Chapter Two
Wally stared at the slip of paper, leg fidgeting. He only had to do twenty community service hours, and then his marijuana possession charge would be expunged from his records. Or he could go back in time and prevent the incident from occurring in the first place. His mistake would be erased, his parents would no longer be angry, and he would be able to go right back to being Kid Flash.
Community service or time travel. It was not much of a choice, but Wally knew that one had much more dire consequences than the other.
"If I'm stuck in Blue Valley doing stupid community service, I can't be out there saving the world. The world needs me. The world needs Kid Flash, and it's in trouble without me."
Gazing out the window, Wally imagined the killer robots that would control the world if there was no Kid Flash to defeat them. He pulled out his communicator, which he was glad Barry forgot, and thought about which members of the team would be the most help in his current situation.
"Now that I think about it, Uncle Barry must have let me keep the communicator on purpose, so that I can contact the team for help," he muttered thoughtfully.
Artemis was a definite no: they could hardly stand each other at all. Robin was a clear choice: he was the smartest of the team, and of course, Wally's best friend. As their leader, Aqualad was needed in the present. Superboy's sheer speed could help him with the physical aspect of operating the treadmill, and as for M'gann, well M'gann… Wally blushed deeply; he would die of embarrassment if M'gann ever found out about his stupid mistake.
"You're so stupid, KF," Robin's prepubescent voice berated his older friend.
"Hey! If I could do it all over again, well, I wouldn't!" Wally bemoaned, looking for sympathy from the other boy and not more lecturing.
"You know what they say: hindsight is 20/20…"
"Who says that anymore? Your grandpa? And I said if I could do it all over again. What if I really could?"
"Are you asking me if, hypothetically, you could go back in time to stop this, should you? Are you serious, Wally? You're in enough trouble as it is."
"C'mon, man. I can't do this alone. What are friends for? You…" Wally's voice was reduced to a low whining as Robin removed his ear piece and held it about a foot away from his head, glaring at it in disgust. Finally, when the earpiece buzzed into silence, Robin slipped it back into his ear.
"I'm sure you and Flash have more experience with the time travel thing, but can't it be dangerous?" Robin's tone was serious, in stark contrast to his usual facetious attitude.
"Maybe..."
Robin let out a strange sound, part giggle and part incredulous snort. "Let me get this straight-you want to take a potentially dangerous trip back in time a few days just so you can get out of community service? Are you high?" At that, he let out a light soaring giggle.
"Rob! That's so not funny! And it's not about the community service! Knowing my parents, they'll never let me out of the house again, let alone into my Kid Flash costume! Did you know that they had the Flash come all the way over from Central City just to confiscate all of my uniforms? This is a matter of life or death! Me grounded equals no Kid Flash to save lives!" As Wally spoke, his voice rose higher and higher and louder and louder until his face turned red like a tomato, and he stopped for air.
A thin black eyebrow rose up on the other side of the phone line. Robin had been about to pull the communicator out of his ear again when Wally finally stopped his tirade. The boy wonder smoothed back his hair, thinking about how he would feel if he was in Wally's place. He sighed; Batman would definitely fire him for good. "All right, Wally, just chill out. At least he let you keep your communicator. So, what do you want me to do?"
"Keep an eye on the league for me and tell me when the Flash is on a mission outside of Central City."
"That's it? Fine."
"Oh, and one last thing—when the Flash is busy, meet me at the Flash museum in Central City, and bring Superboy!"
The last thing Wally heard before he hung up was Robin's childish voice ranting, "You've got to be kidding me! You Flashes could not have put something as powerful as a time travel device in the middle of a giant museum with your name…"
Rolling his eyes, Wally ended the call and leaned back in his bed. Now, he just had to wait, wait for Flash to go on a mission, wait for Robin to call him back. He turned towards his bedroom window, vaguely wondering if his parents would notice the wall exploding if he vibrated through. He decided not to risk it; his parents were much less likely to notice a strong breeze passing through the house, unless that was exactly what they were expecting.
A week passed by, so slowly that Wally felt like running away at least twice a day. During the day, his mom watched over him carefully, too wary to even blink, as Wally read his school textbooks word for word. If he read at superspeed, his mind would be unable to absorb the knowledge, but if he read slowly, his brain would melt from boredom. All the while, Wally kept glancing from his mom to his communicator, willing it not to make a sound with his mom in the room, but also begging for some action.
Finally, early in the morning or late night depending on who you ask, Robin called.
"It's time." Robin's voice was full of excitement; he and Batman had never time traveled before. Most of their villains did not even have superpowers. His missions with the team were way cooler. "Okay. Be traught. Don't panic!"
"Yeah. See you in a few." Wally attached his communicator and sifted through his closet until he found his oldest Kid Flash costume, long forgotten by most. It was plain; his new one was much better. Basically, it was a smaller version of the Flash's costume. The boots were too snug, so Wally found a pair of sturdy blue ones that did not really match but would do the job. The elastic spandex material of the rest of the suit expanded to fit around his larger teenage body, and he smirked at the mirror. He looked very much like the Flash now. The only giveaway was the leaner body and mischievous green eyes.
He was about ready to leave when a sudden, semi-ingenious thought, one he could not hope to ignore, passed through his mind. Rotating his finger in a circle at superspeed, Wally created a tiny wind tunnel powerful enough to carry his communicator back into his hand. He was too far away to fall into M'gann's telepathic range, but if he was lucky, she would have her communicator on hand.
"Hello?" His prayers were answered as her cheerful, bubbly voice filled his ears with warmth.
"Hey, M'gann! I hope I didn't wake you!" Wally nearly shouted, "I sorta need your help. Superboy, Robin, and me are going on top-secret mission, but I'm kinda grounded, so I need you to cover for me."
"I didn't know Batman gave us any new missions recently! Hello, Megan! He said it was top-secret. Of course I'll help! Wait a sec, and I'll be right there."
A weird sensation fell over Wally as Miss Martian looked into his mind at Blue Valley, his house, and finally, his bedroom.
"I'm actually leaving right now, but all you have to do is shapeshift into me as Wally and read my textbooks until I get back from the mission."
"How…fun." Miss Martian sounded a bit disappointed, but she immediately recovered. "I'll be there in no time!"
Wally debated between staying just a little longer for the chance to see his crush, but he knew that Robin and Superboy were waiting for him, and they were there for his favor, so he didn't want to leave them waiting for much longer. With one last look at his Flash poster covered room, Wally tiptoed down the stairs and out the front door, closing it quietly behind him. Luckily, his parents were fairly heavy sleepers.
"For the fastest kid alive, he's pretty slow," Superboy grumbled, arms crossed over his well-muscled chest. "You'd think he'd be the one waiting for us! Especially you."
"Hey! Just because I don't have superpowers, I'm not any less cool. I am so the most intimidating hero on the team! You're just timidating." Cackling, Robin performed an aerial flip off of the side of the roof.
"Where are you…" Superboy trailed off seeing the red blur heading in their direction. His fists clenched tightly; it was their luck that whatever Justice League business the Flash had been on was already over. Wait… no. Whoever was in the Flash costume was much too scrawny to be the real deal. "Wally…"
Following Robin, Superboy leaped off the roof, leaving a large crater around his landing spot. He went over to where Robin was crouched. The acrobat was typing away at his holographic glove computer while Kid Flash watched on impatiently.
"I've taken the liberty of hacking the security system. The cameras are now on a loop, and the alarms have all been disabled. The guards shouldn't suspect a thing." Robin grinned, realizing that he was showing off. The front doors of the Flash Museum swung open, and Robin added, "Oh, and I have control over all of the doors."
He took off the glove, and Wally realized that he was slightly out of place. Robin was wearing a red hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses, and Superboy was wearing a brown leather jacket over his signature tee-shirt. Wally pulled off his old costume, revealing his civilian garb.
"I think we're ready now. Wally, since this is your mentor's museum, you lead the way!" Robin pushed Wally towards the door.
"Who died and made you leader?" Wally retorted at the smaller boy, before realizing that Robin had just given him leadership. "Never mind. Yeah, I'll lead the way! Follow me. C'mon Rob, Kon."
"Kon?" Superboy questioned.
"Yeah. It's short for Conner, man. You were due for a nickname." Wally smiled at the stoic powerhouse, who raised an eyebrow but shrugged.
The three teenagers entered the eerily dark Flash Museum. Displays of supervillains and famous battles surrounded them. The shadows bounced off of the faces of the evil Rogues in odd angles, and their faces looked almost real. It was probably just the dim lighting…