"ARTEMIS!" Wally shouted at the top of his lungs. He had just watched her be disintegrated before his very eyes. S-s-she's gone. No, it can't be true, he thought desperately. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he managed to stop them before they could spill.

"ARTEMIS!" M'gann shouted, three seconds behind Wally. She couldn't believe her eyes. Artemis had risked her life to save them. Kaldur was calling them to come back but neither Wally nor M'gann heard him. After a few moments, Superboy and Kaldur had to physically take them back to the ship. Both were shaking with uncontrollable emotion. Sadness for M'gann, anger for Wally.

In the ship, Superboy managed to calm M'gann down enough for her to pilot the ship when they got in, but neither Kaldur nor Robin could calm Wally down at all. He sat in his seat, glaring at nothing. Then he banged his fist down on the table and began shouting, "Damn it! It's all my damn fault! If I had reacted fast enough, then Artemis would still be here! I'm the kid who can go up to seven hundred miles a freaking hour! Why couldn't I save her damn it?"

The rest of the team was completely taken by surprise at his outburst. Megan was staring at him tears in her eyes, disbelieving. Robin had actually raised an eyebrow in suprise, which showed a lot of emotion for the normally stoic pre-teen. Superboy was staring at him eyes narrowed in thought at how it could be his fault. Kaldur looked at him with concern and attempted to console the young speedster.

"Wally, it is not your fault-" Kaldur tried to reason but was cut off.

"No, it's my fault! And after we get out of this, because we're getting out of this, I'm going to train to use the speed force better. That way, I can save everyone every time." His voice was filled with a determination so strong that the rest of the team believed him without a doubt. "Megan, can you take us to the Hall of Justice? We need to let the world know that there are still heroes out here fighting." She responded with a slight nod, a bit taken aback at how serious he was. "Rob, scan their weapons so we know exactly what those things do. See if we're missing anything." There was such authority in his voice that the bird obliged immediately. Megan set the ship's course for the Hall of Justice.

Kaldur looked at Wally, visibly impressed.

"KF, I need to refill on weapons," Robin said, to which Wally responded with a nod.

"I need to get more stuff too," Wally replied while thinking about some things he might need. "We can teleport from the Hall to Mount Justice, then I will make sure that every last one of those bastards or bitches, whatever they are, are dead. I'll show them what happens when they mess with this team." Wally's voice sounded confident and determined, but he was actually feeling hopeless and sad. However, he decided to hide that and show the team that the time for jokes had come to an end and the time for action was now. So the child he normally acted like lay in hiding for a time less serious to come out.

0o0

They had teleported back to the cave and saw that Red Arrow, Zatanna, Garth, Tula, and numerous other heroes were all ready there, and more arrived by the second.

The first thing Wally did was zoom to his room. When he got there, he grabbed a duffel bag and started filling it with the few weapons he had lying around, things like birdarangs he'd snagged from Rob over the years and other pointy objects he'd collected.

The next run was to his trophy room to go through his souvenirs. When he got there he grabbed the gold helmet of Dr. Fate and put it in his bag while hoping it wouldn't come to him having to use it. If it came to it, then there was practically no hope left.

Robin came in and told him they were about to start filming, and he replied with a small nod while swinging the duffel bag over his shoulder.

As he said this, they walked out of the room and towards where they were filming live.

Wally unconsciously grabbed the duffel bag, specifically where the damn helmet was. He couldn't believe he was actually going to need this.

As they neared the place, he realized it was the room with the zeta tubes. Wally began to think about what he should say to the camera and how he should say it. He kept thinking until they said it was his turn. With a determined look, he turned to the camera. He stood a little straighter than usual, looking tall and proud.

"All right, listen up! There's still hope, don't forget that! As long as we're here, as long as humanity's here, there'll be hope. Never forget! We're humans, and that makes us the most stubborn life forms in the entire galaxy. Never surrender, never give up." Wally's voice was filled with a passion that only came from loving something dearly. "We're gonna pull through, and we will kick their asses off of our planet. We'll show them what happens when someone decides to mess with us." At this, everyone who was watching from all over the globe, and even under the sea, cheered loudly, inspired by his words. "Keep fighting no matter what. We are humans we don't give up. We will kill every last one of those alien bitches that decided to come and take what is ours. Yeah!" As he cheered, he punched his fist into the air, and the rest of the world cheered with him. Robin and the rest of the team grinned ear-to-ear at his words and how well he managed to inspire them and, undoubtedly, the rest of the world.

0o0

They were waiting on the hill.

Megan and J'onn had just gone inside, and Superboy was distracting the aliens. The ships were flying overhead. Wally grabbed Robin and ran full speed to the hangar bay openings on the side of the ship. They landed roughly inside the ship and immediately went for cover. As they hid, a fleet of ships flashed by. After about half an hour of fighting robots, Wally was asking Robin if he had found Artemis yet.

There was only so much a bird could take. Robin had had enough. Robin grabbed Kid Flash and looked him right in the eye. Robin's gaze was furious as he began yelling at Wally, his irritation and anger evident.

"I know you were hoping that the beam was a teleportation device, but it's not! It's a disintegration ray, not a teleportation ray. If it hits you, you're dead, okay? I'm sorry, I really am, but Artemis is dead. She's gone. We can't change it." It pained Robin to say it, but he had no choice. He watched as Kid Flash's eyes went through denial, anger, sadness, hopelessness, and then finally settling on a rock-hard determination.

"If that's the case, then it's time I became Dr. Fate permanently." Robin's hidden eyes widened in horror at what his friend had said, the white of his mask stretching to accommodate. They became even wider when he pulled the golden helmet out of his duffel bag and began to pull it on.

"Wally, don't do it." However, his words didn't come out in time, and even if they did, it wouldn't have stopped Wally. He slid the golden helmet over his head and a flash of light appeared.

Wally opened his eyes to a very dark room with him standing in the only pool of light. As he looked around, he seemed to be completely alone so he called out. "Hello? Anybody here?" He heard his voice echo all around, tinted with a faint bit of fear. It wasn't long before the image of Kent Nelson appeared next to him.

"Kid, what are you doing here?" Kent asked, the confusion he felt apparent in his voice.

"Earth's being invaded by a bunch of aliens, and they destroyed the entire Justice League and killed Artemis." As Wally said this there was a touch of pain in his voice.

Kent's eyes went wide.

"I put on the helmet hoping that Dr. Fate would be able to help us out. I've decided to become his medium. Permanently." When Wally finished his voice had become heartbreaking and yet still strong with bravery.

"Kid, do you realize what you're say-" Kent was cut off however by Wally.

"Yes, I do, old man." There was so much fury in his eyes and voice that Kent actually took an involuntary step backwards. "Those damn aliens took Artemis away, along with most of Earth's superheroes, my uncle included. We need Dr. Fate, and if it means I'm stuck in here for the rest of eternity, then so be it." Kent looked deep into Wally's eyes as if examining his very soul. What he found there was sorrow, grit, and resentment. Kent felt his eyes widen, the boy was really willing to become Nabu's body.

"Very well then, Wallace West." The voice of Nabu boomed overhead.

0o0

Robin watched as the Dr. Fate costume consumed his best friend. And then, all of a sudden, it stopped, and the costume was half complete. So from the waist up was Dr. Fate, but from the waist down it was Wally's red spandex. Robin raised an eyebrow and wondered what the Hell was going on now.

0o0

All of a sudden Wally felt he had control of his legs and began to wonder why. Because the last time he put on the stupid helmet, he couldn't control anything.

"Hey, Nabu? How come it feels like I can control my legs?" the young speedster questioned the Lord of Justice, confusion evident in his voice as he stared into the darkness, waiting for an answer.

"My power has stopped. It is as if something is blocking my transformation." Wally's eyes widened when he heard this; Nabu was the strongest magician he knew, and if something could interfere with his magic, then it was incredibly powerful. "I am being removed from your body by an external force, against my will. Even as we speak I am being pushed back into the helmet, and you are being pulled out." Nabu sounded almost panicked, and Wally was growing increasingly terrified.

"Wait, how can that be possible? Aren't you THE most powerful being there is?" Wally was becoming alarmed, and it showed in his voice as he grew more and more frantic with each word.

"I am ONE of them, not THE most powerful," the Lord of Order corrected. He sounded even more distressed now. "Goodbye, Wallace." And with that Wally was expelled from the helmet, which flew several yards away and fell off of a platform and out of view. It was gone before Wally even realized he was out of it. As Wally tried to shake the stars from his head, he realized it was gone. He began turning his head each and every way searching for Robin.

When he finally found the bird, he managed to ask what happened.

"Wally, the helmet…" His despair was over the now-lost helmet. What use would Dr. Fate be if they didn't possess his helmet? He shook it from his mind. "What happened in there anyway?" Robin was incredibly curious as to what had happened in the helmet. Wally sighed and began his explanation, a hint of doubt in his voice.

"Well, I'm not really sure. All I know is that an outside force stopped Nabu and knocked me out of there." Wally was extremely confused, and it showed in his voice as well as his eyes, which were looking right into Robin's. Robin sighed; if he was going to say anything he was stopped by the P.A. system.

"Attention humans. Because of your intrusion into our base, it is set to self destruct in three seconds." Robin and Wally only had time to look at each other with frightened eyes before the explosion took them.

0o0

M'gann and J'onn heard the announcement and barely had time to go intangible. Then the ship exploded all around them. Megan began sobbing as she and Manhunter flew out of the blaze and landed on a nearby hill. The two Martians became tangible as another of those ships came and landed right where the other one was. Megan's eyes widened and tears slid down her cheeks, her shoulders slumped. She turned to J'onn in desperation.

"We have to get out of here," said her breathy and crying voice. "NOW!" Hysteria entered her words as she began to move away, only to be pulled back by her uncle's grip and take a fist slammed into her stomach.

0o0

All Wally could do was groan as he woke up to a familiar face standing over him wearing a worried look. It took him a minute to realize that it was his uncle Barry in his Flash outfit. Slowly, he sat up and rubbed his head with one hand, while wondering what the Hell had happened, and why his head felt like there was an angry porcupine in his head. he saw that the rest of the team were also getting up each clutching their heads as well.

"Dudes! You're all alive!" Wally shouted happily. They all groaned in response.

On the side, Batman began speaking with Manhunter.

Robin was rubbing his head and acknowledged Wally with a silent nod. Megan was overjoyed and bouncing a little, obviously glad that they were all still alive. Superboy was petting Wolf's head, and Kaldur was being Kaldur and not doing much of anything.

However, Wally was searching only for the blonde. He saw Artemis sit up and rub her head, muttering profanity the whole time. He grinned at how she was reacting, finding it rather cute.

Batman and Manhunter were talking on the side however they couldn't really hear them, so the team didn't pay them much mind. They were to busy trying to wrap their heads around what had just happened.

That is until Wally just barely heard Manhunter say something about Artemis's dying causing the whole deal to go awry.

"What are you implying?" Wally yelled at Manhunter, his fury clear in his voice and his eyes. "It wasn't her fault!" Wally had walked closer and closer to him with each word until he was standing directly in front of him with a challenge in his green orbs. "Now I remember that we had agreed to a TRAINING exercise, but we didn't expect anything like that."

"There was more to the exercise than what it appeared," Batman began and the team narrowed their eyes in suspicion at him; the only exception, Artemis, was just looking down, away from the team and the mentors around the cave. "This exercise was designed to grow worse. No matter what you did it would always get worse."

"That is why the Dr. Fate could not work," Manhunter noted.

"Yes it was, you guys knew it wasn't real-" Batman was about to go on but was interrupted.

"What was the point of such a hopeless exercise in the first place?" Wally raged at Batman, his fury echoing in his eyes, his voice, and his body language.

Batman stared at Wally giving him a quiet Batglare for interrupting him and continued, "The point of the exercise was to see how you would react in a no-win situation." The bat explained.

This did not appease Wally who just stormed out of the room, saying something about training. The rest of the people in the room just sighed, knowing Wally needed to go off and be Wally.

However, Artemis looked up at Kid Flash as he left, wondering what got into him and what made him grow so defensive.

Robin saw her watching, and, with a clever smile, walked over to her. "You know, he was the first to scream when you died." He began as if talking about the weather or what movies were showing that weekend. This shocked Artemis though; she figured he would be the last to scream for her. Robin carried on. "He blamed himself for your death and took control of the mission. He was willing to become Dr. Fate's permanent host."

Artemis was even more shocked to hear this and looked at robin with confusion in her eyes. "I'm going to go talk to him," she replied, determined to find out if this was true. Robin just smiled at her as she walked away.