BEEP BEEP BEEP

A shock of movement. A sigh.

'Are you serious? I was just getting to the good part. Now I'll never know how our secret combo move defeated Grodd.'

Going back to sleep.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

With a groan, Wally blearily opened his eyes and rolled over to shut off his alarm clock. 'What day is it?' He sat up, stretching his limbs and half-heartedly pushing the sleepy cloud from his mind. Not quite ready to actually get out of bed, the young speedster reached for his brand-new phone (that had taken months of begging Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris in order to obtain) to catch up on any news or messages he may have missed throughout the night. His eyes lit up when he scanned over a message from Robin. It read, "hey KF, u ready for the best ice cream Gotham has to offer?" How could he have forgotten? It was the start of summer break! That means he and Robin can hang out whenever they want! (Which might be a stretch, but he was going to ignore that for now). He's finally going to see his best friend after what felt like forever.

Wally then deemed it appropriate to bolt out of bed, jump into some clothes, and head straight towards his aunt and uncle's room. He crackled with energy as he rapped on the door, his smile practically shining. His exuberance had not gone unnoticed by the adults on the other side of the door, their previous muttering now nonexistent. Within less than a second, the typically bright form of his uncle had swung open the door to greet him. Wally had initially beamed at him, ready to spew all kinds of words of excitement for the day at him, but as his gaze reached his uncle's face, he realized something was off.

Uncle Barry had all the time in the world, being a speedster. A minute in the life of an average person had the potential to be an eternity for him, which left Wally confused as to why he was looking so worn down. The older speedster always took care of his appearance, and from the time it took before he had opened the door, he could have changed his clothes, smoothed out his bedhead, brushed his teeth, and been ready with a matching grin. It left Wally all the more worried when his normally radiant uncle had greeted him with messy hair, dark circles under his eyes, and a shaky smile.

The red head's excitement dissipated and instead of the enthusiastic rush of words he had been waiting to blurt out, only one thought crossed his mind.

"What's wrong?" He asked, concerned.

Noticing his nephew's shift in attitude, Barry attempted to brighten up his features, even if just by a little bit. He hadn't expected the younger speedster to be up so early.

"Don't worry about it kiddo. Everything's fine. I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed, I guess," he breathed out with a chuckle, ruffling Wally's hair.

Wally brushed his uncle's hand off with what he intended to be a dramatic sigh, but just turned into a quiet grin. He looked up at the older speedster again, eyes searching for any additional sign that something was wrong, but came to the conclusion that his uncle really did just look tired. His assessment finished, Wally figured that now was as good a time as any to remind his uncle of the plans for the day.

"Sooo," he began, "Today is the first Saturday after the end of the school year, which means that it's time to go hang out with Rob! We're gonna get this amazing ice cream and go to the park and—" Wally's ramblings were cut off by a nervous chuckle from his uncle.

"Kiddo," he began hesitantly, "I know you're excited for this and all but wouldn't you rather stay at home—do some experiments in the lab, maybe? We can blow all kinds of things up, you know," he let out a dry laugh as he scratched the back of his neck.

"Uncle Barryyy," Wally whined, "I told you, I'll be fine in Gotham! And you said I could go weeks ago! You can't change your mind now!"

Barry's shoulders slumped, "Yeah, I guess I did say that, didn't I, kiddo?" He couldn't tell Wally about what was really going on. Not yet. He didn't want to scare the kid on his first real day of summer break.

But he didn't want to lose him either.

He shook the thought from his head. It would be fine. Everything would be fine.

"Good, so it's time to go!" the redhead exclaimed, practically dragging his uncle out of his bedroom and down the stairs and towards the front door.

"Not so fast," Iris interrupted from the top of the stairs, her arms crossed. "You've got to eat breakfast first, you little lightning bug," she smirked.

Wally groaned at the nickname, but the thought of breakfast was enough to keep him at bay.

Breakfast had been...rather uneventful. Excluding his aunt and uncle's ridiculous worried glances. And Uncle Barry's finger tapping. And Aunt Iris's spilled coffee. But other than that—yes, completely uneventful.

Once Barry appeared to be finished eating, Wally jumped out of his seat and ran for the door.

"Come on, or we're gonna be late!" He cried.

The blond speedster took a moment to sigh, then zoomed upstairs to change into his costume, seeing as Wally had done the same before breakfast.

The two speedsters were out the door in a flash, leaving Iris to shake her head and let out a soft laugh. She would never get tired of this.

Instead of taking the Zeta, the duo had decided to make the trek to Gotham on foot. Barry had insisted that Wally needed to burn off some excited energy (and definitely not because Barry needed to burn off his own nervous energy). Wally was reluctant, but eventually agreed, as it had been a while since their last run together. The redhead welcomed the thrill of power that was the Speed Force and essentially began running on autopilot, spouting off anything and everything he could about his excitement for this day.

This was where Barry felt especially guilty. He had promised the kid that he could have a whole day with Robin in Gotham, but that was before he became aware that Zoom was back. And this time, he wanted Wally. He knew because—well, Zoom flat out told him. That particular confrontation had been rough. It had happened only three weeks prior to the current date, and Barry's explanation of why he had so many broken bones was equally as bad as his attempt to keep Wally home today. He sighed.

By the time Barry came out of his guilt-fest, the speedsters had arrived in Gotham. Wally lead him to the place he and Robin had agreed to meet, and once the smaller of the two had Robin in his sight, he promptly whipped the younger superhero into a bone-crushing hug.

"Rob! I'm here!" the redhead hurriedly announced, a grin stretching from ear to ear.

"Yeah, I can see that, KF," Robin choked out, attempting to pry his best friend off of him. Wally didn't seem to notice, however, since he didn't budge.

"Bro. Can't breathe," he wheezed, and to his relief, Kid Flash finally let go.

"Hehe, sorry 'bout that, Rob," Kid Flash scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

A few steps away, Flash chuckled. 'Kids.' He shook his head lightly, glad that his nephew seemed to be having fun already. He heard something about an ice cream parlor as he zoned out, taking in the sight of Gotham City. Things were looking surprisingly bright for Gotham. For once, the sun was out and there was minimal trash on the sides of the street. A glance to his left revealed a few successful shops; and to his right, there was a bank. Not currently being robbed, which was always a good sign. Barry eventually brought his attention back to the two young superheroes in front of him.

Who weren't there anymore.

'Shit.'

Flash felt his heartbeat pick up, his muscles now tensed. His head whipped around in all directions, eyes desperately searching for some sign of where the boys could have went. 'Wait. Wally said something about an ice cream parlor,' he thought as he began to run, his feet slapping the pavement at above the speed of sound. He had to find them, he couldn't leave them unattended. He could never know when Zoom would be watching.

Meanwhile, in a park near the ice cream parlor, Kid Flash and Robin were making quick work of devouring their respective ice cream cones. The sun was out for once, so they had to eat fast to avoid it running down onto their gloves.

Once the ice cream cones were both gone, Kid Flash spoke up, "So, Rob, what do you wanna do next?"

Robin looked up at his friend. He had been apprehensive when Wally convinced him that it would be okay to get ice cream and hang out without Flash looking out for them, but ultimately agreed when the redhead pulled out the "Do you really like being treated like a kid?" card. After all, he was eleven! Much too old to be doted on 24/7. Right.

He was still worried. Batman had told him that it was important to stay with Flash, something Wally seemed to be oblivious of. So, he recommended something he knew Batman would never approve of, just in his hope to meet back with Flash.

"You wanna patrol?"

The slight grin already on Wally's face turned into a wild one as he scrambled to stand up. He rushed over to the smaller hero and pulled him into the second hug of the day.

"Yes! Rob, that's a great idea!" He exclaimed, the thought of being so independent filling him with a sense of pride. Robin let out a puff of air as he was released from the hug, only to be thrown onto the speedster's back and told to 'hold on tight!'

He watched as the world around him blurred into vague shapes and mixes of colors. It never got boring, traveling at super speed. A view like this one was just so different from anything he had ever seen. However, just because it was beautiful didn't mean that it didn't become nauseating after what he assumed to be around 10 seconds. He closed his eyes, now only focusing on the feeling of the wind whipping around him.

It stayed like that for a few more moments, until a gasp came from Kid Flash as he was ripped off course. The speedster tumbled to the ground, but Robin's grip on him only tightened. Kid Flash seemed to have been knocked out from the fall. Robin, on the other hand, was dizzy and disoriented, but was still conscious. He looked up.

There was a man standing only a few steps away from them. He looked like he was a speedster, with a yellow suit and lightning crackling around him. But, he was different. He didn't wear the friendly smile that had become a trademark of speedsters. No, his cracked lips were stretched into a sick smirk. His eyes had a frenzied look to them. Robin didn't want to know what the man was thinking. Though, as soon as the young superhero had had that thought, everything went black.

Robin awoke to the sound of voices. One was rough, yet calm. It traveled through the room like ice. It almost seemed...'excited?' he thought. The other was so obviously scared: it was high pitched and cracking all over. It was shaking. He attempted to open his eyes, finding it difficult at first. 'Ugh, what happened?' he groaned.

His eyes snapped open to the sound of a scream, and his memories came flooding back. He and Kid Flash ditching Flash, getting ice cream. He asked if Wally wanted to patrol. Of course he did. He was Wally. They did it, they fell, there was a man, and then there was nothing.

His head snapped over to the direction the scream had originated from. There, he saw Kid Flash—no, Wally. His mask was gone. He had bruises on his face, and he was crying. There was some sort of contraption strapped to his back, and he was lying flat on his stomach. There was a boot on his head, holding him down. It belonged to the man from before.

Robin struggled, attempting to squirm out of the ropes that held him. That was a mistake.

The man's eyes were piercing through his skull now.

"Oh look, your friend's awake," he stated, almost in a conversational tone. Robin wanted to throw up.

"Don't do anything to him!" Wally blurted out, gasping for air.

"Isn't that sweet, the snot-nosed brat Wallace over here is trying to protect his little bird," he sneered.

Robin froze. 'He knows Wally's name.' He couldn't breathe.

The man started walking towards Robin, ignoring Wally's protests. Robin's eyes shifted back to his friend. He wasn't restrained, but he wasn't getting up. The machine looked like it was shocking him. Again, Robin looked up at the man. He was closer now, only about a foot away from him.

"So, what'll it be, West?" the man grinned, "Your friend's life, or yours?" He began vibrating his hand at a dangerous speed, positioning it in front of Robin's chest.

Wally's eyes widened. He pushed himself off of the ground, gritting his teeth at the shocks still reverberating through his body. "Don't hurt him," he begged, quieter now.

"You know what you have to do," the man responded, a wild smirk appearing on his face.

Wally nodded. He turned around, glancing at Robin one last time. 'I'm sorry,' he mouthed. And then he took off, the ground splitting beneath him.

Robin was shocked. He glared at the man, yelling, "Who are you?! What's that machine?! What is he doing?!" He was shaking at this point.

The man only chuckled. "You can call me Zoom, kid. The machine? It's nothing you should worry about. It's just gonna make sure good ol' KF makes it into the Speed Force. And, as you could have guessed by now, he's running into it. Saving your life in the process, you know. You should be grateful."

Robin retreated into his own mind, blaming himself for this encounter. He should've listened to Batman, should've stayed with Flash. Now Wally, his only friend, is going to die because of him.

Zoom left the kid to be stuck in his own thoughts, only a laugh trailing behind him.

Wally had never gone this fast before.

He was so excited the first time he had been able to break the sound barrier, feeling like he'd never seen the things around him move so slow before. But this—this was an entirely different story. Everything was a blur. He was passing through entire countries in an instant. His feet were slamming down on concrete, grass, water; it all felt the same. He would pick up on snapshots of the people he passed. A mom, buckling her infant's car seat. He was pretty sure they were in front of a restaurant. He passed a lot of people eating in the outdoor patios many food-places offered. A lot of them were happy. Some were arguing, others were laughing. He paid the most attention to the restaurants.

He was making his way back to Gotham fast. He passed the ice cream parlor he and Robin had visited just earlier. 'Ice cream,' he thought. 'It all started with ice cream.'

He was out of Gotham as soon as he had entered. He wondered if his uncle saw him. He hoped so. His uncle would save him. He had to. He always did.

His pace kept increasing. It felt like he wasn't the one running anymore. The machine was in control now.

He thought back to what Zoom had told him. He wanted Flash out of the picture. He was the one to break so many of his uncle's bones those weeks ago, but he purposefully let him live. He explained that simply killing Flash wouldn't change anything. He had to break his spirit, to make him no longer even want to be a hero. That was what would really take him out, he had said.

And so that was why he was going after Wally instead.

He was practically Barry's own child, legally and otherwise. Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris were and are everything to Wally, so it makes sense that he would be everything to them as well.

Wally didn't want it to end like this. Uncle Barry told him about the Speed Force, about what could happen when a speedster enters it. They usually don't come back out.

He must have passed through Gotham multiple times already, because by now he could barely see when he tore through the city. He felt lighter, in a way. He looked down at his arms. He could see through them, and they were glowing. He didn't have much time left. He looked up once more.

And right into the eyes of his uncle.

Barry immediately ran towards Wally, yelling for him to slow down. But he couldn't, not even if he tried. It was too late.

Barry screamed, and Wally was gone.

A/N: So uh,, hi. I'm back. It's been literal years. I couldn't remember any of my login info so we're on a new account. I'm 16 now. I was 13 when I started the story Unexpected, and my writing was total shit (still p much is lol), so it's surprising that people were actually enjoying it. I was supposed to start working on Bizarre Circumstances much earlier than I did, but it just never happened. I'm in an odd place in life rn, and I've been looking back at a lot of different things. This story was one of them. I felt guilty about never going through with it, so here we are. I'm not promising that it'll ever really get finished, but I hope the rewrite will be more enjoyable than the original. I tried to keep certain lines the same, but other than that, I just tried to revamp all of it. The next update should come out in anywhere from 1-2 weeks. If you're an old reader, thanks for staying. If you're new, I hope you enjoy it.

See you soon,

UHT 2.0