"Did he really claim to be Wally?!" Barry Allen freaked out a little hearing what Batman had claimed. "He actually said Wally West?!" He made a motion to go towards, but Batman quickly raised a hand to stop him from going.
"He claims to be Wally. But as of right now that's all it is; a claim. He let me take a blood sample to test DNA. Furthermore, Dinah will be the next to talk to him. We need to have some sort of idea what he has been doing for the last eight years since we last saw him, and what made him suddenly show up. This isn't the first time we have had issues with clones replacing the real person." Batman's usual stoic manner and calm temperament seemed to be as intact as ever. "We have to take every precaution to make sure it's even him and not something else. So until we know more… This stays as a top report. It stays between us, Bart, Dinah, and a select few who will keep watch over him. Make sure he knows to keep quiet on it." Flash looked again through the two-way mirror at Wally, who had moved back onto the bed to rest, before speeding off to find Bart. Batman himself went to his make shift lab to start blood analysis.
After another hour, Black Canary stepped into the holding cell Wally was being kept in.
"Hello, Wally. You interested in talking?" She quietly took a seat in a chair in the corner of the room while he stayed up on the bed provided for him.
"Of course." He winced, holding his head a bit. He shut his eyes and took a few deep breaths, then reopened his eyes let out a long breath. "What would you like to ask?" He tried to show a carefree smile, but the persona he once carried was all but shattered.
"Primarily what happened to you eight years ago? After all, we all buried an empty coffin. We all thought you were dead." She looked over, shock sounding in her voice more then she would have liked.
"I suppose that is a fair question. The Magnetic Field Disruptor, as everyone knew, used me as a conduit to release its energy as Flash and Impulse slowed its forming momentum. Well, when it siphoned its power through me, I didn't disintegrate. I was transported to a separate dimension. Well, more specifically, to a place between dimensions. I met a race of insect-like creatures called the Volus. They are… why don't I just show you." He looked down to his wrist. "Lor'Mak. Self-projection for the lady please.""Yes siiiir." As he spoke, a projection of a five-foot creature stood beside the bed. At the head, he had
feelers, but instead of being placed out in front of his face they seemed to be slicked back behind him like two long strands of hair. His eyes were large and beady; however, at the corner of them and seemingly on the sides of his head, he had two smaller eyes as well. He wore a lab coat. His arms, while being toned, were scrawny and immediately ducked behind his back, clasping together in a dignified stance. His arms also had a rather interesting placement, jetting out from the side of rib cage rather than his seemingly broad shoulders. His frame, from what she could tell, was rather lanky from how the lab coat hung. His legs poking out looked a bit more defined as they reached down to the floor with two strong toes sticking out, with one out the back of his foot for balance. On the tip of each toe also sat an almost talon-like nail.
"Hello ma'am. Iiii am Lor'mak" As he spoke, two almost-snapping jaws opened, revealing the pincers that they formed. "Iiii am a former sciiiientiiiist of the Volus." He gave a slight bow in a very dignified manner.
"The Volus live, for all intents and purposes, inside the speed force. Since there are not naturally-occurring resources, they have to make supply runs to other worlds. However, they don't get welcomed warmly all the time." He sighed quietly, looking at Lor'Mak, who still stood as dignified as ever. "It was during one of those supply runs that Lor'Mak here was unfortunately killed. It was through a will of his own that he underwent a process called Whole Brain Emulation. Basically, he uploaded his brain into a computer and assisted me in jumping dimension to dimension. While they have the technology to jump from dimension to dimension, they never know where they will end up." Lor'Mak gave a small bow and slowly vanished back into the gauntlet.
"So for the last eight years you have been visiting different dimensions, trying to get home?" Canary watched curiously. Wally merely nodded.
"It wasn't an easy road. The Volus warned me before I went there were…side effects." He sighed quietly. "The different dimensions are like… security cameras. Everything is under their watch, inspected for something that shouldn't be there. If something like that is spotted, then they will aim to fix it." He grunted quietly holding his head again, taking a few more breaths before looking forward at her. Immediately, the slight glare was hidden as he shook his head, taking a few more ragged breaths and opening his eyes slowly, more calmly, his gaze rested on Black Canary again.
"When you jump dimensions and there is a version of you that exists or existed in that dimension... the dimension can't handle more than one of a single person there. To correct the mistake it has found, it tries to make them the same person. To do that, the experiences and memories of the original version of you in that realm are transferred into you. To put it simply, I have the memories and experiences of all Wally West's whose dimension I happen to jump to. Sometimes I didn't exist there, so there were no memories to absorb, but other times…" he sighed quietly and didn't continue. "That's where I have been for eight years. Hopping dimensions trying to get back home to where I belong." Black Canary watched over at him, a little bewildered trying to process all the information that she had just received from the man in front of her. Wally had shut his eyes, taking deep breaths and trying to get his bearings when Lor'Mak spoke up.
"Perhaps, Ms. Canary, we should contiiiinue another tiiiime. Mr. West's viiiitals seem to have spiiiiked. Iiiif you remaiiiin here longer the outcome could become… unpleasant. So please, for your safety." Lor'Mak indulged her as kindly as he could, yet also keeping a sense of urgency in his voice. Dinah nodded, watching as Wally had given another grip on his head, bringing his knees to his forehead as if he was a child trying to ignore a frightening sound. She stood and left the room closing and locking the door, moving to the two-way mirror to continue to observe him. Wally seemed to be shaking only at supersonic speeds. Usually, vibrating at such speeds would cause him to phase through the bed… if the bed was vibrating at the same speed from just touching Wally. She stood there, staring, before realizing Batman was next to her.
"DNA confirms that this is Wally West. However, his blood stream seems to contain trace amounts of Agriosphodrus dohrmi toxin. It's a toxin found in the saliva of Assassin bugs which is used to kill their prey and to protect them from predators. Where exactly has he been?" Batman watched the man as he slowly stopped vibrating; the bed, now disheveled from the temporary state of chaos it was put in, stopped and found its grip on the floor as Wally laid down to rest. He was visibly sweating and not looking too good.
"I will try to speak with him again after a bit. For now, we need to talk and decide what to do. You will want to know what he told me." She turned after a moment and started off, Batman soon to follow.
The next day, Black Canary stepped back in and smiled to Wally, who seemed to be much more energized; if the mountain of plates and bowls around him was any give away.
"Someone seems to be feeling a lot better today. Did you sleep well?" She smiled in her motherly way she had about it.
"I did. Woke up starving. I haven't had a good meal in… wow, I can't even remember. Then doing all that running yesterday… I was absolutely drained." He chuckled, engorging on another plate that had been beside his bed.
"Wally… yesterday, you mentioned how there were other versions of you in the dimensions you visited. Can you tell me what that means?" She watched him, having taken her seat once more in the corner of the room. Wally finished the plate quietly, contemplating on how to respond.
"Have you ever thought how much would change off of a single decision? What would happen if you decided to take a left instead of a right? If you would have had a bagel instead of a muffin? How if you decided to walk away from Oliver instead of staying with him. Every place I've been has been the sum of the choices made in that dimension. There are small differences and large differences. Everything dependent on a series of choices that one or more were made separately from here."
"So there are places where none of us are heroes, then." Dinah said as a statement rather than a question. Wally looked up at her with a glint before holding his head.
"Where none of you are heroes. Where you're heroes with questionable morals. There are many different outcomes to everything." Wally's voice got lower and lower as he stared at the bed quietly, lost in his own thoughts. "There are so many memories in my head, I can't remember which are my own memories and which are from a different Wally…"
"Why don't we narrow it down? Dick said you called him The Joker." She said quietly, watching him.
"It was a while ago now, but every time I think about his name, it's like it happened so recently." He gave a small sigh. "I remember trying to stop him from losing his temper 'cause of The Joker. In order to get at Bruce, he targeted Dick. To get at Dick, he hired Deathstroke to go capture Koriand'r. Dick flew into a rage and the other Wally was trying to keep him from doing something stupid. This only wound up with m- the other Wally following him and helping him try and get Koriand'r back against Batman's orders, 'cause he was too close. We got there and Joker had her bound, and had drugged her with a concentrated form of Acetaminophen to stop her from feeling anything too strongly; and kept her on an IV of it. Dick flew into another fit of rage but didn't move forward when Deathstroke appeared with a syringe with a metallic liquid, which we later found out was Metallic Chromium, and pressed to her neck. I tried to do something, but any movement and they injected her. Joker ended up injecting a full syringe of it into Kori and she began sneezing out Starbolts so we couldn't get close. We..." Dinah raised an eye at the change of talking about someone else to thinking it was him in the memory. "We stood there forced to slowly watched her die. Dick completely lost it. I mean, Red Lantern levels of lost it, and killed Joker. Guilt and depression slowly drove him insane, and he became The Joker himself. I tried to stop him repeatedly, but each time I was always just a step or two behind. He was insane, but he was just as smart and was still trained by Bruce." He held his head a little bit, shaking the thoughts away best he could. "He even killed Uncle Barry after strapping a bomb to his neck. The second he tried to phase it off, it shocked his system and exploded. It's why I lashed out. Just so much rage and hate towards him, and I couldn't make the distinction." Dinah looked back at him in almost stunned silence of what she had heard.
"I see. And that is just one of the worlds you visited?" She asked as if almost for confirmation. He merely nodded his response. "I suppose I am forced to ask. Why did you attack Bart Allen when he introduced himself? Is there a place in which you wanted to hurt yourself? Or was it because of Bart?"
He shrunk into himself a little bit before answering.
"Was because I heard Kid Flash. Of course, Kid Flash means Wally West and…" He was cut off by his own grunting, and he held his head once more. He tried again to shake it off, but it took longer than just the couple moments it took before. "I entered a dimension and found a place to hide. The mind-melding hurts, so I try not to be found doing it. I'd be in no state to get away. But the memories forced into my head made me sick. The Wally of that dimension was… not so nice. He was physically abused by not only his parents, but when he went to Barry to get away, he would use him as a punching bag if a mission ever went wrong and he was frustrated. He still did the experiment and got fast. First thing he did was kill Flash and my parents." She once again noted the change of his words. "I started feeling invincible. If I wanted it, I took it. Whatever it was. Money, food, anything I desired at the current moment. Just went and took it. Nobody could stop me. I was too fast. And that's when I saw her…" His eyes fell and he curled his knees to his chest protectively. "Artemis was in a Gotham Prep… her father had just let her off to work. Didn't look like he had ever been Sportsmaster at all. She was living happily, chasing after her dreams. And my first thought was I wanted her. God, did I want her…" He curled tighter into himself, trying to be as small as possible, his knuckles turning white from clutching his elbows so tightly. "So I did what I had always done. I just took her. For months on end I had her in the basement of my parents' home. Every night…" He stopped clutching his head tightly. The device on his wrist beeped repeatedly and in a sequence, as if signaling to be opened. Wally just ignored it as he continued holding his head. Only now had he begun to mumble to himself.
"You didn't hurt her…he did. The other you… it wasn't you..." Canary could hear him mumbling as he held his head against his knees, rocking himself, trying to convince himself his thoughts weren't real. Only at that moment did the beeping from his watch come in clear. It was Morse code. Lor'Mak was trying to warn her. She quickly started to get up before the silence was almost deafening in the room. She looked over at him and couldn't help but feel a bit worried.
"Wally are yo-" She was cut off by him immediately appearing in front of her.
"Aren't you supposed to be working? The brothel has only just opened. You shouldn't be here." He looked up with a glare through narrowed eyes. "Or I can of course get Oliver. I'm sure those ribs of yours haven't healed from last night."
"Brothel? What are you talking about!?" She quickly tapped her communicator on her wrist, sending out a signal. "Wally, don't do that. I'm just about to go now. To the brothel. OK?" She immediately tried to switch her stance to play into his delusions. On the other end of the communicator Batman heard what she said, immediately knowing something was wrong. He immediately looked for who was closest, finding Aqualad and Wonder Girl at the Mount Justice.
"Recognized. Aqualad. B01. Recognized. Wonder Girl. B21." The Zeta-Tubes echoed out their arrival, and Batman himself led the two of them to the room where Wally was in the corner, city Canary in the chair strapped by the arms with parts of the blanket, as well as gagged. She had welts forming on her arms and legs as she groaned and looked up. Wally silently looked up and stared, his eyes dark and cold as he gazed upon them. A knotted length of ripped blanket lay in front of him, the most obvious culprit for the wounds on Canary.
"So the Master of the League of Shadows has teamed with the Genocide Couple. I must be pretty important for the three of you to arrive. Are you sure you're gonna be enough?" Batman glared while Aqualad stared at the figure in front of him.
"Wally!?" He was in complete shock. He hadn't been privy to his return, and seeing him was dumbfounding. He took a step forward, but Batman quickly stopped him.
"He is not himself. Look at Canary. Would Kid Flash do that if he was right in his mind? We're here to subdue him." As Batman spoke, warning him, Wally had quickly rotated his arms and shivered before taking a step and vanishing, only appearing for a second with a shot against Aqualad, who was sent into the wall next to Black Canary. She mumbled out to him as he slowly got to his feet. He untied the makeshift gag from Canary before working on her wrists.
"He is in some sort of psychotic break. He think I work in a brothel." She slowly got up, her leg weak from strikes. Aqualad attempted to help her, but was knocked into the wall by a stiff shoulder block. He was taken off guard, noticing Batman and Wonder Girl both on the ground as he attempted to protect himself from the fury of blows coming. A lasso wrapped around Wally's body, pulling tight and stopping his assault as Wonder Girl recovered. This was soon followed up with Batman tossing a bola around him to further restrain him. However, in the time it took for the bola to leave Batman's hand and reach Wally, he had become intangible, it passing through him and wrapping around Aqualad, putting him out of commission for the time being. The lasso fell around him and he stepped outside it before becoming solid as he reached down. He ripped the lasso forward, with Wonder Girl still holding it, and sent her through the two-way mirror. He immediately took off through it after her being beside her before she even hit the ground. It was at this point the halls echoed with the announcement of another arrival, a code name he didn't recognize. Wally made his way towards it, leaving the cut-up Wonder Girl laying on the glass of the window. He rounded the corner just in time to see the figure materialize. The smirk he had slowly fell into a look of shock. His eyes from narrowed to wide, his fists in to open palms that began to sweat and clam up. His eyes focused on her figure rolling up the brown and black outfit until finally resting on the face. The blonde hair resting down the back, the eyes he spent countless nights swearing they came from the moon itself.
"Artemis….."