This chapter is very Marvel, with only two DC characters appearing. Just telling you so you know.

Ritchie Gilmore knew from the very beginning that he wasn't a hero. Not consciously of course, though at times he doubted whether that was true or that it was his huge ego making him appear nicer than he actually was even to himself. The point was, he refused to acknowledge that he wasn't a hero and decided to put on the costume.

The thing that proved he wasn't a hero was the fact that he didn't put on the costume for altruistic reasons. He did it after experiencing the adrenalin rush he got from beating up bad guys and the admiration he received from the people he saved. He never actually cared about saving anyone. Like always, he refused to handle the responsibility his metahuman powers gave him like he should have and continued to act as an arrogant and immature jock. His arrogance was greatly shown by the fact he took the name prodigy as his superheroic identity. He had met another metahuman with that name, but unlike Ritchie that guy actually deserved that name. Especially since he was very humble about it.

Even when he met three real heroes, teenagers like himself who were also new to having powers, Ritchie still ignored every opportunity to learn and grow. Instead, he bullied everyone there and arrogantly tried to be the team leader of their unnamed team, even though he believed himself to be above all of them. Looking back, Ritchie knew he was responsible for the team breaking apart before it could truly begin. And that, in his eyes, made him responsible for all the suffering it caused.

"You okay?" Mary asked him, putting her hand into his.

Mary Maxwell, now Mary Gilmore since five years ago, was the greatest thing that ever happened to Ritchie. She was also someone Ritchie could ever deserve, considering the sort of person he was. It was because of her that he learned to be a better and more kind person, along with the many horrible events he experienced after he parted ways with the only three people who could have ever been his friends.

Like him, she also had a brief stint at being a superhero as the fourth flash, though the only one to not be connected to the speed force. Unlike him, she did it for noble and selfless reasons. Unlike him, when she became part of a team, she became the reason it stayed together. Like him however, she blames herself for the tragedy that eventually befell upon the group.

"Yeah." he replied weakly, despite knowing that it wouldn't convince her. "It's just that I've never been here before."

"We don't have to do so this if you don't want to." she told him, but he shook his head.

"No. I need to do this." he said as he looked at the cemetery. He looked at her when he spoke again. "Why don't you wait here?"

"No. You have me support when I visited my friends' graves. I can't let you do the same alone." Mary told him with a supportive smile. Ritchie smiled back and after taking a deep breath, walked into the cemetery while holding her hand, with his other hand holding the flowers that were customary for a trip like this.

To this day, his reason for not going to Eddie McDonough's funeral still haunted him. He first met Eddie, who had the identity of the hornet, along with the two other members of their team, twenty years ago when he was only sixteen. Ritchie was ashamed to acknowledge the fact that he bullied the hornet like every other kid in his school who liked to learn or tried to do their work. Even after Eddie saved his life, Ritchie still treated him like crap. He never showed anyone any respect, but he was the worst towards Eddie. And when he got the news that he had died being the hero he was, Ritchie chose not to go so he could end up being employee of the year at where he worked.

"Why are you with me?" Ritchie asked Mary suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not like you. You're a actually hero. You're someone who put on a costume to help people." he explained, finding it difficult to look at her with the shame he was feeling. "When your friends died, despite how much it hurt you, you went to their funeral."

"Ritchie, you're not a bad person." Mary told him, repeating a conversation they have had many times since Ritchie decided to come here.

"Oh, you've only known me since I started to feel a little guilty about the things I've done. If I hadn't met you, I would have ended up continuing what I had been doing, not caring about anyone but myself."

"But you have helped people." she argued, trying to defend his actions.

"For selfish reasons! I didn't care about anyone and let me tell you, if things had been different I could have easily ended up a villain." Ritchie told her. "Hell, the reason I'm not a villain right now is because of Eddie and the others!"

"But Ritchie, you've changed. For the better. You can't keep blaming yourself for how you were when you were a kid." Mary argued, causing Ritchie to fall silent. At first, she thinks she's convinced him, but then she noticed that he wasn't moving. Following his line of vision, she saw that he had stopped and was staring at the grave of Eddie McDonough.

"What do I do?" Ritchie asked Mary, his voice suddenly dry.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I thought I had this all planned out. What I would say. What I would feel." Ritchie answered. "But right now, I don't know what I should do."

Mary hesitated for a split second, unsure if she should tell him. She hated having to remember what happened, but she could tell that just being here was hurting Richie more than he had thought it would.

"I never really knew Salden very well. Not as much as Maria or Leonard. He was a good guy and had a strong sense of right and wrong, but he just shoot headed. So when he died, I didn't know what I should do." Mary admitted, feeling slightly ashamed as she thought about it. "But, in the end, I knew what he would want me to do. Just accept his passing, respectably show up at his funeral, and get back to saving people."

"Well that's great and all, but the problem isn't that Ritchie didn't know Eddie. The problem is that he bullied him and at one point left him to die." a voice said from behind them. The two of them looked behind to see a man about the same age as Ritchie, though he had pure white hair that is often associated with older people, who was carrying some flowers.

"Johnny? Is that you?" Ritchie asked, despite knowing who was in front of him.

"So, you've finally shown up here. Well, I'm afraid you're thirteen years late for Eddie's funeral." Johnny said to Ritchie, the anger and disgust in his voice being impossible to miss.

"Look, Johnny, I know I was an arsehole when I was younger, but-" Ritchie began, but he was quickly cut off by Johnny laughing.

"That's putting lightly! You were a fucking bastard who should have been left to die!" Johnny shouted. "You do know that if it had been you instead of Eddie, we all would have come to your funeral, right? Despite how you treated us, we would have shown you more respect than you deserve by showing up."

Ritchie looked down to the ground full of guilt, knowing what Johnny was saying was true. Even Eddie would have shown up, despite what Ritchie had done to him. Mary however didn't see this and grew angry with Johnny.

"And what about you!?" Mary shouted at him. "What were you doing when your friend was murdered."

"Mary." Ritchie warned her, not wanting anything bad to happen. While he doubted Johnny would attack her, that was only because that wasn't something Johnny would do twenty years ago. Ritchie had no clue what Johnny was like now.

Johnny stared at her, the emotional pain he was in evident by his face. Slowly however, he let out a breath and walked towards Eddie's tombstone, before putting the flowers down beside it. Without looking at Mary, Johnny spoke.

"I regret not helping Eddie when he called me every second of my life." he said, and without another word, he walked away. Ritchie wanted to say something, but nothing came to mind and soon the hero he once knew as ricochet was gone.

"We should go." Ritchie eventually told his wife. She looked like she wanted to say something, but eventually nodded and followed him out of the graveyard after he had stared at Eddie's tombstone for a few more seconds. After they were gone, everything was silent for a moment before out or nowhere a black portal appeared, with two people stepping out of it before it closed.

"Okay, hurry this up." the fifty year old woman in a white cloak told her companion. "We have things to do.

"I know Raven." Cassie St. Commons told her half-demon friend, wearing her dusk costume. While it wasn't the same kind of costume she wore when she worked with Eddie, it still resembled it. In her hand was some flowers, which she carefully placed beside the ones she had seen being left by Johnny.

"Hi Eddie. Sorry it's been awhile." Cassie muttered to the tombstone, regretfully feeling that she could have done something to save him all those years ago.

"You know he can't hear you right?" Raven asked Cassie, causing the darkforce user to sigh in response.

"You don't know that." she responded as she stood up to her full height, using her powers to summon a photo that belonged to her as she did. "You need to have more faith in what comes after death."

"Whatever, are you ready or not?" Raven asked Cassie as she summoned another portal. Cassie didn't respond, too focused on the photo. "What is that?"

Cassie looked at Raven for a moment before speaking. "It's a picture of me and the others, shortly after we met. Eddie said it would be a good idea to have a picture of our first team meeting."

The two were quiet for a moment, Raven respectably giving her friend time to handle this. After all, this might be Cassie's last chance to come here if the two of thematic in their mission. Eventually however Cassie made the photo vanish to somewhere safe with her powers.

"But yeah, I'm ready." Cassie told Raven as she stepped towards the portal. "Let's go save the world."

"Really?" Raven asked Cassie. "That's such a clichè thing to say."

"Well, it's something Eddie would have said if he was here." Cassie responded and the two entered the portal, which soon vanished afterwards, leaving the graveyard finally empty of the living.

Originally, I intended for this fanfic to focus on only Marvel characters, before deciding to include DC. This was one of the chapters I had wanted to do, as I have always been a fan of the slingers and think that Marvel should do more with the characters. Mary Maxwell, in case no one knew, was the Flash in the Just Imagine comics done by Stan Lee and is not part of the main DC universe. The characters she mentioned were the Just Imagine versions of superman, wonder woman and green lantern. I included her because I really like the Just Imagine comics. Anyway, tell me what you think. In response to a review, the next chapter will take place in 1992 and deal with the first appearance of doomsday in the death of superman storyline.