The rain was unrelenting, the thick sheets of it pelted down against the streets. Wind picked up and howled through the narrow alleyways and roads, lights in the distance looked like watchful eyes through the haze. Everything about the city felt haunted, an almost unnatural chill filling the air.
Zatanna ran through the tattered streets of Metropolis, burning through the little mana she had left on the strongest spell she knew, hoping to banish the darkness,or at least outrun it.
Heh, the small self depreciating voice in her head couldn't help but laugh/ scoff
Running, that's all anyone seems to be able to do nowadays, run and hide from their problems in hopes someone else comes dashing in and solves them, hoping one day a hero will come in and save the day.
She was supposed to be that hero, but she's not, she knows she's not but she's still trying her best, hoping the ancient spell works the way the legends say it should and brings something to chase away the darkness
A bang as Wonder Woman crashes into the pavement, creating a crater in the street as she was pummeled by a figure further away in the smoke
"Zatanna...run" Diana grunts out in pain hoping she
"He's getting closer" said Supergirl in a fright from above, bruised and bloodied from the ferocious constant battle
"We'll keep him off you, just finish the spell Z!" Said Batwoman who came out of hiding from the roofs as she drop kicked one of the robots from above and the rest of the Super Hero Girls, including Bumblebee and Green Lantern, with Mary Marvel fought with their lives on the line and ran towards the smoke incased figures marching towards them
Zatanna pulled every ounce of magic from her being, barely enacting the spell which caused a tear throughout the fabric of space and time. As she focused the tear got bigger and bigger until it was bigger than her and as she tried to look closer through the tear she felt the heat of multiple explosions hit her back from all angles and she knew her friends had lost.
She was tempted, oh so tempted, to forget the spell and fight with her comrades, to rush into the fray and not be some sort of liability, but she knows this is where she is truly needed, this is what she must do, so she pours in the final bit of her magic into the spell finally breaking through the barriers of the universe. Hoping praying to whatever is above that she sees the light to lead her our of the...
Darkness, absolute darkness, that's all she sees in the tear, that's all their is to see, the blackest of blacks, as if consuming the light around it. Taking her hope instead giving it.
No. This isn't how the spell is supposed to go...It was supposed to bring a weapon, something to fight him.
Zatanna dejected and defeated fell to her knees in front of the portal and was unable to stop the tears from flowing and starts begging to the universe.
"Please, PLEASE, I don't know who or what is listening, but we need...something, anything that can help us, someone please help us, WE NEED SOMEONE TO SAVE US" Zatanna cried into the portal as her voice rang throughout the void
Nothing, no response.
She continues to break down punching the ground hanging her head in defeat, not seeing the tiny spark of electricity within the void
BOOM.
A shadow looms above her from behind, looking down upon her very existence, as if
"A pathetic, futile final attempt by puny creatures unaware of the true terror they rebel against" said the shadow, annoyed by the level of resistance this planet continues to produce
"What, angry that a bunch of 'lower lifeforms' managed to kick your butt for so long, Brainiac" Zatanna said with a false sense of bravado to the now named cybertronic conquer
"Minor complications" said the giant green Goliath
Your resistance has been annoying and ultimately futile, just like your race as a whole
As Brainiac lifted his hand to blast Zatanna and finish the fight, the portal suddenly came roaring with electricity, no with
Lightning, flashes of Lightning and thunder fill the scene, chasing away the darkness with the loudest roar of power Zatanna had ever heard, with the portal consuming the streets in multi-colored lightning, destroying every robot and blasting Brainiac into a nearby Skyscraper
Zatanna, stunned looks back into the tear and sees a 'figure' dashing through the darkness, a blur of light and movement, further than she should be able to see but definitely getting closer, and FAST.
Brainiac, furious gets up out of the rubble and charges at Zatanna, identifying her as the cause of all of this and determined to make sure she will never be a problem again
Zatanna hears the commotion, and wishes she had at least one of her allies was with her, and as she tries to get out of the way of his wrath, her legs fail her and she falls back to the ground, shuts her eyes and grits her teeth, preparing for the worst
But the pain never comes as she feels a rush of wind overtake her from behind and absolutely destroy the body Brainiac is currently occupying
And in his place, a figure literally vibrating with power and glowing golden eyes stares at Zatanna and in the most dubstep voice she has ever heard the figure asks,
"Are You The One Who Has Summoned Me?" asked the vibrating being
Zatanna, beaten and broken with the last of her power stands up and looks the figure in her eye
Looking it up and down she nods her head rapidly, confirming that she is it's summoner and she hopes it's not angry at the impromptu summons
"Okay, good now make sure I don't die, kay" the figure said
What?
The figure then promptly falls to floor, and starts convulsing with energy and faintly vibrating through the street below
"Yeah, you sort of messed up the process of calling me here,you dragged me throughout like a solid half of infinity, and I'm not mad perse but would really appreciate the assist in getting to the nearest hospital" The figure said, bass gone in its voice as it looks up at Zatanna, actually speaking to her in a playful manner, in an albeit strained voice
Then the figure started to slow, all of its erratic movement, all the lightning in the surroundings, fading and as it slowly stopped its vibrations she could now see the figure was...
"Some Kid in yellow spandex?" Zatanna couldn't help but say out loud
The scene stops
Okay, I bet your a little confused right about now, you see that kid lying on the floor their, the really good looking one with his face in the asphalt, yeah that's me, now I bet your all wondering how I got caught up in all this, how some kid could do what I just did and to tell you that, I need to tell you my whole story so strap in, it really is one wild ride.
[Earlier that Day, on another Earth]
Now to fully understand what I'm about to tell you l need you to do something first okay. You need to believe in the impossible, can you do that for me, believe in something beyond your understanding, believe in what was once fiction to save your life and the lives of everyone on this planet? Can you do that? Can you believe?
A blur of movement cuts through the city streets, passing by hundreds of people in a second with no-one even batting an eye at this strange phenomenon
Good. Now imagine you could run faster than the speed of sound. That's approximately 765- miles per hour, over a thousand feet per second, with complete and total control of your actions, imagine what that feels like, the wind in your hair the constant whiplash on your checks and the endless adrenaline that comes with each step
That blur cutting through the crowd like melted butter, accelerating faster and faster amongst the people, with the wind only catching up half a second later, seemingly chasing this streak through the streets
Imagine being that fast.
We see cars speeding down the busy streets, as something speeds past them, a crimson blur, a flash of electricity
We hear slight civilian chatter through the streets, "Hey look, it's the, UGHH" said a passersby interrupted as the gust of wind following the blur as it tries futilely to catch up to it
"Wonder if he's late, he's usually alot slower in the city" said some random guy
Imagine as the faster you go, the more the world slows down, as if making way for your every whim
Everything slows, Coming to a screeching halt, the people, the cars, the flags blowing in the wind overhead, Everything just Stops. Everything but that blur, that stubborn streak of red and yellow.
But everything isn't slowing down, the world isn't really frozen, it just seems that way to you because your moving that fast, just try to imagine moving that fast. But the thing is I don't have to imagine anything.
I AM THAT FAST.
A being of some sorts cutting through every known law of physics, accelerating beyond what the untrained eye can see.
You see that red blur that's me, look, oh Oh that too, wait there I am again
We finally get a glimpse of the blur, a man clad in a yellow suit with red highlights, with his ginger hair cropping out up top of his full face mask, with goggles placed over his eyes on his forehead, and boots seemingly made out of the most flexible gold shining through the streets.
I have the ability to do what few dream of doing, I can move through my city like a gaurdian angel always speeding to the rescue
And I am So So Late!!! C'mon Wally push them legs go baby.
I am the [maybe] fastest man alive, I am the Flash.
Okay, well technically right now I am the Kid Flash and totally getting ahead of myself, again sorry that's just what I do when everyone else is just so SLOW.
My Name is Wally West, protégé and parter to the Flash otherwise known as Barry Allen the supposed fastest man alive, but I KNOW I'm faster and the fact uncle Barry never wants to race just proves it
So yeah I'm [maybe] The Fastest Man Alive
And yeah I meant the fastest MAN alive I'm 17, but despite that I'm still 'Kid' Flash to everyone like I'm legal enough to drink in most states so I should be legal enough to take up the mantle or at least lose the kid part...it's embarrassing
And I don't get it, Robin #1 became Nightwing at 18, and nobody got confused about his name change, people just accepted it, encouraged it even, but me oh no no no, no matter what I tell the people to call me, The streak, The Blur, etc... they always fall back to 'Kid Flash' like they can't imagine me as anything else.
I want to be something else, someone else, someone better than who I was and, and
This is totally NOT the time for self introspection you were supposed to be in STAR city an HOUR ago, c'mon Wally, push it
We see the Maas of movement known as Wally West finally break city line onto open road where he can really let loose as he speeds up more and more until he is nigh supersonic, encroaching on the speed of sound until
BOOM!
A sonic boom can be heard from the outskirts of Central City, even with all the hustle and bustle of morning life
"Ohh, yeah definitely late" said the passersby from earlier as he hears the boom with every citizen in Central City just accepting the strange phenomenon as if it was a daily occurrence
[At the Quiver, Secret Base of the Arrow]
"C'mon Wally, where are you?" Said Barry Allen the Flash wondering where his protégé could possibly be standing near the entrance of the Quiver, The underground base of Star City's own Vigilante
How is it that he's always late when he has SUPER SPEED?!? Like I know I've personally been late to one or two occasions but that's not the point...
"Oh he'll get here, stop worrying so much" Said Oliver Queen, the vigilante known as the Arrow
"Y'know that kid is like you, he'd be late to his own funeral if given the chance" Said Oliver
"Why do people say that like it's not a GOOD thing to be late for your own funeral" said Barry
"And that's the main problem, he's too like me, and he wants to be like me too much, I just want him to be better, I know he could be better." Said Barry
"I know you do Barry, but he's gotta figure it out on his own." Said The Arrow offering his sagely wisdom
Then due to the city surveillance system, they see a flash of movement and lightning tear through the city towards their location
"See, on his way now" said Oliver pointing towards the ample screens in the cave
"Yeah,welp I better get the treadmill ready" said Barry as he sped off to check on the Universal Treadmill, the speedforce booster and all around only good measurement device for recording top super speed
Oh you just don't want him to know you were standing here worried " Shouted Oliver as the door to the hideout opened
"Hey, the main man is in the house!" Shouted Wally
"Lobo?" Said Oliver sarcasticly
"Hardehar, very funny" Said Wally with a deadpan stare taking off his mask and letting his goggles hang around his neck
So where's the rest of the party? Wally stated whilst speeding throughout the area looking at all the technology and equipment adorning the wall of the hideout
"C'mon they're all in there" Said Oliver as he pointed down a hall to the left
"They all moved to the testing area as they've been waiting for SOMEONE to get here for the past half hour"
Yeah, yeah, so I was late no need to be a douche about it
"So why aren't we doing this at S.T.A.R labs instead, I dunno feels like they got better equipment to handle this sorta thing" Wally verbalized what was bugging him AND ignoring Oliver's snide comment
" Nah, Barry was tired of the constant explosions happening in the lab, and this place has a titanium bunker made to house the power of a small star so even if something goes wrong the damage will be minimal," Said Oliver
Wally stops in his tracks and looks at The Arrow dubiously
"Woah, woah woah, Nobody told me anything about explosions" Wally stated
"Ahaha did I...I meant... well you see...uhmm well its so that IF things go wrong, Which they won't but IF something were to occur we'd be safe" Oliver said nervously
"And I would have to take the contained blast" Wally said with a deadpan stare
A good long 4 seconds of uninterrupted silence happens between the two heroes, with one staring down the other
"Uggh, whatever, but if this new Universal Treadmill blows me to another dimension you totally owe me 100 bucks" Wally states
"Make it 200" Oliver says confidente in the device even though he possess no odea on how it operates
Wally walks forward still cautious of the new device after how the old one turned out.
Ughh, so much glitter, i never knew a man could be that bedazzled, had to rewash my suit like a hundred times, I still get flashbacks at birthday parties.
"Oh, joy Friend Mini Flash has arrived" A bright, red bushy haired girl with orange tanned skin burst through a nearby door, teaming with excitement
"HAH, Starfire, how have you an the rest of the Titans been?" Said Wally happy to see his friend and curious to know what sort of trouble the Titans got themselves into this time
"Oh just the usual antics of trouble" Starfire said with a dopey smile and Wally cant help but think of the time they went into space with the Titans to fight Starro the starfish and Beast Boy turned into a Giant Shrimp to fight it off, hah good times.
"Where's the rest of the team Star?" Wally asks curious on what Cyborg has to say about the treadmill and wanting to see Nightwing
"Oh they are the Not Here, as they said and I quote, 'Am Not willing to wait for him to blow himself up, been there done that, record it tho Star' End Quote" Said Starfire
"But don't worry I am the excitement to see you blow yourself to the sky high once more" Starfire said as if complimenting, even encouraging Kid Flash's tendency to get blown up during experiments.
It's not like he CHOOSES to get hit with explosions, just in this profession lots of bad things happen all the damn time and when you are the only one fast enough to react in time in the room, no matter what personal feelings that I may possess, I react.
"Yeah, yeah no-one is getting blown up today so keep that excitement to a minimum okay, this is just a test of the new Universal Treadmill" said Wally, not really believing his own words
"Let me just go say hi to the rest of the gang and get this party really started then" Wally said as he pulled Star into the room she came out of, to see the room is connected to the other room but closed off with a nigh impenetrable one way glass wall.
He first sees Mister Terrific working on a computer, oddly focused, possibly putting finishing touches on the safety mechanisms, Or he could just be playing Minesweeper, yeah he's just playing Minesweeper
Tim Drake, Duke Thomas and Cisco Ramone in an oddly heated debate about which version of Godzilla is the best with Caitlin Snow watching with morbid fascination, egging each one on to keep the conversation going
He also sees Barry I'm the other room through the glass speeding around the treadmill checking it for faults
Artemis Crook and Black Canary sitting in some oddly comfortable looking chairs in the corner of the room just watching everyone else with bored eyes, possibly waiting for the light show
"Hey People, The life of the party has arrived!" Exclaimed Wally
A symphony of "Hey's and Hi's" filled the room with each person present happy to see that the speedster finally made it
"'The life of the party' should have arrived over an hour ago!!!" Exclaimed Artemis, clearly bored and annoyed with the speedster
"Yeah, where you been man we ran diagnostics at least 8 times" Said Mr.Terrfic
"Yeah, yeah, but I'm here now so let's get this treadmill up and running". Said Wally
"Alright mister impatient, initializing systems now, 2 minutes until fully operational" said Duke
"Hey, Quick question, why are there so many of us here, this isn't even that exciting, where just going to be watching him run in place for a few minutes then get lunch, don't we as a group of intelligent, capable superheroes have better things to do?" Said Tim Drake verbalizing his confusion now that Wally was present
"Eh, we were bored with nothing better to do, Artemis and Canary were already here as well they sorta live here, you and me had an off day and wanted to get out of Gotham, Mister Terrific, Caitlin and Cisco built the thing so they wanted to see how'd it operate and Wally and Barry are here to test it, so this gathering sorta just happened." Said Duke explaining to his brother from another mother
"Okay, but what about Starfire, love her and all but does she have any real reason to be here?" Tim said pointing towards Starfire looking around the room like a lost cat
"Oh, I am here for 'the vibes' as the rest of the Titans say." Said Starfire explaining her presence in the most Starfire way possible, just happy to be there
Oliver whom was watching this exchange suggests that,"Hey want to get something to eat or just chill before we test this thing?"
"Nah, I'm ready and roaring to go let's get this show on the road, then we can eat" Wally said as he sped off to the other room ready to show them all what speed really means
He encounters Barry, checking some cables running into the treadmill for what appears to be the 100th time
"Hey slow poke, ready to see what real speed looks like?" Wally mockes with no real malice in his voice after seeing his mentor for the first time today
"Oh, ok Speed Star, good to see you too, just make sure you actually go fast enough to warm up the track for me so I can actually be able to smoke you after your baby run" Barry fires back in good fun
"HAH, watch and learn old man, time to show you how this Speed Star really moves" Wally says as he steps on the treadmill and starts to stretch ready to let loose as Mister Terrific cam be heard from the comms from the other room.
"Hey Flash, get outta there, we gotta seal the room to collect the excess energy from the motion, you'd be fine if you stayed in there with him but it would affect the collection process"
"Alright, alright I'm going" Barry said back then looked at Wally
"Hey, I can stay in the room if you want?" Barry offers his protégé feeling uncharacteristically nervous about the test run
Wally takes a moment to consider the offer but not wanting to seem nervous he says
"Nah,I mean I appreciate the thought but it should be fine, I mean what could possibly go wrong" Kid Flash said not knowing how wrong he was, completely unsure of what was about to go down.
"OK, welp break a leg kid" Barry says as he leaves and shuts the door behind him, sealing the chamber
"Wrong thing to say in this context dude!" Wally shouts as he readys himself, putting his mask and goggles back on
Alright Wally all eyes on me just the way i like it, this is just a test,no pressure, just have to show em why I'm the fastest man alive.
"Alright West counting down, get ready, 3" said Mister Terrific counting down
The device roars to life instantly powering up ready to handle the speedsters full throttle
"2"
The room filled with speed force energy, excess coming off of Wally in preparation for whats to come, as if the universe itself was telling Wally to let loose and run the device ragged
"1"
Let's do the West, Run, Wally RUN!!!
GO!!!
Top Speed was achieved nigh instantaneously managing to go faster and faster until you could no longer make out the shape of him running, just a mass of movement generating enough energy to charge all of Central City for weeks in seconds
BOOM, the sound barrier breaks as everyone looks at Wally with fascination, intrigued on how someone could move this fast
"Mach 1.47 and climbing," Cisco says as he reads the speedometer on the treadmill
"Mach 2.6, no 2.9" Caitlin says right before another BOOM can be heard,"Make that Mach 3"
The energy levels keep rising as all the batteries and energy fields prepared reach maximum capacity and the whole facility seems to start running at 8x efficiency
Barry impressed by the hustle and satisfied with the treadmills durability thinks this is enough of a test and tries to signal Wally to stop
Wally focused on the run doesn't see his signals and keeps increasing his speed enamored by the rush
"Wally you can slow down now, the test is over" Barry says over the intercom, worried about the levels of energy in the room, that start to border levels of completely impossible
Stop, Wally thinks, I can't stop now, I've barely gotten warmed up?!?!
Nah, I can feel it, I can go faster, like ALOT faster
Wally then instead of slowing down speeds up hitting speeds he has never reached before, either due to lack of capability or lack of reason
The whole world slows down as the room becomes nothing if not one of the largest lightshows in existence with Lightning scattering through the room escaping out through the microscopic cracks in the door pulsating throughout the hallway and destroying the locking mechanism
"Wally, get off, your overloading the system!!!" Barry screams his worries realized as the comms start to spark and burn out, cutting the only communication between them and him
Barry and the rest of the heroes now completely and totally worried rush to the room, leaving Tim and Star to Watch his condition, having Bary lead the charge and absorb the excess energy to try and get Wally
off the treadmill
They get to the door and realize the mechanism is broken
"Guys" Cisco says in a worry
"Dude just went HYPERSONIC, he's going over Mach 18, and CLIMBING" Cisco says wondering how this type of speed is even possible
"Okay I know Kid Flash is fast, but not THAT fast, how is this even possible, he treadmill should have shut down by now" Caitlin asks wondering why the numerous safety measures haven't stopped him yet
Barry realizing what's doing this starts to get frantic and tries to vibrate through the door
only to get shocked away by the energy convergence happening in the foor itself
"Barry, do you know what's happening" Oliver says rushing to Barry's side
"It's the speedforce" Barry manages to grunt out
"He tapped into it and now it's supplying him with infinite fuel, what for I really don't know but whenever it gets personally involved bad things happen"
"What type of 'bad things'" Artemis asks
"The Multiversal kind, we have to get him off of that treadmill before he gets flung into some alternate timeliness, or alternate Earth
or just straight stuck in the speedforce" Barry says in a worried voice, profoundly regretting not staying in the room with him
The Flash gets up and tries to vibrate through the walls reaching into the depths of his power only to get bounced off once again
"Hey, Barry, that isn't really working, why don't you lie down a minute and let us try to break through the door" Oliver says to his friend, worried about him, but understanding his worry
Back with Wally we see him moving like he's never moved before
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"What" Wally exclaimed, unsure of if the speed high he is on is making him hallucinate
{⁰Płəæ§é, Ğø, FƧÞƏŘ}
"Faster? I'm sorry miss incorporeal voice I've hit max speed, just keeping this is taking everything out of me" Wally says, internally questioning why he's even keeping this speed in the first place, he knows he's got nothing to prove, and he knows this much energy could be dangerous for everyone else
But, BUT I just can't STOP, this is the first time in a long time I've been able to really let loose like this, I'm actually pushing myself again, the Energy is enveloping me, fueling me, pushing me to go faster than I've ever gone before
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"Faster, I can totally go faster!" Wally Exclaimed giving in to the adrenaline
Going faster than before
In the control room, Star and Tim freak out observing the mass of speed that is their friend, shocked when the energy and light in the room starts to die down, albeit only slightly to see...
"Friend Flash and other associates, you may be the wanting to see this!" Starfire screames out calling the heroes back into the room
The rest of the heroes rush in carrying the Flash who was hurt from trying to phase into the room
"What happened to.." Tim states seeing the Flashes disheveled state
"Nevermind that now, LOOK!" Tim exclaims knowing they have bigger things to worry about, pointing to the glass to emphasize his point
And as every hero turns they see Wally enveloped in Gold and red lightning. Moving faster than the system can calculate, settling on estimating his speed as 1/4 the speed of light
With all the commotion no-one notices the symbols that appear on every screen, glitching in and out due to the power surges
{Ple...., PLEASE, I don't ..... is listening, but we need... help us, someone...elp us,WE... SAVE US} a voice rang out taking all of Kid Flash's attention, desperate to answer the call from the void
From the other room as The Flash and rest of the heroes decide that breaking the glass and pulling the emergency stop behind the treadmill is the best course of action Wally emits one final boom that shatters the glass and sends them all flying
"Barry" Wallys voice echoes through the room
"Wally, You Need To STOP!" Barry screams out
"I...I can't" Wally cries
"There's something pushing me to go faster, telling me it needs me, begging for me to go"
"WE NEED YOU WALLY, the people of Central City, your parents, your friends, your Aunt Iris, ME, we all need you, Please Just SLOW DOWN" Barry cries desperately trying to convince him to stop, to not listen to the speedforce and listen to him
"That voice your hearing is the Speedforce, and I don't know what it wants but it can't be good, please, just slow down" Barry tried to reason with him
"I'm sorry, I really am but, the voice, its not just the speedforce and both voices sound desperate, whoever they are NEEDS a hero" Wallys voice said
"But that hero doesn't have to be YOU Wally" Barry begged
"Sorry Barr, but I think it does, take care of Central City for me, And Uncle Barry
Barry getting emotional since it's been years since Wally has called him Uncle
"Yeah kid?"
"Told you I was faster" Wally said as one final pulse of power permeated throughout the whole facility signaling when
he ran into the speedforce bliping out existence in a brilliant show of light and power
Seconds go by as the power dissipates into the air, leaving the atmosphere slightly metallic tasting
"Umm, I am the unsure if this timing is adequate but I have recorded the entire ordeal on my phone of smarts" Starfire manages to squeak out breaking the tense silence as the heroes lie on the floor feeling confused and defeated
"Ughhh!!!!" Oliver groans annoyed
"What?" Black Canary states
"I owe that kid 200 bucks now"