-Five Months Pass-
"You guys are gonna wanna see this." Bunnymund called, seeing the guardians exit out of the snow globe after receiving his signal at the North Pole. His tone was grim.
"I should hope so- it's no good time to be leaving the shop." Santa was uncharacteristically gruff, though winter holidays were only a few weeks away, so it was understandable.
"Pitch?" Jack asked, letting the wind hurry him over and ducking down, so he wouldn't be seen by a possible enemy.
"Nah, mate. I've seen one of 'em here and there, but now more of the skirvies are showing up. And it ain't Pitch, but there's somethen 'bout it that wreaks darkness."
Jack surveyed the seen below, eyebrows rising. There were several people, all dressed in layers to protect from the cold, save for two individuals. One, a rather tall, imposing figure with a scar cutting across his face, and another- a boy, really- pale with a leer more than a grin on his face. It looked as though something was being constructed, or at least materials being set in place for future usage. What stood out, though, was the dark, pulsing red portal behind them, lazily swirling with what looked like a fine mix of nightmare dust. "Woah."
"Yah see this?" Bunnymund asked in a low whisper. "I haven't a clue what they're makin', but there's several others around the pole, and I'll bet half my egg stash there's more around the world."
"When did you first see this?" Nicholas asked, matching his friend's grim demeanor.
"Couldn't be more than a month ago- but who's to say they weren't working longer than that?"
"I think," Jack cut in, eyeing the two unique figures in particular, "We need to call Kid Flash back from training."
Wally was somewhat surprised with himself how difficult he found some aspects of being a guardian. He wasn't used to struggling with his powers (not since he was 13, at any rate)- but it turns out, manipulating time was a lot more difficult than running across the globe. For one thing, he had to concentrate to maintain the area that he wanted to affect time, and then make sure whatever he did- whether to speed up or slow down an instance- didn't last too long, or he could start to affect the fabric of time. It was a delicate process, and one he found to be absolutely frustrating when there was no one to actually explain what he should be doing.
The guardian aspect of his work, however, was more rewarding than he expected. Santa was the guardian of wonder, Bunnymund the guardian of hope. They're gifts were focused on children, and helping those gifts live on into adulthood. Wally's, though, was a gift given to all ages. He was the guardian of 'timeless' moments. For when someone feels so incredibly happy, excited or giddy that they forget their age, forget 'who they are', in essence, and just live in that moment.
The other Time Lord, a man from several centuries past who seemed to flicker like an old film, showed him the time vault that held these experiences. "When a person starts to feel the weight of time, when age or sickness or some other misfortune ails them, that is when we send the reminder of the best moments of their life. A time, when time stood still for them."
Many of the memories were people with their significant others, parents playing with children, first experiences of something long looked forward to, just exploring incredible parts of the world. Wally had his own in there, too- from when he and Barry had done their first global trot together. The freedom, the exhilaration from that moment of truly experiencing super speed, it had left him breathless and filled with a glee he couldn't explain.
"What about the moments where time stands still, but it's not in a good way?" Wally had asked the first day- thinking of his own realization that he was dead, of when the world seemed to slow when he saw other heroes get hurt, people killed in fights.
"Ah, we may not keep those moments, but we are a part of them." The Time Lord walked him to another room, similar to the last but holding many more visuals. It was like the wall shimmered with different images. He gestured grandly, his hand flickering mid-motion. "Here is where you can see every moment for someone that time is currently slowing down for. Now, when a person experiences this moment, where everything slows, that is our chance, should we choose, to make a difference in what is happening."
"By manipulating time?"
"By transcending time to get there, and alter what you can for the situation." The Time Lord looked about the wall in bemusement, his form flickering slightly. "It takes centuries to gain enough speed, but as a time manipulator, you can leave a moment frozen and instantly be across the world, handle the situation, and move on." He flickered again, smiling. "And so on and such forth."
Wally's eyes widened in realization. "That's what you're doing right now, isn't it?" The man flickered again, before nodding. Even at Barry's top speeds, he had never seen someone move so fast you couldn't tell.
"The work may seem overwhelming, but adapting to altering time fluctuations will become as natural as breathing once was, and we're not alone in our efforts. You are the new Time Lord, but you will have the Khronos legion, and they will help when you are unable to act."
Wally pursed his lips, trying to connect the name to any legends or fairytales. "And what are they?"
"Creatures that live beyond description. They exist within the timestream itself, never truly stepping into our plane of existence. The best way I can describe them, is the body of a snake, and wings of a bird. Yet they have no mouths, no nose, and I'm not sure they really see from their eyes anyway. They will go and hold a location for you to find, acting as a beacon so you do not forget it in the rush of time. I rarely find need for them now, but I imagine you will make great use of their talent as you learn." The man flickered, musing to himself. "I've heard your… gifts, before coming here, gave an interesting access point to the time stream."
One thing that baffled Wally, was how so many supernatural beings could feel so skeptical about meta gifts. The feeling was mutual, but still. "I mean, me and Uncle Barry- and Superman, I guess- could accelerate our speed to a point where time seemed to slow down for us, but that wasn't stopping time itself…" or anything equally crazy. He wanted to add.
"That's not quite true- I believe you speedsters have unknowingly skimmed into a section of the time stream more than once; there are several paths that can ultimately lead to the time stream, and you and your uncle have delved into once that aligns very closely with it."
Over the past months, Wally started to see what the Time Lord meant. Unlike the guardian, who utilized the time stream seamlessly, Kid Flash seemed to connect first to the familiar power of his speed before entering the realm of time. He had dubbed it the speed force- and had done some limited research as he traversed it's stream, but ultimately had very little time for it.
Though the Time Lord promised it would become easier with age, Wally found his new task more difficult than he ever had as a speedster. He found he could manipulate some of the physical, but not a lot. When a building was collapsing, he couldn't pick up a person and move them away, but he could shove debris as it fell, allowing mere centimeters of space to spare a pedestrian. And it didn't work unless the person had that moment of a high rush adrenaline.
Some he had been unable to stop- his first month in there had been a woman who's husband had gone mad; and the newly minted guardian had arrived just as her husband pulled the trigger. He had managed to make her move away, and thus evading the bullet, only for her to turn, and not seeing the next one, get hit regardless.
That moment had destroyed Wally. He was only able to save people according to their time, not his own, and sometimes his actions didn't ultimately help in the long run. It reminded him of the talk he had had so long ago with his uncle on one of their first outings.
"Wally, we're speedsters. We can do things no one else can. But that doesn't mean we can save everyone. All we can do is our best."
The Time Lord wasn't able to really sympathize- he had seen too many similar situations in his day. (probably didn't even remember being human). Bunnymund had invited the new guardian to his home with Jack, to help remind him that even with the cases he couldn't help, there were so many more we could.
"That's why we need you, mate." Bunnymund had explained gently. "The Time Lord's almost forgotten why his job is so important, so vital to this world. But you, you remember your own moments, you remember what it was like. You can be the difference for many, and that means a lot, even for the few you can't."
Now, he felt he was starting to get the hang of the burden- sort of. He even had a few good days where he was a flicker just like the old Time Lord. Protecting the timeless memories, helping in the dicey moments when time stood still for people- it felt a lot like being a hero again.
And Wally didn't realize it, but he had missed being a hero.
"Kid Flash!"
The newly minted guardian turned, a grin flashing across his face. "Jack! Dude, loved your work in Gotham last week."
The Guardian of fun laughed. "It was pretty good, huh? Eh, those Gothamites needed a break. 'Crime' this, 'Violence' that. Sometimes you just need a city-wide snowball fight to lighten things up." It took the winter spirit a moment, but he seemed to finally grasp what Wally was currently doing. His happy nature filtered into something closer to exasperated. "Dude."
The ex-hero sighed a little more dramatically than necessary, considering he didn't need to breath anymore. "Oh come on." He leaned against the terrorist currently frozen in time. "These guys are robbing a bank right next to where my current job is having their first kid. I'll get the memory and save a lot of other people from trauma! This is exactly what I should be doing!"
"This is playing the hero." Jack rolled his eyes, hopping up to balance perfectly on his crook. "You need to start being a guardian- leave this stuff to the adults in the world!"
Wally batted at the gun in the man's hand till it started to show signs of dropping, much like a cat that knocks the cup off the table while staring down it's owner.
"Seriously." Jack looked up to the sky. "Don't make me be the mature one here, Kid Flash. It doesn't suit me."
"Yeah, well." Wally blurred away before coming back again, holding a small orb that was playing out a crying mother holding her first child after three miscarriages. After setting it away, he shifted a large piece of mortar for the gunman to fall over in slow motion. "It doesn't suit me to ignore people who need help."
What both went unspoken was the fact that Wally was still coming to terms with his 'death'. He had started to treat it like an extended vacation, an alternative training exercise. So when he accidentally saw Bruce Wayne when he went to Gotham and the man didn't respond, or Trickster walked right through him when he was in Central City, it felt like a punch to the gut all over again.
The other guardians said give-or-take a century and it would get a lot easier. The Time Lord didn't find this reassuring in the slightest.
"About helping people." Jack leapt down, throwing a thin veil of ice on the ground as the terrorist started to recover, fighting not to laugh when he started to wipeout all over again. "We've found something at the South Pole, and we need your imput. It's some kind of dark magic- but what the people are working on, you might be able to explain it."
"Huh." Wally knocked on the broken wall near him so a piece went and knocked the terrorist out cold, the police now starting to swarm. "I mean, I have time." He grinned smugly at his own joke. "Wanna race?"
"No." Jack frowned petulantly while taking out a snow globe. "You cheat, freezing me in midair is cheating."
"You're no fun."
"I'm the Guardian of Fun!"
Wally chose not to respond- it was hard to speak when they were using the inter-dimensional portal designed suspiciously to look like a children's toy. Words got very distorted when fluctuating between locations.
As they exited out, Kid Flash couldn't help but feel on edge. The last time he'd seen a frozen tundra wasteland… well, he died.
"Santa had to head back to the workshop, but Bunnymund's on standby if we need him back here." Jack was explaining, walking them over to a ridge point looking down.
"What would be here that would require guardians?"
"Well," Jack pointed over, "you can see- they have a portal that appears to have nightmare sand in it, and there's a chance…" The spirit of winter was still talking, but Wally couldn't hear him over the ringing in his ears as he took in the sight. There were several workers, each appearing to finish up and hesitantly pass the duo as they made their way to the portal. The technology looked to be the platform for a transporter unit like the watch towers- but the stabilizers and enhanced suspension made it likely that it was for more than just people.
And in the middle of all that, Vandal and Klarion stood by, overseeing everything.
He hears Jack give a brief warning of "Hey- wait a second!" before he rushed down, maintaining cover. It was almost instinct- sure they couldn't see him, but this was Vandal and Klarion. And if those years learning stealth under Batman meant anything, it was that you don't break cover in enemy territory no matter how sure you are of security. They didn't look that much different than when he last saw them at the summit.
The last of the workers entered the portal, leaving the two members of the Light to survey the frozen wasteland.
"We'll be ahead of schedule by the end of the week." Savage murmured, pleased. "I would like to meet this new contact of yours, Klarion. They've been… incredibly useful."
Great. Thought Wally, gritting his teeth. Just what we need, another powerful magic user.
"You would think that." Klarion sat down midair, reaching out and stroking the red and black portal. "I'll be sure to pass on the flattery, but he's pretty tough to reach."
Savage gave a nod of understanding and stepped towards the portal, pausing just before entering. "Care to join me?"
"Yeah, yeah, in a minute." Klarion scanned the scenery once more, and Wally found himself instinctively ducking.
Stupid, he can't see you, no one can! Rising back to peer over the snow bank, he saw the portal closing, and neither villain in sight. This isn't good. He stood up fully now, once again surveying the equipment left behind. Why would they need a transporter so far out here? And one of this size? How are they cloaking the power fluctuations from league scanners-
"LOOK OUT!"
Even being a speedster beyond time, Wally wasn't prepared for Jack flying into him, knocking him to a mound of snow. Before he could ask what was going on, a ball of fire ignited where he had previously been standing.
"Aw, come out come out now~ Spirits like you are fun to play with!"
Wally froze, looking up at Jack who appeared torn between shock and blasting out of there. In fact, he was pulling the snow globe from his hoody right then.
But Kid Flash couldn't let that happen. In a quick flicker, he was around Jack and standing despite his friend's protests, turning to face the crooked grin of Klarion.
Recognition entered the immortal's eyes, and his smile grew more wicked. "Well well well, didn't expect to find a hero playing a Guardian here."
Wally felt frozen, noise roaring in his ears. For the first time in five months, his world was turned upside down all over again.
He can see me.
I mean, it's not dead... it's just that I apparently take years to update. Sorry fam. Up next: Klarion being a brat and Wally having (yet another) crisis.