Young Justice: The Return of Kid Flash
WATCHTOWER
June 12, 16:00 EST
"Recognized. Aqualad, B02." The computer announced.
The Zeta-Tube transporter whirled to life and pretty soon after the twenty-two year old leader of 'The Team' known as Aqualad was materialized into the orbiting satellite known as the Watchtower, headquarters of both the Justice League and the Team.
The Atlantean stepped away from the transporter and began to approach the new Op's manager, twenty-eight year old Carl 'Snapper' Carr, who was pressing various on several holographic computerized images in front of him.
"Professor Carr." Aqualad spoke up.
He turned and noticed Aqualad which pleased him. "Oh, Aqualad! Good, your here."
"Your call sounded urgent. I came as soon as I could. What is the emergency?" Aqualad questioned.
"Not an 'emergency' per say but it's definitely weird…" Professor Carr stated. He touched one of the holographic images and expanded it. "The watchtower just detected a strange power surge emanating from the North Magnetic Pole in the Arctic. I've never seen anything like it."
Aqualad recognized the location. "The North Pole… that is where…" The Atlantean began to say before sighing sadly. "Wally… perished."
Sad looks appeared on both of their faces as they remembered their fallen friend and comrade, who sacrificed everything to save the world. Forcing their fellow friend Nightwing to take a leave of absence, Artemis to permanently become Tigress and for Impulse to become the new Kid Flash. All of them deeply missed Wally, especially Artemis, Bart, Nightwing and the Flash and wish they could bring him back but they all knew that was just a dream, a silly fantasy.
"Yeah… well… this particular energy surge is not only located at the same place where he… died, but it also seems to be growing and accumulating power." Professor Carr pointed out gesturing to the large and expanding energy force located on the holographic map.
"What does it mean?" Aqualad inquired.
"I don't know… however it is possible though… that something or someone is trying to come into our world through some… other dimension or something." Professor Carr replied.
"Savage?" an anxious Aqualad shot back.
"Savage? No Aqualad, as you know no zeta tube technology other than our own can work now that we have that Zeta-Shield up." Professor Carr reminded him. "And the watch tower hasn't detected any boom tube activity recently."
The professor approached the leader of the Team closely, his tone was almost sad. "Kaldur. We both know who it is."
Aqualad's eyes widened as the Professor clinched it for him. Turning towards the Zeta-Tube once more Aqualad spoke in a clipped tone to Carr.
"Professor, contact Tigress, Bart, Superboy, Miss Martian and if possible find and contact Nightwing." Aqualad told him. "Brief them quickly and give them coordinates to the North Pole. I'll meet them there."
"Acknowledged."
Aqualad zoomed to the Zeta-Tube, typed in the coordinates of the North Magnetic Pole and stepped through.
"Recognized. Aqualad, B02." The computer announced.
NORTH MAGNETIC POLE
June 12, 11:16 UTC
After only just a few minutes, Professor Carr managed to gather up most of the founding members of the Team and tell them to meet Aqualad at the North Pole to check something out. He deliberately omitted specific details as he wanted Aqualad to explain to them instead and partly because he didn't want to get anyone's hopes up just yet.
While the cold arctic winds blew all around a giant, aerodynamic, alien aircraft slowly landed on the icy ground of the North Magnetic Pole. Pretty soon after, three members of the team, along with one former member; specifically the 6 year old Kryptonian-Human Hybrid Clone known as Superboy, the 54 year old "young" Martian known as Miss Martian, 19 year old Nightwing and 21 year old Tigress swiftly exited the Bio-Ship and ran up to Aqualad who was standing nearby and appeared to be looking at something. 14 year old Bart Allen AKA Impulse AKA Kid Flash II zoomed over from the south not too long after.
Superboy was the first to speak to Aqualad. "Alright, we're here. What's so…" he began to say before he saw for himself just what Aqualad was staring at; a giant ball of compressed energy which seemed to pulsating and emitting energy waves that were slowly increasing yet dissipating.
"Oh." The clone finished, stunned.
"Uh… ok, I got nothing what the mode is that?" Bart questioned.
"Professor said it was some type of energy that has begun to grow and accumulate power since last week." Aqualad explained.
"What does it mean?" Tigress asked.
"It means someone or something is trying to get into our dimension." Aqualad responded.
Nightwing then begins to check his holographic computer on his wrist.
"Scanning the energy field now," he said, as he begins typing on the holographic keypad. He then made an interesting noise.
"What is it?" Miss Martian inquired.
"Whatever this energy it is it's definitely not Zeta or Boom Tube energy." Nightwing stated.
"Then just what is it?" Superboy questioned, a bit impatient.
"Not sure exactly but strangely it resembles the same energy Bart, Flash and Jay all emit when their super speeding." Nightwing replied. Bart zoomed over to get a closer look at his findings.
"Huh, really?" he remarked, interested. "That is so crash!"
"Hey… is there any reason why it should be pulsating like that?" Superboy wondered as he gestured to the actual pulsating ball of energy in front of all of them. Then before long it started to grow in size with each pulse.
"It's growing!" Nightwing exclaimed as he checked his scanner again. "Whatever is coming through that thing it's gonna come out fast!"
"Come out? Come out how?" Superboy questioned, alarmed.
"I think we're about to find out!" Tigress stated, as she and the others began to slowly back away from it.
"I can agree with that." Aqualad added.
The energy ball continued to pulsate and grow, as well rise higher and higher into the air until suddenly in crashed right into the ground belong, creating a small explosion and kicking up a large amount of frost in the Team's direction.
When the Team finally unshielded their eyes they all saw smoke beginning to clear from the area from which the energy ball crash landed. They all narrowed their eyes and looked closely as something or someone slowly came into view. They were shocked beyond belief when they saw a familiar tinge of somebody yellow and red slowly coming into view.
"No… it… it can't be…" Tigress breathed, not believing what she was currently seeing with her own two eyes.
"Is that…" Nightwing continued, also in a state of disbelief. Miss Martian covered her mouth with both hands as her eyes both widen and tear up.
"Wally…" Superboy finished, just as shocked as the others.
"Crash." Bart added in awe.
"So it is true…" Aqualad muttered. The others look at their fearless leader with surprised eyes.
"True? What do you mean?" Superboy questioned him.
"Professor Carr and I figured this might be it but… we did not know for sure." Aqualad admitted. "Also… we did not want to get all of your hopes up if we just so happened to be wrong."
"Understandable I guess…" Nightwing stated, deep down the others agreed with him and understood why he didn't want to tell them earlier on. Tired of waiting Tigress began to dash towards Wally's body.
"Tigress!" Nightwing called out.
"Artemis wait!" Miss Martian cried as she flew after her. The others began to follow just a few moments after. They all gathered around Wally's body. Artemis lifted his read haired head up gently.
"Wally…" she breathed.
"Are you alright?" Miss Martian asked.
"Say something!" Superboy demanded.
A small groan was heard, followed by a fluttering of eyes.
"Hey! He's waking up! He's waking up!" Bart exclaimed excitedly.
Wally's eyes opened up a crack, his friends all seemed like big blobs before his eyes opened all the way and his vision cleared.
He let out another groan. "Ugh… my head," he moaned. He then saw the smiling faces of his friends and girlfriend, although strangely instead of happy he looked deeply confused.
"Welcome back, KF." Nightwing said with a smile.
"Yes, it is very pleasing to see you alive again, my friend." Aqualad agreed, smiling also.
Tigress helped Wally sit up, as he did so he groaned in pain again.
"Dick? Kaldur? Oh… what happened?" he asked with a slight moan. He then looked all around him confused. "Uh… why are we on the North Pole?"
He looked at Bart. "Why is that kid wearing my outfit?" This question both surprised and confused the fourteen year old boy from the future.
Next he looked at Superboy. "Where did Supey get that shirt?" Superboy looked just as confused as Bart.
He then glanced at Tigress. "And… who are you lady?"
"Wally, stop joking around…" Tigress told him as she held him tighter.
Wally shook her grip from him and stood up. "Hey, let go! And how do you know my real name!?"
Tigress looked both hurt and confused by the fact that Wally didn't seem to recognize her at all.
"It seems as though he has been afflicted with some kind of amnesia." Aqualad deduced.
Wally then began to stare at Miss Martian lovingly, which creeped her out and made Superboy very annoyed.
"Hopefully the temporary form." Superboy said.
"Ok, would someone mind telling me what the heck is going on here!?" Wally demanded impatiently.
"Whoa, whoa, easy their KF." Nightwing told his old friend, he put a hand on his shoulder which Wally shook off as he turned to face him. "It's ok, you're alright, just calm down."
Unlike most of the others Wally actually seemed recognize Nightwing a bit.
"Dick? Is that really you?" he asked. Nightwing gave him a nod. "Whoa, Rob! What happened to you!? Why are so much taller me? And why are you so old? And what happened to your Robin costume?"
"I… haven't used that name in a long time…" Nightwing admitted to him.
"Long time?" Wally echoed confused. "Hey do these guys have something to do with our little trip in Cadmus last week? Cause… I don't know any of them."
Wally looked at Miss Martian flirtatiously. "Although I wish I knew her."
"Last week?" Nightwing repeated it like he couldn't believe what he just heard. "Our trip into Cadmus was six years ago!"
"The amnesia seems to have displaced his current sense of time." Aqualad stated. "Strange…"
"Wait… Six years!?" Wally exclaimed before fainting dead away.
"Well he's totally feeling the mode." Bart stated. The others all exchange worried glances.
"Well, once he wakes up… again, we've got a lot to fill him in on." Nightwing told them all.
WATCHTOWER
June 12, 16:51 EST
Back at the watchtower, Nightwing, seventeen-year old Blue Beetle, nineteen-year old Batgirl, Superboy, Tigress and Aqualad were all in the meeting room of the watchtower, discussing Wally's lack of memories.
"I've tried to bring him up to date but for now he's reverted to his old self." Nightwing informed them.
"So… how bad could that be?" Blue Beetle asked.
"A smart yet immature jokester and goofball who is currently running around checking out the watchtower without even thinking of slowing down? Bad." Nightwing replied bluntly.
"He's also regained the desire to hit on every girl he sees." Superboy added.
Tigress folded her arms, clearly frustrated by this face. "Unfortunately."
"Six years is pre-invasion, pre-destruction the cave… pre-everything, he wouldn't know any of it." Batgirl pointed out.
"Hopefully just for a short time, Miss Martian is going to try and repair his fractured mind as soon as she can." Aqualad informed them.
"So what do you think caused him to lose six years of memory?" Blue Beetle questioned.
"And more importantly how in the world did he survive anyway!?" Superboy exclaimed.
"I'll look into it, in the mean time we got to try and keep 'old Wally' under control during his stay here." Nightwing stated. "Although… it's possible that instead of disintegrating Wally that energy somehow phased him into a pure energy state…"
"Creating that anomaly at the pole that over that week has continued to grow and accumulate power!" Batgirl finished.
"And when it finally became too much, the energy dissipated and Wally emerged on the other side back in his physical state." Aqualad said. "But it appears the side effect made him loss six years of memory."
"Are you sure?" Superboy inquired.
"Right now… it's a good a guess as we can make." Nightwing stated, just before the aforementioned Wally himself, zoomed into the room.
"Dudes! This place is awesome!" Kid Flash exclaimed, excitedly. "Hey, do you think you the league has a place where I can keep all my souvenirs?"
"Uh… Wally? The Cave was destroyed, remember? Along with all our souvenirs." Nightwing told him.
"Aw, man!" Wally groaned. "The future can sure bite. On the plus side there's this pretty hot Martian babe trying to get inside my head!"
Tigress grunted, frustrated and stormed off.
"Artemis!" Nightwing called out to her, but she was long gone.
"Uh… what's with her?" Wally asked the others.
"You were actually in a committed relationship with her before you 'died' so I'll bet even you can imagine how she's feeling seeing you flirt with other girls." Nightwing explained to him, coldly.
"Oh…" Wally said, slowly as he quickly began to understand what he meant.
"Yeah. 'Oh….'." Nightwing echoed, almost scornfully before walking away also.
"Boy… Dick's sure gotten a lot colder after six years…" Wally remarked, a bit unnerved by his now older best friend's attitude.
"He has his reasons." Batgirl assured him. "But don't worry, he's still your best friend deep down."
Wally looked at Batgirl closely and quickly began to recognize her.
"Wait… you're that girl Dick used to hang with at his Academy! Barbara Gordon!" Wally realized, shocked. "How'd you get here? And how are you 'Batgirl'?"
"Well it's a long story…" Batgirl said slowly.
"One I would love to hear… after we get back that is." Wally said.
"Back?" Superboy repeated.
"Yeah, I gotta go see my folks, you know; let them know I'm not really dead… anymore." Wally stated.
"Not yet, we still need to run some tests on you to see if that energy affected you in anyway." Aqualad told him.
"Come on, Kaldur I'm fine!" Wally said, confidently.
"You're not fine esi, you got massive memory loss for Pete's sake!" Blue Beetle exclaimed.
"Uh… and he is?" Wally inquired, confused.
"Hello! I'm Blue Beetle! Can't you tell?" Blue Beetle asked, a wee bit annoyed.
"I thought we already had a Blue Beetle." Wally said.
"We did… he's dead now." Superboy told him, sombrely.
"Ted Kord's… dead?" Wally questioned, a bit shocked.
"Yeah… he is…" Blue Beetle confirmed.
"Boy… if this is our lives now… I'm not sure I want to remember." Wally admitted.
Aqualad sighed and put his hand on his shoulder. "I know my friend… I know."
Later, in the medical room of the Watchtower, Wally was seated on the bed whilst Miss Martian had both of her hands on his head, preparing to dive into this mind and restore his memories.
"Ok Wally, you ready?" she asked.
"Yeah, uh… this won't hurt much, right babe?" Wally inquired, a wee bit nervous which he tried to hide through flirting.
"Don't worry it won't hurt a bit." M'Gann assured him. "I'm just going to go inside your find and fill the incomplete gaps in your memory. I'll sift through every memory, every buried thought. By the time I'm done I'll know you better than you know yourself, Wally. Just… stay still."
Wally nodded. "You know… my mind isn't the only thing you can inside of you know," he reminded her with a flirtatious smirk. She gave him a hard stare. "Right! Right! Sorry, continue."
Miss Martian nodded then closed her eyes, after a brief few seconds her eyes open, glowing bright green.
Soon enough Miss Martian was inside the cluttered and hole filled mess that was Wally West's mind. Brief images of how he first obtained his powers in the first place float by, followed by Dick, revealing his identity to him, and the unauthorized mission into Cadmus. As she was floating through she saw multiple white spots all over the area, spot that no doubt represented his missing memories.
M'Gann flew over to one and began to try and make it whole again but as the white spot begins to vanish a red energy surges around it and through her, causing her to cry out in pain. Back in the real world Miss Martian had also began to scream at the same time and was suddenly thrown back against the wall.
"M'Gann!" Wally cried out in alarm. Then his pupils started to dilate as his mind flashed back to six years ago, when the team was first being put together.
"The five of you will be that team." Batman told the four boys that stood before him, consisting of younger versions Wally, Robin, Aqualad and Superboy.
"Cool!" Robin exclaimed before remembering the first part of Batman's sentence. "Wait… five?"
Everyone turns around and saw a young Miss Martian entering along with the Martian Manhunter.
"This is the Martian Manhunter's nice; Miss Martian." Batman introduced.
"Hi!" Miss Martian waved.
Wally smiled at Robin. "Liking this gig more every minute," he told him before turning to Miss Martian. "Uh, welcome aboard, I'm Kid Flash. That's Robin, Aqualad. It's cool if you forget their names."
"I'm honored to be included." Miss Martian said gratefully.
And with that the flashback ended and all of Wally's memories of M'Gann came rushing back.
"M'Gann… I remember you!" Wally realized. It didn't take long before the others rushed into the room and saw a fallen M'Gann on the floor.
"M'Gann!" Superboy exclaimed, concerned. He rushed over to her and checked to see if she was ok.
"What happened?" Nightwing demanded.
"I don't know! She said she was going to go inside my head and when she did she got liked… zapped or something!" Kid Flash explained, a bit freaked out. "But on the plus side I remember her now!"
Everyone looked at him surprised.
"Really? You remember her?" Tigress questioned, surprised.
"Yeah, her name is M'Gann, she was one the first to join our team, and she even made burnt cookies, which I hate because of my serious metabolism…" Wally admitted.
Tigress scoffed. "Typical…"
"Interesting… all it took was one touch inside Wally's mind and a memory of M'Gann awakened." Aqualad mused. "Perhaps the more time you spend with each of us, your memory will eventually return."
"You think so?" Wally asked.
"It's the best guess we got so far." Nightwing shrugged, while Superboy helped M'Gann back onto her feet.
"You ok?" he asked concerned.
"I-I think so…" Miss Martian breathed.
"What happened?" Blue Beetle asked.
"I don't know… I-I was sifting through Wally's memories but when I touched one some kind of… energy force attacked me…" Miss Martian said, rubbing her head.
"But you still managed to get back my memories of you!" Wally reminded her. "So hey, no harm done… mostly."
"Regardless, I think it be best that Miss Martian ceases trying to enter your mind until we know what exactly hurt her in there." Aqualad decided.
"But then how is he gonna regain all his memories then, huh?" Tigress demanded.
"Like I said, hopefully they'll come back on their own." Aqualad told her, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Until then, we must be patient."
"Yeah… patience… not really my strongest suit…" Wally admitted.
"Yeah, we know." Nightwing nodded.
"Well it's gonna have to be for now." Superboy stated as he helped Miss Martian back up on to her feet.
"M'Gann… are you ok?" Wally asked, concerned.
"Yeah, I'll… I'll be fine." Miss Martian assured him with a smile, Tigress could only scowl and fold her arms annoyed, at this while Wally and Miss Martian smiled at each other.
Later, Wally was strolling down the hallway of the Watchtower humming a happy tune when he ended up accidently bumping into Blue Beetle.
"Oh hey there uh…" Wally began.
"Blue Beetle, uh, the third Blue Beetle to be more precise." Blue Beetle said.
"Oh yeah, you're the new kid that replaced Ted Kord, right?" Wally asked as both he and Blue Beetle made their way down the hall.
"Yeah, never got to meet him though…" Blue Beetle admitted, depressed. "Look uh… Wally? I know we didn't exactly get close but… me and others… well we all took it pretty hard when we thought you didn't make it hermano… especially Tigress…"
"Yeah, I heard…" Wally said. "So… we really did… date?"
"Oh yeah, for five straight years, at least that's what I heard." Blue Beetle told him.
"Wow… talk about a long term relationship…" Wally remarked.
"Yeah…" Blue Beetle said.
"So… where's my super speedy cousin gone off to?" Wally wondered.
"Oh you mean Bart? Yeah he's around here somewhere." Blue Beetle answered. "By the way, enjoy the silence while it lasts because once that kid starts talking he will not stop. In fact he's kind of like how you used to be when you were a kid, or so I've heard."
"Used to be?" Wally echoed. "You mean in the future I become as stiff as the others? Great…"
"They're not stiffs… totally. They've just been through a lot, as did you." Blue Beetle stated, though Wally still looked a bit disconcerted.
"Jaime Reyes." The voice of the Scarab said. "Sensors indicate that the former Kid Flash's seems mentally drained, most likely due to being resembled in the event horizon."
"That's pretty obvious…" Blue Beetle remarked.
"What?" Wally asked, not being able to hear the Scarab's voice.
"Oh, nothing!" Blue Beetle said quickly.
"Perhaps a some cognitive re-calibration should awaken more of his memories." The scarab suggested.
"You mean… hit him really hard on the head?" Blue Beetle asked while whispering. "Because that I can do!"
"Dude, who are you talking to?" Wally questioned, impatiently.
Blue Beetle then created his sonic cannon and bonked it on Wally's head really hard. As Wally groans in tremendous pain his eyes widen and images of his first few missions with the team as well as his most current ones began to flash in his mind. Including the moment where he was only sixteen seconds away from disappearing.
"It's no good Barry. Oh, Artemis is SO gonna kill me for this!" Wally moaned. "And don't get me started on Mom and Dad…"
"Kid…" Barry started to say as he began to watch his nephew disappear.
"Just tell them, ok?" Wally asked before he completely disintegrated.
"KID!" Barry cried.
After that, Wally snapped out his trance.
"Whoa! Oh… my head…" Wally groaned.
"You, ok hermano?" Blue Beetle asked, concerned.
"Yeah… I think I remember a few more things… I remember Mister Twister, I remember Bane, I remember fighting Vandal Savage and his…whatever his group is called and I also remember… dying."
Wally sighed deeply as the full effect of his returned memories hit him like a stack of bricks. Blue Beetle attempted consoling him.
"Hey, you ok esi?" he asked, concerned.
"Yeah uh… just a bit drained…" Wally said. "Who knew dying could be so exhausting…?"
Blue Beetle gave him a weird look. "You're kidding right?"
"Maybe…" Wally said slowly, then his head started throbbing again. "Ah… and why does my head feel like someone dropped a brick on it?"
"Uh… I don't know…" Blue Beetle lied, his eyes darting back and forth while he put his hands behind his back innocently while whistling. Wally just gave him a raised eyebrow. Then suddenly he too heard something that only he could hear but not Blue Beetle.
"…Waalllllly… The dark voice whispered. Wally spun around and looked around the area nervously looking for whoever or whatever said his name but he couldn't see it anywhere. Blue Beetle looked at him confused.
"Uh… amigo? What are you looking for?" he asked.
"Dude, did you not hear that?" Wally exclaimed, looking a bit freaked out.
"Hear what?" The bug themed superhero asked, obviously not getting it.
"That voice! I heard a voice!" Wally told him. "It was calling my name… and sounded really creepy…"
"I've been there…" Blue Beetle mumbled.
"I heard that." The scarab told him, sounding a bit annoyed.
Meanwhile, above them, while Professor Carr was busy monitoring something on the Holo-computer begins beeping and flashing red, catching his attention.
"Huh?" he said, as he beginning to type in a few things and search up what was causing the computer's alert system to go off. He enlarged an image of what appeared to be the Smallvile, Kansas. "That's odd…"
Just then, Aqualad approached him from behind.
"Professor Carr, what is the matter?" The Atlantean asked, concerned.
"There's… some kind of disturbance going on in Kansas…" Professor Carr told him. "It appears to be some kind of storm but… there's something… weird about it?"
"Why? What makes this storm seem so strange?" Kaldur questioned.
"Well for one it's not storm season there right now and two… it's made of the same form of energy as the anomaly at the North Pole." Professor Carr stated. "And what's weirder… everyone who touches it appears to be… aging into nothingness!"
This information greatly disturbed Aqualad as he stared at a what appears to be live action footage of the lightning tornado running amok in Smallvile causing people to run for the lives while others who became struck but it's energy became anciently old men and women. Neither of them knew what was causing this energy storm but one thing was clear; they had some serious work to do.
"Call every member of the team that's in the watchtower here right now and send a message to the others that are down on Earth." Aqualad told him. "We're going to Smallvile."
It didn't take long before Professor Carr managed to send out a message through the entire Watchtower, which was heard by every member of the team that was present.
"Team, report the briefing room immediately. Something's going down, now," he reported.
"Oh, looks like we got ourselves another mission." Blue Beetle said, to Wally AKA The First Kid Flash. "You coming?"
"Doi!" Wally smirked as he super speeded ahead.
"The Previous Kid Flash worries me." The Scarab admitted to Jaime.
"Oh come on Scarab, what could go wrong?" Blue Beetle asked. "And uh… please don't tell me what actually could go wrong this time…"
Blue Beetle unfolded his wings and flew after Wally.
Later, Blue Beetle, Nightwing, Wally, Tigress, Bart, Superboy, Miss Martian and Batgirl all arrived where Aqualad and Professor Carr were, ready to hear about their latest mission.
"Alright, we're here, so what's the situation?" Superboy asked.
"This is." Aqualad responded, as images of various people who looked like they had been aged to death appeared before them. The other members of them were all shocked.
"Whoa…" Wally said, stunned.
"What happened to those people?" Superboy asked.
"Unclear, but there have been reports of some type of force radiating from a renegade twister appears to be aging people to death as soon as they get to close to the crackling energy." Aqualad explained. "These speed storms appear to be happening all over the globe; Central City, Palo Alto, Santa Prisca, Boston and especially in Smallvile,"
"Hey… those are places I've been!" Wally realized. "And Palo Alto is where I attend Stanford!"
"Where we attend Stanford." Tigress stated firmly.
"Wait you remember now?" Nightwing questioned, surprised.
"Only a little bit more…" Wally admitted, rubbing the back of his head.
"That was kinda my doing." Blue Beetle spoke up. "Scarab suggested that I use cognitive re-calibration to stable his mind a bit and it worked!"
Everyone looked at him a bit confused. "I hit him really hard on the head…" The blue themed superhero said.
"Oh…" Everyone said understandingly.
"Wait… Wally's right those places are places he's been regularly!" Nightwing realized.
"What does that mean?" Miss Martian asked.
"We are not sure." Aqualad answered.
"But it seems that Wally has been, a 'Speed Storm' appears." Nightwing added. Everyone that just happened to be standing next to Wally looked at him a bit funny then stepped away from him as far as they could.
"Hey! It's not my fault! I just got back!" Wally exclaimed. "Hello? Dead man walking here!"
"We are not accusing you of being responsible of this Wally." Aqualad assured him.
"We just think there is a connection between your… resurrection and these speed storms." Nightwing added.
"A connection?" Blue Beetle echoed. "What kind of connection are talking here?"
"Unclear, but for now we have to focus on saving the people who still need our help in Smallvile." Aqualad stated.
"Alright, what's the call?" Batgirl asked.
"The Justice League is already taking care of evacuating people in the other locations, while we will deal with the one in Smallvile as well as rescue as many people as we can." Aqualad explained. "We will also be joined by Superman, who is already on route."
"Sweet! Team up with the League!" Wally exclaimed, excited. "Can you say… excited?"
"Hold on Wally, you're staying here." Nightwing told him.
"What? Why?" Wally asked, surprised.
"For starters you're still in no condition to fight and your still recovering from you're... 'resurrection'." Nightwing reasoned.
"We just think it would be safer for you here." Aqualad stated.
"Dude, I've been dealing with dangerous situations ever since I first put on this costume, what's so different about now?" Wally pointed out.
"Well for starters your memory is Swiss cheese." Tigress pointed out, literally poking his head with her finger until he backed away.
"I've gotten some memory back and I still know how to fight AND use my powers!" Wally stated.
"But we have no whether or not you might disappear again as soon as you come into contact with these 'Speed Storms'." Nightwing reasoned. "We lost you once… we're not losing you again."
"But dude…" Wally practically begged.
"No buts, you're staying here." Superboy ordered, putting a hand on his shoulder. Wally spun around to face him.
"Aw come on, Supey! You too?" Wally exclaimed exasperated.
"He's right Wally, you going down there like this is too risky." Miss Martian added.
"But babe…" Wally whined.
"No 'buts'! You're staying!" Tigress stated, firmly.
"Hey! Just because you used to my girlfriend doesn't mean you're still the boss of me!" Wally shot back. This hurt Tigress greatly but also caused her to be very angry, she prepared to strike him again until Batgirl spoke up.
"Wait! What if we need more than just Bart to help us quickly rescue the people of Smallvile? Maybe he can be helpful," she stated.
"Thank you!" Wally exclaimed.
Nightwing sighed and rubbed his temples. "Alright, fine, you can come…" he relented.
"Yes!" Wally yelled, triumphantly.
"You can't be serious." Superboy said.
"We will try to keep an eye on him throughout the mission." Aqualad said.
"And if any one sees any sign of something off about him, try and get him back to the Watchtower as fast as you can, got it?" Nightwing told everyone. They all nodded in agreement.
"Alright, then let's get ready to head out." Aqualad declared.
"Great! But first I'm gonna need a costume." Wally said. "Since my last one was shredded…"
"Allow me!" Bart said, as she zoomed off, zoomed back, spun around Wally for a few seconds and before he knew it he was back in his old Kid Flash uniform and Bart was back in his Impulse costume.
"Hey! Not bad!" Wally remarked, impressed.
"Thanks, Grandpa taught me!" Bart said, proudly. "He would have taught you to but… you kind of dead so…"
"Yeah, I got it, I'll make sure to say 'hi' to him when I can but for now we have a town to save!" Wally declared as he raced towards the Zeta-Beam transporter.
"Hey wait for me!" Impulse cried as he raced after him.
"You know it kind of feels weird… having Wally back… but like this." Superboy said.
"Yeah… it kind of reminds me of the good old days… when we had it so easy back then…" Nightwing mused.
Aqualad sighed. "Me too my friend, me too…"
"Alright, let's getting going." Batgirl told everyone. "We got a town to save!"
"Yeah!" Blue Beetle added, as they all began to head for the Zeta Teleporters along with Wally and Bart.
SMALLVILLE
June 12, 13:59 CDT
Later, The Team arrived in Smallvile where the town was already in state of chaos as the winds blew viciously and people screamed at the top of their lungs as the 'Speed Storm's continued to sweep the land. Lightning also continued to fly from the whirling storm of death and every time one of those bolts hit a person they drop to the ground and begin to age to death, much to the horror of everyone else.
A little girl was also about to be one of those victims until a yellow and red blur runs by, grabs her and dashes her away from the area. Before the little girl knew it she was far away from the raging speed storm and was with the other people of Smallvile inside a shelter. She looked up at her savior and say Kid Flash's smiling face.
"Hey kid, you alright?" he asked.
"Hey! Your Flash Jr.!" The little girl realized.
"No, it's Kid Flash!" Wally said, a bit annoyed.
"But you don't look like a kid." The girl pointed out.
Wally groaned, exasperated. "You're welcome, kid," he said, before zooming off.
He soon arrived at the site where the speed storm was still raging. All around him members of the team were zooming, jumping, running and flying left and right constantly as they tried to get the rest of the people of Smallvile away from the storm and to the shelter as fast as they could while the raging hurricane continued to fire bolts of energy that would age a person to dust upon contact. Some of them tried to hit Wally but he quickly manages to dodge it and cause them to strike the concrete ground he was running on, creating little impact craters in the ground.
Wally then sees a whole group of people nearby and ran even faster so he could reach them. One by one, he grabbed one of the people then zipped back to the shelter and so on and so forth until the whole crowd was gone.
Elsewhere, the rest of the team was doing the exact same thing while the storm continued to rage on and tear the town apart.
Blue Beetle, Wonder Girl, Superboy and Miss Martian all flew people to safety, Bart super speeded people away just like Wally and Aqualad shielded people using hard water shields to protect them thanks to his water bearers. The bolts of lightning struck the shields but they did not get through.
Also because of all the harsh winds being blown debris was flying all over the place and sometimes flew towards people. But thanks to the efforts of Nightwing. Tigress and Batgirl, the debris was kept at bay, although it was taking everything they had.
"This is getting serious!" Nightwing stated as he smashed a piece of flying rock with his escrima sticks.
"Yeah, what was your first clue!?" Batgirl asked as she did a side kick and smashed a piece of rock also.
Nearby Aqualad was shielding group of children inside a water shield, various objects bounced off its watery walls which freaked the children out a bit.
"We have to keep it! As long as we can!" Aqualad told them.
Impulse then speeded over to them. "That might not be long enough slick! And that swirling vortex of lightning shooting death… is coming straight for us," he informed them. The others looked and saw that he was right, the vortex was heading their way.
Wally pretty much voiced everyone's thoughts at the moment. "Not good…"
"No kidding…" Tigress agreed.
"We have to maintain a further distance from it, as well as make sure it doesn't reach the shelter." Aqualad told them.
"Easier said than done, boss!" Bart stated.
"No kidding!" Wally added, in agreement.
Aqualad growled a bit in frustration then activated his communicator. "Professor Carr, I would hope that you'd have some new information for us."
"Wish I could Aqualad, but so far I know just about this storm as you do." The Professor said on the other end. "This Speed Storm or whatever it is… is unlike anything we've ever seen before."
"Maybe if we got an energy scan of it?" Superboy suggested.
"That could work!" Professor Carr realized. "Yeah, it could totally work!"
"Then we had better get to work on, this storm is getting worse by the minute!" Miss Martian remarked before a blast of lightning shot out in their direction. They all got out of the way as flew right past them all before it struck a mailbox and made it explode. Bits of mail began to float down from the sky.
"Huh… that's funny…" Wally muttered to himself.
"What's funny?" Tigress asked.
"When that bolt passed me, I felt something… like it was pulling me towards it or something…" Wally admitted.
"Pulling you towards it…?" Nightwing echoed, a bit surprised.
"Anyway, doesn't matter, what matters is this; we need to stop this storm!" Wally proclaimed.
"I agree, but how do we do it?" Miss Martian asked.
"There's got to be a way!" Superboy stated.
"Well if there is, I ain't seeing it, amigo!" Blue Beetle said.
"Let's start with the energy scan, Kid, Impulse, go!" Aqualad ordered
"Already on it!" Bart said, as he held up an energy scanner and zoomed toward it.
"Hey, wait for me!" Wally cried, as he raced after him.
"Pulling him back…" Nightwing repeated.
"What's the matter?" Miss Martian asked.
"Read my mind." Nightwing told her. She did so and after a few seconds she gasped in shock.
"No way…" she breathed.
"Yeah…" Nightwing nodded solemnly.
"Would you two mind sharing this with the rest of the class?" Tigress asked, impatiently.
"Well… it's only a theory… but I'm thinking that this speed storm and Wally's reappearance are connected in a way." Nightwing said.
"Connected?" Superboy echoed.
"Connected how exactly?" Aqualad questioned.
"The firstly; the occurred on the same day, secondly; they both involve speed and there's the fact that the storm seems to be pulling Wally towards it…" Nightwing explained. "I'm thinking that wherever Wally was for the past several dies is trying to bring him back."
"You really think so?" Blue Beetle asked, shocked.
"It's possible, yeah." Nightwing nodded.
"But… we just got him back!" Artemis said distressed.
"I do not believe it is our call." Aqualad told her.
"Since when has anything?" Superboy questioned.
"I just hope I'm wrong this time…" Nightwing expressed as he watched the two speedsters race towards the Speed Storm, which appeared to be growing in size and getting even more violent and erratic.
"Ok, cuz, what's the plan?" Bart asked Wally, as they continued running towards the storm at top speed.
"We can the scan, rescue the civilians and try not to get hit." Wally responded quickly.
"Sounds like a plan to me!" Bart smiled. Just then Wally began to hear that strange voice he heard in the Watchtower.
"…Waalllllly… The dark voice whispered. This time, hearing the voice caused Wally's head to throb which made him groan in pain.
"Yo, cuz, what's wrong?" Bart questioned, as he didn't hurt the spooky voice but did hear Wally groan a bit.
"Nothing… just… try not to let that lightning zap you." Wally told him just before one lightning bolt struck a teen nearby them and turned him into a super skinny old man who immediately fell over.
"Uh… right, because that would totally make someone feel the mode." Bart remarked.
"What is this 'mode' anyway?" Wally inquired, confused as he didn't really get Reach/Future Slang that much yet.
"Bad, that's what, always better to crash the mode." Bart told him.
"Uh… noted?" Wally said, while the two continued to speed towards the speed storm hurricane as well as get as many civilians out of the way as they went. Then Wally's communicator came on.
"KF, you there?"
"I read you loud and clear Nightwing, what's up?" Kid Flash asked.
"Listen carefully, whatever you do… do not let those bolts of lightning hit you, do you understand?" Nightwing questioned.
"Uh…why?" Wally inquired, a bit confused.
"Just trust me on this, ok?" His best friend practically pleaded.
"Ok…" Wally said, a bit slowly and confused.
"Hey, what the boss man say?" Impulse asked.
"Something about avoiding the lightning…" Wally replied.
"Dude, we shouldn't avoid the lightning, I saw we ride it!" Bart exclaimed.
"Are you crazy?" Wally asked, in a deadpan tone.
Bart shrugged. "Depends on who you ask."
"Whatever, let's just get this done! And maybe have some nachos later." Wally said.
"So crash!" Bart exclaimed as they continued to zip around and around the storm and created something of a hurricane. As they ran Wally noticed Bart practically lapping him, which annoyed him greatly.
"Oh come on! It was bad enough when Uncle Barry lapped me but now my cousin too!?" Wally grumbled. "Come on Wall-man, push it!"
Wally began to run even faster around and around the storm, so much so that he looked close to catching up to Bart, but not enough of course. As he ran he began to scan the energy of the storm.
"Ok, I got the scan." Wally said. "Rob… I mean Nightwing, you got it?"
"Yeah, I got it. Analyzing now."
Nightwing activated his wrist mounted Holo-Computer and started typing something in.
"Well?" Blue Beetle asked, impatiently.
"There's some kind of energy inside storm… looks familiar too." Nightwing observed.
"Let me take a look." Batgirl said, as she gazed at the readings on Nightwing's computer also. "He's right, it does look familiar."
"How? Explain." Aqualad told them both.
"The energy readings we're getting from the storm match the energy readings Bart, Wally and Barry give off every time they run at super speed." Nightwing explained. "It's a perfect match."
"What does that mean?" Superboy demanded.
"It means it looks like I was right… this storm is connected to Wally's appearance and it just might be here to take him back." Nightwing replied.
"You think so?" Miss Martian asked.
"It's possible, but there's no doubt that their connected." Nightwing stated.
"But we just got Wally back! No! We're not losing him again!" Tigress firmly said, as she began to run off.
"Artemis wait!" Aqualad cried.
"I guess… she still loves him after all." Miss Martian said, slowly.
"Well… he is the love her life, no matter how annoying he can be. She gets him." Superboy stated. "And really that's all he needs. Someone who sees the annoying person that you are… and like you anyway."
Miss Martian looked away a bit sadly after he said this.
"Well I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, right?" Batgirl asked, optimistically. The others did not look so sure and looked towards the swirling vortex the two speedsters were running around and around.
As they ran they both barely manage dodge the bolts of lightning it was firing at them constantly.
"Boy… for a giant swirling wind it sure is persistent!" Wally remarked.
"Yeah, not to mention the lightning's constantly trying to make us feel the mode too." Bart added.
"Uh… Nightwing?" Wally asked on his communicator. "If those bolts of lightning hit us… what would happen?"
"You'd probably get aged into nothing, duh!" Nightwing said. "Now keep running, I think it's starting to work."
"Will do!" Wally nodded, as he and Bart continued running. Then suddenly he heard a familiar voice once more.
"…Waalllllly…" The dark voice whispered.
Wally cried out in pain as he continued to run, which Bart immediately noticed.
"Cuz? What's wrong?" he asked.
"…Waalllllly…" Wally turned around and saw something black and electrical running towards him.
"What the heck!?" Wally exclaimed.
"It…Isssss…. Tiiiiiiiiiime." The creature said. "…Waalllllly…Waalllllly…"
The creature then bolted towards him and tried to grab him.
"Get away from me!" Wally cried as he ran even faster, and surprisingly enough it was enough to completely pass Bart.
"Whoa! KF never ran that fast…" The younger speedster remarked, surprised.
Nightwing's computer then starts beeping. "What the…" he said out loud as he checked it.
"What is it?" Miss Martian asked.
"Wally's speed levels are increasing… but that's… that's impossible!" Nightwing remarked. "He's never gone that fast before."
"Maybe he… just got better after being gone for so long?" Miss Martian wondered.
"Hold on, let me check." Blue Beetle said, stepping forward and activating a scanner like device on his arm and holding it towards Wally.
"The Nightwing is correct Jaime Reyes. The Kid Flash's speed levels are increasing. He is no longer moving at the same slow speed as he did previously." The scarab stated.
"Then why is he moving faster?" Blue Beetle asked it.
"Unknown." The scarab stated.
"Great…" The blue themed hero grumbled, in a deadpan tone.
"Well what's making him go fast is also getting him to wipe out that speed storm!" Superboy observed as she saw the tornado they were running around slowly begin to get smaller.
"Yeah! It's working!" Batgirl realized.
"But how…?" Nightwing wondered.
Elsewhere, Impulse and Kid Flash were still running around and around the speed storm, with Wally actually beginning to run at the same pace as his first cousin once removed.
"Whoa cuz! How'd you get so fast?" he remarked.
"Don't know… don't really care… just keep running!" Wally told him.
"Uh… shouldn't we run back to the others?" Bart wondered.
"Can't… can't stop now! Just go! Go!" Wally told him as he suddenly began to run ahead.
"Whoa… someone's starting to feel the mode…" Impulse remarked to himself.
Meanwhile the others observed Wally's sudden increase in speed and seem bewildered by it.
"Whoa… Wally's running like his life depends on it…" Nightwing remarked.
"Yeah… that's not like him." Superboy mused.
"Something's wrong…" Tigress stated.
"Very." Batgirl agreed.
Wally continued to run and run and run but the black demon-like creature continued to chase after him.
"…Waalllllly… nnnneeeed… ssssppppeeeeddd…" The creature said.
"No! Get away!" he cried. "Come Wall-man, faster, faster, faster!"
As he chants this to himself his body began cracking with yellow, electrical energy that seemed to center around the lightning bolt logo on his chest and as it did, Wally's body glowed with a bright yellow light before a loud boom was heard, indicating that Wally had broken the Sound Barrier, and his speed was still increasing.
"Whoa…" the team muttered collectively
As Wally continued to run around the around the speed storm the energy from the storm seemed to drawn to him like a magnet before being sucked into him, which Nightwing noticed.
"The energy… from the storm! Wally seems to be sucking it into himself!" he exclaimed.
"But how is that possible!?" Miss Martian questioned.
"And how is he moving that fast?" Superboy added.
"I… I don't know…" Nightwing said, unable to formulate an answer.
"Great… now we're in trouble." Batgirl remarked, sounding a bit worried.
"Hey… the storm! It's… fading!" Blue Beetle pointed out, gesturing to the storm that seemed to be calming down every second. Even the harsh winds were beginning to cease.
"Whoa…" Superboy breathed.
"But… how?" Nightwing wondered. He then looked towards Wally who now seemed to radiating some kind of energy. "Could it be… Wally."
Wally just continued to run and run as fast as he could, with no sights of slowing down. He didn't even notice all the energy he was emitting or that the energy from the storm was being sucked into him, all he could see behind him was the black demon-like creature following him and gaining speed.
"…Waalllllly…" The creature whispered for the umpteenth time, which seemed to scare Wally. "Ggggiiivvvveee… mmmmmeeee... yyyyyooooouuuurrrr… ssssppppeeeeddd."
It was at that point that Wally had enough. "No! If you want my speed spooky. Your gonna have to catch me first!" The first Kid Flash exclaimed. "Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on! COME ON!"
At that moment Wally felt as if something inside of him finally let go, and the world around him slowed even more. To the rest of the team, he disappeared in a flash of lightning.
"Hey! Where'd he go?" Blue Beetle asked
"Did he just run off?" Tigress questioned, hoping she was wrong.
"No. Not Wally." Nightwing stated, firmly. Knowing his friend would never do that.
"Jaime Reyes, look north." The scarab instructed him.
"North?" Jaime echoed as he turned and saw something way of in the distance, closing in on them an insane speed. Flashes of lightning cracking off from it. "Guys! I see him!"
Everybody turned around and indeed saw their red-headed friend coming straight for them, faster than they have ever seen him run but something still felt off.
"Whats going on? Why is he still running" Miss Martian asked.
Wally then unexpectedly zoomed by Impulse and it still didn't seem like he was going to stop.
"Whoa!" Bart said as he raced after his cousin. "Cuz! Wally! Stop! You have to stop! It's over!"
Shocked out of his stupor, and seeing that whatever had been chasing him had disapeared. He slammed his feet into the ground to skid but ended up traveling much farther than he intended, creating a long impact line across the ground, similar to what happens when a meteor hits. Once he came to a stop, he rested his hands on his knees and tried to calm his heartbeat and catch his breath. He had no idea what was chasing him and it still terrified him.
"Wally!"
He turned and saw his best friend and teammates rushing over to him, looking concerned.
"You did it!" Nightwing told him.
"You stopped the storm!" Miss Martian added.
"Congratulations." Aqualad said.
"But how did you manage to go that fast? That was close to the some of The Flash's max speed records!" Batgirl stated
"Yeah… history books said nothing about you going that fast!" Impulse remarked. "And usually I lap you!"
"What did happen?" Blue Beetle asked him.
The tired and scared looking Bart finally spoke. "It… it almost got me man…" he panted.
"What? What almost got you?" Nightwing inquired.
Wally looked around him and saw that there was no sign of the black creature anywhere in sight, just a plain and empty area in Smallvile. He sighed.
"It's nothing…" he assured them all. But Nightwing didn't look convinced.
WATCHTOWER
June 12, 17:13 EST
Later, back at the Watchtower, Nightwing was just approaching Aqualad, who was looking down towards the Earth silently when he arrived.
"I just checked in on Wally, he's spending some time with his parents." Nightwing informed him. "He also said he remembered a little more about our time together as a team, guess that lightning flash jogged his memories a little."
"And he still won't talk about what got him so scared?" Aqualad questioned.
"Not a word, you know how stubborn he is." Nightwing said.
"Indeed, we'll hopefully he'll tell us soon enough." Aqualad said. "If not, we'll have Miss Martian take a look."
"But you know what happened last time right?" Nightwing inquired. "Miss M got a very severe headache."
Aqualad sighed. "You are right… maybe Doctor Fate or… Zatanna?"
The zeta-tube transporter then activates.
"Recognized. Kid Flash; B03." The computer announced as Wally then appeared, looking as chipper as ever.
"Hey guys!" he said. "What's up?"
"Oh uh… nothing, just… talking." Nightwing said, quickly.
"Wow, even in the future you're a bad liar." Wally remarked. "Come on, what's going on?"
"Uh… Wally? Have you managed to regain anymore of your lost memories yet?" Kaldur questioned, hoping to change topics.
"Just a few more since the whole Speed Storm incident." Kid Flash shrugged. "Wait a minute, is that what this is all about? I told you; I don't know what that thing was!"
"But you can tell us what it looked like and how it came to be, can you?" Nightwing inquired, folding his arms.
"Well… I don't know what it looked like exactly, after all I was running for my life." Kid Flash pointed out. "But it was some kind of… Black Racer… Speed Demon… something like that and it was gaining on me guys."
"It was fast as you." Aqualad questioned.
"Possibly faster, like I said, it nearly got me." Wally said.
"Has this ever happened to you before?" Nightwing asked.
"Nope, not since I got back… which is when it started calling out to me…" Wally mused. "I heard it in here… then out there… it's like it's following me."
Nightwing and Aqualad then exchange glances before turning to Wally.
"Wally, there's something you should know." Dick told him.
"Well, from what I hear there's plenty I should know but I thought we agreed that… I'm all full up." Wally said, pointing to his head.
"Wally, be serious." Nightwing said to him, annoyed.
"Why? What's so great about being serious? I've seen you act serious ever since I got back and it's really getting on my nerves!" Wally exclaimed.
"Calm down Wally." Aqualad urged him but Wally ignored him.
"I mean you used to laugh, joke around and have fun on missions! What happened? What happened to that guy?" Wally demanded.
"Guess he grew up." Nightwing shrugged.
"Yeah, no duh." Wally said, with eyes narrow.
Aqualad then got between the two. "Enough! We are friends here, not enemies. Let's start acting like it," he said. Both of them sighed.
"Sorry…" Wally apologized.
"Same here." Nightwing added. "You know… never got a chance to say I'm sorry before you… disappeared."
"What do you mean?" Wally asked.
"We kind had a big fight a while back… it's a long story." Nightwing said.
"Oh… what did you do?" Wally inquired with a raised brow and his arms folded.
"What makes you think I did it?" Nightwing questioned.
"You always start it." Wally stated.
"Not always…" The former boy wonder said.
"Yeah, always." The red-head smirked.
"Focus you two." Aqualad reminded him.
"Right, anyway, I don't know what happened to me… somehow I just unlocked some kind of… super-super speed and went even faster than I ever have before. I don't know how." Wally said.
"Perhaps it was because of your fear of this creature." Aqualad summarized.
"Adrenaline rushes do tend to happen when a person is scared or stressed…" Nightwing mused.
"So that's it? I just got one big adrenaline rush?" Wally asked.
"I'm sure it's much more complicated than that." Aqualad mused.
"You think so?" Wally inquired.
"Well I doubt anything that involves strange creatures is simple." Nightwing stated.
"Good point…" Wally muttered. "And you know… even staying still… I still feel like that thing is waiting for me… just standing there… waiting for me to break into a run… like it'shaunting me or something and I don't know why."
Nightwing and Aqualad look at their old friend sympathetically.
"Fear not my friend." Aqualad assured him as he put a hand on his shoulder. "We will figure this out… together."
"Yeah, that's just what we do." Nightwing smirked which made KF smile as well. "Now… what else can you tell us about this thing?"
"I've already told you everything I know… though I don't think you guys can see it." Wally said.
"Why not?" Dick asked.
"Well, and here's a really dumb idea, maybe only people with super speed can see it." Wally suggested.
"Why only speedsters?" Aqualad questioned.
"Don't know, maybe it's the energy we generate or something." Wally shrugged.
"Energy?" Nightwing echoed.
"Yeah, you know that electric stuff?" Wally pointed out.
Nightwing nodded. "Yeah?"
"That would be it." The speedster concluded.
"What else do you know about this energy?" Aqualad asked.
"Not much actually…" Wally shrugged. "I only know what I know from Uncle Barry and he doesn't know much either."
"So unless we can find a very smart scientist whose dealt with energies like that before…" Nightwing began.
"I'm pretty much gonna be haunted by this Black Racer for the rest of my life, yeah." Wally finished.
The Atlantean standing nearby thought long and hard about what to do before an idea suddenly struck him. "I think I know someone," he said. "Someone who works at S.T.A.R. Labs."
"Dr. Adam Strange?" Nightwing guessed.
"Who?" Kid Flashed, confused.
"No… he goes by the name… Dr. Emil Hamilton… and he may be Wally's only chance." Kaldur said solemnly. His two friends stared at him curiously before looking towards the zeta-beam teleporter, concluding that their next destination was S.T.A.R. Labs where hopefully they could find some answers and a way to save Wally from a foe that they seem to be calling… the Black Racer.
TAOS
July 12, 13: 21 MDT
Somewhere in the city of Taos exists a lab known as S.T.A.R. Labs, which has close connections with the Justice League and the Team. It was a private organization and specialized in high-end research and technology and right now it was their best chance at finding some answers.
The three heroes, Nightwing, Aqualad and the newly returned Kid Flash stepped through a pair of sliding doors and entered what appeared to be a giant laboratory where they see a thirty-seven Mediterranean-American man looking through a very large electron microscope. His name is Dr. Emil Hamilton.
Hamilton had curly black hair and brown eyes plus dark skin. He wore a light blue lab coat over a white dress shirt, a red sweater vest and a black tie. Plus he wore brown pants and black dress shoes.
The three boys then approach him. Nightwing then spoke up.
"Dr. Hamilton?"
The Doctor turned towards the three heroes. "Yes. They told me you were all coming."
"They did?" Wally asked.
"Yeah, remember? I called them before we all Zeta Tubed here while you were having a 'little snack'." Nightwing informed him.
"Hey, twenty-hotdogs takes time you know!" Kid Flash defended.
"Enough!" Aqualad told them. "Doctor, we need your help. Our friend…"
"Is having some speed related problems." Nightwing finished.
"I do not!" Kid Flash defended.
"Yes. You do." Aqualad said, firmly.
Kid Flash sighed. "Ok, fine… I do."
"Can you help us, Doc?" Nightwing asked.
"I will see what I can do. Yes." Emil nodded.
"Great! …Got anything to eat?" Wally asked a bit meekly. Nightwing and Aqualad both groan and face palm.
"Follow me, I think I may have something that can help." Emil told them as he lead the three, relatively young, heroes away.
Later, Kid Flash was standing on top of an advanced looking treadmill with his shirt taken off and multiple wires attached to his face and chest. Wally looked at himself and seemed a bit confused.
"Uh… so what's the point of this again?" he asked as he turned around to where Nightwing, Aqualad and Dr. Hamilton were standing behind a glass wall and inside another room next door.
"It's to measure your speed and energy that you give off." Emil told him.
"Basically it's gonna tell us how fast you can run and how much energy you can generate doing so." Nightwing explained.
"Oh, ok, that makes sense." Wally said with a slight smirk. "Just hope this thing can handle me!"
"Oh, I'm pretty sure it can." Dr. Hamilton assured him. "Thing this strong enough to handle even the Flash. We know. We checked."
"Of course you did…" Wally remarked, deadpan.
"Ok, when we say run, you run as fast as you can and don't stop, got it?" Nightwing told him.
"Got it!" Wally confirmed as he lowered his goggles.
"Ok, on our mark." Aqualad told him. "One… two… three… Run!"
Wally's eyes practically glowed as he begin to run and run on the treadmill as fast as he possibly could as he does so sparks of energy already begin to fly off his body and cause a little disruption with some of the machines in the room.
"Uh… is this supposed to happen?" Nightwing asked, a bit nervous.
"Yes. Don't worry, similar stuff happened when the Flash tried it." Dr. Hamilton assured him. "Course he did blow up all the machines but still I'm sure it won't happen a second time, right?"
Nightwing and Aqualad both exchanged glances, not fully sure that the Doctor was right about it not happening again, considering what they saw in Kansas.
"Of… course." Aqualad said, slowly.
"Come on now Kid, a little faster." Emil encouraged him.
"Ok, you asked for it Doc!" Kid Flash declared as he sped up even more and generated even more electrical energy. Many of the computers start to spark and crackle even more as the screen start to become a bit fuzzy while several smaller items exploded.
"Ok, now I know that's not supposed to happen…" Nightwing remarked.
"This is astounding!" Emil expressed. "He's generating so much power… he could keep the city's power supply charged for a year if he learned to harness it…"
"And possibly go even faster than his former mentor the flash…" Kaldur mused.
"Exactly!" Hamilton nodded.
"Meanwhile, he's close to breaking every machine in this facility!" Nightwing pointed out.
"Right. Shut it down." Aqualad ordered the scientist.
"I can't! The system won't respond! It's the energy he's generating!" Emil realized.
"Wally stop! Stop! You must stop now!" Aqualad yelled to Wally but he didn't seem to hear him and just continued running while the machine continued to make a loud whirling sound.
"I don't think he heard you…" Nightwing observed.
"Then we'll have to get closer." Kaldur stated as he attempted to open the door and go in, but pressure and force of the energy Wally was exerting was too strong and pushed him right back.
"Yeah, I don't think that seems any more likely…" The former Boy Wonder said.
"Wally!" Kaldur cried, loudly as Kid Flash continued to run and run, which caused him to generate more and more speed energy, eventually causing the same voice that's been haunting him to reappear.
"…Waalllllly… The dark voice whispered.
"Uh… guys? It's back!" Wally finally called out to them.
"It's back?" Emil echoed.
"The creature… the thing that has been following him, it's back!" Nightwing said. "Now we just have to figure out a way to see it as well…"
Kaldur turned to the Doctor, who was working vigorously on the computer. "Doctor Hamilton?" he asked.
"Hold on…" The Doctor told them, as he continued to work on the computer. "Ok, I think I got something."
"You found a way for us to see the creature?" Nightwing questioned.
"More or less." Emil stated.
"More or less?" Nightwing echoed.
"Theoretically it should work… but there's also a chance that every will explode." Dr. Hamilton said.
"I'm sorry explode?" Nightwing asked, incredulously.
"Only in theory." The Doctor added.
"Great…" The former boy wonder muttered under his breath. "Come on Wally…"
"…Waalllllly… Wally heard the dark voice whisper.
"Leave me alone!" Kid Flash yelled as he increased the amount of energy he was generating which caused nearly every computer in the room to start sparking and explode at once.
"Wally!" Aqualad called out, just as a bright flash of light followed by a pulse wave and the destruction of the treadmill Wally was one caused him, Nightwing and the good doctor to be thrown into the wall behind them while Wally rolled across the ground and crashed into the wall in the other room. He groaned a bit and then noticed something dark and scary looking looming over him.
"Oh no…" he moaned.
The imposing creature didn't appear human at all. It appeared to be completely black and surrounded by crackling black/dark blue lightning. It featured a grotesque, almost skeletal-shaped, humanoid form with clawed hands and feet that featured three toes and a fourth talon extending from the heel plus a red and white Flash symbol only backwards. The creature's mouth featured an extended animal-like snout with sharp, gruesome teeth and a long tongue. Its red horns resembled ear wings like the ones Kid Flash and his mentor have, as well as backward knees with red spikes on the end of them and a pair of glowing red eyes. It looked sort of like a demonic and black version of The Flash. A Black Flash.
"Yourrrrrrrrrrr speeeeeeed… issssss puuuurrrrreeee!" The creature growled.
"My speed?" Kid Flash echoed. "What do you mean?"
Close by, Nightwing and Aqualad were also able to see the spooky looking creature in front of Wally. Their eyes were all widened and their jaws had just dropped.
"Whoa…" Nightwing remarked.
"What is that?" Aqualad whispered.
"I… I don't know… I've never seen anything like it before." Emil expressed. "But whatever it is… it's generating a lot of energy…"
"That much is clear…" Nightwing observed, deadpan.
"We have to help him." Aqualad concluded.
"Right!" Nightwing nodded as he and the Atlantean ran for the door. But before they could the energy pulsating from the other room pushed them both back and sent them flying into a wall. They groaned in pain.
"Or not…" Nightwing muttered as Emil rushed over to them and helped them both up.
"Are you two ok?" he asked.
"Ugh, yes, we're cut off from Wally…" Aqualad lamented.
"Thanks… my head hadn't noticed…" Nightwing said, sarcastically.
Wally backed away from the demonic creature, fearfully until his back was against the wall.
"Get away from me!" Wally cried.
"Ggggiiiivvvveee… mmmmmeeee... yyyyyooooouuuurrrr… ssssppppeeeeddd." The creature moaned as he walked towards him.
"Sorry, not gonna happen!" Wally declared as he began to run off only for the creature to super speed over as well and block his path. Wally then screeched to a halt. "Whoa!"
"Ggggiiiivvvveee… mmmmmeeee... yyyyyooooouuuurrrr… ssssppppeeeeddd." The creature repeated. "NOW!"
"Try and make me ya freak!" Kid Flash challenged as he zoomed back and then tried to ram it, but it was like hitting a brick wall, causing him to bounce back.
"Ugh… crap…" Wally groaned. "Come on Wall-Man… think!"
Wally thought for a long while before an idea then came to mind, he smirked at the dark creature. He then stood back up and readied himself for a fight.
"Come on freak, ya want me? Come on get me!" he challenged. The dark creature growled and began to walk towards him, menacingly. "That's it and… ha!"
Kid Flash then stood up and began creating mini-twisters with his hands, charged with speed energy and directed it at the creature, which seemed to cause it a certain degree of pain.
Nightwing noticed this. "Hey… he's hurting it! He's actually hurting it!"
Aqualad and Dr. Hamilton looked and saw this as well, both were shocked also. Hamilton adjusted his glasses and looked forward.
"The energy he is generating… it seems to be destabilizing it somehow!" he deduced.
"Forcing it to go back to where it came from." Aqualad.
"Alright, Wally!" Nightwing smiled, as the creature continued to fade away, then Wally stopped his efforts.
"Ha-ha! See ya, sucker!" Kid Flash declared, as it slowly began to vanish.
"IIIIIII…. Wwwwiiiilllll… rrrreeeettttuuuurrrrnnn…" The creature said before vanishing completely. Once it did Wally slumped against the wall and slid down, panting, exhausted. The door then swung open and Nightwing stepped out.
"Wally!" Nightwing shouted as he rushed inside along with Kaldur and helped his best friend up. "You ok?
"Yeah… man that was close!" KF remarked, relieved.
"Got that right." Nightwing agreed. "What was that?"
"I do not know… but whatever it is, one thing is for sure… it wants Wally." Aqualad stated.
"Yeah, but why?" Nightwing questioned.
"It said… it said it wanted my speed, said it was 'pure' or something…" Wally said.
"Pure?" Nightwing echoed, confused.
"Hey, don't ask me what it means, he said it… or it… I don't know…" Wally shook his head.
"This does not bode well…" Aqualad remarked, grimly.
"Well don't worry, we will save you from this Wally." Nightwing promised, with a determined expression on his face. "We have to."
WATCHTOWER
June 12,
Back at the Watchtower everyone was waiting for Wally and the others to return. They all wanted to know what was wrong with him and what that creature was, then when they were just about to leave…
"Recognized, Nightwing B01, Aqualad B02, Kid Flash B03." The computer announced.
Artemis, Superboy and Miss Martian then turned to the teleporter and saw the guys step out, with an injured Wally in tow.
"Wally! Are you ok?" Artemis asked as she rushed over to him.
"Yeah, just a little tired… does anybody have any hotdogs?" Wally asked, dazed.
"Ah, he's fine." Superboy shrugged, nonchalantly while rolling his eyes.
"Yeah… well if I hadn't thought of something soon Supey I wouldn't be…" Wally stated.
"What do you mean? What happened back there?" Miss Martian asked, worried.
"We came face to face with the thing that was after him." Nightwing said.
"You did?" Jaime asked, surprised. The others looked surprised as well.
"Yeah, it was some kind of demon or apparition" Wally said. "It wants my speed…"
Everyone looked surprised by this. "Your speed? What does that mean? Why is it after you?" Artemis asked Wally, confused and concerned.
"Hey, if I knew I'd tell ya." Wally shrugged, depressed.
"So what do we know?" Superboy questioned.
"Well, I think that thing came from the same place that you were sent to after you disappeared!" Nightwing realized.
"And… that place is… where now?" Wally questioned, confused.
"I don't know, but I think it wants to bring you back and feed off your speed." Nightwing deduced.
"But why?" Superboy wondered.
"I doubt it's good…" Miss Martian voiced.
"Maybe it needs to feed." Nightwing suggested.
"Feed? Like a Vampire" Artemis echoed.
"Yes, which suggests that right now… it's weak, it needs speed energy to survive." Nightwing deduced.
"And the speed storms?" Artemis inquired. "Think it's creating those too?"
"Probably…" Nightwing mused. "If was trying to get Wally's attention… it got it."
"But why? Why would it do that just to get Wally's attention?" Superboy questioned.
"The creature is hungry. Hungry creatures do desperate things." Aqualad stated, grimly.
"True enough…" Nightwing agreed.
"That still doesn't tell us how to stop it." Superboy said, expectedly.
"I'm working on that." Nightwing assured him.
"Well, can you work faster? I can't stay still forever and that might be the only way to make sure that thing doesn't come back." Wally stated.
A grim thought then entered Superboy's mind and made him lower his head. "Maybe that's not the only way…"
The rest of the Team all glanced towards Superboy, interested by what he had to say and curious as to why he seemed so down about it.
"Cool, what is it?" Wally inquired.
"Maybe… the only way for this creature to starve… in order for it to disappear… maybe Wally has to die." Superboy replied, sadly and seriously. The others all stared at Superboy in shock while Wally narrowed his eyes.
"What!?" Artemis exclaimed, finally breaking the tension that was filling the room so soon after they heard that Wally had to die for the creature to be destroyed. "Wally has to die die!? Are you crazy!? Absolutely not!"
"No! I just…" Superboy began.
"Just what!? Want to protect the world? What about Wally? Hasn't he suffered enough!?" Artemis snapped.
"Artemis, calm down." Nightwing urged her.
"No! I lost Wally once… I will not lose him again, do you hear me!?" Artemis said, loudly.
"Wait." Wally said. Everyone turned to him. "Maybe… maybe Superboy is right…"
All the members of the Team were once again shocked into silence, which was once again broken by Artemis AKA Tigress.
"What did you say!?" she exclaimed again.
"Look, I'm not big fan of the idea of dying myself, especially when I kind of already did before… but if it means keeping the world safe then…" Wally began.
"No, there's got to be another way!" M'Gann said.
"Even if there is, finding it will not be easy." Aqualad voiced. "This creature is powerful, so just waiting for it to appear and attacking will not do any good."
"And the longer we wait, the more speed storms appear." Nightwing added. "We're running out of time guys so let's think of a plan!"
Blue Beetle glanced down to the scarab on his back. "Hey scarab, do you have any ideas?" he asked, curiously.
"There are not many options Jaime Reyes, however the Aqualad's last words are not has hopeless as they seem." The Scarab said.
Jaime's eyes widen. "W-Wait a minute… are you saying you want us to wait for it to show up and attack it?" he questioned.
"That is exactly what I am saying, Jaime Reyes." The Scarab stated.
"I don't know…" Jaime said, sounding unsure. Everyone turned to him.
"What is it Jaime? Did the scarab advise you on what we should do next?" Nightwing asked, expectedly.
"You could say that…" Jaime said, slowly.
"Well, what is it?" Superboy questioned.
"Uh… well it said that what Aqualad about waiting for it to show up again might actually be a good thing…" he revealed to them. Some of them did a double take after hearing this.
"A good thing!?" Kid Flash exclaimed.
"Hey, don't yell at me, yell at the scarab!" Jaime protested, defensively, gesturing to the scarab on his back1.
"Jaime Reyes!" The Scarab exclaimed, actually sounding offended.
"What? It's the truth!" Jaime pointed out.
As Jaime continued to argue with the Scarab, Wally just stared at him bewildered because to him, and everyone else, it looked like he was talking, or in this case arguing, with himself.
"Is… he always like this?" he asked, slowly.
"I think you mean they, the Scarab has a mind of its own and only Jaime can talk to it." Nightwing told him. "Of course… back then we thought he was just talking to himself."
"Yeah… I can see why…" Kid Flash muttered, deadpan.
"Relax, you get used to it." Superboy assured him.
"Yeah? I doubt it…" Wally stated, his voice still flat.
Miss Martian then noticed Nightwing's pondering face. "Dick? What's wrong?"
"I don't know… I'm just… wondering." Nightwing mused.
Miss Martian's eyes glowed for a brief second before she gasped. "You want to use him as bait? Like the Scarab said?"
"What!?" They all said as they turned to him.
"Miss M! What did I say about reading our minds like that!?" Nightwing scolded her.
"You left me no choice." M'Gann said.
"You seriously want to offer me up to that thing? Dude, it nearly killed me!" Kid Flash expressed, upset.
"I know, but this time we can be ready for it, we can catch it, and if possible… destroy it." Nightwing stated.
"See Jaime Reyes? Listen to the Nightwing, his logic is again flawless." The scarab told Jaime, proudly.
"Yeah, whatever…" Jaime sighed, annoyed. He noticed Nightwing glaring at him and smiled, nervously. "Oh… sorry esi uh… private fight."
"And how do you purpose we 'catch it'?" Aqualad asked Dick. "You saw the power it possess, it's unimaginable… terrifying."
"I know Kaldur." Nightwing said as he put a hand on his shoulder. "Which is why we need to catch it now, before it harms Wally or anyone else, ok?"
Aqualad sighed. "Ok. I understand."
"And exactly how do we catch once it shows up?" Artemis questioned.
Nightwing started thinking. "Hmm… well… whose the fastest out of all us? Besides KF and Bart?" he asked.
"Uh, I am." Superboy spoke up.
"But Dick, Flash has always been faster than Superman, and I believe that extends to Kid Flash and Bart as well." Aqualad pointed out.
"And with both Superman and Flash busy dealing with the Speed Storms how will…" Miss Martian began.
"Actually, Superboy, Bart and Kid Flash are really all we need." Nightwing revealed.
"Really? How?" Wally asked, both confused and surprised.
"With a little help from STAR Labs." Nightwing stated. He turned to Blue Beetle. "Blue, Call Dr. Hamilton, now."
"Uh… right!" he said before quickly doing so.
"You sure about this?" Miss Martian asked Dick, sounding concerned.
"We have no choice," he stated. He then turned to Artemis. "The real question is… are you ok with it."
Everyone then turned and started gazing at Artemis with an expectant look, they continued to do this for a while until she finally caved in.
"Ugh! Fine…" she said, displeased. "But if anything happens to him…"
"I know, I know, you'll kill me." Nightwing said, holding up his hands before looking around. "And evidently there will be a long line."
"No doubt." Artemis muttered, folding her arms while looking serious.
"So? Are you doing this or not?" Kid Flash asked, expectedly.
"Yes. We are." Aqualad confirmed.
"Great! You up for this, Supey?" Wally asked Superboy.
"As I'll ever be." Superboy sighed.
"Be careful." Megan said.
Superboy nodded. "Don't worry, I will," he said before beginning to walk ahead. "Let's go."
Wally and Dick watched him go for a few seconds before turning to each other and whispering.
"So… are they… back together or…?" Wally began.
"At this point, I haven't got a clue." Nightwing sighed, putting a hand on his face as he shook his head looking a bit exasperated. They then noticed Miss Martian giving them a look and quickly became nervous.
"Uh… hey, race you to the Zeta portal!" Kid Flash said, before zipping off.
"Hey!" Nightwing cried, as he turned and ran after him, at his usual speed. "Wait up, will ya?"
"Yeah, keep dreaming, dude." Wally called back, amused.
Aqualad sighed. "Some things just never change."
"Seems that way." Artemis said as she crossed her arms with a huff.
Hey there, whether your Young Justice fans or Fans of the Windbear (Ego the size of ... well, a bear) then you should know that I've decided to broaden my horizons from Fairy Tail, but dont worry, Fairy Tail is my home. I adopted this story when the original author sent me a PM telling me they was thinking of deleting this story, so I offered to take it off their hands. Now Here we are. Glad to have you along for the ride!
-Windbear