"Roy! Dick! We've got a problem!" I hissed over to both my friends.

They had been pretty busy at the moment playing Time Crisis while Ike cheered them on. But upon hearing my rushed tone, they immediately ignored the game and turned to me.

"What's going on?" Roy asked, blue eyes narrowed.

"Family problem. Big-Superman sized- family problem."

This was our code. Upon saying something was Superman-sized, we allowed the others to know that this was a superhero problem, not a civilian one. And as soon as they heard that it was just that, both my friends put the toy guns down and walked over to me.

Ike stared after us with confusion.

"Walls? What's going on? Are you leaving already?" He asked, hazel eyes going from me to Roy, then to Dick, "Weren't you all going to wait up so we could go and eat ice cream when Mike and Kate finished watching their movie?"

I smiled softly over at my friend but shook my head, "Unfortunately, a big problem's sprung up. Dick, Roy, and I have to get going so we can help solve it before it gets too out of hand." Then I walked over to him and placed my hand on his shoulder, "But you stay here so you can explain what happened to the other two. And I promise I'll explain everything to you guys come Monday."

Ike's jaw tightened at this, but he nodded softly. "Just don't disappear on us again, got it?"

I smiled sadly over at him, "Promise."

Then I turned over to Roy and Dick and nodded over at them. Without any more words traded between us, all three of us ran out of the arcade and the movie theater, those two following me as I led them over to the nearest Zeta Station.

"What's going on, Wally?" Dick asked me as they followed me, my eyes narrowed in almost anger as we ran.

"Zoom is back." I growled, anger building up inside of my body. "He's back and he's done something to the Rogues. I got a call from Rory and he told me that he has James and Hartley hostage."

There was a moment of silence that passed between us, then Roy asked, "How did he manage to come back? I thought the police from his time were going to keep him locked up until the end of time."

With a sigh, I turned a corner and continued running, "That was what they promised. But we all know that guys like these... They don't stop trying unless they're dead."

"We're going to have to grab our own gear, Wally." Dick reminded me after about a minute of running in silence, to which I nodded.

"I know. The Zeta Machine is just around this corner, it's an old telephone booth. You guys go to your places, grab your stuff, and meet me at the Central City Zeta Station." I informed them, already having a plan in mind. "I should have Uncle Barry with me by then and we can start making our way all through Central until we find just where Zoom and the Rogues are."

As I finished saying this, we arrived at the Zeta Station and I motioned for them to go. "I'm going to run over to my house, change, then I'll call Uncle B. You guys just focus on getting ready as soon as possible."

Roy nodded, but Dick asked, "Are you sure you want us to help you? I mean, I would understand if you didn't want any outsiders meddling with Central affairs right now..."

But I shook my head and smiled softly over at him, "Believe me, Dick, if I didn't want you guys here I would tell you. But I have a feeling that Uncle B and I just aren't going to be enough to deal with the menace that is Zoom at the moment."

They both nodded, then Dick stepped into the teleporter and disappeared in a bright flash of light. Roy turned to me for a moment, "We're going to get this guy, Wally. I promise." then entered his code and left in the same flash.

I stood there in that alleyway for a moment, allowing the severity of the situation to fully dawn on me, then I turned around and ran straight for my house. There I would call my uncle and tell him everything that had happened. Everything I knew. I wasn't about to let Zoom hurt the Rogues. Not even James or Hartley. No matter how much I couldn't them at the moment, I would never be able to live with myself if I allowed someone to hurt them.


My uncle wouldn't answer his phone. This scared and worried me, but by the second call, I didn't have any time left to spare and had to stop trying to contact him.

I had rushed into my home so fast that my father was caught off guard and once I was inside my room and had started to change, he entered my room with a questioning look. Upon seeing the blur that I was while I got dressed into my KF suit, he frowned and crossed his arms.

"Fridays are supposed to be free days from patrol." He had grunted gruffly, which made me stop in my dressing to look at him.

By that time I had put on most of my suit and was only missing my gloves and my mask, and I turned to him with a serious frown on my face.

"It's an emergency, dad. I know I promised I would be here by eleven so we could do some family bonding, but..." My hand tightened around my mask and I glared down at the floor, "Flash needs my help."

My father stood at my door for a moment, as if weighing his options and trying to understand just why I would break my old promise to them, then asked, "Do I want to know?"

I shook my head immediately at him, "It's best you don't, dad. I don't want you or mom worrying about me once I'm out there."

"That's the exact thing to say to make us worry, boy." He sighed, then shook his head. "You better come back in one piece, Wallace. And I'll tell your mother you decided to sleep over at Mike or Ike's house so she doesn't have to worry about where you could be and who you could be fighting."

I looked at him as he left my room then, unsure if I should feel happy that he cared enough about me to lie to my mom or worried that if something happened to me, my mom's reaction would be even worse for not knowing where I was. But I couldn't waste too much time. The Rogues were in peril.

After I was fully dressed, I had tried to call my uncle on my normal phone but he didn't pick up. So, once I had made sure my compartments were fully stocked and I was prepared for a butt kicking, I had run out of my house in stealth mode and began my run over to the Zeta Transporter.

As I ran, I tried to use my communicator to contact Flash. But all I received was static. With a sinking feeling in my gut, I changed channels and tried to communicate Green Lantern. He, at least, did answer.

"Kid Flash? What's up?" Hal Jordan asked calmly, albeit curiously.

"Hey, GL, have you seen my uncle?" I asked as I ran over to the teleporter, coming closer with every second that passed by.

"The Flash? No. He was scheduled for monitor duty twenty minutes ago, but didn't show up. GA and I are covering for his lazy ass." Hal's voice crackled in my ear as I finally reached my destination, then I opened the Zeta teleporter and inputed my own code. "Why do you ask?"

I arrived at the Central City Zeta Station in almost no time, and I stepped out to find that Robin and Red Arrow were both waiting for me.

"I just needed to know if you had seen him. Thanks, Lantern." I turned off the communicator at that point and looked at both my friends. "We have a small problem. Flash isn't answering my calls."

Both of them apparently came to the same conclusion I had a few seconds ago because their frowns became even more dreadful.

"Zoom is not... Someone we're used to dealing with." Arrow remarked and I nodded.

"But we can take him. Are you guys ready?" I asked, knowing full well that while only three of us would not be enough to take care of the threat we were facing at the moment, we would have to get going before the situation became even worse.

Robin nodded, "You're the leader today, KF. You know our enemy."

I smiled at him for a moment, then motioned for them to follow me. "Roy, you know how to hot wire a car, right?"

"Yeah..." He answered in trepidation, as if he didn't want to admit to it. "Why?"

"Because you two are going to need a way to get around, aren't you?" I asked softly, then looked around to see if we could find any good and fast cars for those two to use.

Immediately my eyes fell on a fancy sports car parked a few feet from us and I smiled over at it before running to it and motioning for my two friends to follow.

"Kid, we can't possibly steal a car." Robin tried to argue, but I only quirked an eyebrow over at him.

"Are you going to run all over Central to catch the bad guys? Rob, we're only commandeering a vehicle in the name of the law." I explained, then looked over at Red Arrow. "Get to work so we can start. The more time we waste arguing, the more time Zoom has to prepare for us."

My fellow red head sighed and groaned, but still began to work on opening the car's door. And in almost no time he had it opened and shut off the alarm before we could get caught. Then he began to work on getting it started and less than a minute the car's engine had rumbled to life. Both Robin and I were surprised with how fast he had been able to do all of this.

"That was... Flash fast..." I breathed out, all the while Roy unlocked the passenger's door.

"I've had experience in this, kid." Was all he growled out before asking, "Which side are we taking?"

I shook my head to clear it of questions about Roy and how fast he had done such a thing, then answered, "Take the north side of Central and check every bank, police station, museum, and jewelry store. I'm going to head over to the warehouse district and begin my search of the south side there. If you find anything suspicious, tell me."

Then I straightened up and looked over in my direction. I was about to start running, but Robin speaking up stopped me for a moment.

"And you tell us if you run into anything, Kid Flash. You know we've got your back."

I looked over at him through the car's windshield but nodded and smiled at him. "We'll catch Zoom, guys. Don't worry about it."

Then, with one final salute, I ran off in the direction of the warehouse district while Roy began to drive off to the north side. And even though I had told them to not worry, I knew I had only said it out loud because I needed some type of reassurance before I ran off.

Zoom was in town. The Rogues were under his control. And Uncle Barry did not pick up his phone and was missing from monitor duty.

I already knew everything was bad. I just had no idea how bad.


Once I reached the warehouse district, I immediately knew Zoom was hiding inside of the Rogue's HQ.

How?

Well, the answer was rather simple. I had not stepped even one foot into the vicinity of the warehouse before I could feel the energy of the speed force running rampant all around me.

Immediately I ran for cover so as to not be seen by the man that was my uncle's greatest enemy, all the while turning on my communicator.

"I found them, guys. They're over at the warehouse district." I told Red Arrow and Robin, only to have Robin answer back with terrible news.

"Maybe they split up, Wally. Because we found Mirror Master, Captain Cold, and Heatwave robbing the main bank. We're working on detaining them at the moment."

There was a grunt, then I could hear Rory scream out in pain.

I flinched at the loud noise in my ear, then shook my head. I couldn't mess up. I couldn't afford to screw up this mission.

"If they split up... Who knows how many more places they've hit?" I sighed, then made a decision, "I'm going to call the League. This has gotten out of our hands."

"Do that, KF. We're kind of getting overrun." Red Arrow grunted as something impacted against him, then I nodded.

Immediately I went about calling Green Lantern and immediately received an answer.

"Kid, what's going on? This is the second time you contact me."

"Hal, we have a problem in Central. Professor Zoom is back."

Before I had to elaborate anything else, he had immediately answered, "Green Arrow and I are on our way. The League's been spread thin but I think we can get Superman to your location in five minutes."

"Good." I breathed out, then looked up at the warehouse where I had once gotten caught by the Rogues in an act of pure stupidity, "Then I need you and GA to go to Robin and Red Arrow. They're facing the bad guys over at the bank."

"Got it. ETA, two minutes." He grunted, then, after a moment of silence, he said, "Don't do anything stupid, kid."

If I had known Zoom would have split the Rogues up to cause more mayhem, I would have contacted the League and the Team before we ever separated. But now that we had, and I knew for sure that Zoom was inside the warehouse, I really wished we had known more about the situation before making any decisions.

"Don't worry, Uncle Hal. I promise I won't."

The promise sounded hollow even to me.

My communication with him was then turned off and I looked over at the warehouse.

The speed force was not a tangible thing. Feeling it wasn't easy to explain, so much so that I couldn't even begin to describe just what it was. But I know that every speedster had a presence inside of it and gave it off to others. I had my own signature and my uncle did too. Professor Zoom had one as well, but his presence was... Scary. It was as if his signature was clouded by darkness, anger, hate, and pride.

What worried me was that I could feel more than one signature in this place.

And... Damn it, he knew I was here.

I only had a fraction of a millisecond to move out of my hiding place before I saw Professor Zoom's yellow gloved fist ramming straight into the car, where my head had once been.

"Kid Flash. It's so pleasant to see you again." He remarked coldly as he straightened up, all the while I stayed crouching on the floor some ten feet away from him.

Ten feet was a rather relative distance, at least when you were a speedster. To normal humans, it was a big enough gap. To us, though, it was personal space because of how fast we could cross it.

"It's not pleasant to see you, though." I remarked, glaring at him.

A cold chuckle left his mouth after I had said this, then he placed his hands on his hips, "Is that any way to talk to your Uncle Barry, Kid?"

"What?" I asked, quirking my head to the side, but my body remained stiff and crouched, poised to run at any moment. "Have you finally fried your brain too, Zoom?"

"Not at all, Walls."

My body shivered uncomfortably at the tone he used for my name. His voice was identical to my Uncle Barry's- just like it had been the first time we had faced off- but there was a hint of hidden evil deep inside of it that let me know he wasn't my uncle.

"Can't you see I'm your Uncle?" He asked, raising his hands up to remove his mask.

And there was an exact replica of my uncle's own face. There was no minute difference that I could use to tell them apart when it came to their face. The only thing I could use to tell the difference was that he was using his own Zoom costume rather than the Flash's.

"Sure, and I'm the Prince of England." I mumbled, then shook my head and prepared my body. "I'm not stupid, Zoom. And you're not going to be here for long enough to prove me otherwise."

And I ran at him to kick at his legs. But he had apparently counted on me charging because he only turned around and zoomed away from me. Immediately I ran after him and gave chase, my teeth bared and my anger boiling.

First he threatened James and Hartley, then he forced the Rogues to work for him, and finally he had done something to my uncle. The bastard was going to be leaving this time period breathing through a fucking tube.

"Come on, Kid Flash! You can run faster than that!" He chuckled mockingly as he ran inside the warehouse where the Rogues had been staying, and I followed right after him.

I wish I hadn't. I should have calmed down, even if just a bit. I shouldn't have chased after him. I should have known it was a trap.

When I got inside, I stopped running and looked around the large space. Everything was dark and no light could be found inside except for what came from the opened door behind me. Then I began to hear his dark chuckling reverberate off the walls.

"Poor little Wally. Can't find Professor Zoom." He mocked and I had to shake off the feeling of familiarity of the voice.

He sounded exactly like my uncle did in my nightmares.

"Tell me, boy, why do you fight for justice? Have you no idea how much better it is to break the law rather than follow it? How much easier it is to release all the anger inside your body when you don't have to worry about following the rules?"

His voice sounded almost disembodied. And before I could turn around and run out of the warehouse, the door shut behind me and I was left in complete darkness.

"You know, kid, I'm going to give you a chance to finally make a decision for yourself for once in your miserable life."

And one light turned on suddenly, and I could see what was a time machine. It was a rather archaic one, at least, when compared to the one Zoom used the first chance he came here, and Zoom stood to its side with his mask still down and a smirk on his face. The machine had a date written on it, May 23rd 2600, and a lever beside that date.

"Stop me from going into the past to stop your uncle from ever being conceived," He continued with his crazed monologue, turning on the machine to make the numbers start spinning backwards. First the years, then the days, then the months, and finally everything was moving fast down from the 25th century to the ones that came before.

"Or save your uncle and friends from dying in this time period."

Then a new light turned on and shined on those three people. The three of them were bound and gagged to the floor of the warehouse, three shotguns pointed at each of their head's. There was a type of string wrapped around the shotguns' triggers and a timer that read thirty seconds on top of them.

My eyes widened upon seeing them all looking at me with hope and worry filled eyes, then I turned to Zoom with a frown and a growl.

"You're a monster!" I yelled, but that was all I could do.

For once in my life, I was frozen. My body wouldn't move. And I couldn't will it to.

What was I to do? Save my friends and uncle now or stop Zoom from killing Uncle B before he had even arrived.

The time machine had now gone down all the way to the 21st century now and it was only a matter of time before it got to be too late for me to stop Zoom. Save my Uncle now or in the past? Sometimes, messing with the time stream was completely unfair. Now was one of those times.

I knew if I stopped Zoom in the past, I could maybe take control of the time machine and stop the trap before it completely counted down... Or... I could kill Zoom by stopping his own conceiving. My eyes flickered over from James' teary face, over to Hartley's worried one, and finally my uncle's own hopeful one. He was hoping I would make the right choice. I just didn't know what it was.

"Tick Tock, Baby Flasher."

Zoom had sealed his own fate.

With a glare, I glanced over at the time machine and looked over the numbers of the years. 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020. Then at the numbers on top of the shotguns, 13, 12, 11.

"What are you going to do, Kid Flash?" He asked, smirk still in place. He thought he was going to win. 10, 9, 8, 7.

2015, 2014, 2013- now!

As I ran over to the time machine, the numbers went down to May 4, 2012 and I jumped at Zoom and slammed him against the machine at that exact date. Immediately the machine began to buzz and whir because it had been turned on, and while I struggled and punched the mad man, I glanced over one time over at Uncle Barry, James, and Hartley.

4... 3... 2...

"No!"

A shot rang out and Zoom and I were thrust back in time.

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