This is the chapter a lot of you asked for. Sorry if it's crappy- having a bit of writer's block right now, but I wanted to get thsi out there anyways. PElase review your thoughts and or feels! :)
Every atom of his being pulsed. Every molecule was being shocked, exploding into thousands of chemicals in away he'd never felt before.
He'd been burned, shot, stabbed, and electrocuted, but nothing could compare to the burning, racing feeling as his heart pounded in his chest, the breath was stolen from his lungs, and he was falling, falling, falling, through an infinite void of bright light.
He wanted to struggle, but he couldn't. He couldn't tell if his own screaming was ringing in his ears, or if it was simply the roaring sound of the void, the overwhelming static that drown out all sanity, all reason. He was trapped in his own skin- he could only hope this was what death felt like, because if it wasn't, then he was near panic at the thought of having to spend eternity in these hellish sensations.
He slammed into something, face first, and colors exploded before his eyes, before everything was blissfully black and silent.
He could hear his heartbeat, thrumming in his ears. Solid, steady. It was a nice change from the utter chaos he'd been trapped in.
He was cold- the knowledge registered dimly in his mind, and he shivered slightly, curling in on himself. His skin was… wet?
"…dude. Hey, dude…."
His ears were ringing so loudly he only made out a couple words.
"…alright? Dude, are you alright?"
With much effort, he pried his eyes opened and rolled over, only to find himself on dew wet-grass, staring into the concerned face of a stranger.
The man looked to be his age, if not a little older, clad in sweat pants and a red windbreaker. He looked relieved. "Hey man. Glad you're awake. You okay? You look pretty rough…."
Dick nodded, opening his crackled lips to speak. "Yeah, I think I'm alright…." He replied hoarsely.
The man nodded, though he didn't look completely convinced. "Did you take anything? I won't tell the cops or anything, but in case you need help or something…."
Dick shook his head sluggishly, allowing himself a small smile. He probably looked as though he was either drunk or high, passed out… wherever it was he was.
"No… I didn't take anything." He assured the man. Her wasn't as dizzy as he'd been before, and he got to his feet hurriedly.
The man laughed, looking relieved. "ool. Guess you just had one hell of a night, man. You want me to call someone?"
Dick shook his head, tentatively getting to his feet. "No, thanks though." He frowned, looking around him. He didn't recognize the scenery. He was surrounded by trees and other greenery.
"Hey, um… where are we?"
The man frowned, as though the question worried him. "We're in Central Park, dude."
Dick nodded slowly, coming to terms with the information. "Right. Well, you've been a really good citizen, checking to make sure I was alright and all. Can I ask you one last question?" Dick asked.
The man nodded. "Sure."
"What year is it?"
The man blanched for a moment, looking alarmed. "It's 2016, dude."
Dick grinned, relieved. "Thanks. You've been a ton of help."
"Are you sure you don't want to let me call someone?"
"Nah man, I'm fine." Dick assured him, before he was jogging down the path, towards the end of the park.
Walking the streets of New York so soon after regaining consciousness proved to be a mistake. Dick felt as though he had the worst hangover of his life- the constant noise and flashing signs that were New York did nothing to ease his pounding head.
He found a bench some blocks in and sat down heavily, trying to get himself sorted out. He had no phone, a backpack full of explosives, three thousand dollars in cash, and a splitting headache. What the hell was he going to do?
He strode into an internet café, paying his fee and sitting down. Some simple modifications could be performed; he could find his way to the Justice League quite easily. He typed in the address for the hall of justice, and was surprised to find no results came up.
He sucked in a breath, instead typing in the query 'justice league'.
A handful of articles popped up.
Anonymous League of Heroes Stops Bioterrorist Attack
Interpol Denies existence of 'League of Heroes'
Are meta-humans real? Rare leaked footage provides proof!
Dick frowned. A cold feeling was growing in the pit of his stomach, he didn't know what to think. If the Justice League operated from the shadows in this dimension, remaining anonymous, then he wouldn't be able to contact them. That meant a lot less resources at his disposal than he'd been hoping for.
His fingers remained frozen above the keyboard for a moment, before he was typing in his next name with shaky digits. 'Bruce Wayne'.
The results nearly knocked him out of his chair.
Son of Thomas Wayne set to launch new tech divesion this fall- following in his father's footsteps
Speculations from Martha Wayne- will her son Bruce Marry?
Several images popped up, as well- pictures of a teenage and young adult Bruce with his parents, smiling for the cameras. Dick blinked for a moment, surprised.
In this reality, Bruce Wayne had never lost his parents. Which meant Batman- hell, his and Scarlet's adoption- had never happened. Hell, maybe even the Justice League had never happened. He didn't know how to feel. On one hand, in the picture, Bruce looked so happy. But on the other hand….
His fingers were already moving across the keyboard, hands shaking, palms sweaty, as he typed in his next search term. 'flying graysons'.
Trapeze Accident kills family of four- audience recounts horrifying ordeal
Ten years following the Grayson tragedy, former members of the circus recount details of fallen aerialists. Children were "bubbly, full of life", with "loving, warm parents".
Nation mourns the tragic death of family of aerialists in freak accident
Dick stared at the screen until his vision began to blur, before he was clicking on a People magazine article covering the tragedy. Her wasn't sure what was more unnerving- the fact that he and Scarlet were dead in this dimension, or the photographs of their entire family's memorial.
Dick banged on the keyboard harshly, logging off and exiting the café hurriedly. However the hell he was going to find Wally, it was going to have to be on his own- without the help of the Justice League, or with anyone, for that matter. He was truly on his own.
He got a shitty motel room and a half-decent laptop. He hooked onto the wifi, scouring databases all over. He knew it was fruitless, but he tried anyways. If Wally had shown up in this dimension, just like him, truly out of nowhere, then he'd have no records, no documentation. He would be in no databases, have no records, nothing. He was searching the beach for a single grain of sand.
Three days later, he was running low on cash and hope. If he was going to find Wally, he was going to have to do it on his own.
He could still remember Wally's ambitions, some of the midnight video chat's he'd had with him.
After quitting the hero gig, Wally had gone to Stanford University with Artemis. They'd gotten a little apartment off campus together, and they'd gotten into the habit of midnight skype sessions.
"Artemis and I… I don't know where we'll go. STAR Labs has use for my talents, but then again, I'd just as soon create my own legacy, you know?"
Wally had no records here- no records or ID. He'd probably be unable to get any real job without documentation, but knowing him, he'd want to stay close to old memories….
He got a plane ticket to California and a bag of Doritos, and simply prayed.
California was bright- the sun was all around them. He remembered what block they'd lived on- he'd gone to help Wally move in at first, and enjoyed spending the day with him and Artemis. Now, he was anxious as to who was going to open the door.
He was down to his last two hundred dollars, and he wasn't sure what he was going to do if this fell through.
That was why he hesitated, fist in the air, instead of knocking.
He was shocked when the door opened, and he stared for a brief moment at the equally startled redhead staring back at him.
"…Dick?"
"Wally!" Dick's voice was muffled with emotion as he stared at his friend, before he was wrapping his arms around him and stumbling inside.
"I…the blast. There were only scorch marks, I thought you were gone…." Tears were streaming freely down his face now, as he sat on the couch, tears streaming freely down his face.
Wally stared for a moment, hands out as though he were unsure whether or not to reach out and comfort Dick or just let him continue to cry.
Dick looked up, tears rolling down his face. "W…wally?" he asked, sounding much more like a thirteen year old kid than a full grown hero. "Are you glad to see me?"
The damn broke, and Wally was hugging him, then, breathing ragged as he struggled to keep his emotions under control. "Dick… yes, god, yes, I'm glad to see you." Wally pulled back suddenly, watery gaze meeting Dick's own. "I just… I didn't expect to see you…. I've been alone here for what feels like forever."
Dick gave his friend a wobbly grin. "Yeah, well… nobody believed me. I… I had to break into STAR Labs and use the a-anti-grav chamber to get here, so…."
"You did what?" Wally asked, aghast.
Dick laughed, nodding. "Yeah, I did. I knew you weren't dead, I had to get to you- anything for my best bud."
Wally blinked, looking shocked at the revolution. "W…wow. Okay, then. I've been doing research, figuring out how to try and get back…. This is the same apartment as back home, but 3without Artemis, it's so empty." Wally looked over at him, a few tears spilling over. "This whole place doesn't feel like home, actually. No justice League- and I'm pretty sure Artemis is still with her father here." Wally nearly whispered the last part.
Dick nodded heavily. "We'll get back, I promise you."
Wally nodded, standing. "I… I have to go. I have a job as a lab tech, and I need to go. There's food in the fridge, my room is on the left- you look exhausted. Crash for a little while, and we'll talk when I get back, okay?"
Dick nodded, sloppily wiping his eyes on his sleeve. "Yeah, okay. Sounds good."
Wally nodded, looking hesitantly as he headed towards the door.
"Wally?" Dick asked calmly.
Wally, who was almost to the door, turned. "Yeah, Dick?"
"'S good to see you again." Dick admitted.
Wally broke into a grin. "You too, man. You too."
Dick woke up to the sound of boots in the hallway, as well as the clanking of keys as the door opened.
Dick was swinging his feet over the side of the bed, fumbling into the hallway, and Wally turned on the kitchen lights, eyes instantly brightening when he saw his friend.
Things were looking up- at least he wasn't alone in this world anymore.
"So… any idea how to get back home?" Dick asked hopefully.
Wally sighed, and Dick noticed the desk covered in papers and books to the right.
"Lemme start by asking you how you got here." Wally said, grabbing his notebook and a pen and scrubbing at his tired eyes.
Dick sighed. "Well, for starters, we broke into STAR Labs. Got into the magnetic field chamber, input the variables for the same conditions as when you disappeared, and set some explosives to go off at the exact time as when the conditions were generated, and boom- the combination of the conditions and spontaneous kinetic output resulted in something akin to a boom-tube. I woke up in Central Park."
Wally smirked slightly, grinning. "I woke up in Madison Square Garden, if it's any consolation. Figured out that the alternate version of myself had the same PIN for his bank account, took a grand and got a plane ticket out here, paid the security deposit on this place. Been crashing here ever since3. Then I got the job as a lab tech, helped me pay the rent- every spare moment has been spent researching how to get back."
Dick nodded pensively. "Do you have anything yet?"
Wally sighed. "Sorta. I have a theoretical idea as to what we need to do, but it isn't as simple as what you did. For one thing, we'll need specific coordinates to get us back home- the inverse of what you did won't cut it. If we try that, who knows where we'll end up. I've been constructing a formula to help us figure the coordinates, but as of now, it's unfinished…."
Dick sat up a little straighter. "So… all you need are the coordinates?"
Wally nodded sheepishly. "Yeah. But it's not that simple! I need more time to figure it out, and then we'd have to break into STAR Labs again, which is going to be tough, even with you to help me. And there's something else I have to do, too…." Wally looked distant for a moment.
Dick's brow furrowed. "Yeah?"
"I need to buy a ring."
