Author's Note: This is a plot device I've always wanted to try on this fic. But for one reason or another I lost intrest in it. Sorry I havent updated in a while, I got stuck/wrapped up in other projects but I decided to give this another go and see if anyone likes it. In what I'm hoping will advance the plot considerably. Let me know what you think of it.

Brightest Day: New Justice

Chapter 3

Cry for Justice

Later that night sometime after 1am Wally's communicator went off. But the speedster was too far-gone to hear the rhythmic chirping of a small yellow communicator on the nightstand. Until finally his wife stirred and looked up seeing the flashing red light on the cover and nudged her husband.

"Wally." She said softly. Her husband shifted in his sleep and didn't seem to notice. Linda finally sat up and thumped him with her pillow.

"Wally." She said louder. The speedster shot up in bed and blurted. "Wha-uh-ooh!"

"Wally, the communicator." She said sternly motioning over to it.

Why it was on her side was beyond either of them. It wasn't the Justice League one; he reached over his wife and grabbed the device flipping it open.

"Yeah." He said ruffling his hair.

"Wally we got a problem." Dick's voice said on the other end.

"What kind of problem?" he asked seeing his teammate's face.

"It's Roy." he stated. Wally's eyes narrowed knowing what this meant.

"Where are you?" he said in a low voice.

"Star City, what's left of it anyway." He answered. His friend nodded and got up.

"I'll be there in a bit." He said and rushed to grab his Flash ring. Quick changing into his uniform he returned to the foot of the bed where his wife remained.

"What about the kids?" she asked softly.

"They're not ready for this. Just make sure they stay in bed, don't tell them where I've gone." He instructed.

"You got it. Be careful." She told him.

"Its Roy I'm more worried about." He replied softly.

Opening the bedroom window he crawled out so as not to wake the kids. He could have vibrated through the wall or just as easily rushed down the hallway and out the house, but decided stealth was the best option and quickly rushed off to Star City, California.

500 miles away Star City was still in ruins after Prometheus' attack two weeks before. In the weeks' leading up to the city's destruction the villain had infiltrated the Justice League from within, having systematically defeated each of the League members while posing as Freddy Freeman/Shazzam. Using a holographic projector Prometheus was able to keep his teammates guessing as to who was the traitor. Ultimately it was Roy that discovered his duplicity when he tried ambush him as Shazzam. His reward for doing so was having his arm sliced off by Prometheus' flaming sword.

Alerting his teammates Roy collapsed and went into shock. Eventually the League was able to defeat and capture the villain. But Prometheus had one final trick up his sleeve and revealed that he had placed cosmic teleporters in each of their respective hometowns and that if he weren't released he'd send them all through time and space. Green Arrow had unfortunately called his bluff and Star City was immediately targeted. But instead of being teleported the machine had malfunction and destroyed Star City in a series of mass explosions. Although tens of thousands of people were killed that night, the final straw came with the death of Roy's own daughter Lian. Prometheus used the opportunity to escape into his extra-dimensional stronghold known as the Ghost Zone. Driven to the brink with the maiming of his ward, and granddaughter. Green Arrow followed him into the Ghost Zone and killed him point blank with an arrow between the eyes.

Since then Roy has descended into madness and has become a brutal vigilante, estranging himself from his family and friends. Even now as Wally raced to Star City he knew that he and the other Titans will have to come face to face with something they have long since dreaded. They'll have to fight one of their own.

Flash poured on the speed as Star City came into view. Instead of seeing a ravaged city, there seemed to be some sort of large green forest. His eyes widened as he took in the oncoming sight and was forced to put on the brakes, stopping on a hill overlooking the city.

"Okay, where did this come from?" he asked.

The Flash blinked in confusion as he tried to figure out why the hell a forest was in the remains of what should be a ruined city. Reaching for his communicator on his left hip, he quickly realized that not only did he forget his communicator. He'd also forgotten he didn't have pockets. Shaking his head he rushed down the hill and into Star City, dodging tree branches and urban debris as he raced towards the center of the former city. Arriving on the scene a few seconds later he looked around and could now make out the remains of damaged buildings and street corners as survivors in tattered clothing looked up at him from burning trash barrels. The Flash grimaced as he took in their appearance. Some of them looked like hobos others seemed like regular people whose clothing had varying amounts of damage and wear to them.

Flash rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to figure out what to say, or even better who to speak to. A small boy about 8 years old looked up at him wearing a white t-shirt and clutching a teddy bear stood next to his mother.

"Uh Hey there." he waved slightly.

The people stared at him silently. The Flash tugged on the neck of his costume and tried to let a little air out. The awkward silence was starting to get to him. He cleared his throat as he tried to speak with them.

"Um, you haven't happened to see any other…superheroes around here have you?" he asked.

The group continued to glare at him; apparently the Arrows weren't all that popular anymore. One of them pointed up the street and the Flash took off happy to get out of there. As he raced up a tall hill to get a vantage point of the city, or at the very least what he could make out. At this point you literally couldn't see the forest from the trees.

"Come on guys, where are you?" he said as he continued to look around.

An explosion to the Northwest caught his attention as a large smoke cloud could be seen from the thick undergrowth.

"That works." He said and raced towards the disturbance.

In another part of the city, the Titans were involved in a standoff with their former teammate and co-founder holding a criminal at knifepoint.

"Come on Roy don't do this." Dick implored his friend.

"Please listen to us." Donna said pained at the monster he'd become. Arsenal shook his head as he held the blade against the crook's throat.

"Sorry guys, but those days are over. I'm done being one of you." he said. At the top of another hill over his shoulder stood the Flash.

"Roy, no." he said softly.

"Don't make us fight you, he isn't worth it." Dick told him.

"He may not be worth it, but its all I have left." He answered.

"Red Arrow." He said sternly.

"Don't call me that! Red Arrow died the night my little girl did, and that's where he'll remain. My name is Arsenal now." he barked.

"All right Arsenal, just calm down we can work something out." he told him.

"There's nothing to work out." he replied.

"Killing this man wont bring her back, neither will any of the other low lives you go after." Dick told him. Roy tightened his grip on the handle.

"You think I don't know that? She was the only thing that made me feel like a worthwhile human being! So what do I have to hang on to now? Huh? Tell me!" he yelled. His friend only looked back at him in silence while Donna clinched her arm.

"Tell me!" he roared. But Dick only stared back at him through his mask before answering.

"Is this what she'd want?"

His eyes flew open at Dick's statement.

"Would she want you to be this way? To turn into a monster? She looked up to you Roy, thought you were the greatest person in the world. You may think your avenging her, but all your doing is spitting in the face of her memory. She loved you. And she wanted to be just like you Roy." he said in a stern voice.

The knife wobbled in his hand while the criminal remained completely rigid. He grit his teeth and looked back at him outraged. He abandoned his would-be victim and hurled himself at Dick with knife in hand. The hero remained where he was ready to intercept his attacker at that same moment Flash rushed at them and tackled Roy. Arsenal flew sideways into the air and recovered quickly in a crouched position. The dust cleared as Flash stood in the place that Roy once occupied in the air.

"That's enough Roy." Flash said.

"What are you doing here?" he growled.

"You have to ask? I know you've been through a lot since Lian's death…you need help." Flash replied.

"All the therapy in the world couldn't help me Wally. There's only one thing that'll make me stop, and she's not coming back. You still have your kids Wally, and you! How can you stand there lecturing me when you've never even had kids?" he said turning his attention back to Dick.

"Your no better than the Bat! You're just a cold, emotionless bastard." He said. Dick's eyes flew open at his friend's accusation.

"That's not true." He said hurt. His eyes narrowed and regained his composure.

"That's the grief talking." Dick rebuffed.

"No." Roy shook his head.

"You know I'm right, you've fought for all these years to get out from under his shadow and now look at you. It's finally come full circle hasn't it?" he said looking back at him in the cape and cowl.

"I don't know why I bother with any of you guys. None of you have any idea what I'm going through. What I'm feeling. Or how you can help me. So just leave me alone, as far as I'm concerned we're not friends anymore." He told them.

"Roy." Donna said with a hurt expression, shook her head and took a step towards him.

"You don't mean that." she said reaching out to him. Arsenal narrowed his eyes and turned sideways.

"Get out of my life." he said in a low voice. His friends looked back at him in sadness as he turned and walked away from them.

Donna bit her lip as her eyes filled up with tears and yelled at him.

"So that's it? After all we've been through your just going to walk away from us like we don't exist? Do you have any idea how much we care about you? How much I care about you? I loved you Roy! I still love you! I would give my life for you! Damn it Roy why wont you let us help you? Tell me that!" She yelled her voice cracking at the end.

Arsenal kept walking ignoring her angry plea, tears spilled down her cheek and collapsed to her knees crying. Dick dropped down beside her and touched her shoulder as she turned and leaned against his chest. Wally soon joined his friends and knelt on the opposite side as they watched him walk out of their lives.

In an untouched section of the city at S.T.A.R. Labs an experiment was nearing completion as a group of scientists worked on what appeared to be a young girl with black hair in a chamber immersed in a green liquid.

Author's Note: Okay so this is obviously built off of what happened to Roy in the much maligned Justice League: Cry for Justice miniseries. But as you can see there is a method to this. Even more obvious is the huge risk I'm taking by revealing that last scene in what is either a brilliant idea or a horrendous one. I think you know where I'm going with this. And if you dont, where have you been? Jk. Alright so I'm pretty much at commitment level now. And now I want to know do you think this is a good idea or a really bad one? Either way it'll make for a very intrestring plot device as far as a certain half-crazed vigilante is concerned. Let me know your thoughts.

Please review,

Green Gallant.