I'll NEVER be the Flash! Kid Flash mourned as he drowned in his own misery, the growling creature that bore Flash's suit baring down on him like a ten tonne monster. Empty sockets occupied the eye holes of his mask, the gaping maw of an endless void captivated the younger speedster, gluing him in place; especially at the grating sound that echoed out. Maniac laughter fell from those lips, it jangled in his ears like old brass keys and grated against his eardrums like nails on a chalkboard. But no matter how much he prayed & pleaded, they wouldn't stop jeering at him, laughing at him, mocking him. Everyone thinks I'm a joke! I'll never make it! They'll…they'll know I—
—Wait. What am I doing? Kid Flash blinked, as if the thought had just occurred to him. I'm KID FLASH! I have friends! Rob—Robin! Robin's my BEST friend! Why else would he entrust me—and only me—with his secret identity? Why would he choose me over everyone else if he wasn't my friend? And then there's the—the Team! Our Team! The one that we founded to prove we weren't just sidekicks! Remember! Batman employs us on (covert) missions, Black Canary our (hot) drill instructor and Red Tornado our den mother…And the reason why we're here right now. What's happening to me? This isn't me!
"It's…" Kid Flash blinked dazed & confused as he returned to reality. Cradling his aching head in his hands as tendrils of the psychic influence faded away. Glancing about through splayed fingers, the speedster found his teammates collapsed about the lawn like rigid garden gnomes. "Eurgh! What happened? Wha—? They're all stuck in some sort of trance…Kinda like I was in"
Speeding over to each of his teammates in an attempt to wake them; there he found each of them in varying states of distress. From Superboy's expression of shame that made him look almost constipated, to Aqualad's rasping breaths and fluttering gills that kept trying to suck in a full breath. There was Robin's look of abject horror paired with unrelenting waterfall tears, Ms Martian's nails that dug into her own ginger locks as a stressful expression flittered across peppered cheeks and then there was Raven with her keening & pitiful whines. Kid Flash wasn't so heartless that the mournful noise coming from the young witch didn't pull on his heartstrings; particularly as her own guilt & fear that licked at his mind and he was reminded of both the girls' psychic powers.
"Geez…those must be going haywire in there" Kid Flash hummed as he rocked back on his heels, gazing cast out across the blue-speckled lawn. "Is that why they're still stuck? But somehow, I was able to break out of it…? Must've been my high-speed metabolism…ugh! But they're still stuck in there! Hey—! Wake up!" He profusely shook the small witch by the shoulders, only serving to rock her head back & forth whilst tears tracked down her cheeks at the action (or whatever was going through her head at that moment).
"Ugh! I need to get them outta this! That means I gotta find—" Kid Flash muttered angrily as he searched for the villain in question. Thankfully, the golden-plated man was easiest enough to find amongst the blue-clad men scattered about."—Psycho-Pirate!"
"My! What fun that was!" Psycho-Pirate cackled as his ride hovered overhead, kicking up leafy refuse as it neared. "And the cherry top? I get paid as well!"
"HEY!" Kid Flash bellowed, throwing a handful of slop into the villain's face as he turned at the call. "Let's see you try anything funny when your Medusa mask is all covered in mud!"
"Ah! I can't see!" Psycho-Pirate stumbled back a pace or two in surprise, arms windmilling in an attempt to stay upright.
"That's the point you Psycho…Pirate!" The speedster jeered as he zipped up & snatched the muddy mask from his face.
"NOOO! My mask!" Psycho-Pirate wailed as his blue-clad minions (and in turn, the Team) were freed from his control.
"Kinda figured your 'control' would stop when the mask was gone from your ugly-ass face!" He cackled as he U-turned to grab the plutonium as well, "And I'll be taking that irradiated hunk of rock out of your hands as well, thank you very much!"
"I'm terribly sorry, but that is not yours to take" Interjected another.
"Atomic Skull!" Kid Flash panicked, quickly backpedalling to avoid the reach of the plutonium-powered villain, leaving a trail of sparks behind in his wake.
"I doubt a non-believer such as yourself, would have need for such a thing" Atomic Skull reached for the plutonium, his gloved fingers just barely grazing the container as Kid Flash swerved.
"Uh-uh Skully! If you're with the Psycho-Pirate, then that means we gotta play 'Keep Away!"
ZZZZAK!
"Ah!" Kid Flash gasped as he suddenly found himself airborne, hands reaching for the glowing container in the few moments that he did not eat grass. Atomic Skull's attack had connected with his achilles, tripping the boy just as he tried to evade the outreaching grasp of the villain and sent him sprawling along the grass. Thankfully he appeared unharmed, save for the wind knocked from his lungs and a bruised ego (And maybe some bruised ribs).
"I sincerely do apologise, little one" Atomic Skull sneered down at the boy as he bent to pluck the container from the ground. Kid Flash could only watch around wheezing gasp as the wrinkled man in his green plutonium suit paused to gloat. "But the item contained in this canister goes a long way towards the enlightenment of many others!"
"You're not going anywhere!" Robin decreed as the rest of the Team soon joined the downed speedster. Tear tracks remained engraved on rosy cheeks and hands gripped weapons just a little too tight, but the speedster didn't care; he was just glad that they were alright. Even Raven, who looked paler than he'd ever seen her (which was saying something) "Especially if we have something to say about it!"
"You…guys!" Kid Flash panted around the large & pleased grin which had spread across his face. He'd never been more happy to see the brute of a kryptonian punching his way passed a dazed pirate or the water hose that was Aqualad's atlantean weapons. "You're…awake!"
"I'm afraid there is nothing that you can do!" Atomic Skull taunted, turning to face the Team as the speedster lay spent, trying to regain his breath.
"We can't let him open that canister!" Robin called, throwing in his own vindictive punch against Psycho-Pirate's prone form, for good measure. "Atomic Skull uses plutonium to power his own suit, not to mention all the radiation it'll release!"
"Superboy! Ms Martian! Go!" Aqualad commanded as he whipped out a torrent of water to encase the plutonium villain's head in a neverending bubble of water, drowning him. "I'll distract him!"
Tentacle arms whipped out to crack against Atomic Skull's grip, knocking the canister free. Or at least, that was the idea. Instead, Ms Martian found herself recoiling in pain as another plutonium-powered laser found itself embalming the outreaching limb. Thankfully, Superboy was not far behind and the kryptonian quickly countered with a powerful uppercut that sent the villain sailing back towards the very ship in which he had arrived upon. Atomic Skull left a pretty decent-sized dent in the side of the ship, but it seemed that even he knew when he was beaten because he quickly rose to his feet and scurried inside, still in possession of the plutonium.
"We can't let him get away!" Robin called as Superboy came under fire, "Especially with that canister!"
"Superboy is down!" Aqualad reported, hurrying to the kryptonian's side as Raven zoomed ahead with Kid Flash suddenly at her feet. "Raven and I are halfway there!"
"I apologise for 'raising Cain' today" Atomic Skull called as he fired another shot towards the approaching sidekicks. "But I assure you it was absolutely necessary!"
"Yeah right!" Raven scoffed under her breath as she danced around another beam. It was a close thing, relying more on muscle memory than anything else and the heat of the beam was close enough that it singed the hems of her cloak, even as she reached out to snatch the plutonium. Thankfully, her magic was able to snake its way between them and ripped the canister from Atomic Skull's hands, much to his chagrin.
"What? No!" Atomic Skull panicked, firing again and this time hitting his mark.
We're so used to working as individuals and having our own identities, that it's been a challenge to work as a cohesive team. Kid Flash's heart leapt into his throat as he watched Raven recoil in pain (a bit more dramatically than he thought was probably necessary) and, in turn, drop the plutonium like an orange rocket coming to land.
"Ugh!" Raven hissed, cradling her hand to her chest as she fervently worked to counter the burning sensation crawling up her hand.
"I'm not gonna reach it in time!" Ms Martian cried as she fumbled to reach the canister in time.
"Kid Flash!" Robin called, "Heads up! That thing can't hit the ground!"
"Gotcha!" Kid Flash cheered as he quickly U-turned and plucked the canister from the ground, the bottom just barely grazing the tips of the grass which bent beneath his knuckles. But I think we can do this! We're starting to get it—starting to gel—I just hope Batman and the rest of the Justice League don't mess with this growing dynamic! Can you imagine what would happen if they added anyone else to this Team?
"He's gone!" Superboy growled as Robin helped Kid Flash to his feet.
"I guess this one's an even split, then" Kid Flash sighed, patting Robin on the shoulder in silent thanks. "But I guess we did manage to get the highly deadly hunk of plutonium stuff out of Skully's hands, so…"
"Yeah" Robin nodded, "We'll get him eventually"
"…Ooh! Souvenir!" Kid Flash chirped as he plucked the muck-matted Medusa Mask from the ground, wiping away the slop to the best of his abilities. "Nice!"
And just like that, there mission in the Salt Flats was over. Maybe not to the satisfaction of the Justice League's standards, but they couldn't be expected to win them all and like Kid Flash had commented, bagging one out of two villains plus the plutonium prize & Medusa Mask was better than nothing. Though, Raven still wasn't looking forward to the dressing down from Batman and/or Red Tornado afterwards.
Completely drained from their emotional ordeal, it was relatively quiet on the journey back to Happy Harbour, punctured only by the occasional snore or slight whistling breath of their peers as they slept with feet tucked away or propped up against the dashboard. It wasn't until they were back at Mount Justice and dragging their tired bodies from the cargo bay & into the Cave for debriefing that Raven found herself accosted by Kid Flash for the first time since the Amazo incident. "Rae…" Kid Flash murmured, pulling her aside for a moment.
"Hmm?" Raven blinked blearily up at the teenager, wanting nothing more than to go to bed.
"I—I…why is this so hard? I forgive you" He shifted awkwardly, one hand self-consciously rubbing at the nape of his neck as he looked anywhere but the witch in front of him. "I get that that stuff with Amazo wasn't really your fault and stuff, so y'know…Are we okay?"
Raven's smile could have blinded the sun as it stretched across her lips. Emotionally drained and tired of walking on eggshells around the speedster, she held no qualms about throwing herself at the teenager in relief. Tiny arms wrapped around the ginger's waist and hugged him tight, as she buried her head into his belly, mindless of the muck that dirtied his costume. "So…" Kid Flash murmured, easily adjusting to the newly added limpet clinging to him, "We're okay?"
"Mmhm" She simply clung tighter and melted into the embrace that stank of sweat, snot & mud.
"Hey, you're not going to sleep down there, are ya?"
