Disclaimer: I don't own Justice League Unlimited.
Complicated Simplicity
Chapter Nine: The Big Choices
Wally was coughing so much, he was pretty sure he was going to throw up a lung any time now.
Not that Zoom was going to give him the chance. A yellow hand grabbed him by the neck, pulling Wally closer to his face.
"Firrrrrrst, you will feel pain… and then she will."
"Dude…" he coughed. "You're sounding like a broken record. Literally."
"Jokes again?" Zoom smiled. "Theywillstop."
He brought his fist forward.
A red and blue blur slammed into Zoom's side, sending him careening down the street. Wally almost fell to the ground when two gentle hands caught him. His eyes slowly moved up the figure. The red boots, the blue jeans, the red sweater…
And the yellow wing tipped World War One helmet.
"Jay?"
The elder Flash smiled. "Sorry I'm late." He knocked the helmet with his fist. "Couldn't find the damn thing. You should really should give that Museum of yours some signposts."
"What're you doing here?"
"Your Justice League friends seemed to think you could use some help." A small smirk tugged at his lips. "Fast help."
Zoom picked himself up in what looked like three movements.
A red and yellow blur charged at him from behind, but instead ended up going straight through him.
The blur skidded to a halt in front of the two speedsters, revealing Kid Flash.
"Bart…" Wally said, smiling. It quickly faded, however. "What're you guys doing? Are you crazy? This guy-"
"Will try to kill us, blah, blah, blah," Bart finished, shaping his hand like a mouth.
Jay put a hand on Wally's shoulder. "We've been there, Wally. Believe me."
They all turned to face their opponent. Zoom wasn't moving.
"Itdoesn'tmatter, Wally!"
Jay and Bart looked at Flash, surprised that Zoom knew his real name.
Bart shrugged. "Eh. I think we can take him. I mean, how fast can he be?"
Wally didn't answer. He just gave Jay a reassuring nod so that the elder Flash would release him. He cracked his neck from side to side.
"Let's just stop him."
All three Flashes charged over to Zoom, Jay standing to his right, Wally to his left, and Bart behind him.
Zoom smiled. "Hh."
The yellow speedster spun like a top, his fist crashing into all three of his opponents and sending them in all directions. Wally hit the wall of the building behind him. Bart skidded down the road.
Jay held onto his helmet and reached down toward the ground, landing on his feet with an easy back flip. He heard something crack in his wrist, and frowned.
Damn. He didn't think he was that old.
Zoom appeared in front of him.
"JayGarrick. Youwere the frst."
"How astute. They weren't exaggerating when they said you were fast."
The blurring speedster's red eyes glowed more intensely behind the blue lenses. "Morejokes?"
Jay shrugged, and readjusted his helmet. "All right, then. No more jokes."
With a burst of speed towards Zoom, Jay threw a right hook at him.
Zoom grabbed his fist. Using his hand in a pincer like shape, Zoom fired it into Jay's shoulder socket. He screamed and fell to one knee.
Zoom rammed his own knee into Jay's face, knocking him onto his back.
The warped speedster prepared to deliver another blow, when a smaller yellow and red blur leapt up onto his back.
With a guttural cry of frustration, Zoom stumbled back.
Jay pulled off his helmet with his left hand, trying to ignore the pain in his right arm. Using as much speed as he could muster, he tossed the disc-shaped helmet like a Frisbee, aiming for Zoom's head.
He easily swatted it away, and it careened away into the distance behind him. With sudden, jerky movements, he reached behind him and grabbed Bart from where he was perched.
Jay tried to get up as Zoom released Bart, throwing him full pelt into the elder Flash, both of them flying back and into one of the pillars supporting the entrance to City Hall. It cracked under impact, eventually crumbling on top of them.
Zoom turned to look for Wally.
A red fist slammed into him from his right, and Zoom ended up crashing into the base of Mr Kenyon's statue. It collapsed on top of him, and Wally let himself breath.
Taking a run up from Germany seemed to have done the trick.
The two fists that slammed into his back disagreed with that theory. Flash fell to the ground with a thud, and rolled over to see Zoom standing above him.
A sound not unlike that of a silent machine gun assaulted Wally's ears, and a sudden barrage of rocks and cement pelted Zoom.
Wally looked over and smiled at the display before him. The wise old man and immature kid, throwing rocks together. He looked back to Zoom to see how he was enjoying the display.
Except he wasn't there. He was suddenly stood behind Bart and Jay.
"That's ENOUGH!" he roared. With a rage in his voice and on his face that genuinely frightened Wally, Zoom clapped his hands above him.
All sound stopped. Wally recognised the feeling. It was what he felt when he ran past the speed of sound.
Zoom could clap his hands together so fast they broke the sound barrier.
The shockwave blew Bart and Jay into the air, hurling both several blocks in opposite directions.
Wally himself was sent skidding along the ground from the sonic boom, having been far enough away to not take the brunt of it.
He didn't envy Bart and Jay right now.
Zoom was once again in front of him. "I will find her, Flash. Iwill find Lindaaaaa."
And then he was gone.
Flash desperately looked around, praying to whatever deity was listening that Zoom was behind him, preparing to attack.
Anything but going after Linda.
He forced himself to his feet, and almost fell over from the pain in his chest. The broken ribs weren't sitting well.
"Linda…"
Pushing past the pain, Wally shot off towards the lingerie store where he had left her, hoping that Linda hadn't decided to listen to his advice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John winced as he fell to the ground once again.
"Come on. The window's just there."
"Well, excuse me if I'm finding it difficult to kick out a window three feet above me while my hands and my arms are tied."
"I bet Carter could do it."
The Green Lantern scowled and redoubled his efforts, ineffectively trying to fling his legs up.
"You know… unff… you… would be… unff! A better choice for this."
"Why? Can't you do it?"
He stopped jumping to glare at her silhouette. "Of course I can do it. But you would be able to do it quicker. You're more…"
"What?"
"…aerodynamic." He paused. "What did you think I'd say?"
She shrugged. "I don't know."
"Yes you do."
"What, you're a mind reader now?"
John was silent for a moment. "Yes."
"Oh, is that right? Can you tell what I'm thinking right now?"
Silence filled the cabin as John thought about it.
"I don't think now would be the time or place, Shayera."
"Ha."
"If Wally were here, he'd find that hilarious."
Shayera didn't reply right away. "I hope he's all right."
Silently, John turned towards the window and continued his vain struggle to break the window.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Fastest Man Alive came to a halt in front of the doorway to the store. His weary knees hit the ground when he saw the wrecked interior.
And no Linda.
"No…" his head hung. "God…"
"Wally."
He turned, desperation filling him. Zoom was stood in the middle of the road, an unconscious Linda in his arms.
"Put her down," he hissed through clenched teeth, his jaw set.
Zoom smiled. "Justlike Iron Heights."
"What?"
"Volcaaaaana. Youtold her to letLindago, too."
"How do-" Wally stopped himself. Who was there? Warden Wolfe, Green Arrow, Linda, her camerawoman Marla, and-
"Oh… God… Hunter?"
"Yes, Flaaaash."
"But… how- why?" He put his upturned hand out to Hunter. "We're friends!"
"And because we're friends… Ihaveto teach you howtobea better hero."
"What? What the hell are you talking about? You think killing my friends will make me a better hero? Why?"
"Because youneed to make the big choices, Wally. Youneed to beable to make the ultimaaaate choice." He looked down at Linda. "And the only way for youto do that… is to do itforthose you love."
Slowly, Flash's desperation and shock turned to something else. Something worse.
"You…" His fists were clenched so hard, his fingernails made the palm of his hands bleed.
Faster than he thought possible, Wally charged at Zoom.
Hunter, faster still, ran backwards, holding Linda in front of him like a prize to be won at a fairground.
Zoom suddenly stopped and stepped to the side, his foot outstretched.
Wally tripped and hit the ground hard, bouncing along the road kilometres at a time before he finally managed to stop himself.
He was about to charge back to Hunter when the Rogue profiler reappeared in front of him. The scarlet speedster forced himself to his feet once again. His strength was spent. The muscles in his legs were going to fail him any minute now. He had been pushing his body too hard, and receiving too much punishment.
A gust of wind almost bowled him over. Two pairs of arms held him up.
"Don't worry, Wally," Jay said. "We've got him."
Zoom shook his head. "No. You don't." He looked at Wally. "I'llwaitfor you to recover. Youneedtobe at fullstrength. Youneedtobe at your bestwhenyousee her diiieee. Knowing even thenthat you could donothing for Lindaaaa. Andthenyou willknow how tobe ahero."
Wally reached out, but it was too late.
They both vanished, and Wally fell into his friends' arms, exhaustion finally taking him into unconsciousness' sweet embrace.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A holler of joy left John's lips as he smashed the window. Jagged glass rained down on him, but he didn't care about the little nicks he was getting. A big enough piece could allow them to cut through their bonds and get the hell out of here.
Light poured in through the windows, and both John and Shayera squinted.
"Is there a piece big enough?"
"Yeah, I-"
The sound of a door creaking open echoed into the room. Now that John's vision was cleared, he could see the true state of the cabin around him. God, it was a mess. What looked like blood covered one side of the room, while the rest was falling apart. John recognised the cause, too. Gunfire.
The door to the room flew open, and Zoom stepped through, carrying a stirring Linda Park in his arms. He set her down and stood back up to his full height. His image flickered slightly before returning to normal.
John ground his jaw as he realised all the glass had been cleared, and his bonds retied to make them even tighter. Linda's arms and legs were now tied as well.
"Youwon'tleave."
His gaze travelled over both John and Shayera. He took a step back and grasped the doorknob.
"Not until he arrives."
Zoom shut the door, leaving them alone once again.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The plastic tray thumped noisily onto the table in front of him.
"Eat up."
Flash stared blankly out the window. "I'm not hungry."
Without a moment's hesitation, Nightwing slapped Flash around the head. "You want to save John? Shayera? Linda? Then you eat, moron."
Reluctantly (and somewhat venomously), Wally shoved the first of the stack of burgers into his mouth.
The protector of Bludhaven slid into the chair beside him. "How are you feeling?"
Flash shrugged. "Dr Mid-Nite fixed me up pretty good. We had to re-break the ribs and make them set the right way with some laser doohickey he made, but…" he shook his head and finished the first burger. Without hesitation, he moved onto the next. Then the next. And the next after that.
Nightwing allowed himself a small smile in spite of the situation.
Not hungry, my ass.
"Have they been able to find him?" Wally asked, spraying Dick with bits of burger.
"No," he said, wiping the crumbs from his costume. "He just moves too fast."
The next burger stopped before it reached his mouth. "Tell me about it," he muttered.
"They're gonna have a meeting on the bridge to talk about Zoom's powers. Just finish up here and get into a new costume-"
"I don't have time for that. He's gonna-"
"He said he wasn't going to until you were there. That's… kinda comforting, isn't it?"
Wally blew out an uncharacteristically heavy sigh. "I guess." He looked out the window at the Earth rotating below them. "I still can't believe… Hunter. It's like… Roy turning into a bad guy or something."
The protector of Bludhaven could only offer a shrug. "It's hard to tell who your friends are sometimes."
Another bite of Flash's burger followed. He glanced at Dick before returning his gaze to the window. "Not really," he mumbled.
Nightwing took the backhanded comment as a compliment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was quite a mix of colours up on the bridge. Like stepping into a kaleidoscope, only slower and maybe a little duller.
Wally looked around the command station. Mr Terrific was sat in his usual chair, his fingers locked together in front of his face. He looked as tense as Wally felt. Jay leant against the control panel on the right of the Justice League coordinator, the two occasionally murmuring something to one another.
Bart straddled a chair on Jay's left, looking around the Watchtower with appropriate awe. Wally remembered that Bart had never seen the Watchtower, only the Metro Tower.
One more thing he would have to amend once this was all over.
If he was still around by then, obviously.
Further to the right stood the Atom, Static, and Gear, a blackboard behind them with a diagram drawn on it that looked simple but was still too complicated for Wally to understand. A rectangular box had been drawn horizontally, with a long white line going through it from left to right.
Below it was another diagram with a similar looking box, except the line was below it.
Carter had sent his apologies for not being there. He was down on Earth with Superman, searching for Shayera. As if he would be anywhere else.
Nightwing and Elongated Man had come up with Flash, and were stood on either side of him.
"Okay," Dick said, "we're here. How's Zoom doing what he's doing?"
"Let's just call him Hunter, okay?" Wally asked irritably. "I'm sick of dancing around it like it's not there."
The Atom paused for a moment. "…okay. Now, I've been talking with Jay Garrick there," he turned and pointed, and the man in question gave a small nod, "and we came up with a few theories. This," he said, tapping a piece of chalk on the board behind him, "is the theory we, um… like… the most."
Bart leant forward, his chair threatening to topple over. "And that is?" His chair came perilously close to falling, but Jay slammed a foot on one of the legs and pulled him back down to earth with a thump.
Unaware of the near miss, the Atom continued on. "This diagram," he said, pointing to the one of the rectangle with the line through it, "represents how we move through time. We're all moving at the same rate."
"This," he said, pointing at the rectangle that hovered above a white line, "is Zoo- um, Hunter. He's separate from the normal flow of time. He can't go back – from what we've seen, at least – but he can control how fast he moves forward." He looked over at Mr Terrific. "And that's the theory in a nutshell."
The League co-ordinator shrugged. "It's not me who has to understand." He nodded at Wally.
All eyes turned to the speedster. "Uh… I don't, uh…" he sighed. "What are you talking about?"
Nightwing popped his head around into Wally's line of sight. "You just move fast, he can freeze time."
"Oh. Gotcha."
Static and Gear suddenly looked at each other.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Gear nodded. "Maybe… I think it's still at our headquarters…" He turned to Mr Terrific. "Are the teleporters working yet?"
"Not for anything organic."
The two teenage heroes exchanged smiles. "That's perfect. Backpack?"
The machine on Gear's back sprang to life, sprouting four spider like legs and an eyeball attached to a cable before leaping onto the control panel. Bart yelped like a little girl and leapt from his chair. He turned to Static and Gear.
"Uh…" he cleared his throat. "I meant to do that."
They stared at him for a few seconds before Gear looked at Backpack. "Give the Justice League teleporter the co-ordinates for Dr MacDonald's Time Gauntlet. You get that? Time Gauntlet." He looked over at Atom. "The voice recognition protocols are kinda messed up lately."
Atom smiled and shrugged. "It happens."
Within a few minutes, Gear was presenting the machine to the Atom. "Hmm… it could work…" he muttered, taking the keyboard sized device and looking at its' underside. "Maybe some modifications to the reverse analogous chip…"
Gear nodded. "I was thinking that. Maybe just replace it with a-"
"-digital relay!" they said simultaneously.
Wally looked over at Ralph, who gave him an equally bewildered look. "Nerds," he muttered. "What're you gonna do?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The familiar whine of a Javelin jet's engine made all three of them look up to the roof. The windows rattled as it came ever closer.
"What is that?" Linda asked.
John and Shayera gave each other a look of both relief and fear. After all, who could hope to stop this guy?
Thick tyres screeched on the road, and the noise from the engine gradually faded.
Outside, Wally stepped down the lowering ramp of the jet, hopping off before it touched the ground. He flexed his right hand. The Time Gauntlet felt weird on his arm. Created by a scientist called Dr MacDonald, Static and Gear had to contend with Speedwarp, a kid who stole the device from the good Doctor while at science camp.
It sounded kooky to Wally, too. But anything that could give him an edge was worth it.
It covered his entire forearm, the dark orange clashing with the red of his costume. Not that he cared too much about that right now. He just hoped the damn thing worked.
Zoom appeared in front of him.
"Youfoundmeee."
"Yeah, not too hard to find at all…" he muttered, looking to the broken down cabin. "Is that the place, Hunter? The place where The Clown wrecked your life?"
"Youshutup."
He flickered, and suddenly he was carrying Linda. Her arms and legs were bound.
"W- Flash?"
The Scarlet Speedster smiled grimly. "It doesn't matter, Linda. He knows."
She looked over at Zoom, who didn't respond. He just put her down on the ground.
"Hey, Hunter." Wally tilted his head to the side. "How's your wife?"
That did it. Hunter disappeared. Wally pushed the raised orange, red and white button on the time gauntlet.
Hunter's perceptions shifted. Everything froze around him, including Wally. He leisurely walked over to him and threw a fist at the speedster.
Wally blocked it.
Zoom's eyes widened.
So did Flash's grin.
The superhero speedster slammed his fist into Zoom's chin, and followed it up with a jab to the belly. After another blow to the chin, Hunter stumbled back, blood trickling from his mouth.
Flash rubbed his knuckles. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."
A steady hand wiped the blood away. "So. We're even."
"Yep. Gotta love all those weirdo bad guys young kids fight, don'tcha?"
"Speedwarp?"
A red eyebrow cocked beneath the Flash cowl. "Are there any bad guys you don't know?"
In response, Hunter lunged for the gauntlet, moving pathetically slow. Wally moved out of the way, his muscles feeling sluggish.
He hadn't been normal since he was twelve. It was a strange feeling to be that way again.
"Give that to me!" Hunter yelled, again lunging at Wally.
"Psh. Yeah, right."
He tried to nail Hunter with another blow to the face, but the police profiler ducked beneath it, tackling Wally to the ground. He grabbed Wally's wrist and slammed the Gauntlet into the ground again and again. Yellow boots pressed against his stomach, and Wally pushed him off.
Zoom got to his feet. He glanced at Linda.
"If I hit her now… it would be enough to snap her head right off."
He turned and ran, and Wally went after him, cursing how slow he felt.
Hunter suddenly stopped, turned, and grabbed the Gauntlet, tearing it from Wally's arm. Everything suddenly sped up again around the speedster. He turned to Linda and ran towards her, praying.
The familiar yellow figure appeared in front of him, blocking his path. Zoom smiled and dropped the wrecked remains of the Gauntlet to the ground.
"Nocheating."
Wally's teeth clenched.
"Oh… that's it!"
He turned, and ran.
Hunter's smile faltered.
Linda looked equally confused.
"Ah…" Hunter said, turning to look the other way. "That'swhaaaat he's doing."
A cloud of dust appeared in the distance, a small red blip leading it. Zoom prepared himself for impact, his arms outstretched to either side and a benign smile on his face.
Wally went around him and continued on his way.
"What are you doing?!" Hunter yelled.
Again, Flash came around, and again, ignoring Hunter and continuing his run. Again and again, faster and faster, until all that was there was a red blur. Clouds began to gather, darkening the sky. Thunder rumbled around them, threatening lightning.
Suddenly, he stopped.
Blue and red electricity danced around him. He stood before Zoom, his entire body vibrating on the spot.
"All right," he said, he voice distorted by the high speeds. "You wanted me to learn? Let's learn."
Flash's blow hit him so fast, Zoom punched a hole in the cabin as he sailed through it.
As quickly as he had been thrown away, he was back. He smiled.
"Yousee? You arebeginning tounderstand." He looked to Linda, then back to Wally. "Let's see how well."
He walked slowly over to Wally and turned in the opposite direction to Linda, looking down the road.
"Arace."
"What?"
"A race. If youwin, youget her. If I win…" he smiled. "Well. When I hit heeeeer, there will be nothing left."
Just as Wally had done, Zoom shot off away from the cabin. Flash set off after him, not daring to spare a glance back at Linda.
The speedster silently cursed as he slowly fell behind the time distorted profiler. Even now, at his top speed, Zoom was still ahead of him.
All sounds were gone. All light blurred together. He felt something pull at him. Call to him.
The Speed Force.
They were getting closer to Linda. Wally could feel it.
He couldn't let the Speed Force take him. Not now. He focused on everyone who needed him.
John.
Shayera.
Linda.
Linda…
The pull eased. Zoom was still ahead of him.
He silently screamed in frustration.
Wally West had never killed.
He never wanted to.
But he had to stop Zoom. Anyway he could.
Any. Way.
And finally, Wally understood what Green Arrow was trying to tell him.
Clark had said that there was always a choice.
Wally made his.
He pushed himself into a dead sprint, and with a sudden burst of speed, Wally came closer and closer to Zoom, his arms outstretched.
Wally threw his arm around Hunter's neck, grabbing him in a running headlock. He pulled hard. Blue and red electricity crackled around them, growing more intense the faster they ran and the harder Wally squeezed.
Zoom lost his footing and tumbled forward, throwing Flash off his back and tossing him forward at speeds just under that of light.
He stopped when he smashed into a building in Seattle.
At first, he couldn't hear anything. He thought he was dead. Slowly, the sounds of a busy city began to filter in. With slow, deliberate and painful movements, Wally pulled himself to his feet, the occasional crackle of electricity dancing over his body. His whole body tingled like it had pins and needles, and he found it hard to balance.
He stumbled out of the hole in the wall he had created. A trench of upturned earth and road lay before him, trailing off into the distance. He reached for his comlink, but found that it was gone.
Trying to ignore the amazed and shocked stares he was getting, Wally began walking. He collapsed with a thump after two steps. Strong hands lifted him up. Carter's voice drifted in and out as he spoke.
"It's okay. I've got you."
Before he finally allowed exhaustion to take him, Wally felt himself flying into the air.
God, he hoped Linda was okay.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------