JUNE 22 || 2130 Hours
Cars beeped loudly as traffic finally sped back up on the intersection of 23rd street and Blue Valley. Iris West sighed with relief as she sped through downtown Central City. She actually had a chance of making it to the station on time tonight. Well, it was fast but... she still had a few lights to go.
"So close. Come on," Iris whispered as she stopped at a new red light. After glancing at the clock, she stared back at the road, tapping impatiently.
"GRAAAAHAHAHAH!" Iris's head whipped around as she saw the large, grey gorilla drop onto a yellow taxicab to her left and then leap away again. "You're too slow, Kid Flash!" Grodd screamed, swinging off of a streetlight.
"What was that?!" Wally shouted as he sped past Iris' car. His body was a flash of yellow - besides the red on his chest emblem, gloves, and of course his red hair. "Once I get that helmet off you, you're toast, Donkey Kong!"
"Oh, Wally..." Iris whispered as she placed her face into her palm. BE-BEEP! "Oh, shoot!" She looked up, realizing the light was finally green. "Sorry," she added to the other motorists before speeding away (even though none of the other drivers could hear her).
Okay.. This sucks.
Kid Flash tried to think of a new plan as he slid around another corner in hot pursuit. Already, he could barely see Grodd a few blocks away.
"This is the last straw, Grodd! After this you're grounded; no bananas for a week!" Yep, Plan B was always the same: use jokes and insults to distract the enemy.
Stupid, Grodd. And his stupid helmet.
Psionic blasts were harder to dodge than even bullets unfortunately, so one shot and Wally's motor functions were being disrupted by Grodd's mental field.
If this gorilla game me brain-damage, so help me I will return the favor.
It didn't seem like permanent injury; he could just tell his nerve impulses had slowed, thus slowing his muscles' reactions times. Suddenly, Wally West slid to a stop and peered at his surroundings. New plan. Quick.
"Aha!" He shouted, and ran to a manhole cover. Removing it from the ground took a little vibration - What, are these things welded on? - but once it was in his hands Kid Flash spun in a circle thrice, adding inertia every time. And once he finished his fourth complete spin, Wally let the metal disk loose, thrusting it through the air toward Magilla.
Upon reaching another rooftop, Gorilla Grodd stopped and turned to Kid. "Well, this has been enlightening, but now I'll h- Grah!" The big ape shouted the last part, back-flipping off his toed-feet to evade the metal object speeding toward his face. The disk flew past and Grodd jumped forward again. "Pathetic!"
But by that point, Wally was already dropping onto the next rooftop and building inertia for a new high jump to Grodd's location. "You're too late, Kid Flash!" A helicopter zipped past Kid and Grodd grasped its rope-ladder, being tethered away. Within seconds, he was too high to reach.
"Damn," Wally said, stopping again. Standing atop the Central National Bank, he stared at Grodd's helicopter as it slowly disappeared into the sky. "I feel like Wile E. Coyote. Being slow sucks."
"Kid to Flash." Wally began the slow walk of shame back to the hideout. "Flash? Come in, Flash." Oh great, Communications were down too. Must have been caused by Grodd's helmet somehow.
JUNE 22 || 2220 Hours
"Ahhhh, there we go," Kid Flash sounded quite relieved as he stepped off of the 'Cosmic Treadmill.' His cells just needed a jumpstart, and hot damn did it feel good to be fast again. For some reason, it made him feel a lot calmer.
The treadmill was only for emergencies since they barely even knew what it did, but Wally felt this qualified (though Barry probably wouldn't). "Now we're ready," he grinned, placing his red goggles onto his eyes. He'd just finished Third Midnight-snack and he was ready to run.
Since The Flash made his headquarters out of an research workshop formerly owned by S.T.A.R. Labs, it had been refurbished and included with all essential equipment needed. Kid Flash walked up to the computer and entered the transceiver code for Grodd's tracker. It was easy for Flashes to place trackers on villains, especially when they possessed an object like Grodd's helmet whic was already emitting energy waves for mind control.
"What?" Wally wondered as he looked at the large computer monitor. "Gotham City? Wonder why he chose a dump- I mean, place like that..."
JUNE 22 || 2300 Hours
Wally must have still been recovering. Usually it wouldn't have taken him so long to cross only 1,000 miles. Man, this was getting annoying. "Gro-odd? Grodd, where are ya, buddy?" Wally sped through the city, checking every abandoned warehouse, every nook and cranny, every... Well, all the usual places.
"Why is he even here?" he shouted, rushing out of the abandoned Ace Chemical Processing Plant.
Not The Iceberg Lounge..
Not The Docks..
Not Gotham Central Zoo.. Shoot, I was really hedgin' my bet on that one.
Soon Kid Flash had searched all of Old Gotham, Uptown, the Palisades and the East End. Next came the rest of Midtown he hadn't already passed.
"Oh.. A free clinic," Wally said, speeding through a new building. "At night, where one could perform scientific exp- Oh, nevermind." Wally sped in and out of more buildings with growing speed. "Nothing. Nothing. Useless. No clues." He was getting frustrated now. Wally zoomed in a circle throughout Gotham Stadium and resurfaced out of a roof entrance. Looking around again, he headed tow-
"SKREEEEEE!"
WAIT. What is that?
For the first time in an hour of long treks, Wally came to a complete stop, staring at where he had heard the sound. Suddenly, a silhouette in the sky, gliding away from Wayne Tower. "Is that.. Batman?" A high leap into the air brought him close enough to see ..the giant bat fleeing the scene. "That is NOT Batman," Kid Flash said as he began his descent back to the ground.
"What was that?" His feet touched the ground as Wally's expression got more and more confused. "Well... Giant bats, talking gorillas; Central and Gotham aren't that different I guess."
Shaking his head, Kid Flash got back to buisness. He had to find Gorilla Grodd. Who knew what he could be doing here. CHHHHHH. Low radio static buzzed in Wally's ears - radio static just like he heard when signals from Grodd's mind-control helmet had disrupted his comm system.
He quickly realized from where the static was coming as it grew as he got closer. Wally finally had a lead. His speed increased as he ran in its direction - suddenly, a shadowed figure dropped to the ground as he passed 38th Ave.
Oh, that must be- Wait, the static's fading. Confused again, Wally spun around and faced the Boy Wonder.
"Hey," Wally said to the kid in red and black. "You're uh.. Batboy, right?"
"Robin," he returned, pointing to the 'R' insignia on his chest. "You are Kid Flash."
"Yeah, Robin, sorry. Um..."
Robin? He's the source of Grodd's... Oh man... Our Comm signals were just crossed. Apparently they just had similarly encoded frequencies. Wally quickly realized he had no lead on Grodd at all. Might as well ask one of the locals for directions.
"You seen a giant gorilla around here? He's about yay big and he's got a stupid metal helmet on; you'll see him a mile away."
There was silence for a moment. Was this guy even listening?
"Brain waves...?" came from Robin as a confused whispered.
"What?" Wally shouted and then ran up to him. "What did you just say?!"
"Brain waves," Robin said calmly. His expression was that of a detective, close to finding the final clue. "My sensors indicate residual radiation waves attempting to mimic brain function." Robin's head's-up display began to show a trail of purple mist leading away from him.
"Can you track it?!" Kid Flash was pacing everywhere now. He looked all around him, but nothing seemed strange. It was all the same as before. "Where? I-don't-see-anything. Where-is-it?" He was moving a mile a minute now; well, mentally at least.
"Stop." Robin said.
"What?" Wally slid in front of him. "Don't-tell-me-to-Don't-you-know-what-Flashes-"
"Relax. Now, what do know about the signals?"
Wally slowed, his eyes turned to slits. Where does he get off? "Fine... Dark Knight. Those brain waves are coming from Gorilla Grodd. He uses his helmet to control minds. He can't use it on me or the Flash because our thoughts fluctuate so quickly, so now he's finding someone else to use it on. Now, can you find him?"
"I can," Robin said, turning to where the trail began. "In fact," he said as he stopped and turned back to him, "if I get up high enough, I may be able to see exactly where the residual signals lead." Dick's hand went into the air, his grappling hook shooting back to the top of Wayne Tower.
When Dick's feet touched the skyscraper's rooftop, he turned immediately, searching for any hint of the strange purple residue. Reaching into his utility belt, Robin pulled out a pair of small binoculars.
"See anything?" Kid Flash asked from behind him. "What-do-ya-see?Can-you-see-it? ...And by the way, what the heck goes on in this building? 78 stories? Come on."
"I see it," Dick said, not turning from the binoculars pressed to his face. "The radiation waves lead straight to.. The Bayside District."
"The Docks!?" Wally bellowed. "But I was just there." He may have sounded a bit more to Robin like a child throwing a tantrum than he'd meant to.
Dick Grayson dove off the roof edge. "Wait, what're-" Robin cut Wally off by zip-lining back to the roof of the warehouse.
"Hey!" Kid Flash snapped, easily catching up to Robin's run. "Where are you going? This is my guy. I can handle it, so thanks for the help."
"My city." The Boy Wonder dropped off the next rooftop and, to Wally's surprise, dropped right into the seat of his motorcycle. It started immediately, without Dick inserting a key, and sped toward the Gotham Bay.
"Hey!" Kid Flash kept up with the speed of Robin's cycle with ease. "Don't you have some gargoyle statue to brood next to? I got this; don't worry."
"Either come with me, or leave Gotham City," Dick said over the sound of his engine. They were getting closer and closer to Bayside now.
Wally grimaced at him for moment. "...Fine. We'll go together... But you're gonna have to learn to share your toys one day, Boy Wonder!"