Here you go guys! Thanks for the reviews, they were super sweet! I love reading them so much, haha!
I tried to make it a pretty decent length, as a special for Halloween/ my birthday. :)
So let's see who got their guesses right on who is the mystery villain!
The cold, concrete jungle switched to rolling hills. Valleys of gold flooded his vision. The pavement subtly changed and became clay beneath his feet. Wally remembered running through here with his mentor a long time ago, and the nostalgia hit him like a ton of bricks.
He raced back to Central City, fearful for his Aunt's safety and the threats of the lunatic. He ran at his top speed. Unwavering and unyielding in his steps, Wally was almost guilty for the freedom he felt. Everything just seemed so right, and he couldn't explain the liberation that he experienced as he sped back to his city as no more than a streak of red. Wally missed the fleeting beauty, the impression of having an unlimited amount of time at his hands. The surroundings were frozen in motion, like a photograph but with more life in it. His absentminded daydreams were interrupted as the city appeared on the horizon.
It wouldn't take him much longer to get there. He secretly dreaded the outcome. How would the people react? With happiness? Anger? Resentment?
The high towers that marked civilization were upon him. Wally gulped as he stepped onto the highway leading into the city. Once he hit the heart of it, he switched roads, going to the Central City Bank. He passed by the frozen statues of people as he ran at inhuman speeds down the road. Out of curiosity, he looked back to see if the civilians noticed him. He silently prayed that they didn't, and would just ignore the sudden dust cloud and strong wind that passed through.
That didn't happen. Wally could see their heads slowly turn in his direction. At an agonizingly slow pace, the people's faces would evolved into pure shock. Wally even noticed that a few of them were starting to follow him. They were trying to run after him, or at least meet him at wherever he was going. Wally gulped as he realized just how many people were going to be let down when they found out that Barry was still dead.
He shook his head. That didn't matter at the moment. All he knew was that his Aunt was in danger, there was a crazy guy with a gun at the bank, and he had to be stopped.
The bank was in reach. Wally came upon the scene and observed with super-fast perception exactly what was going on. Apparently, the villain was still stealing some cash, and his Aunt was held in his vice-like grip, trying to get away. The police were phoning in reinforcements from behind the barricades since this was now a hostage situation. Without stopping, Wally ran past the blocks and up behind the burglar and his Aunt, then slowed down to human pace so that all the world could see him.
He felt everything shift until his perception was normal, and he could feel hundreds of eyes focused on him as he stood behind the burglar. The dust he had kicked up temporarily shielded himself from the prying eyes, but he didn't need to see to know that every person and TV camera out there was looking in his direction, all of them trying to figure out what just showed up.
The only person he could see through the thick, yellow cloud was his Aunt, who was the closest one to him. Iris made eye contact with Wally, and in a split second, her expression went from shock to a wide smile before it settled into her poker face. No one could have seen it but Wally, yet that split second smile was all the assurance he needed to know that he was doing exactly what he was supposed to. Thankfully, the burglar was busy watching the cops for the moment, and was facing the other direction. When he noticed that everyone had frozen and was looking behind him, he turned around to see the cloud slowly disperse into a thin layer of smoke. Wally took a deep breath. It was now or never.
The smoke cleared, and everyone could see him. Everyone recognized the red costume, even if it was a little different. Everyone saw the friendly smile and the familiar pose with the hands on the hips, even if that was a little different, too. The shocked expression spread throughout the congregation of people, and it was most evident on the culprit who faced the masked vigilante.
"Who...who are you?"
Wally grinned.
"I'm the Flash, the fastest man alive."
Mr. Terrific felt like hitting himself upside the head. This was a dumb idea. But if there was anyone who could find connections between two seemingly unrelated things, it would be the guy in front of him.
The Question.
The blank face eerily gazed in his direction, a gloved hand rubbing the base of his chin in thought. Turning back to Mr. Terrific, he let his hand fall before leaning on the piece of machinery beside him.
"So, you believe that the seven founders were targeted for an ambush?"
Terrific rolled his eyes. They covered this topic at least twice already. He nodded lazily.
Question made some grunting noise that sounded faintly of disapproval.
"And you said Fate believed Flash was the center of whatever magical construct was being made?"
"Uh-huh."
"And that you thought you saw a 'yellow Flash,' in Central?"
"Yea."
"And now, Morgan Le Fay and Dr. Destiny are working together in Metropolis to create seemingly pointless havoc."
"Yes."
"Hmmm..." Question turned away and stared at the screen of Metropolis, where Green Arrow and Supergirl had just arrived from the teleporter. They weren't so much as fighting the two rogue villains, but rather trying to protect the civilians from their assault.
Terrific, normally a calm and patient man, was starting to get tired of waiting for an answer.
"So, why are Destiny and Le Fay working together and what do they have to do with the founders?"
"That is the question."
Terrific stopped himself from smacking his head.
"Yea. But do you have the answer?" Question slowly walked back to Mr. Terrific. A lengthy pause filled the room until the conspiracy theorist decided to speak.
"Hhhmmm. I have an idea." Terrific sat up straighter, happy to finally be getting somewhere.
"Let's hear it."
"The attack on the league was just a bonus to the plot, but the real attack was centered on the Flash."
"Why would you say that?"
"Flash is the center of the magic bind, while a 'yellow Flash' appears in Central City. That's too many things connected to him, and there is no such thing as coincidence." Terrific continued to listen attentively.
"Go on."
"There is a group of people behind this assault. Le Fay and Dr. Destiny would never work together otherwise. My conjecture is that Luthor and the yellow-flash are behind this as well."
"Why Luthor?"
"Luthor knows something we don't. There's also some connection between him and Cadmus that I haven't found yet..."
"Luthor wouldn't mind destroying the league at any time, but he can't do it right now because he's running for president. He can't get his hands dirty, so he enlists the help of a few friends. Right?"
"Maybe. Probably not. Luthor doesn't need to draw negative attention to himself right now. He's doing this as a favor to someone. To who, though..." Question's eyes drifted to the screen of Central City. "The yellow Flash. I remember an article about something mentioning a Reverse Flash a couple years ago."
"The one who killed the original Flash?"
Question nodded.
"He's back. He's the one with the true motive behind this. He wants to take down Flash, for reasons unknown, which Luthor offered to help with to distract us to keep us from looking for the connection between him and Cadmus." Question took a break, looking up to the ceiling, as if searching for the connections between each part of the situation in the air. "Yes, it's all one big conspiracy. Dr. Destiny is a petty criminal, one who would jump at the chance to make a name for himself. Luthor helped him out, and then enlisted Morgan Le Fay. Though why she would I don't know..."
"So right now, you think that Morgan and Dee are just distractions to keep us from looking at Reverse Flash?"
Question nodded.
"Precisely."
"I'll radio in Arrow and Supergirl and tell them to switch locations." Terrific reached over for the comm link button to send the transmission, but before he could turn on the signal, Question swatted away his hand. Terrific glared up at him.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
"Why not?"
"Reverse Flash is waiting for Flash to confront him. That means that he expects the founders to wake up."
"And?"
"I think that there are few heroes who could take on a man who was able to kill a Flash that was faster and more experienced than the one we have now. This man is dangerous. He won't do anything until he knows Flash will be the one to take care of him." Question inhaled sharply and leaned back, considering the possibility. "Better to let sleeping dogs lie."
Terrific put his hand down and relaxed in his chair. He considered everything the Question said, before begrudgingly admitting he was right. It wouldn't be a good idea to attack the unprovoked speedster. Crossing his arms behind his head, Terrific stared up at the screens, recognizing the calm before the storm.
"You know, I always thought your theories were a little crazy, but you've actually got a pretty solid head. Tell me another one of your conspiracies."
"Conspiracy, singular. It's all part of one big conspiracy."
"What is?"
Question ignored him and began to look through the trash bin by the machines, which slightly disgusted his companion. The faceless man picked up a box of cardboard and examined it closely.
"Just what I thought. Macaroni and cheese," he took the container and sauntered away with it. "Diabolical."
Terrific felt less assured about the explanation Question came up with.
"Impossible." The hooded figure created some space between himself and Wally, all the while holding his Aunt Iris at gun point. "You died. You're dead." Flash frowned at those words; his wound had not yet completely healed.
"Yea. My mentor, the original Flash, is dead." Wally took a couple steps towards the man, who fired his gun into the air a couple times before pointing it back at Iris. Wally stopped mid-motion.
"You take one more step, and even you're not fast enough to stop this bullet from going straight through her head." He was right; he wasn't. Wally put his hands up and backed away.
"Alright, alright. Let's not get too jumpy, okay?" The man stared at Wally. "Here, I don't even know you. I told you my name, what's yours?" He glared at the red-masked hero.
"Do you think I'm stupid?!"
"Can't blame a guy for trying."
Flash was at a loss at what to do. Then in the background, a cop shifted on the back line of the formation, moving towards his superior to relay information of some sort. It caught the gunman's eye and he took his pistol and pointed it in the cop's direction.
"Don't think I didn't see that-"
Wally had flashed into super speed as soon as the gun was away from his aunt's head. He ran over and wrenched the gun from the perpetrator's hand. Wally had to be careful of bullets because they actually traveled faster than him, faster than the speed of sound. Once the weapon was free from his hand, Wally threw it onto the other side of the cop barrier towards the officers. The criminal's expression slowly changed from shock to anger. Before he could retaliate, Wally grabbed his aunt and zipped her over to the medical unit on standby. He then returned to his spot in front of the bank robber.
Wally slowed down his molecules to normal speed. He saw a cop catch the gun he had thrown, and he narrowly dodged a right hook from the man in black.
"You don't have anything left to fight with. Why don't you just turn yourself in now?"
He was angry, reaching his boiling point. The man at last peeled back the hat that had been obscuring a clear view of his face. He growled in anger and frustration, and clear, blue eyes stared back at Wally with simmering ferocity.
Clear, blue eyes that Wally recognized from somewhere...
Eyes that he remembered...
Eyes that he had.
"Dad."
It took him a while, but Wallace Rudolph West stared back at his father, the man he was named after. He spoke just above a whisper; he was sure no one heard him over his father's angry shouts. Wally was thankful for the new installments of lenses in his costume, covering his eyes. He was shocked and stunned, but he felt no real connection to the man in front of him besides confusion and apprehension.
"I won't let you take me in! I can't let you take me in..."
Rudolph pulled some objects out of his pocket. It didn't take Flash long to realize that they were grenades. The situation was going downhill fast. Surveying his surroundings, Wally saw that the group of bystanders watching had grown significantly. They must have caught wind that the Flash had "resurrected." With a sense of urgency, Wally attempted to calm his father down.
"Rudolph," The man was startled that the Flash knew his name. "Don't throw those."
"How do you...No." Rudolph pulled his hand back, twisted off the top of one of the grenades, and threw it, "It doesn't matter. It's over now."
Everything happened so fast, even for Flash.
Three gunshots echoed throughout the plaza. Apparently, an officer had tried to stop Rudolph from throwing the weapons of death by shooting him, but was a little late on the draw. Instead, the man just fell to the ground in a motionless heap, and the grenades flew towards the crowd. The screaming was loud and piercing.
Wally, unconcerned for the moment about the gunshots, went for the explosives. In his vision, they were suspended in mid air. He ran towards them and jumped off the hood of a police officer's car to catch them before they descended into the group of people. With them in hand, he could see that the detonation time was coming soon and the chemical reaction was beginning to activate. Flash ran in the opposite direction and raced up the side of the Central City bank until he hit the rooftop. Pulling his arm back, he threw the grenades as hard as he could into the air.
They exploded into a fiery inferno above him, and looked almost like a huge, combustible firework. After he was sure that the danger had passed, he zoomed back down to the ground where the confrontation had occurred.
He slowed down until the world around him became normal-timed again. It was strangely silent. Wally looked out to the people of Central City to see that they were staring at him with a mix of awe and gratitude. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he turned to see his Aunt Iris patting him on the back before turning to walk to her news station.
"You were great, Wally," she whispered.
He beamed at her, and it seemed that all at once everyone erupted into cheers. The citizens, the police officers, the news stations, all were giving a round of applause for a job well-done. Wally would have basked in his city's cheers if there wasn't something more important at hand.
He walked to his father, who was sprawled on the floor, covered in blood. There were already cops and medics huddled over his body. Iris stood among the cops, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. He wasn't sure why the medics were there though. He was dead. Wally zipped over to figure out what was happening.
"Rudolph West?" Iris stared at the cop with a shocked face. "That's my brother, but he went missing at a young age." She looked over uncertainly at Wally, not sure if he should listen to the story of his father's descent. A small reassuring smile from the Flash put her at ease.
"Yes, ma'am. Says in our report he grew up in Blue Valley, Nebraska with his kidnapper, Mr. Thawne. We can't seem to locate his supposed kidnapper, even to this day." The cop stopped to look at his notes. "Married Mary," he chuckled at his own joke, "had a son, Wally who he abandoned and, oh, you adopted. What are the chances?"
"Do you know why he, ya know," Wally pointed a finger at his head and moved it in a circular motion, "went cuckoo?"
The cop shrugged.
"Not sure. Something to do with his kidnapper probably. Not to mention his job went to hell and had to live in a sorry neighborhood. I guess he kinda jumped off the deep end when his wife was killed; guess he thought he was next. Some people just can't handle that level of stress."
Wally stared remorsefully at his dad. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel, but he looked at him as if a stranger had died. His life with him seemed too far away to connect him to the person he was now. Time traveled faster for him, and he had admittedly blocked out his dark memories of long ago.
Walking towards the barrier the cops placed, he could see the entire police force lined up with their hats off, facing him. The news casters were practically shouting over the tape and people in the back were climbing buildings just to see what was going on now. Wally knew he couldn't put off the questions much longer, so he walked over to the massive group of people. As soon as he got close enough, the reporters started shouting questions at him that he could barely make out above the cacophony.
"Flash, are you the same person as before?"
"Why the different costume?"
"Where did you come from?"
Wally had to stop himself from zipping away, until he felt something tugging at his arm. He looked down to see a young boy reaching under the tape line, trying to grab his attention. His mother, realizing what her son had just done, tried to pull him back from the tape.
"I'm so sorry, Flash! Jeffery! What did I tell you about the tape!" Flash reached over the tape and picked up the young boy, Jeffery, who was smiling like crazy at the hero.
"No. It's alright. Jeffery, was it?" The boy grinned and nodded. Wally turned towards his mom.
"Kinda quiet, huh?" She laughed.
"At home it would be nice if he was a little more so."
"Are you the Flash?!" The young boy suddenly interrupted with a question.
"Yea. Fastest man alive."
"Same as before?" Wally frowned a little and thought about this question.
"No, that guy was different. He was better than me, but he told me that if anyone were to try and be the Flash, he wanted me to do it. And, well, I wanna do it. Gotta make sure this city's safe so you can play around and stuff."
Flash was well aware that the cameras were pointed at him, recording this. However, he would much rather answer to this kid's interrogation rather than those of the vultures known as news reporters.
"Where did you learn to be a Flash? I wanna learn!"
"Well, first you gotta start off as a Kid Flash."
"Did you do that?"
"Yep."
"How do you do that?"
"Trade secret, buddy." Jeffery puffed and his small face scowled a little.
"Where have you been? Kid Flash has been gone a while..."
Flash shifted awkwardly, frowning a little, trying to figure out how to answer the question.
"I was sick."
"And you're better now?"
"I'm much, much better now."
The mother held her arms out for Jeffery, which signaled to Flash to give her son back.
"Alright Jeff, be good for your mom, okay?"
He nodded and Flash handed him over. Once the boy was in her arms, she expressed her gratitude and proceeded to back up a little from the caution tape. Flash felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw one of the older cops that he remembered from his crime fighting childhood.
"Just couldn't help over-hearing, but were you that yellow-suited kid? Kid Flash?" Wally smiled, glad he got the name right.
"Yep, that's me."
"Kid," The officer beamed a broad smile, "you did great. Flash would have been proud."
"Thanks, I know I'm not him but, hopefully I can still help out." Flash, satisfied that he had given enough answers and had been serious enough for the day, turned to get ready to leave. He could see the reporters trying to dive over the tape to get to him. "It was nice talking to everyone again, but I gotta run."
Flash ran away, a scarlet blur, and the people of Central City cheered for their new hero. The city had gained a new idol, one that was just as caring and sincere as their previous protector. Maybe not as strong or fast, but it was enough for them. Wally had gained back the life he loved, and it kept him stable as he slowly healed from his mentor's death.
That was how he did it. That's how he survived the death of his father, his mentor, and healed the wounds that he never thought would close.
That was how Wally West became the Flash.
The story isn't over guys! Still more to come!
So I think the two people who got it right were ProcrastinatorsUniteTomorrow and Dark Inu Fan. Yay, good job guys! You get bragging rights.
Halloween is coming up: does anyone have any costume ideas? I was already a gypsy for one party; I gotta change it up.
Anyway, until next Sunday!