December 22, 2016
Central City
6:34 PM

Bart looked out the passenger window of Wally's truck; he had a death grip on his winter jacket as he watched the snow fall. Usually the two speedsters would just run everywhere but Wally had planned to stay at his parents for the rest of winter break, and the weather wasn't allowing him to run, without slipping. It was pretty quiet the whole way there and it disturbed the older red head, "So," said Wally, "How did you celebrate holidays in the future?" Bart straightened up, "We only celebrated Christmas. Beetle got rid of the other holidays," Bart's face lit up; "Maddi would go to Ivy and get some vegetables. She tried to keep that a secret, the fact that she got our food from people they used to fight but Derek can always get the truth out of her. Then she would make loads of soup, along with Abbie, which we would share with the whole Village. Then Jay and Will would go out to see if they could find anymore survivors or animals that we could eat," he paused, "Animals we would eat. Not the survivors." Bart was now acting like how he first came here and not depressed like he was the last couple of days. He pulled out a picture from his pocket.

The youngest speedster continued to talk while looking at the picture, "Then Abbie would make rock candy from any sugar we grew. It was the only junk food we actually ate. While the older ones did that, us kids, when it wasn't snowing, we would go out into the street and play any game we could think of. But when it did snow, some of us would help in the kitchen, the rest of us would play inside games or we would find books and read them. We didn't have many books. But Maddi said that she had a ton, she just needed to get them out of the basement. She wouldn't let us go down there, I don't really know why, but we didn't really care. We just thought it was fun trying to sneak down there when Maddi or anyone wasn't watching. It was the only time of the year that everything was crash." It seemed like Bart didn't take a breath through the whole thing. Wally let out a small chuckle, "Well, Christmas here is a bit different. And you will have to show me that picture when we get to Mom and Dad's," he said.

Wally turned down a road that was lined with houses. Bart slid the picture carefully back into his pocket, and looked out the window, the houses that were lit up, and had plastic reindeer with a plastic Santa in the front yard, along with inflatable figures. In a couple of the houses, the front window was open and Bart could see the Christmas trees. There were also a couple kids outside playing in the snow, "Yeah, no kidding," he mumbled. Wally tuned into his parent's driveway. Wally had gotten out and grabbed his bag from the car. By the time Wally turned around, Bart was already at the front door. "What's the rush?" asked Wally as he locked the doors to the truck and walked to the front door. "Um," said Bart, "Back in my time, we weren't allowed to play in the snow. Or even be outside-" Bart trailed off. Wally gave him a look, "Then let's get inside," Wally opened the door; a gust of warm air hit the two in the face.

Later that night, Bart sat on the floor of the West's guest room; the picture was lying on the ground in front of him. He glanced up, from the picture, to the digital clock on the side table, the green numbers flashed, the ten changed to an eleven, and the five and nine turned to zeros. There was a light knock at the door that made Bart jump. "Come in," he said quietly knowing it was Wally and guessing his parents where sleeping, his eyes moving back toward the picture on the ground. Wally walked in, and quietly shut the door. "Hey," whispered Bart, he didn't take his eyes off the picture. "Hey," responded Wally as he walked in front of Bart and sat down. The youngest speedster pointed to the far right of the picture. It was Bart with his arm around a young girl about the same age as him, maybe a few years younger.

She had dark skin and brown hair. She also wore a light colored pair of jeans with a light purple shirt. The girl's other arm was around a black haired boy with blue eyes and very pale skin. He wore a red sweat shirt with a pair of dark colored jeans. Bart's other arm was around a blonde haired girl with blue eyes, who wore a red v neck shirt and a white ruffled skirt. Bart wore a grey t-shirt and a pair of black cargo pants. All of the kids had huge smiles on their faces. "The girl with the purple shirt is my cousin, Jenni. Next to Jenni is Derek, you know, Grayson," Wally nodded and encouraged him to continue to talk, "The girl with the red shirt is Cissie. And this," Bart moved his hand to a blurred out spot across their feet, making them un-see able. "That's Greta. She's a ghost." Wally looked confused at the picture, "That's impossible. Ghost don't exist, it's a proven fact. Just because there is a blur on a pictu-"

Bart looked up and cut his cousin once removed off, "You haven't met Greta. She's a real ghost," Bart aggressively pointed to the older teens in the picture. "Maddi, Jay, CJ, Will and Damian all said she's real. Everyone in the Village sees her. She helps guides souls to the other side. Heck, she was even part of Young Justice!" Bart's voice was raising but Wally shushed him quickly. Wally looked down to the picture. The five teens sat on some rubble from a nearby building. Madison, the black haired girl with ice blue eyes and pale skin, a bit darker than Derek's, wore a dark blue tank top and a worn, brown leather jacket, along with a pair of dark jeans and dark blue converses that matched her tank top, her hair was tied in a low pony tail. She had her back toward the kids and was clearly laughing at something Jayson had said.

Jayson had dark red hair, almost brown. He had grey eyes and looked a lot like Roy. He was wearing black sweat shirt with a red triangle on the shoulder, and a pair of black pants and dark red tennis shoes. The look that Madison and Jayson gave each other was clear. "Are they...?" started Wally. Bart shook his head sadly, "Not yet, but Derek, Cissie, Greta, and I are working on getting them together." Bart paused, "That is the only thing that stays the same everyday. Us teasing them. Like families do." Wally pointed to two more black haired boys who both looked annoyed with something. "That's CJ and Damian. Or Superboy and Batman, whatever you like to call them." CJ was sitting on the ground, in front of the rubble. He had a smile on his face, even though he was clearly annoyed with something. Damian was just glaring at a rock on the ground and looked like he was about to kick it.

The Bart pointed to a red head with green eyes, who was standing behind the rubble saying something to Damian and CJ. "That's Will," he said then pointing to a girl with blonde hair and green eyes. She had one hand to the side of her mouth, so that the others wouldn't see as she looked like she was giving instructions to the person behind the camera, "That is Abbie." William was wearing an old orange t-shirt, while Abigail was wearing a green sweater and black skinny jeans. Wally looked at his future kids, "They look about the same age," he said.

"Their twins" said Bart and before Wally had a chance to say anything Bart continued, "This picture was taken when Jay, Will, Abbie, and I met up with everyone in Gotham. It was also the day that we started the Village. Taking in as many people as possible and trying to survive." Wally could tell that it was getting hard to talk about this. He guessed it was probably one of the few memories that were good for him. Wally stood up, "We should get some sleep. Nightwing and a few others would like to talk to us tomorrow." Wally started for the door and opened it quietly; he turned and saw that Bart had not moved. He sighed and went out in the hall, closing the door quietly behind him.

December 23, 2016
Taos
11:46 AM

The conference room in the newly repaired Star Labs had many people from the League, including Batman, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, and Superman. Among them were a few others, Kid Flash, Nightwing, Impulse and Red Arrow. The only ones that were in civvies were Wally (Kid Flash), Bart (Impulse), Roy (Red Arrow), Oliver (Green Arrow), and Dinah (Black Canary). Everyone sat down at the long table in the middle of the room. Everyone turned to Bart, who sat next to Wally. Dinah leaned forward on her elbows, "Okay. We all know why you really came here-" Bart looked at the ground, "Kid Mouth," he mumbled only loud enough for Wally, Roy and Nightwing to hear. Roy and Nightwing sent a smile toward Kid Flash, it was clear they were trying to hold in their laughter. Batman looked at Nightwing and Roy, who right away stopped laughing but where still smirking.

Bart continued to looked at the ground, "Bart, don't lock up on us," said Dinah, "We would just like to help-" The speedster looked up from the ground, "Help? Everyone would like to help. But no one can. Not even the heroes that did survive-" Everyone in the back was now deathly silent, "What do you mean?" asked Black Canary. Bart looked up from the ground and around the table, "Right after everyone from the Justice League was-" Bart didn't finish the sentence and just moved on, "Everyone who was left, the sidekicks, partners, whatever you like to call them; Red Arrow, Superboy, Nightingale, Batman, Green Arrow, Kid Flash, and a few others, where forced to sign some sort of contract," Bart leaned back in his chair and looked at the table, "The contract basically said that if anyone even changed into their uniforms, they would be killed on the spot. If they attacked, and they weren't in uniform, they would be injured. If they did it again, they would be killed."

Bart went quiet. The looks on everyone's face was the same; even Batman had a look of shock on his face for a few seconds. Batman was the first to speak, "Okay, how do you know he wasn't bluffing?" Bart tensed up a bit, his hand moved to the pocket that had the picture in it, and he was looking at the front of the desk, "Red Arrow, Superboy, and Nightingale tried to call his bluff, but just to be safe, they attacked without their uniforms," Bart took a deep breath, "They all felt the mode but Superboy felt it more, I guess Nightingale felt more guilt than anything." Bart stopped talking, and turned around to look at everyone at the table again. Superman now spoke, "What happened?" Bart sighed, "I didn't know how powerful Beetle was until that day, when he paralyzed Superboy." Everyone was taken aback by what he said. "I mean, he was half Kryptoniantook missiles, bullets, you name it, and he had taken it at point blank range. And yet, it was so easy-" Still, nobody knew what to say, "Red Arrow and Nightingale took a pretty good beating but they where crash compared to Superboy."

There was a light knock on the door. Nightwing went over and went outside of the room and shut the door again. Roy looked at Bart, "Who is Red Arrow?" he asked. Everyone but Batman looked over at him. The archer shrugged, "I just want to know. It's not like I'm the only one wanting to know. Wally probably wants to know who is Kid Flash, Batman probably wants to know who the future Batman is, and I want to know who the future Red Arrow is." Oliver nodded, "And I would like to know who the future Green Arrow is but that doesn't mean that I should find out." Wally rubbed the back of his head; "I already know who the future Kid Flash is," Roy sent a glare toward his friend. Bart he looked up and to Roy, "His name is Jayson, he has reddish hair. Actually he looks a lot like you," he said sliding the picture back into his pocket. Roy thought for a moment, "I like that name: Jayson. Wait, is he my son?" he asked. Bart looked to the ground and didn't say anything.

Roy was about to press the issue but Nightwing came back into the room, "Everyone has to come out here and see this," he turned around and walked out. Everyone followed. Nightwing lead everyone into a room with a TV going. Superboy, Miss Martian, Batgirl, Wondergirl, Zatanna, and Rocket where all there. "What's going on?" asked Batman. Bart stayed behind everyone while they crowded around the TV. Batgirl answered, "The Reach Ambassador is making a speech in the middle of Gotham." On the screen Godfrey was making some outrageous points about the League but everyone was focused on the people on the stage; the Reach Ambassador, Black Beetle, Black Manta, Aqualad, Tigress, and Queen Bee. Wally, M'gann, and Conner looked at Nightwing when they saw Aqualad and Tirgress.

The Reach Ambassador stepped up to the microphone and cleared his throat. The crowd went silent, "The Reach thanks you for letting us stay here. In return we-" Psimon came up on the stage. Tigress and Aqualad got noticeably nervous. Queen Bee and him talked, the crowd started to murmur. Queen Bee turned to Tigress and Aqualad, "Black Manta, I hate to be the one to tell you that your son and his most trusted team mate are traitors." Black Manta took off his helmet, "How dare you call my son a traitor!" he yelled back at her. "Psimon. Show him," said Queen Bee. Psimon stepped forward, everyone froze. Black Manta was the first one to move, "Don't move son, and Tigress, or should I call you by your real name, Artemis." Before Tigress and Aqualad could do anything, Black Beetle knocked them down to the ground and handcuffed their hands.

He then ripped off Tigress's mask and necklace. "Black Beetle. After the speech, you can decide what to do with them," said Manta. Artemis and Kaldur looked at each other trying to figure out a way to get out. The crowd didn't know what was going on but before people could start asking questions the Ambassador started to talk again. "Now, the Reach thanks you for letting us stay here. In return we promise you a great future," the Ambassador looked to Black Beetle, "Blue Beetle was just one of the few from the Justice League that had welcomed us with open arms. And for that we thank him. We would thank him in person but he had other plans today and could not make it." The Ambassador looked back out to the crowd.

Bart looked up to the TV, as the crowd on the television clapped, and then looked to the ground. Batgirl, Wondergirl, and Rocket started to murmur something to each other. M'gann, Conner, Wally and Zatanna went over to Nightwing. "Isn't that the charm you asked me to make?" whispered Zatanna with her hands on her hips. Before he could reply Wally said quietly, "Yes it was. Now how are you getting my girlfriend out of there?" M'gann and Conner didn't say anything. The Martian kept a worried glace at the TV while Conner kept sending glares at Nightwing.

The Ambassador looked around once more, "And to prove that we will give you the brightest future that we possible can, our team of scientists have been working on a time machine." The crowd started to murmur again. Bart got up and pushed aside everyone to get closer to the TV. "Black Beetle. Are we ready to show the world was we are changing everything for?" Black Beetle nodded. Blue lightning flashed across the sky. "No," said Bart. The TV screen went black for a moment and then turned back on. "Their here. All of them," he said. Everyone was speechless. Godfrey and the camera man moved quickly to the giant group and started to talk to people, "I can't believe it. They actually brought them here," as the reporter moved through the people closest to the front Bart said their names, "Alex, Ben, Penny, Ken…" Godfrey then got to Madison and Jayson. "It's Maddi and Jay. Even Titus." Bart was staring in disbelief.

"Okay," said the reporter, "You two seem to be the elected people to talk, now," he held the microphone between the two, "Tell me, your names and the world how great the future is with the help of the Reach." Madison and Jayson looked at each other. Madison looked up to the stage, and whispered something to Jayson beside her. Godfrey started to get a bit annoyed, "Speak up girl. Tell the entire world-" Titus growled and barked at the reported. Madison straightens up and silences the dog by grabbing the handkerchief. Bart chuckled at what the dog had done. The red head was the one to speak, "This girl is Madison Grayson. I'm Jayson Harper."

Madison now spoke, "And the fabulous future you are referring to doesn't exist." The heroes in the small room looked around at each other. "So it's even better-" "No!" yelled everyone from the future, even Bart who wasn't even there. Finally everyone got what was going on. Bart saw Madison activate her com but couldn't tell what she was saying. He then turned and ran as fast as he could. "Hey!" yelled Nightwing at Bart. "Wally you need to follow him." Wally nodded and quickly followed. Everyone in the room was still speechless. Both of the Ambassador's came forward and said at the same time, "Meet your new dictator from the future; Blue Beetle. Earth is now under our control." On the television a dog was heard barking, clearly in distress.