Disclaimer: NEW chapter and I'm still not the owner.

This has been betaed by the lovely FATEISoverrated!

Part Two: Ticking

Chapter 20: Acceleration

"What do you mean you want me on the helicopter?" asked Iris, gaping as she heard Phil, one of the managers of GBS, yelling into the phone about Twitter going viral.

"There's a new kid on the block! Flash's son! We need video footage! GBS had better be confirming it before anyone else!" yelled Phil, and she could practically see the man's apoplectic red face, vein bulging above his bushy eyebrows.

This was completely against her contract, and it was deliberately sending her into danger. Of course, any investigative journalist or reporter worth their salt knew that sometimes the job just meant getting into precarious situations. But there was a difference between precarious and outright crazy. One robot-bomb explosion and she'd go flying. Or those bots would deliberately gun her down.

Those should have been her concerns. She should be trying to formulate a response for why she wasn't going to fly in a dingy helicopter above murderous robots. Instead, Iris's heart went cold, as she realized what Phil was talking about. Wally couldn't have. He couldn't have! He was just a boy. There was no way her baby nephew had donned a suit and come out to fight crime.

Iris snapped her phone shut, shuddering. Then her hand went discreetly to her shoulder, as though she was brushing off lint from her purple silk blouse. Instead, she pressed down on her bra-strap, immediately tuning back into the Justice League frequency from the earring she had, which was tuned to pick up her voice frequency and broadcast it back to the League with little interference. Various yells and messages were being spattered, and god she had no place on this since Ralph and Jay didn't need anything from her. And she had a job to do that was demanding her attention.

"Where is he?" asked Iris, unamused and uncaring of all the protocol she was breaking and the lines she was crossing and the job she was neglecting.

"Barry's fine, Iris," came Katar Hol's dulcet tones, "The building missed him by an inch. He's fine."

That was not the 'he' she was talking about, and while it was relieving to know Barry wasn't dying today, Iris couldn't make the words connect. Especially since now all she could think about was the fact that Wally- her baby- was out there and buildings and psycho-bomb robots could get to him and Barry wasn't there to keep him safe and this was not how he was supposed to become a hero!

"Iris?" asked Barry, surprised to hear her on the comm, "What's going on?"

"Iris!"

Finally, Ralph was on the connection. Iris was absolutely still as she hissed, "Where is he? What is he even doing here?!"

"I had no idea," came Ralph, sounding apologetic and sweet, and Iris wanted to forgive and let-go, but she just couldn't, "Honestly! I just saw the kid. I sent him back into the city. I'm sorry Iris, but Jay and I need more hands. He saved a kid and her mom, y'know."

There was radio silence for a moment, and then-

"Wally is doing what?!" demanded Hal, from wherever he was as something flew by and smacked near to him.

"He's going by the Kid for now," replied Jay, "And he's doing okay. We're watching him, Iris. I promise."

Iris was silent, and then she sighed as she heard Barry reply, "Keep an eye on him, Jay. I'll be down there as soon as we get Washington secure! Be careful and don't do anything stupid. All of you!"

Turning off the frequency, the red-headed reporter turned back to the helicopter. Barry was going to be furious if she got into that thing. Particularly when he'd asked her to be safe and not risk herself. This was totally a breach of her contract, and Phil could get fired if she died, to say the least. Hell- she could get fired if she didn't die as a result.

"Load her up," hollered Iris to her camera crew of Hank and Sarah, "We're flying into the pit!"

Flashes weren't the only ones who protected their own, after all.

Holy hell! Holy friggin hell! Oh my sweet Einstein and all other forms of god and science! He had- Oh my god! He was running extremely quickly, the wind behind him sending even the bigger shards of debris up into the air before they fell back down. Wally- Wally had passed the sound barrier!

Immediately Wally came to a stop, gasping for air as he stared behind him in awe. He had broken the sound barrier! He was running as fast as sound! A giggle came to his throat, and then he was laughing. He had broken the sound barrier in front of a bunch of people and he had done it! He had to tell Uncle Barry! He had to tell Jay.

But nobody was around.

He was alone on a street. With a sigh, he broke off the situation, and instead, returned to the task at hand. Saving lives. Wally navigated through the streets, feeling the air around him thrum with speed and energy. Not just speed. Energy.

So much of it.

He was really a living science experiment.

How did people live their entire lives not realizing the world was thrumming? That energy was escaping and dancing around them and that they were all so slow. For a moment, Wally was paused, glittering in the feel of the world. It was magnificent and beautiful and fast. So fast. Everything was so fast and slow all at once.

He reached out, almost light and elated, as the energy thrummed on his fingers, beating in his soul. It was amazing. This sensation, it was like the whole word was thrumming, vibrating, slow and steady as he crackled and ran, speeding around and dancing in the streets.

This was speed.

He was speed.

There was a sudden a ground quaking thump behind him, heavy and commanding, and Wally veered to a stop, tripping over himself and landing with a face-plant on the asphalt. As he rolled over and shook out the sudden abrupt change of motion, he noticed it.

The robots were large, mechanical beasts. They weren't designed to resemble humans, like most robots were. No, these were straight up moving weapons. The robot was seven-feet tall, and seemed to hover in the air. It had dark, black armor, steely and sleek, like the coffee machine Wally's mom had. It was rounded at the top, with a beeping orange light that resembled an ominous eye, with a dark line of armor going through it. The Eye of Sauron.

Wally's eyes widened, as he realized the central-torso of the armor was covered in holes, and from those holes, little tubes extended, like parasites crawling over the robot, straight and purposeful as they began to glow white. A large white danger.

Wally was on his knees and at the side as the beam of energy whooshed past, his breath gone as he stared in awe. The robot was dangerous. From the side of it's rounded, plump figure, two arms came out, extending like a crane, and folding to form an arm, a mechanized, terrifying arm that promised danger and threat to all that approached. It folded, forming the barrel of a gun where the hand should be, and then two bullets, fast and sharp, soared through the air towards him.

"Whoa," was all Wally could say, as he weaved through them both, and then turned his head, eyes wide as he realized they'd crash into the building.

And God they were so slow and so dangerous.

Unable to help it, Wally extended a hand, just touching the bullets as though to knock them away. The first halted, rocking in the air for a moment, before falling to the ground. The second veered off course and exploded a lamp-post.

Wally gaped at the sudden rush of energy he felt, thrumming through his body as he paused, still staring at the robot. The Eye of Sauron narrowed, dangerous as it scoped him out, trying and failing to find something satisfactory.

"J- Flash! Old Flash! Elongated Man, I could really use some back-up!" hollered Wally, as the next two bullets fired their way towards him.

"Did you hear that?"

"The new kid's out on the block."

"Y'know, Batman's got this place pretty much tied down. Can we-

"They've got a hub. The robots have a mother-ship in each city. To all heroes on the main channel, find the mother-ship and shut it down! This is Batman. I repeat, find the mother-ship and shut it down. Break the power-control, upload viruses, do whatever it takes but shut down their power-sources."

"They have a power source," muttered Hal, "Goddamit. They probably built the power-centres into the city. How the fuck did they sneak them in as part of the anniversary preparations?"

"That's because it probably wasn't anniversary preparations," replied Superman, before he inhaled deeply before blowing out freezing air, creating an ice-bed that extended from the ground up, supporting one of the sky-scrapers of Metropolis as it dangled precariously in the air.

Hal barely glanced at the ice-wall, as he extended six green lassos, mimicking Wonder Woman's style of fighting as they wrapped around six of the little angry turds. The ropes grew tighter and tighter, wrapping around each robot that was attempting to tear the city apart, forming into six eggs that squeezed, and within each contained egg, the robots blew, one after another. Each explosion shook Hal slightly, but he held strong in the air, watching the sparks below the green light, before he left the debris behind.

Superman was flying into the air, eyes glazed over, focused on X-ray to scout out the hidden mother-ships. Behind him, the ridiculous red cape was flapping with the wind. Hal flew up with him, extending a green wave of light, mimicking properties of a sonar. He'd already uploaded the robots' characteristics into his ring, and now he was searching for a match in the five mile radius.

"Anything?" asked Superman, as he turned his eyes to the west.

"Nada," replied Hal, extending his radius by ten miles, "Zip! Zilch! Nothing!"

"They never make it easy, do they?" asked Superman, grimacing as he turned his head, "Two of them, by Centennial Park. You or me?"

"You handle it big-blue," replied Hal, "I'll keep scanning the area."

"Don't over-extend yourself Hal," called Superman, and then he was gone.

"Alright, let's find me some of the big ugly chickens," muttered Hal.

Barry Allen stood perfectly still for just one minute. He was at the centre of Washington D.C, and his eyes were focused in the direction of Central. Wally was out there. He was somewhere too far away for Barry to reach, and too dangerous to be on his own.

This was not how Barry wanted Wally's debut to occur.

If Barry had to pick a method, he'd want Wally to prance out onto the field as his partner, running beside Barry, so that the Flash could keep a watchful eye, make sure that the kid didn't hurt himself. Make sure that the villains knew their place. The Rogues were dangers, sure, but they had morals of a kind. Women and children were off limits. You don't kill a woman or a kid. It just wasn't done.

These were mechanical machines. They had no morals, they had no scruples. They would slaughter Wally without hesitation. The image appeared before Barry could stop it. A bloodied, broken little boy, sitting in the I.C.U, like he had many months back. This time though, he wouldn't be the 'one in a million'.

He'd die.

He'd be buried in a tiny coffin near Ira West. And it would be Barry's fault. He didn't guard the notebook. He hadn't been there when Wally needed him most. He hadn't prepared the kid enough. There was suddenly a flash of wind, and he heard the sound of a bullet whistling through the air. Dodging quickly, he turned to see a robot, moving quickly towards him. It was stunning and for a moment, the Flash panicked as he pictured Wally in his place.

"Flash!" called Shayera, flying in front of him and swinging her mace hard and fast into one of the robots.

It soared into the air, exploding on impact as Barry wrapped his arms around Shayera's waist, weary of her great, greyish white wings as they pulled Hawkgirl away from the danger zone. His vision was obscured by her bright orange hair as it fluttered in front of his eyes, and then they were still.

Shayera backed away, standing in the light. Her golden armor gleamed, stained with dirt and shrapnel. Her eyes were wide behind her hawk-shaped mask, with a beak obscuring her nose. A dark shadow fell over her, and Barry turned to see his other friend.

Katar Hol soared above them, approaching to ensure his wife and friend were still alive. His wings, majestic beauties that they were, were erect and spread, as he hovered in the air, a ball and chain in one hand, the black spiked weapon dangling precariously by Barry's head. Katar's usual mace was missing, most likely switched out for a weapon with a longer range.

"We're fine, Hawkman," replied Barry to the unspoken question in the gentle blue eyes.

"This is not a time to daydream, my friend," replied Hawkman, his mouth a stern line below his own hawk-shaped mask, "Once we find the mothership, we can check on the boy."

For a moment, Barry paused in surprise. And then he remembered that the Thanegarians would know the situation, of course. They were members of the Justice League, and they were on the comm-system. His family crisis was aired in the open.

"I have a kill count of seven," announced Shayera, "That brings me up to seventy-eight total kills."

"I am at eighty, my dear," replied Katar with a small smile, "Let's hurry to bring the Flash home."

"Buck up, Flash," replied Shayera with a grin, "I have a husband to beat today, and I promise I'll work fast."

Flash stared at her, and then smiled as he replied, "Thank you."

So, this entire story has been beta-ed by FATEISoverrated, and she's my new beta for most of my stories. She's done a great job, and I'm really proud of the way this turned out. And this has been a really great edit. I'm really proud of my new beta! She did the entire story in a little less than two weeks, and most of that time was my fault because I've been too busy to send her the story.

So, I just want everyone to know that I'm going to be very busy in the next six weeks (my exams are in six weeks), and it's a crazy time. But Enough is my top priority, I really want to finish it, and we have like, four/five chapters to go. But then, we all know how reliable I am when on a schedule so, meh.

Furthermore, I've finally got all my university stuff in, and now it's time to choose! And oh my god am I so lost. So. That's always fun.

Thanks for sticking by me so long!

Review Replies:

Guest: Thank you! And I will, I hope to finish soon!

Blue: Thanks! And that's a really excellent trick! I think I may use it later on. If I do, I'll definitely credit the idea to you. That would definitely work for future chapters.