him, so if I disappeared, he'd be unstoppable, and he'd take over the world.
Yeah, can't have that happening.
Focus on my friends. They're fighting Abra Kadabra right now, and losing. If I don't come back, he won't hesitate to kill them.
So, I do the one thing I'm best at: I run. I run faster than I did just moments earlier, just so I can break out of this place.
I feel myself slipping from the Speed Force's grasp. Suddenly, I'm out. Back in reality.
I'm moving too fast for the others to process that I'm back. I don't skip a beat. I run up and punch Abra Kadabra, and somehow, though I'm not exactly sure as to how, I send him back to the 25th century, his original era.
Time returns to normal, and his wand drops to the ground in a loud clatter.
"Flash!" Diana exclaims happily.
"...Hi." I say awkwardly. I have a I feeling I'm about to get a lecture.
"Don't ever do anything that stupid again." John says. They all rushed up and hugged me.
I want to argue and say that it wasn't stupid, that I know how they are more important to the world, but I refrain.
Right now I should be thankful I'm alive.
Besides, right now is about living in the moment.