Well, I didn't think it would take this long to get back to this story. At least it's still in its infant stages. I am really focused on making this a good story, so I will take a bit longer to write these chapters. I just hope you all enjoy this, and make sure to leave any comments if you have any.

TooLazyToLogIn: Yeah, I don't want to deal with the crazy power scaling so he is a fresh speedster.

AtomicGod666: Glad you're interested! *Checks when this comment was written* Well, I hope you're still interested! Barry might be faster than Ruby, and maybe there will be a pairing.

bankai777: A bit of red lightning in chapter one. Who knows...

Icarus Gray: Well, it took me a bit, but I did continue it!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to The Flash (DC) or RWBY.

The tears that flowed didn't seem to stop. His sadness enveloped him, it was beginning to feel suffocating. He couldn't do anything about his situation, Barry just couldn't seem to make them stop. He couldn't even begin to think what his father would go through if he just suddenly vanished.

"Dad… I'm sorry," Barry whispered to himself.

The group of eight did nothing but just stare at the crying boy. There was really nothing they felt they could do. They wanted to help the boy, but they knew nothing about him. He also wasn't a part of the matter at hand, their test.

All they could do was stare. He was just laying there on the burnt grass in great emotional distress. How was this even possible? Did he really run fast enough to go to another world? If it was an accident, how would he get back? Where would he even start? Even if he ran as fast as he did, would he just end up on a completely different planet? The thoughts were beginning to poison his mind.

It remained quiet for a moment. All that could be heard was the wind blowing and the boy's sniffles.

The gothic girl began to approach the boy while the other seven focused their glare on her, still stunned by the stranger's outburst. She kneeled down and gave him a pat on the back. She said nothing because there was really nothing to be said to him. She didn't know him, but she felt that this was the least she could do.

The boy in the red suit felt like a baby. First, he cried out for his father, the next, he was being patted on the back. Such a state of weakness, yet he was accepting of any type of consolation he could receive. No superhero should ever act like this under any circumstance.

But he was still just a kid.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Barry said, sniffing in the mucus from the outburst.

"Umm…" the girl in the black and red outfit said. "If it helps, can we listen to your problems?"

The girl was very hesitant with her words.

"Sis, I feel bad for the guy too, but we really don't have time for this." the blonde said with worry in her voice.

"I'm ok," the boy said.

The boy lied. He was broken inside. The thought of never being able to see his father was crushing him. But if he managed to get here, then getting back to Earth was a chance already much greater than zero. There was always a spark of hope in situations like this that Barry was determined to look for.

"We aren't just gonna leave him here," the gothic girl said adamantly. "I wouldn't want anyone to do that if I was in his shoes."

The blonde-haired girl knew that there was no getting out of this. Once her sister had a sliver of determination, there was no way of convincing her to change her mind.

"I can't help but ask how your Semblance went out of control, though," the blonde-haired girl was curious as to how the boy had even gotten in the forest.

After calming himself down, Barry continued to eye the group as they told him they were in the middle of orientation for a school named Beacon Academy. In name, it sounded like a prestigious school for genius minds, but after seeing the students fight those monsters, Grimm, they call them, it seemed logical that it was more akin to a military base of some sort to train soldiers.

"Semblance? I'm assuming you mean my powers?" Barry asked, trying to figure out if that was what the word meant. The context seemed to imply his power, so it was safe to assume that's what the girl was referring to.

"Well, yeah," the lilac-eyed girl said. "How does that even happen? You seem old enough to know your limits. Did you just get your powers or something? Also, what's with the get-up?"

Damn, this girl was talking like a reporter—so many questions.

Well, she wasn't too far off. Barry had only had his powers for four months, and seeing how calm and focused the other eight were, he couldn't help but think that they had been doing this much longer than him. They were more than met the eye, and seeing as how casually the blonde spoke about this so-called 'Semblance,' he presumed that all of them had powers on this world apparently known as Remnant.

Considering he was still masked, Barry could feel the weird and uneasy stares they gave him. They looked like they were cringing at a kid wearing a one-piece suit, though he did find comfort after the goth girl said it looked cute. However, Barry didn't really let their gaze get to him because it was protection and identity concealment rolled up into one. He understood that he might be shady to them, but they didn't seem hostile.

Barry contemplated taking his cowl off to gain trust and how restricted the blood flow was to his head. The fact that he was also on another planet made it so that his identity didn't really matter, but it was still weird to think of nonetheless. However, he still thought he had his counterpart on this planet, but that was just a theory. If another Barry Allen did exist on this planet, he couldn't risk people thinking he was that person. It could change the perception of his counterpart.

"I- I don't know," Barry replied. The tears from earlier were beginning to dry, but that didn't make the situation he was in any better.

"Think you can get out of here on your own?" the amber-eyed girl asked. She seemed very stoic, but Barry was glad anyone there voiced some concern.

"Oh…" Barry looked around at his surroundings as he realized they were still in the middle of a test. He stuttered a bit before regaining his senses. "Yeah, sorry. It's just that-"

Everyone stared as they saw Barry's lower face go from ordinary to ghastly pale. Barry's throat suddenly went completely dry. He could tell something was wrong with him by the way everyone was starting to look at him—the look of worry and a bit of pity. The lack of air was beginning to affect his perception, and the numbness in his arms only added to the boy's panic. He wanted so badly to vomit. Nothing seemed right anymore. Barry fell to his knees and started dry heaving.

The boy in combat jeans rushed to Barry as he tried to help him to his feet.

"Hey! What happened to you?"

"My speed," Barry said weakly. "I-It's gone. I don't know how. I can't feel the electricity flowing through my body."

'How pathetic. The so-called 'hero' of Central City is nothing more than a sad little kid. Why are my powers gone?'

Barry calmed himself and tried to focus as his thoughts were becoming more erratic.

"We have to get him out of here," the gothic girl said. "His aura must've run out. He'll die if we leave him like this."

"Ok, um, Mr. Red?" the lilac-eyed girl said. "We need you to at least be able to walk. Can you do that for us?"

Barry nodded his head fiercely. Not a good idea as his head hurt, and the motion only made it feel worse. Considering he had reverted to someone with no powers, he had to ensure he followed every order to ensure his survival.

Barry mustered every ounce of strength to give a light smile to relieve some tension. Eight people he had never met were now risking their lives for him. It made him feel slightly better. There was no one to have his back in Central City in the crime-fighting scene.

"Yeah," Barry said. "Still a bit in shock, but I'll manage."

"Good, just make sure to stay close." the raven-haired girl said. "We still have an initiation to complete."

Out in the distance, a grey-haired man and a blond-haired woman looked at cameras that were meant to monitor the students. As they saw the soon-to-be students help the mysterious boy, they questioned where he came from.

They assumed that he had appeared to come out of thin air until the grey-haired man rewound the time and viewed another angle. The boy didn't technically come out of nowhere. Still, there had been a portal, and he came through immediately, tumbling out of it with what looked like orange electricity fading from his body, presumably from his aura shattering. It was something the grey-haired man assumed.

His outfit was entirely… unique. Some people wore special-looking clothing, but something about this boy's suit was intriguing.

"Ozpin, what are we going to do about that?" the stern-looking woman asked.

"I would like to speak to him once the initiation is over," Ozpin answered. "Glynda, please make sure that boy and the rest of the students come to my office after I finish the announcement."

"If you wish for them to come, I assume that all of them passed the test?" Glynda asked. "They still haven't finished the initiation."

"I was already confident they would pass with flying colors," Ozpin explained. "But them taking the time to help this boy has only further solidified my faith in them."

"Very well," Glynda responded. "But why do you want to speak with the boy in the red suit?"

"He seems to be leading all the students and telling them what to do sometimes. Most remarkable."

Ozpin was looking at the cameras and saw the boy in the red suit point and shout at everyone. He realized that he himself wasn't fighting but occasionally giving warnings about their surroundings. It seemed like he wanted to help as much as he could.

"The boy doesn't seem to be using his Semblance or isn't even trying to fight with the others. Is he just giving them warnings?"

Glynda did pose an excellent question. Why were eight trained students listening to a stranger on strategy against multiple Grimm? Were they even listening to him at all?

"The kid looks like he's trying to offer something to the others. It's almost like he wants some respect, or maybe it's just instinct for him. In any case, something about him is also… otherworldly. Or maybe I've just been reading too many stories." Ozpin finished, giving a light chuckle afterward.

'There's no way this professor would know anything about my situation," Barry thought. 'Although, considering how big this school is, maybe he can help me out? Crap, I'm desperate. Him pointing out the nearest hotel would honestly be enough.'

These were the thoughts that were swirling through the former speedster's mind as he and the others were walking toward the academy. He was supposed to wait in some weird room as the other eight people would attend some form of meeting. He wasn't exactly paying attention, but he knew that they were going somewhere.

As the boy waited for the students, he pulled his phone out to see that there was zero service and no connectivity to any form of signal. To be expected.

He clicked his contacts and saw that his dad was the last recent call on his phone. Again, sadness filled his heart, but there were no more tears to cry. He would see his dad again, he swore it to himself.

Time passed, and Barry was pacing back and forth in the room as he was beginning to get antsy. It had only been about four minutes, but it felt like ages.

Then, there was a knock on the door.

"Hey, come and follow us," the girl in brown and yellow gestured her finger to Barry.

"Ok," Barry merely nodded his head as he said that.

Barry was now walking through the halls of Beacon Academy, which indeed was a school for people to become warriors, or 'Huntsman' to be more specific. Barry saw them display a wide variety of powers on the way back from the forest, leaving him in awe. Maybe this planet had gotten to the point that everyone had a Metahuman gene. Aura was something that was new to him, though. According to Pyrrha, the very tall red-haired girl, everyone has an aura. Every person had something similar to a protective field that would deplete if the person took too much of a beating.

Pyrrha went on to say that If the aura is depleted, then the person would not be able to use their Semblance. It seemed like the body's defense mechanism to inhibit the Metahuman gene as it could critically harm the person as it was no longer strong enough to withstand its own power, but this was just Barry's assumption of the people here and their biology. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like the humans on Remnant were just a bit more genetically evolved than those on Earth.

Turning his attention to the gothic girl, who revealed her name to be Ruby, Barry asked her what they were doing. She was ecstatic when it came to describing what they were doing and how happy she was to be doing it with her sister, Yang, the biker girl. Besides that, Barry only heard small talk between the other students; it seemed they had just met and were trying to get to know each other better. Multiple discussions about where they were from and what school they attended beforehand were prominent. Though the sounds of eight people talking over each other began to form one very gibberish sound to Barry. However, his attention was returned to focus when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and saw the short girl with the… sheathed scythe? Was that the proper term?

"Oh! By the way, your suit, did you make it yourself?" Ruby asked with sparkling eyes.

"I did, as a matter of fact," Barry replied with a hint of smugness. The girl's interest filled the former speedster's ego.

"Nice! What did you make it out of? It looks protective enough against small blades and maybe a crape here and there but flexible enough to still be able to move in. Bullets, as well as longer blade-type weapons, look like they would be a problem. The weave on is amazing, though, and the color choice is also amazing! Overall, It looks like you prioritize movement over defense, so I'd say you have superspeed, right?"

"That's really impressive," Barry was somewhat in awe of Ruby's quick deduction of the suit and his powers. "I made it out of a synthesized kevlar composite fabric. I do prioritize movement, but the reason I do so and why it's a full-body suit is due to the nature of my power. When I start to run, I leave a trail of electricity, and the friction from my speed makes my normal clothes… well set on fire. Imagine my surprise when I went on my first run."

Ruby had a small cackle as Barry let out a chuckle.

"Well, the lightning bolts on your suit make sense, considering what you said," Ruby said. "I think it's a fine piece of work."

"Thank you," Barry said, giving a small bow as a meaningful gesture. "Also, I couldn't help but notice your power transforms you into super fast rose petals? I guess that makes you a speedster too."

"I guess so," Ruby said. "I've never met someone who could go as fast as I could though…"

The girl let out an incredibly cute chuckle.

"Are you trying to instigate something?" Barry said with one eyebrow raised.

"Want to find out who is faster?" Ruby excitingly asked.

"Children!" Glynda said firmly. "As much as you would all like to get to know each other, may I please ask for your silence?"

Every single person in the room instantly shut their mouth. She didn't say anything threatening, but something about her tone was very commanding.

"Thank you. It won't be much longer now, and the Headmaster has one little matter to resolve before he sees you all."

All nine of the teenagers in the hallway were now fiddling about, trying to make as little noise as possible. Barry took the quiet to reflect on the rest of the people he had met.

The ginger-haired girl, Nora, tried to extensively figure out who Barry was and had tried to take off his cowl twice. Ren, the boy who seemed to be her closest companion, tried to stop her every time she did something of that sort.

The girl in the white dress, Weiss, seemed to be very snobby. It really rubbed Barry the wrong way, but considering he knew nothing about her personal life, he decided there was no use in forming an opinion about her. Blake was the long raven-haired girl with a giant bow on her head. She had asked Barry if he needed any help walking, but other than that, she didn't say a word to him afterward.

Lastly, Jaune was the boy who had helped him get back on his feet in the forest. He seemed more on edge than the other seven, though he didn't find that off-putting. Training to kill those things he saw on the way back should put fear into anyone.

Barry was glad that they had all introduced each other to him, even if he refused to do so in return. Barry felt very… undiplomatic.

All eight of the students and Barry were walking towards Headmaster Ozpin's office after an older blond woman went and asked them to follow her as the Headmaster asked for their audience. Barry knew that Ozpin must have seen him in the forest, which is why he was included in the lot.

"So why haven't you taken off that mask yet, Mr. Red?" Yang asked. "Also, please give me your name or an alias or something. Mr. Red sounds incredibly lame."

"Oh um," Barry had wholly forgotten that he still had his cowl on and remembered why he didn't take it off. "It's really complicated, but if all goes well, I'll introduce myself properly, don't worry."

'Wow, that wording was horrible!' Barry cringed at the words coming out of his mouth

"Umm, sure…" Yang was at a loss for words. This kid was definitely strange.

"Okay, you," Glynda said, pointing directly at Barry. "Ozpin wishes to speak with you privately. Go on ahead."

Barry nodded his head and sauntered as all eyes turned on him. It brought on nerves, but then again, he was still a mystery boy to all of them.

Entering Ozpin's office, Barry looked around and saw multiple giant gears and a clock-type window behind a desk. It was undoubtedly a unique layout for an office. Was the man obsessed with time, or did he just like the design? Small details like this helped to determine the characteristics of some people, and Barry didn't rule out being cautious. Sitting at the desk, the grey-haired man smiled at Barry's arrival and focused on the boy in the red suit.

"So, it appears you came out of thin air," Ozpin started. "But it's always nice to see young faces, even if they are behind a mask. I'm Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy, and you are?"

Barry sensed no hostility from the man. He was expecting a shrewd and authoritarian figure considering this was kind of a military academy, but he received a friendly welcome gesture.

"Oh, hello," Barry started. "I would like to introduce myself and show my face, but… there's this… how do I put it."

Barry stammered and tried to explain the idea of other worlds without sounding like a cuckoo.

"What? Don't tell me you're from another planet?" Ozpin said, a light smile on his face after his remark.

"Well, yes but… Wait, how did you know that?"

"You really are… We have surveillance all over the Emerald Forest. Seeing someone pop up out of thin air from a portal is possible on Remnant, but what you came out of was intriguing. Something like that has never been seen on Remnant."

"So then you understand why I don't want to show my face right?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand that much," Ozpin stated. "I know for a fact that you are not from Remnant, but I am uncertain as to why you fear showing your face."

"Have you not heard of the multiverse theory?" Barry asked.

"No, but I would be happy if you could enlighten me."

How did Ozpin know that Barry wasn't from Remnant but not know about multiverse theory? Was the science here a bit behind, or was the theory just never popularized?

"To sum it all up, it means that an infinite number of universes co-exist, which means there are infinite numbers of planets with sentient life. This also coincides with matter displacement, parallel Earth theory, and…"

"I see," Ozpin interrupted. "So, in very basic terms, you happened to break the fabric of reality and ended up on Remnant? Is that somewhat right?"

Barry realized that he was rambling on the science aspect but was still slightly offended that he was cut off.

"I'm still not entirely sure myself, but the fact I'm not on Earth means that I managed to do that," Barry said with a troubled chuckle. "Oh! Also, the reason I don't show my face. It is also very widely theorized that there are multiple versions of 'yourself' because of the multiple realities. So if my counterpart did exist on this planet, I wouldn't want to be confused for him. Also, throwing my identity around kind of defeats the whole hidden identity from villains who would use that to get to the people I love."

Ozpin looked to be deep in thought as he was digesting the speedster's words.

"Well, now that I know that, if you do decide to reveal your identity, I can make sure people won't confuse you for your counterpart. This isn't meant to rub salt into your wound, but you are alone here. Revealing your identity wouldn't threaten anyone you know."

"That's…" Barry kept getting hit with the reality that he was alone. "Anyway, regarding the first part of your statement, how would you be able to do that?" Barry asked. He was curious as to how a Headmaster of a school would be able to act on such a statement.

"I see you still have some doubts," Ozpin said. "I understand that. The only thing you really have is my word, it's up to you if you want to or not."

Barry thought for a long while. Would it be worth the risk if there truly was another Barry Allen on Remnant? What if it made them both spontaneously combust, or maybe they would merge into a single being? The sheer amount of sci-fi movies Barry had watched was now beginning to haunt his thoughts. That is if he had a counterpart here. It was all just theory. Maybe Barry could risk it this one time.

"You promise?" Barry said, just to get one final confirmation.

"You have my word, Mister…?" the lingering tone after the final word asked for the boy's name.

"Allen. Barry Allen." the boy said while slowly taking off his cowl. He lifted his head up, his face now fully exposed. He then walked closer to Ozpin and extended his hand.

"Nice to meet you." Ozpin reached out for the former speedster's hand and shook it. "Luckily, you don't look like anyone I know."

"That would've been hard to explain if I did," Barry said, laughing.

"Well, considering you have no record and no place to live, we'll just have to come up with something in the meantime. I'm assuming you can't get back because we wouldn't be talking if that weren't the case, correct?"

"Sadly, yes. Getting here was already an accident, and I lost my speed as soon as I got here." Barry replied.

"Well, I will get that sorted out as to your record and identification. Housing arrangements, on the other hand." Ozpin stopped his speech for a couple of seconds. "As much as I would like to have you here at Beacon, we have no more rooms, and all of our teams are full for the year. I can prepare arrangements for a small home in Vale."

"You'd do that for me?" Barry said, a hint of confusion in his voice. "You just met me, yet you're willing to do all of this?"

"Well, you're still a child. I can't just leave you be, can I?"

Barry immediately gave Ozpin a hug and a huge smile.

"I was honestly panicking at the thought of going through this, so thank you so much for this. I mean it with all my heart."

Ozpin gave Barry a couple of light taps on the back. Barry eventually let go and regained his composure.

"Well, I'm assuming you haven't shown anyone else your face? It wouldn't hurt to have friends here, right?" Ozpin said.

Ozpin then pulled out what looked to be a phone, pressed it a few times, and began to speak.

"Glynda, please send the rest of the students in."

"So you really expect us to believe that you come from a planet called Earth, have no Aura, and don't have a semblance?" Yang said with huffed breath. "Well, I'll be damned. What's next? Someone without powers dressing up in a bat suit fights crime alone?"

Barry looked at Yang and immediately looked back in front of himself.

'How the fuck?'

"Wait, you're just going to believe that?" Weiss said in disbelief.

"Weiss does make a fair point," Ren spoke out. "Not saying that you're a liar, but it just seems very improbable."

"I don't have a way of proving it," Barry tapped the hidden compartments in his suits to see if he had something that could be unique to Earth. "I mean, I guess the biggest thing that makes sense is that I don't have Aura."

The silence that filled the room after Barry made that statement felt nigh ominous.

"Umm, would anyone like to say anything?" Barry said with a nervous tone.

"What the fu-"

"HOW!?" Nora's screech managed to block the last word that Yang was going to speak.

Barry looked dumbfounded after the ginger-haired girl shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Is it that big of a deal? That was the only thing I could come up with considering what Ozpin told me." Barry said.

"Every living being has Aura, Mr. Allen," Ren said. "For you not to have it would essentially mean that you aren't a living person."

"Or that you're actually telling the truth and that you're an alien," Ruby said right after Ren finished.

"I wouldn't say I'm an alien," Barry quickly thought of the actual definition of the word 'alien,' which crept into his mind. "Well, I guess technically I am an alien to you guys. But not in the super tall and creepy green skin sense."

"Wait, if you don't have Aura, then how did you lose your speed?" Ruby said, questioning Barry after registering Ren's remark again. "We just assumed you lost it because your Aura broke."

"Well, on my planet, people with power are incredibly rare," Barry started. "Besides myself, the only people that I know of are some people I've seen on the news."

"Wait, you're telling us that you don't personally know people with powers?" Pyrrha questioned. She felt a small connection to him with that.

"Yeah," Barry said, feeling the loneliness. "I wasn't even born with powers either. It was a freak accident. I got struck by lightning and then was doused with chemicals. "

This gave everyone a sense of disbelief. Not only did powers hardly exist in Barry's world, but he wasn't even born with them.

"I can't imagine what that felt like," Blake said, her interest piqued by Barry's story. "But I don't get how exactly that gave you powers.

"To be honest, that was my first thought when I woke up. It turns out that a particle accelerator had gone haywire, and a lot of dark matter and random particles were released. It turned me into a Metahuman. At least, that's what I call people with powers."

"And how long ago was that?" Jaune asked, inputting his voice into the conversation.

"A little over four months ago," Barry said, with a small nodding rhythm as if stating a fact of life.

"So you've only had your Semblance for four months?" Yang said in a somewhat pitiful tone.

"And what did you say your Semblance was?" Weiss asked, looking to reaffirm the boy's prior statement. After all, he could be a threat to them.

"Super speed," Barry said. "Though, as you guys saw, I don't feel my powers working right now."

"And how fast can you go?" Blake asked as she glanced at Ruby.

"If I just want to cruise? About three hundred miles per hour. If I push myself to my absolute limit, I can reach five hundred, but only for a couple of seconds."

"Woah," Ruby said with a gaped mouth. "You sure you don't like… eat brains, do you?"

The girl didn't seem to drop the alien argument.

"No, I don't eat brains, but I'd kill for a cheeseburger right now."

Now that he had settled down, every normal feeling returned to him. He felt the fatigue on his body, the hunger he felt. All of that had been suppressed from the confusion and anxiety from the moment he shot out of that weird portal.

"My powers made almost every part of my body increase in speed, including my metabolic system. I have to eat around ten thousand calories a day." Barry said in a shy manner.

"How the hell do you eat that much?" Yang said, pretty surprised that the kind of skinny boy could eat so much. "Also, every part is sped up?"

Yang had a devious grin after saying that last part.

"Umm," Barry suddenly felt awkward, but a girl making that joke sort of left an impression.

"Ignore her," Weiss said. "But I still don't understand why you told all of us this."

"I thought it would be a good idea for this young boy to make some new friends." Ozpin chimed in. Everyone turned to him as if they had forgotten he was there. "He won't be able to attend the Academy as a student, but I'm sure you'll be able to see him quite often and help him through this strange time in his life. He is also welcome at any time to visit any of you."

"Having friends is definitely something everybody needs in their life," Jaune spoke out. "Let me formally introduce myself." The ragged blond-haired boy walked up to the messy blond-haired boy and extended his hand. "I'm Jaune Arc; I hope we get to be good friends."

Barry stuck out his hand and gave him a firm handshake.

"Yeah, I look forward to getting to know all of you personally."

Barry was now walking along some streets and places he had never seen as he looked around and tried to familiarize himself with the area.

He now had a fresh set of clothes, a black long-sleeve t-shirt, gray sweatpants, white running shoes, and a backpack to store his suit.

Arriving in the residential district of Vale, Barry walked alongside Ruby and Yang as they felt compelled to help the boy find his new apartment and help him move some necessities in. In truth, only Ruby felt obligated to help, while Yang just decided to tag along to know more about the mysterious alien.

Ruby was carrying a bag of groceries, and Yang was holding a small desk lamp.

The sun was beginning to set, and the breeze was cool to the touch on everyone's skin.

"Dang, all the apartments here look huge. You sure you won't get lonely here?" Yang said, admiring the complex.

"I mean, I was kind of already on my own back at home," Barry said with a weird sense of ambivalence. "I don't think it'll feel any different."

Ruby and Yang's moods had soured after hearing that. It was depressing hearing the boy had gotten used to isolation. Someone of his age should be living their life with friends at every corner. They always had each other, so it was a bit of a privilege they didn't know they had.

"I'm kinda surprised Professor Ozpin would do something like this," Barry said, breaking the silence left by his previous statement. "I'm a complete stranger, yet he went out of his way to do all of this for me. Something about it makes it feel too good to be true."

"Well, don't think that!" Ruby shouted. "Ozpin let me join Beacon a whole two years early, so it's really no surprise just how much kindness he has!"

"You do look a bit younger than everyone else," Barry said, eyeing the smaller of the two girls. "How old are the both of you?"

"I'm seventeen," Yang said. "Ruby, here is fifteen."

"Nice! I'm seventeen as well," Barry said, not knowing why Yang's age made him so excited.

"Really? You look a little young and a bit slim…" Yang said, trying to instigate something.

"Did you already forget that I have to eat five times as much as you do to even maintain my weight?" Barry said with a sort of deadpan look to him.

"Well then, maybe you just need to eat more and go to the gym," Yang said, still trying to instigate. "I like my men with a bit of muscle on them."

"What about a man who can take you to another city before you even register what happened?" Barry said, trying to get back at her.

"Oh, feisty!" Yang said. "I like that."

"Ew, Yang!" Ruby said. "I'm right here!"

"Oh, come on, Ruby, we're just kidding. When was the last time you've heard a guy take an insult like that without going off?"

"Hmm, I guess you are right," Ruby responded.

"Well, what do you think about the area?" Yang said, changing the subject quickly.

"It looks way too expensive," Barry said with a hint of worry. "Are you sure we're in the right place?"

"This is the place, all right," Ruby said. "The place should be fully furnished as well."

"That's a relief," Barry said, thankful that he didn't have to move anything heavy in.

The three walked to the complex's second floor of the small building. They continued down the hall to the furthest room on the right.

"Room number twenty-three," Barry said, reaching for the keys in his back pocket. "Feels kind of surreal."

"The living on your own, being on another planet, or having your own apartment?" Yang asked. One of those wasn't like the other.

"All of the above?" Barry said, sticking the key into the lock. "But thanks for helping me get here. It means a lot, more than you know."

"No problem!" Ruby said.

The three of them entered the apartment to see that it looked incredibly modern. A small kitchen was the first thing that was seen when entering, with the living room connected to it.

"Damn," Yang said, her gaze wandering to every corner of the apartment. "This is super nice."

"You're right about that," Barry responded. "I really get to live here?"

"Well, the key worked, right?" Yang said, pointing to the front door.

"Haha, thanks, Miss Smart-Ass," Barry said.

"Don't mention it."

The blonde-haired girl gave the blond-haired boy a wink and a grin. Something about her just spelled trouble for Barry, but her charm was definitely something she knew how to abuse. He'd have to watch out for her.

"Well, it's getting late," Yang said, taking her gaze off the former speedster. "Ruby and I better get going before it gets too dark."

"Thanks again, both of you," Barry said with a smile.

"No problem," Ruby said. "See you tomorrow at Beacon?"

"Yeah," Barry responded. "See you tomorrow."

Both girls waved him goodbye as they went out the front door. Barry still found it weird how accepting of him they were. A boy from another world magically appeared, yet they held no hostility toward him. He had kept telling himself this, but it was just so relieving.

The boy went to the only bedroom in the apartment and laid his backpack on the bed. The room was spacious—a queen size bed in the center of the room with a desk in the other corner. Barry went back to the kitchen to make himself a big dinner. It was really only enough for two meals, but that was way better than having an empty stomach.

Once he got in the groove of cooking, it reminded him of cooking for his dad earlier, not so long ago. It brought him a strange sense of comfort.

After finishing his meal, the boy took a shower and got ready for bed. He had felt the fatigue settle once he got to the apartment. His body still hadn't quite adapted to not having speed, so it was still strange to do things.

"Welp, nothing to do but go to sleep." The blond-haired boy said to himself. "Hope I can actually fall asleep."

Anxiety was something that Barry struggled with a bit. It was a very sore topic, but he always tried to reflect and get his mind right. He considered therapy, but revealing everything would probably be problematic.

As the boy shut his eyes, he focused on the fatigue and managed to fall asleep. It was strange, considering his circumstances.

…

"...ry" A voice called out.

"Bar-" The voice cut out again.

"What?" Barry said weakly.

"Barry, we need to speak with you." The unknown voice said, now clear as day.

Barry opened his eyes to see that he was no longer in his apartment. Where was he? He rubbed his sore eyes and noticed familiar items that filled him with nostalgia. A Playstation 2, along with a beat up soccer ball that his mom had given him for his third birthday because of how much he liked kicking things. Slowly, he processed that he was in his house from when he was a child. This had to be a dream, but why did it feel so real? It felt like he was awake but not awake. There was something that was just… off.

"Barry, respond please," The voice continued to talk.

"Who's talking to me?" Barry said.

His eyes were wide open now, but he couldn't move. Was this a sleep paralysis delusion? No, it couldn't be, he was so aware of what was happening that it wasn't plausible.

"The Speed Force, Barry," the voice continued to speak. "We need to speak to you about your current predicament."

"The Speed Force?" Barry questioned. "Are you telling me that I'm speaking to an entity that is the reason I have powers?"

Barry honestly didn't know why he knew that. He thought that his speed was just a genetic mistake from crazy happenstance. Though, the Speed Force voice that was speaking to him felt very genuine.

"Yes, Barry," the voice continued. "We know of your current state and wanted to speak to you about why this is so."

"The reason I'm on another damn planet or that you took my speed?" Barry said, trying to hold back his anger.

"We understand your frustrations, but please bear with us." the voice remained stoic, but gentle. "We brought you here so you can understand just who you are and what you are capable of. We know that you have begun to doubt yourself, and we wanted to give you a change of scenery for you to take in every aspect of yourself."

"But my dad," Barry said, still fighting the pain in his emotions. "He's alone."

"We apologize, but he is not alone. At least, he technically won't be."

"What do you mean by that?" Barry responded, wanting to know why that sounded so vague.

"That is for you to know at a later time."

"Tell me!" Barry shouted, now getting frustrated.

"You will have to learn about all of this on your own."

Barry figured there was no point in arguing with a different plane of reality. The fact that this conversation was happening was in and of itself crazy.

"Why did you take my speed then?" Barry said, switching the topic.

"We wanted to wait until this conversation," the voice spoke again. "We wanted to know how you would feel with your powers gone."

"Why the hell would you-"

"But we saw you have the absolute worst day of your life today. We realized what your powers mean to you now, so we will slowly be returning your powers to you."

Barry was stunned at what he was hearing. He realized that it was sort of a way to humble him and get him to appreciate what was one of the worst days of his life. He slowly felt the electricity within him begin to crackle once more, and couldn't help but smile when he felt it.

"We wanted to thank you, Barry," the voice now sounded soft, almost as if it was a mother speaking to her newborn baby. "Please, never let your heart wander."

After finishing that statement, the voice didn't continue to speak.

Feel free to leave a review, comments, suggestions, or any ideas you guys have. Don't hesitate to tell me if you don't like something.

I will do my best to update as much as I can. Please bear with me if I take the time to upload a new chapter.

Big thanks to HelixPenn and Maverick for looking over this chapter!