Chapter 3
Five years ago
He felt nothing but the quiet whisper of the speed force, energy tugging him in every direction at once. Time became fluid before him; memories, both his…and of someone else, unfurled before him. In one moment, he was back in his house, watching as Artemis made breakfast; then she turned and he was yanked out of the memory. Then he was back at Happy Harbour. A woman knelt in front of him, with long black hair and a striking face. Her eyes were a striking onyx colour and there were shining with tears, her face twisted with grief. As if fighting back her tears, she reached and her hand cupped his cheek. She was saying something but she was pulling away before he knew it, turning and setting off down the sand. Barely a couple feet away, she started to glow – then she erupted into a blinding white light, dimming only to reveal a glowing white form.
Someone was screaming. Belatedly, he realised it was him.
Then he was flying out of the memory again and in a blink, he was back in the raging storm of the speed force. A woman stood before him, wreathed in flowing white robes, with alabaster skin and onyx black eyes. She smiled motherly at Wally.
"Hello Wally West," she said softly. "You've come a long way."
"This is the speed force, isn't it?"
"Yes, and know. I needed something familiar to you. In truth, Wally, I know you thought your sacrifice was your end but it's not. Life isn't quite done with you, yet," she said kindly.
Hope flared inside of him. "I'm going back?"
The smile slipped and the hope inside of him grew cold. "No. The next part of your journey is somewhere far from home but maybe, it just might be what you need."
He opened his mouth to speak but she snapped her fingers, sending him spiralling down into darkness. He fell for what felt like an eternity, a cold rush of air enveloping him until he trembled and felt all sense of time and space slip away from him. Where was he? Who was he? His name danced before him, smeared into unreadability and as he continued his fall through the darkness, he began to scream. Tried, too, anyway but no sound escaped and panic surged through his body, flooding his chest with a tight, squeezing sensation.
Then, colour burst around him in dizzying shades and shapes. He realized he was running, belatedly – right down the middle of a ruined street, flanked by half-destroyed buildings. He slowed and forced himself to stop, looking wildly around. It didn't look like any city he recognised but he hadn't been in every city. That's when he looked up at the night sky.
There were no stars and two moons hung in the sky, bright and full. He could only stare in shock. He wasn't on Earth anymore. That was what the woman had meant.
"Definitely not in Kansas anymore," he murmured.
A cold wind howled through the street, bitterly cold, and biting through his suit. He wrapped his arms around himself and set off, shifting to the sidewalk and walking along. There was no one around and no sounds but the wind whipping through the blown-out streets and buildings. Why had he been sent somewhere where there was no one around and why? To what end?
Streets started to look the same and there were no signs to mark his way. Using the moons as guidance, he tried to track in a singular direction but made no call out. Really, he just tried to think like Dick – logical. He was in unfamiliar territory and he didn't know if he'd stumbled into something messy, like a war. More than anything, he tried not to think of home – or how the hell he was meant to get back. If it was even possible. For that, he tried to ignore what the woman said and that it meant he might never see his family or friends again. That he might never get a chance to see Artemis again, tell her how much he loved her. The guilt gnawed at his mind, whispers tugging at his thoughts with hooks. What if he never got home?
He stopped and took a break by what might've once been an old food store. The shelves had been picked clean and old packaging lay strewn across the floor, as if someone had eaten hungrily in a hurry, then discarded it. What the hell had happened in this city?
As he went to stand, the world exploded around him – a shockwave threw him back, sending him crashing into the shelves. He pushed himself up and raced over to the window. There was a crater in the middle of the street, at least several feet wide, and crawling out of it, a dark-haired woman. Not just any, though, it was the same woman that he'd seen in the speed force. Only, there was no grief on this one's face. A wicked smile stretched her mouth as her eyes bled to black, erasing all white, and thick shadows oozed off her, pooling around her feet. She raised her arms out to the side and two forms took shape beside her; they came to her waist in size and looked like dogs, their fur a mirage of black smoke.
Suddenly, a large rush of air flooded downwards onto the street, followed by the emergence of what looked like a helicopter. It hovered above the street and four men dropped down out of it, wearing black leathers. They advanced towards her fearlessly.
"Now, now, only four?" The woman made a disapproving clicking sound. "That's just damn insulting."
"By the order of Hysteria, you are charged with-"
"Oh, what is it this time?" She exclaimed tiredly. "I'm pretty sure I've broken every law she had – is she making up new ones now?"
The man blustered and stepped forward but the woman threw her hand up, and the wolves launched at them. One raised his rifle, took aim – without hesitating, Wally blurred forward, driving his fist into the man's face, sending him crashing to the ground. He looked up and met the woman's stare, the air rushing from his chest. Her eyes suddenly flew behind him and he blurred out of the way, just a shot was fired off. He raced around, slamming full force into one, and launching off into the third. As he hit the ground, Wally jumped to his feet and spun to the next one – whom froze before him, two hands cupping his face from behind. Fear flooded his face as his mouth twisted into a soundless scream; then, he crumpled to the ground. The woman stood before him, her hellish black eyes retreating to a dizzying jewel-black. Sweat beaded her forehead. For a moment, he couldn't say a word; then she frowned.
"Who are you?"
Her eyes flashed behind him and as he spun to face but she grabbed him, throwing one hand up by instant; it was all he registered as the helicopter exploded, fire roaring towards them – a wall of black shot up and encircled them, plunging him into darkness. All he could sense was the feel of her calloused hand on his arm, holding firm.
"Easy now," she whispered and, after a pause, the darkness retreated, so she let him go. "Sorry about that."
He stepped back from her, trying to get a read on her. Her focus shifted from him again as a portal flashed brightly before them, two figures stepping through. A man and a woman; the first stood in a black suit with two yellow lightning bolts up his arm, with matching blonde hair and intense blue eyes that zeroed in immediately on Wally; the latter was a tall, dark woman with long black hair braided down her back and an unreadable expression. She held a staff in one hand that towered over her, plain and silver looking.
"You're both late," said his saviour, her mouth twitching.
The man's gaze slid to Wally, taking in his suit, his brow lifting slightly. "Picking up odd strays?"
She glanced at him, then looked to the woman. The warmth in her eyes flickered out. "Read him."
The woman nodded curtly and walked over, stopping in front of Wally. Her eyes turned white and a pressure surged through him, rushing his mind; yet, just as quickly as it had come, it slipped away. She smiled.
"He's not one of hers."
"Who?" He blurted out, then looked at them all, searching. "Who the hell are you all and where am I? What planet is this?"
His saviour went rigid, the colour draining out of her face. The three of them seemed to share a quick, troubled look, like he'd said – or done – something wrong. She turned to her two companions, reminding him of Batman with that cold, steely expression.
"We need to get back now, see if the barrier is still strong," she snapped. "Now."
"We're all still breathing, so it can't be broken – right?" The man asked uneasily; his eyes shot to Wally accusingly. "We're not dead."
"For now," returned his saviour, cold. She looked to the woman. "Portal back."
The woman nodded and turned around, stamping her staff into the ground. A portal summoned to life before them, bright and glowing. The man shot through, followed by the woman without word. That left him with the woman, whom he didn't know the name of, and a thousand questions.
"All your questions will be answered if you follow me," she said, her hard gaze softening for a moment – pity lingered in her eyes. "It's your choice but, word of advice? This isn't your world and this isn't a fairy tale. The name's Nightmare but, please, call me Leia."
