DON'T OWN JL OR THIS PLOT.
" Damn it! Somebody stole our wheels!" The young male walked around his car, eyeing the empty spots where the tires once were. A girl grabbed his arm,
" Brett, c'mon let's go call a cab." She smiled at him,
" All right, Carrie……… What was that?" Brett pushed Carrie behind him and gazed through the darkness.
" Who's there?" He could feel Carrie shaking behind him, which boosted his courage.
" You know you're in Raven territory." A voice echoed from the right of them.
" I thought the League ran this territory?" Carrie muttered. She only knew this was because she had been in fourth period with her friend, Wally West, a few years ago,
" You would think that wouldn't you, pretty girl." Carrie opened her mouth to scream, a second later it was silenced.
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Six months. That's how long it had taken Shayera to recover completely. Wally had been out of bed weeks after the incident but counseling had taken a few months after that. Wally sat on the couch in his shared apartment, watching late night cartoons and eating cereal with a fork, since he couldn't find a spoon. The red cell phone began beeping wildly next to him,
" M'ello?" He asked with his mouth filled with coco puffs,
" Wally?" the voice was female and sounded thoroughly shaken and whispered,
" Who is this?"
" It's me Carrie."
" Hey! Care, what's up?" a sob was his reply,
" Carrie? Carrie what's the matter?"
" Wally…I, Brett…remember Brett?"
" From English, yeah, what about him?"
" I'm stuck on Kremer and sixth, Brett and I were attacked." Wally shot up and began putting on his shoes,
" Are you okay?" The whispered voice dropped a few volumes,
" No, I think Brett's been hurt…I'm hiding right now. Wally, please help me ohgodohgodohgod-"
" Carrie, I'm on my way. Stay where you are and make sure your ringer is off."
" Please hurry." Wally grabbed his jacket and ran into John's bedroom,
" John, Wake up!" He yelled, shoving the older man back and forth,
" W—hat?" John opened a bleary eye, " What's the matter?"
" We got a problem. A girl I know just called, sounds like she's hiding from Ravens."
" We can't go into Raven territory."
" It's in our territory." Now John was wide-awake.
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John had parked his truck two blocks from the street Wally had told him. Wally hopped out while John took a moment to tuck a 9mm into his belt.
They took off running, Wally pulled out his cell-phone and redialed the number,
" Carrie? Listen, no…no calm down, babe. I'm nearby…Ok, we'll look for Brett after we find you." Wally hung up the phone and turned to John,
" She's in the alley. She's really freaked." They kept walking. John used his eyes to sweep for any enemies, while Wally kept focusing on looking for the right alley. They walked by the car and Wally nearly gagged. The body of Brett Greger was draped across the hood of the car. On the windshield, written in blood was, ' Death to the League.'
" Christ." John muttered, pulling out his gun.
" I thought the Ravens were finally takin' a break. But there ya go…" They walked past the car, careful not to touch anything.
" Wally!" A short, slim blonde girl came running at Wally, who grabbed her and turned around so she wouldn't see the car, John hastily put away his gun.
" You okay?" She sniffed into his jacket, " We're going take you home, okay?"
" Okay." Wally kept his arm over her as they walked back to the truck.
" You still live on the West side, right?"
" Yeah."
" What were you doing here?" Carrie turned to face John,
" Who are you?" She asked, eyeing him up and down,
" He's my roommate, John Stewart."
" A little old, isn't he?" Wally laughed,
" Yeah, but he's cool, so just answer his question."
" A friend of ours lives out here. Cory from P.E., remember?"
" The little squirt that always thought he was faster then me?"
" That's him." John cleared his throat, " Oh yeah, sorry sir, we were watching a movie." Wally laughed as he watched John bristle at being called 'sir'. They got to the truck without any problems,
" I still can't believe Brett ditched me. He's such a coward."
" Yeah."
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" I'll see you later. Bruce is inviting everyone over for dinner."
" Ok."
" Clark will come and get you, understand? I won't be home until later. Don't go anywhere without telling someone. And make sure to stay away from the Raven's territory."
Wally sighed, normally he would have replied with a 'Yes mom' but with all the trouble that had been going around, he patiently followed John's orders.
" Hey John?" The older man turned away from the door,
" Yeah?"
" You know that this isn't just going to go away. Sooner or later it's gonna end up with a fight…I just want you to know that I won't run away if it comes to that."
" I know, kid." John grinned and walked out the door, locking it behind him. Wally stood in the hallway for a few moments, before moving away from the door. A loud crash echoed from one of the down stairs apartments. A screamed followed,
" Mrs. Livingston!" Wally muttered, pulling his track letterman jacket on and flinging open the door. He jumped the last few stairs as he sprinted down to the next apartment.
The door was slightly ajar when he reached it and the fluffy head of one of the many cats that the old lady kept was sticking out, meowing loudly. Mrs. Livingston was at least seventy years old and was one of the coolest people Wally knew. She never complained about the loud music, late night arrivals, occasional fights and she would bring cakes and dinners to Wally if she knew John was working late. Wally didn't feel obligated to help her, he wanted to.
" Outta the way, Mr. Fluffy paws." He whispered, moving the cat aside with a foot. He quietly clicked out his knife and pushed the door open. Nothing seemed out of place; the old rocking chair was still up and the ancient t.v. was still playing Gilligan's Island reruns.
" Who's there?" A shaken voice asked,
" Mrs. L, it's me Wally."
" Wally? Oh thank god. I thought I was being robbed."
" What happened?" Wally asked, moving around the broken plates and dishes as he entered her kitchen. She pointed to her window,
" Someone was out there. On the fire escape, watching me." Wally moved past her and opened the window.
" There's nobody there."
" There was." From outside the apartment came a familiar voice,
" Hello? Somebody's cat…s are loose. Hello?" Wally flashed a grin and jogged to the door,
" Clark!"
" Wally? Did you break into this apartment? What did we say about stealing?"
" Aww zip it, Boy Scout. My neighbor needed some help. Somebody was watching her through the window."
" Wallace!" Wally's face went red from the use of his full name. He turned and went back into the apartment,
" Yeah, Mrs. Livingston?" The old woman held up a large black knife. It was long and sharp, its handle forming a bird on the end. Wally took the knife from the woman and closed her window,
" Mrs. Livingston, go down to Mr. Franklin's. My friend and I will take care of this."
" But my cats—" Clark walked into the room, his arms full of fur,
" I got…I got…Achooo!" He dumped the cats on the floor and walked with Wally and the woman down two floors, wiping his nose the whole way.
" I think some one made a mistake." Wally muttered once he was certain Mrs. Livingston was safe.
" What do you mean?" Wally held up the knife, gasping in surprise when Clark raised an exact replica of it.
" This was by my apartment. Diana and Shay also each got one."
" What does it mean?"
" I'm not sure. But I know were going to find out."
" Just like the blood warnings, huh?" Clark grimaced. He remembered that night. Seven people had been gutted and warnings spelt out in their blood, all in League territory. One had been a worker from John's company; another had been one of Wally's classmates, and so on. Each victim had had a connection to at least one member of the Big Seven.
" Let's get to my car." Wally nodded and stuffed the knife into his back pocket.
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A few miles away, a shadowed figure laughed.
" Soon. We will kill them all." A few other figures nodded in agreement,
" As long as I get Wally." Another man laughed,
" We know Rick. Personally I want to take down John Stewart."
" Don't worry boys. You all get your choices! For now we have to make sure they figure out the clues."
" With Bruce Wayne helping them…they'll figure it out."
The main figure laughed, " So it begins."