"Thanks for listening," said John leaving the vacant bar.
"No problem. Part of the job," said the man. He was familiar in a way that said anything was possible. He reminded him of Flash.
-.-
"Last customer's gone home," the bartender cried. Not that the manager would respond being too drunk to do anything asleep on the couch in the back room. Again.
He smiled as he grabbed his coat to leave. He was sure he was the only person in Gotham who smiled without being drunk or crazy. It probably helped that he had memory loss. If he was like any other person of Gotham, he was sure he had a really bad childhood.
-.-
"You seem happy," Shayera commented to John.
"Been doing better. Who would've thought a kid could really make a difference?"
"What do you mean?"
"I went out for a drink and somehow ended up meeting a young college student who was working as a bartender so he would have money to study forensic science. I can't believe how much he was smiling sober in Gotham," John explained. A small grin came to Shayera's face.
"It shows we're making a difference as Justice Lords," she explained. He put on a smile himself. Though not as sincere. He knew what the kid thought of the Justice Lords. His green eyes would always become hazy when he talked about them. The only time his smile seemed to falter. And the bar would grow silent when he talked about them. People shockingly would nod their heads in agreement.
"I guess," he said.
"What's his name?" asked Shayera.
"Wallace. People there call him Wally."
A dark feeling filled the room. One that could be described as creepy if not so menacing. Batman walked by silently. But they knew he was there. It was rare when he came to the Watch Tower. He spent most of his time back in his dark cave in Gotham. It saw surprising to see him here. He left as quickly as he came.
"Bat's out of the cave," John joked. After they had met their dimensional doubles, he came out even less than he did before. Seeing him at all was a surprise. He was still dark and mysterious, but it seemed to grow more after they saw Flash. Another Flash. Not theirs, but he was Flash. Kind of like the bartender. Was but wasn't.
"What are you doing up here Batman?" Shayera asked. He gave a classic Bat-glare.
"I need to see the security footage."
"Securi- what for?" asked John. Nothing was wrong. No end of the world scenarios. No breeched areas.
"Something… out of the ordinary," he said simply.
"Care to explain?" Shayera asked. Batman looked back at her.
"It would seem as though a new criminal is on the loose. Either that or Zoom is back," he stated. Despite having a criminal loose, a spark of adrenaline went through John's veins. It would feel good to take down Flash's only hated opponent.
"What makes you say Zoom's back?" John asked following Batman. Shayera went to go check on a minor problem on earth.
"Reports of large missing quantities of food. Disappearing in a flash," he explained. John walked into the video room with Batman interested about this criminal. Batman began going through the videos. It didn't take long to find a video, but only a small part of the video was any good. A blur of color appeared in a food store. Leaving it almost bare.
"Was that…?"
"Yes. That is our criminal," he said putting the video in separate frames. The frames weren't very clear. But it was a little better. A Caucasian male. But there was a problem with it being Zoom.
"He has red hair."
Sure enough, he didn't look like Barry or Zoom. He was a little smaller. And his face seemed splotchy going as fast as he was. Probably freckles. But the speed made it difficult. From the pictures, it almost looked like the person was eating.
"Regardless. This is a threat."
John nodded. Whoever could clean out a store in less than ten seconds could be a bigger threat later. But he had to admit it was somewhat funny. The person dressed the cashier up as a clown. This person wasn't serious.
-.-
Wally woke up outside of Wayne Tech.
"I wonder if sleep walking was something I did before I lost my memory or not," Wally mumbled to himself. He stood up carefully. Because of how hard the Justice Lords worked, it was almost impossible for bad things to happen. Even crime wasn't common anymore. He yawned as he walked toward his apartment ignoring the televisions that so many people were watching.
'In World News a thief is a t large for stealing large quantities of food. If you have any this person has been seen as a blur leaving nothing food related behind. Anything and everything that can be eaten disappeared before the owner's very eyes. If you or someone you know knows anything about this, contact your local police. This criminal has been sighted in China, Canada, Japan, Egypt, Turkey, England, France, Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, and Australia so far.'
Uh yeah. I'm sure most of you see where I'm going with this. I'm kind of surprised no one has written anything on this. Maybe it sucks. If you want me to continue, review. If not, I won't. It's your choice.