Chapter 7

Perhaps out of all the characters, Hans had the most head scratching story.

It began in the past, during the beginning of our scarlet speedster's story. But this time, the focus is on Hans.

Hans was a prince from the Southern Isles who had traveled to Arendelle to watch the coronation of the soon to be queen, Elsa. Before the event, however, he met a young woman who turned out to be the sister of the almost queen. Her name was Anna, and she enchanted Hans with her beauty and innocence.

After the coronation was over, Hans and Anna went on a very long date that reached into the night. They ended it completely in love, and they were so enamoured they went up to the queen, Elsa, and asked for her blessing in marriage. He had already asked her to marry him.

Of course, Elsa had very quickly denied them this motion, causing tension between the sisters, which ultimately ended in the revelation of Elsa's powers. She quickly ran off, leaving the kingdom in an eternal winter.

Anna had gone off after her sister, and left Hans in charge, to which he did his best to administer the kingdom. After some time, though, the horse that had taken Anna came running back, and Hans knew something had gone wrong. He quickly organized a search party to go after her and the queen, and it had ended in the capture and almost death of Elsa. He did everything he could to protect Elsa, but Anna was still missing. He had become so worried he contemplated going after her by himself, but he never had the chance.

It turned out that not very long after Elsa had been brought to Arendelle's dungeon, Hans had been transported instantly to another place. He was standing in an open field with dozens of other people, and in the distance, one could see Arendelle being completely destroyed.

Yet, even with what he had just witnessed, he was still worried about Anna. When he looked around, he realized he recognized a lot of the people around him. They were people from Arendelle, it seemed. Which meant Anna could be among them.

As he searched and searched, he finally spotted her at a distance, with a man in a red and gold suit. He began running after her, but then, he felt himself being taken away, to a new place.

When he finally opened his eyes, Hans saw he was in a gray room, with what looked like massive paintings everywhere. But as he looked closely, he realized they weren't paintings, at all; they were windows! And those windows were looking out to what seemed like an empty void, and a giant blue ball in the middle. He shook his head in awe, and decided to continue his search for the princess. He made out Elsa, and then saw she was talking to a group of people wearing strange costumes. But what caught his attention even more was Anna, who was standing next to Elsa! A smile formed on his face, knowing she was safe. He began to make his way over, but before he could, Hans was once again ripped from reality, and when he reopened his eyes, he couldn't believe what he saw.

There were towering buildings everywhere he looked, and the 'streets' looked huge. The world around him had changed, and it confused him a lot.

While Hans looked around, a man carrying a clipboard came up to him and began to interrogate him.

"Name?" he asked, sounding awfully bored.

"Who, me?" Hans said, dumbfounded.

"No, the guy behind you," the man responded sarcastically, and when Hans looked behind himself, the man had to respond again. "Yes, you."

"I'm Prince Hans of the Southern Isles," he stated formally. "Might you know where Princess Anna of Arendelle is?"

"I'm not supposed to say anything," the man said, changing his attitude. "But you're in the future. Things are different now."

"The future?" Hans asked, mortified.

"Yes, so if you knew anyone in the past, they're probably dead," the man casually said, while looking at his clipboard.

Hearing this, Hans couldn't believe the words the man had just said. The only reason it seemed plausible was because of the massive towers everywhere that looked like paradise, but even then, he had heard of other empires who had buildings like these.

"But I just saw her," he tried to explain.

"Uh huh," the man said, not paying attention. Once he was done writing down something on his clipboard, he gave him what looked like a ticket and a pin. "Listen, 'Hans'. This is your pass to your home. Look at the little map on here, and follow it to get to your new house. Someone will come to you in a few days or something to help you get settled. If you need any help, break this pin in half, and someone will be with you as fast as possible."

With that, the man turned around, and left, leaving Hans alone.

When Hans reached his new home, he felt as if he was in a mx between the past and the future. Everything he saw looked somewhat recognizable, but there were items he was seeing for the first time. And he still didn't know where on Earth he was.

Entering the doors of his home, he noticed there were a few boxes laid out near the couch, which he could at least recognize. Upon opening the boxes, he found himself with strange clothes, full of colors. He set them aside, as he saw a bookshelf with plenty of books. But when he picked them up, he saw they were in titles he could not read or understand. It was another language, and by the looks of it, it was English.

He spent the rest of the day searching the streets for his beloved Princess Anna, to no avail. He had at least found others, however, who he recognized, just as confused. They were townsfolk from Arendelle, some who he had helped during the time Elsa had frozen the kingdom. He had asked around for Anna, but no one seemed to have seen her. Others were angry they had been taken away from their lives, but none of it mattered to Hans, who was only interested in one thing.

The next day after his arrival, the strange black screen in his living room had turned itself on, and a person had appeared on it. Hans was taken by surprise, but listened, and learned that he was to meet in the town square by 10 AM for something. It wasn't like he had much to do, so he followed the instructions. He got himself ready and presentable with the clothes that had been provided for him, and by 9:30, he was outside.

There were floating arrows on the streets, and people walked towards the direction they pointed at. It was incredible, to say the least, but when Hans reached the town square, he forgot all about it.

In the crowd, he had seen a glimpse of Anna, and his spirits soared. So she was here. Though he quickly lost sight of her, he weaved through the sea of people in her direction. Before he could reach her however, a man who Hans assumed to be a guard stopped him, and pointed at the very center, where a man in blue and red was standing with a few boxes around him.

He went up to the man, who pointed at Hans' arm, and when he stretched it out, the man pulled up his sleeves and placed a disk onto Hans' arm. It dissolved into his skin which horrified Hans, but a moment later, the man in colors spoke up.

"Testing, one two three," he said continually, until Hans interrupted him.

"Who are you?" he questioned.

"The Atom," the man said. "Neste!"

With that, someone else went forward, and Hans was pushed aside. He then remembered who he had seen, but by now, finding Anna would be impossible. His mission would have to be put on hold.


The days went on, and still, he could find no sign of Anna. He knew she was somewhere near him, but he couldn't find her. However, he had found himself studying what had happened in the time that had passed since he last read a book. The history of the world had become complex, and very interesting, but what had blown Hans away was that he was still in Arendelle. The new city had been completely rebuilt in the ruins of the old kingdom. It was mind boggling, how one man had built everything he could see.

Hans was having a morning as normal as it had become, when the sound of an explosion rang out in the distance, shaking his house. He quickly ran outside, and he could see billowing plumes rise from another house in the distance.

Then there were flashes of red light, and he could see what appeared to be a human, flying through the air. It was a breathtaking sight, seeing a man touching the sky, but more concerningly, there were buildings falling because of the man. He was shooting out red beams of energy that were destroying houses, and Hans rushed to see what he could do to help anyone in danger.

In the instants he helped an old woman to safety, he heard the cackle of electricity behind him, and when he turned around, there was nothing. Hans noticed the explosions had stopped, and the flying man wasn't anywhere to be seen. He only hoped there would be no more trouble.


Hans would later learn that the man who had flown around in Arendelle was a resident of the city, and had been taken as prisoner to the place he had initially landed in. The space tower. It had also become public knowledge to Arendelle that the man who had saved them was the Flash.

This name didn't resonate with Hans, so he decided to finally use the computer that had been provided to him. He hadn't had time to use it earlier because of his quest to find Anna, but he supposed he could give it some time now.

He booted up the computer, and read the instructions that came with it. As he loaded the world wide web, his mind was blown at the facts it contained.

There were superheroes. Entire teams of them, like soldiers, who fought for their cities and Earth. None of them had been mentioned in the history books he had read, which he questioned, but seeing them on the screen explained a lot. And when he looked up 'the Flash', he realized he had seen the man before.

It was the man in the red and gold suit! The very same one. It meant he was probably from the future as well, because a man who could move at super speeds had definitely never appeared back in his time.

As he took the information in, there was a thud at his door, and he assumed it to be the newspaper. Sure enough, as he opened his front door, it was. And on the front page, he saw a picture that infuriated him.

It was that same man, 'the Flash', looking very caringly at none other than Princess Anna! What made him angrier was the fact that she was looking back in an equally loving way. It couldn't be. Had she truly moved on in such a short period of time from him? Was he so insignificant to her that she chose a man who dressed up like a jester? Had the hours they had spent together, showing each other the possibility of a bright future, meant nothing to her?

Hans found it at least understandable she chose a man like him. He was a superhero, after all. He did selfless things for others, and had extraordinary powers. It made sense to him that in the day and age he lived in, powers were looked up to. Unlike the way Elsa had been treated back in the past, people here seemed to wish to have any sort of powers. Powers that could rival the strength of armies.

Which brought him to a very intriguing thought. What if he could give himself powers? If he could become a superhero? That way, he could impress Anna and win her over, without forcing her. She would see him for how he truly was; a kind, caring person who helped others, just like her new 'prince'.

'The Flash'. He sounded like a moron, dressing up in silly colors, and-

What had he been doing in the past in Arendelle? Hans realized that there was no reason for him to be in the past, unless he was looking for something. Yes, that had to have been it. But then, why would he not use his powers? Nothing had happened when the red man had arrived, until...

The kingdom had been destroyed. So it was the 'Flash' who had leveled Arendelle. It was because of him it was no longer standing. Elsa would be incapable of committing such a feat, especially with the state of her emotions at the time. So why destroy everything, but then rebuild everything?

These questions had no explicable answers Hans could come up with, so he decided to put it off. There was something else he would do instead.


A new idea had sprung to his mind. He would find a way out of Arendelle, and reach the city the speedster protected, Central City. From there, he would investigate what had really happened, and find the truth behind Anna's lover. His hope was to would find something almost incriminating against the Flash, and that way, Anna would have no choice but to run back to him. And even if there wasn't anything he could find, he would always try to win her back, by any means necessary.

The journey began with Arendelle's central hub, the League building. It was a large complex that stood out from the rest, since it had not been built by the Flash, but by the League afterwards. It was mainly to register and document everything in Arendelle, since it was a one of a kind situation. There were Justice League representatives and League scientists being housed in the building, and now, they would receive a visitor who wasn't originally from Arendelle.

As Hans climbed the steps to the building, he worried they would deny him any opportunity, since no one had left the city, as far as he knew.

The inside was surprisingly cool, and busy employees scurried all around him. Hans could understand the language they were speaking fluently, but he didn't know the meaning of the things they were saying, which frustrated him. He was used to feeling educated, understanding what everyone was discussing.

The man at the reception was around his age, and was occupied on his computer when Hans appeared.

"Hello there," Hans greeted, waving to the man.

"Do you need anything?" the man asked, without looking up.

"Yes, actually," he started. "Do you know if it's possible for me to travel somewhere new? This is all a bit too much-"

"Yeah yeah," the man grunted, until he finally looked up. "If you want to get outta here, go see Ms. Anderson down the hall in the International Relations room. If she thinks you've got a shot, you'll probably be able to leave this place."

"Can I choose the destination?" Hans asked.

"Beats me," the man shrugged, and went back to his computer. Hans sighed, and followed the man's instructions. He found the room, and knocked on it, to hear a woman say, "Come in!"

Entering the room, it looked the same as the lobby, but it had more computers everywhere, and stacks of papers piled on every table.

"You must be Ms. Anderson," Hans said politely.

"I am," she smiled. "I assume you want to go somewhere?"

"Yes, actually,-" he said, before being cut off.

"Not yet," she interrupted. "That's part of the survey."

"Survey?" Hans said.

She smiled again, and motioned her hand to an empty seat. "Sit down if you will." Hans did as she asked, and she pulled a chair to the same table. She opened a drawer, and dug around, until she pulled a single empty document, and handed it to Hans.

"What's this?" he asked, as he looked it over.

"It's your ticket out of here," she said. "Read it over, fill it out, and give it to me when you're done. Then, I'll run it through a machine and I'll let you know if you are eligible to travel abroad."

"Can I choose where I go?" Hans questioned.

"Not according to League rules," she said, pondering the question. "But I'll make an exception for you. You're the first one to want to leave."

"Alright then." Hans took a pen from the table, and began filling the form out. Once he finished, he gave it back to her.

"Perfect! It will take a few minutes to register and spit out the results, so you can wait outside until it's done. I'll let you know when it finishes," she explained.

"Thanks," he said, and walked out the door. He found a bench right next to the room's door, and sat down to wait.

Thinking back to everything, it still amazed Hans how all of his family was dead. Maybe there were still descendants of his family, but as he far as he knew, everyone he had known as family was dead. He wondered what had become of the Southern Isles too, but as far as he was concerned, he had no place among the new society. All he wanted was Anna now. She was his only connection to the past now, and he truly didn't know what he would do if that connection was lost.

The door suddenly opened, stirring Hans awake from his thoughts, and Ms. Anderson waved the paper in the air. "You're free to travel! Where would you like to go?"

"Would you happen to know where 'Central City' is?"


Because the League couldn't have the world find out about Arendelle, they had to forge papers for Hans. And since the actual core members of the Justice League were gone, without anyone knowing, Barry Allen had been the one the request had been sent to. He was the one who had authorized the fabrication of false documents for Hans, without even knowing it. All he had seen was a request from the League to sign a document allowing 'foreign relations' of some sort. He assumed it was just another media interview, which he would be called to later, and had left it at that.

Hans had been able to choose his last name that would be used on the documents, so instead of choosing his last name, Westergaard, he chose the surname "Isles", in memory of his kingdom, which he had learned no longer existed. He wouldn't need his old name if his kingdom didn't exist anymore.

Packing his belongings was easy, as he almost didn't have any. He looked around Arendelle one last time, before heading to the League building for his departure.

He had flown in on an airplane, which was a first for him. Being able to fly in the sky, and look down at the ocean he had sailed many times was truly incredible. It was the first of many experiences he would never forget.

When he landed in Central City, he found himself following the guide given to him by the League, and quickly called a cab at the airport. He had asked the driver to take him to an address, and Hans quickly found himself staring at a huge wall of enormous buildings from the cab's windows. They were so many, it was practically a forest of towers, rising to the sky.

When the ride was over, Hans had been delivered to one of those buildings, and he had to find his way to his room. Unfortunately for him. it was on the 78th floor, and since he didn't know any better, he took the stairs up 78 floors. Needless to say, he was exhausted, and when he opened the door, the first thing he looked for was the bed. Once he did, he immediately crashed onto it, and fell asleep.

When he awakened, however, reality hit him like a wave of cold water. He felt alone. Very alone. If he thought about it, there was no one else he knew in the world, except Anna. He was a fool for chasing her. Perhaps that was the reason he was really chasing her. He didn't want to live alone, surrounded by people he didn't know.

No. He couldn't accept that. That would mean even if Anna came back, he would always feel empty. He had to change, and change for the better. And the first way would be physically.

For the next few weeks, he started working out, becoming much more muscular than he had been at the start of his journey. He had seen glimpses of the Flash, as he raced around the city, and that only motivated Hans to grow stronger.

During that time, he had also been introduced to the job he had been assigned by the League. An intern reporter for the Central Citizen. Hans had never thought he would be on the side of the press, but he realized this new job could provide insight into the Flash, and maybe, just maybe, he could find what he was looking for.

He had been paired with another intern reporter, by the name of Iris West. She was beautiful, but Hans reminded himself he knew nothing of her, and she would only serve as a distraction from his true love.

The first sign that everything was not as it appeared to be was when he had been on his way to the Central Citizen one sunny day. There had been no warning when an object zoomed past Hans, leaving him to look for the origin of the sound it had made. His question had then been answered when a man dressed in blue and white had gone flying into the street, and was caught by none other than the Flash. The man who had been thrown, as Hans would later find out, was a super criminal by the name of Captain Boomerang, who used mechanical boomerangs to commit crimes. After the incident, Hans went to his job as usual, but had gone straight to Iris West. He brought her a coffee, and he quickly informed her of what had occurred.

"Iris, can you believe it? There's a guy out there who was just caught by the Flash," Hans said, shaking his head.

"Really?" Iris said, as she perked her head up. "Is he still there?"

"I don't know," Hans said, as he looked out the window. "I can't see from this angle."

"Come on, then, we've got to go see," Iris said, determined, as she pulled Hans by the hand out the door and into the street. When the pair arrived at the scene, the Flash had just left, and they were left behind in a trail of dust and wind.

"We missed it," Hans panted, out of breath.

"Yeah," Iris groaned. "That's too bad."

As they both returned to the Citizen, Hans decided to ask Iris a question.

"Why were you so excited to see if the Flash was still there?" he asked her.

"Are you kidding me?" she exclaimed.

"No...?"

"He's the Flash," she said, stating it as a fact. "He's always around, helping people. He's a good guy."

"You've met him?"

"Not really," she admitted. "The only time I ever 'met him' was when I was visiting Central City, and I was attacked by Heatwave. He saved me, and brought me to safety, but I never had the chance to say thank you."

"Who is Heatwave?" Hans questioned.

"Heatwave?" she said, her face confused. "You've never heard of Heatwave? Weather Wizard? The Rogues? Where have you been?"

Hans sheepishly shook his head no to all of her questions. "I'm not from around here."

"Come on," she said in disbelief. "I'll show you."

The pair had spent the rest of the afternoon researching the many super villains native to Central City, which astounded Hans. How was it possible there were so many criminals with such power in a city 'protected' by the Flash? Why was this allowed?

His questions would only grow with time.


Time had went on, and Hans became more comfortable with his life, when the invasion struck. Unknown to many, Central City had become a center for the monsters that hailed from another reality, and the city stopped running for the first time in decades.

Hans had been at the Central Citizen when he had heard the shockwave of the portal ripple throughout the city. He quickly found Iris, and they followed everyone to the basement of the building.

"What's going on?" Iris whispered, panicking.

"Who knows?" Hans replied, becoming increasingly worried. There had been minor incidents of other Rogues attacking since he had arrived, but this blew all of those instances out of the water.

For one thing, the sky had turned orange, and he was sure that wasn't supposed to happen. For another, before they had all been rushed into the basement, Hans had gotten a glimpse of something he thought he shouldn't have. It was a massive, standing ring, filled with the color blue, and out of the blue came what he thought were monsters. Beasts, that looked like something out of a nightmare. The very sight of them caused him to not speak of what he had seen, but he was still very worried. Perhaps in the past, he had been too harsh with the man behind the scarlet suit, and now he could only pray the Flash would be keeping them safe. If not, they would all be doomed.

The thundering that could be heard overhead suddenly was overshadowed by a loud cracking noise, and came to an abrupt end. One brave man peeked his head from the shelter they had found underneath the earth. The sky was back to being the color blue, and the man shouted to everyone it was safe to leave.

One by one, everyone came out of the ground, and to their confusion, saw everything looked as it had before. But upon closer inspection, everything was not the same.

Their building had been mostly shielded from any flying debris, being situated on a corner, but the rest of the street had not been as lucky. The street was torn, as if a hurricane had passed by, and there were some bodies of civilians on the side of the road, almost as if someone had picked them up and placed them there. Strangely enough, there weren't many defeated invaders left, and there was an odd stench that filled the air. When Hans looked carefully, he noticed there were actually no monsters anywhere to be seen.

The most alarming part of it all was the lack of sound. There were no birds chirping, no bustling sidewalks, not even the roaring engine of an automobile. The unnerving feeling was affecting many people, and it was noticeable in the crowds of people that emerged from their shelters. Even as Iris caught up to Hans, she grabbed onto his arm, trying to shake the sensation off. The sight of destruction only served to further his intentions.


Unfortunately for Hans, his goals would be cut short when a few days after the invasion, the news broke that it was the Flash who had saved everyone. He had seen what had happened in Gotham, the city most affected by the invasion, and he couldn't believe Central City had been as lucky to look almost perfectly intact. The damage to Gotham had been intense, to say the least, and it looked as if many reparations were needed to bring it back to life.

But the biggest takeaway for the man from the past was how his supposed 'enemy' was now the world's savior. It certainly put a massive dent in his plans. If they loved him before, they worshipped him now. If he couldn't fool the public, how would he fool Anna? His main objective was to reveal to the world something terrible about their beloved hero, to ruin his image, and by proxy, his relationship to Anna.

Now that he was dead, his entire trip to Central City had been in vain. Anna was still in Arendelle, and here he was, across the sea, desperate to be reunited with the only remnant of his past.

He wasn't due to return to Arendelle for another ten months or so, and he had no idea on how to return. And so, he gave up on returning on his own. The only way he would keep himself occupied would be by continuing what he had started.

So what if he became a superhero? As far as he knew, there were some heroes who were only human, with no powers. Namely the Bat people of Gotham, who fought with their skills. Why couldn't he do the same?

He knew it was childish, foolish, and stupid to attempt something like that. To go out in the night, and take on criminals willing to kill someone for money. But something inside of himself asked him to find a way to impress Anna. His past title meant nothing anymore, not in this world, and Anna would never be impressed with him as he was.

If he became a hero, though, who struggled through the hardships of being a man who faced danger and death head on with nothing to protect him, Anna would be much more impressed with what he had become. He needed her to see that. He would show her he didn't need fancy powers to help others.

And not to mention the dramatic reveal he would undertake. He would rush to save her from a perilous menace, and once safe, she would ask him who he was, and he would show himself to be none other than Hans. A man worn down by the toll his vigilantism had cost him. And when she saw the broken man he had become, Anna would take him in, and heal him.

It may have been the horror of the aftermath from the invasion that had done this to him, or the event itself, but after that day, Hans was no longer the same man who had longed to join his love again. No longer the man who would help others in their time of need.

Something deep inside of him had died.