AN: This is a bit late, but I hope you guys all had a good holiday! Thank you Irenerb, Player Zero, and Geist1321 for your kind reviews! And also a thank you to my new followers, I hope you all are enjoying the story!
Chapter 6~ Timber
The walls surrounding Kid Flash began to contract. Any remaining air escaped, leaving the hero submerged in water, unable to breathe. Wally lashed out, kicking, punching, trying anything to break free. Wally opened his mouth, the only air he had left escaping as he let out a scream. Wally's lungs started to ache. He was out of air, and running out of time to save himself from becoming the carnivorous plant's next meal.
But Wally had one last hope to save himself. He began to vibrate his molecules, heating up the water and the plant. He could feel the temperature as it began to rise rapidly, the water searing his skin along with the plant. Kid Flash felt the space around him expand. With all the force he could muster, Wally pushed out with his arms and legs. The plant ruptured, and Wally spilled out onto the jungle floor, gasping for air.
Sluggishly, the speedster rolled onto his back, staring up at the canopy that seemed to be spinning.
Get up, Wally. Get up! The hero grit his teeth, pushing himself up onto his forearms.
But before Kid Flash could even get to his feet, something slammed into his injured side. The force of the impact lifted Wally off of the ground, sending him flying back-first into the trunk of a tree. The hero slumped to the ground, unable to breathe.
"For someone so fast, you're sure seeming a little slow," Poison Ivy mused, stepping out of the foliage.
Wally coughed, glaring up at the villainess.
"I will get out of here. And once I beat you, I'm going to save-"
"-Artemis. I know, I know, you can't wait to save your little girlfriend from her evil father," Poison Ivy interrupted in a bored voice. "But if you do even manage to slip by me, there is no possible way you will be able to defeat him. You couldn't do it before, and you can't do it now, especially in your pathetic state."
Wally felt heat surge into his face. Whether it was from embarrassment or anger, the speedster didn't know. He needed to turn the tables.
"And why are you working for him again? I thought Sportsmaster dumped the Injustice League. After all, you guys were just the distraction, right?"
Suddenly, Wally felt his head snap sideways as something lashed the side of his face. He could feel warm blood trickle down his cheek.
"A distraction then, but we're a much bigger part of the game now." She smirked. Suddenly, vines as thick around as dinner plates came flying at the speedster. Kid Flash lunged to the side and hit the ground, rolling to a stop on his stomach.
"What a graceful landing," Poison Ivy sneered as the hero forced himself to his feet.
"You're going to have to do a whole lot better than that if you want to stay alive, much less, save your girlfriend."
Kid Flash felt something tighten around his ankle. Before he could react, the vine jerked the speedster's legs out from under him. Wally's already battered body met the earth with a dull thud, his head colliding with the ground just hard enough to cause his vision to go dark.
He heard a laugh as a vine tightened around his throat, hoisting him into the air. He grasped onto the vine with both hands to prevent his airway from being closed completely. The plant lifted him above Poison Ivy, who stood, laughing, as if this were all a joke to her.
"And this is what you get for destroying my baby," she sneered.
"But that was Rob-" the vine tightened around his throat, thorns digging into his neck.
"Giving up so easily? Too bad you won't get to save your girlfriend." The villainess taunted. Wally managed to flash a sly smile at Ivy.
"Not… yet," The hero wheezed. Much faster than any human could, he rubbed his hands against the vine, which started smoking in seconds. Poison Ivy gasped and the plant released him, but the damage had already been done.
Wally hit the ground, looking up to see the end of the vine burning like a torch. The plant whipped around madly, like a dying animal. As it flailed, the flames spread to trees, underbrush, and other vines. Before long, the whole clearing was ablaze.
A shriek pierced Wally's eardrums, causing him to wince and turn to Poison Ivy.
"What have you done? What have you done to my garden?" The villainess wailed.
"It wasn't a garden- just timber." Wally sneered, quoting his teammate.
"You don't understand what you've done sidekick." She villainess gave Kid Flash a look that surprised him. It wasn't a look of malice, but a look of fear.
To his left, Wally heard a hissing noise, like steam coming out of a kettle. He looked over to see a pod on one of the burning vines. It looked vaguely familiar.
Poison Ivy ran past the hero just as the pod burst, spewing out a cloud of greenish-brown gas that enveloped her for a moment. Wally heard her cough and watched as she stumbled out of the haze. Collapsing to the ground.
Wally ran to her, shaking her shoulders.
"How do we get out?" He demanded.
Her coughing changed into a bubbly giggle. The villainess lifted a shaky finger, pointing behind him before succumbing into a fit of manic laughter.
"Joker Venom," Wally whispered, cringing at the unsettling smile plastered onto Poison Ivy's face.
The smoke was getting thicker, and Wally could hear the hissing of more pods about to burst. He scooped up the villain bridal-style and forced himself to run, his feet pounding against the uneven ground as flames raced after him.
The hero was nowhere near top speed, but after taking a bath in that water, Wally's pain was dulled, allowing the speedster to push himself. Even with this newfound energy, the flames were still closing in around him.
Through the foliage, Wally could make out a white wall. As he turned towards it, the speedster heard a twisting, snapping sound. Ahead of him, a burning vine as thick as a car crashed to the ground, causing a series of six pods to explode. He was going too fast to slow down, so Wally held his breath and hurdled over the barrier, straight into the cloud.
His vision was obscured for a few moments. The speedster landed, but stumbled, sending both him and poison Ivy sprawling to the ground. Wally rolled a couple of times before his back met something solid. He rolled over to see a white sliding door with a hand scanner mounted on the wall beside it. None too gently, he grabbed Poison Ivy's arm, pressing her hand against the pad. The door slid open, and Wally stumbled out of the jungle, dragging the villainess with him.
Wally heard the door slide closed behind him as he collapsed onto a hard surface. He blinked a few times, his eyes adjusting to the white linoleum floors and walls illuminated by bright fluorescent lights that lined the hallway- a drastic difference to the hero's previous surroundings.
Wally pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, his head hanging. His shoulders started to shake, and he felt laughter bubbling up inside of him. Whether it was from accidental inhalation of Joker Venom spores or from hysteria, Wally didn't know. He forced himself to take deep breaths and focus on the task at hand.
Artemis. You need to find Artemis. The hero shakily got to his feet, using the wall for support. He started to walk, then jog, working his way up to a run. He turned down a series of hallways, searching for any sign that might hint to where his teammate was being held.
Upon rounding what felt like his hundredth turn, Wally ran straight into something big and hairy. The hero stumbled back and looked up, staring into the snarling face of Gorilla Grodd. A lean man with white hair stepped out from behind the beast, his lips stretched into an arrogant grin. A cold shiver ran down Wally's spine.
Kid Flash turned sharply, sprinting back the way he came, only to be assaulted by a wave of nausea. Kid managed to stumble around a corner and lean against the wall, out of the range of Count Vertigo's beam. He tried desperately to make his sight stop spinning as the villain laughed.
"You won't get out that way sidekick. Just surrender and make this easy for all of us. If you don't, I can just have my friend here hunt you down like the animal you are."
"Ironic, coming from a twisted mutt like you," Wally snarled back. He needed a plan of action, and fast, but the hero knew his options were limited.
Without knowing the layout of the building, it will be almost impossible to find Artemis, and even if I do manage to find her, I won't have the access codes to reach her. Maybe if I can escape, I can find the League and get their help… but I can't leave Artemis…
Wally ran his hands though his hair and grit his teeth in frustration.
If I stay in this building any longer, I'm going to exhaust myself and get caught again, or worse… Wally felt his stomach twist.
The hero knew he had no choice.
He was going to have to leave her behind.
AN: The next chapter will be coming out soon, I'm aiming for maybe one or two weeks, hopefully not longer! Review if you have a comment/suggestion/question/critique, I adore them all!