CBU Presents: Elseworlds ⚡︎ The Flash: Growing Pains

Keystone City, the first of the twin cities that connect from Kansas to Central City, Missouri.

One of the first cities to house one of the first well-known superheroes “The Flash.” A place to many that’s not as mesmerizing as Metropolis, yet much more optimistic than Gotham. But to one Linda Park, it’s a good place for a fresh start.

 

“Got the camera ready, Will?” She questions her camera guy. He gives a thumbs up in response. She lets out a mixed sigh of anticipation and anxiousness as she puts on her earpiece to hear the newsroom. She looks back at Will to see him counting down to one before the camera is on.

 

“And now we go to the street with our reporter Linda Park, why don’t you tell us what’s been happening?”

 

She finally hears from the newsroom. ‘Go time.’ She thinks to herself.

 

“Well DiDio, there’s been a recent string of robberies that have involved artifacts that to most people aren’t much concern, but this one in particular has gained the interest of the Justice League, leaving many concerned as these robberies could be connected to several others that have happened in the likes of Star City, Midway City, and several other Metropolitan areas.”

 

Blocks away near a bank. A man dressed in an orange jumpsuit with teal armor walks to the end of a rooftop, known to many as Mirror Master. He scopes out past the guards and several cruisers to see his eyes on the prize; a transport car that harbors likely millions.

 

“Bingo.” He says as pulls out a device from his belt, activating it as the truck is finished loading up and heads out. He presses a button on said device which causes him to vanish. A guard in the front of the truck is looking through his phone, liking a picture of some model.

 

“Ass is a bit flat, innit?”

 

The guard looks up to see the source of the voice, turning to his side mirror. Before being slugged and yanked out through the window of the truck. The driver tries to pull out his gun, but two more duplicates that come from the side and rearview mirrors grab and restrain him before one throws a harsh blow to his face, mainly his nose, knocking him out.

 

“Sorry lad, finders keepas, losers weepas!” He yells out, closing the door immediately after and grabs onto the wheel, speeding away as several cop cars chase after.

 

-

 

Meanwhile, on the other side of Keystone…

 

“Have a wonderful day.” Chester says, casually waving the customer goodbye. While he spots his friend, former high school classmate, and recent coworker Wally West, resting his head on his hand and watching the antique clock finally be 3:00 already.

 

 

“Y’know, you have speed powers, why don’t you just speed up time?” Chester asks which Wally looks back in response, in a blitz he’s laying on the counter with his elbow.

 

“It’s not exactly a hard science Chunk; I can’t just casually shift time and space to my own whims.”

 

Chester raises his eyebrow. “Yet you can steal and give speed to any person and object?” He asks.

 

Wally pauses, attempting to come up with a rebuttal, but hears a notification from his phone on the counter. He rushes to it, seeing a notification about a truck robbery in Keystone. ‘Perfect excuse.’ He smirks, putting his phone in his pocket.

 

“Chunk, I’ll be taking my five now.”

 

Chester groans. “Try not to be late again or Weisman’ll actually fire you this time.”

 

Wally chuckles while putting his vest in his locker.

 

“Then I guess he wouldn’t be a wise man.” He retorts as he exits the building; getting a running start. But not before time momentarily pauses. Blue lightning manifests and goes through his body, not harming him, but forming and forging a suit, his Kid Flash suit. As it’s fully assembled, time starts finally catching up as he thinks to himself ‘that’ll never get old’ he dashes straight towards the robbery.

 

Within less than a second, he speeds past the bank. He spots the hijacked truck heading straight towards two kids that are playing hopscotch. Immediately, he grabs the two kids and moves them across the block away from the truck that skids the area that they were just in. He turns towards the two, warning them.

 

“Next time, do it in your backyard, okay?”

 

They nod in response, he gives a thumbs up before zipping towards the truck. He rushes past the cruisers, getting closer to the truck. When he sees the back of the truck open to reveal Mirror Master.

 

“‘Ello Boyo! Sorry to wake you up from your nappy, don’t worry lass, I’ll make up fo’ it!” He yells as he grabs and throws several pocket mirrors onto the road in front of Wally, one of which has an arm pop out and grab his ankle, causing him to crash onto the ground. He tries to get up but several more copies pull out and tackle him, he struggles to break free and is almost unsuccessful before deciding to do this through a different way, a more… destructive way.

 

He vibrates his molecules, which for most speedsters would have them phase through things, for him it does that while having said object explode. He phases and darts through the duplicates which explode in response. ‘Okay, I can't exactly get close without him throwing several more of himself at me, and I already have way too many scratches on this suit already.’ He stops to see small shards of glass, he’s already gotten an idea. He grabs several dozen shards before launching alongside the truck.

 

“Sorry MM, your ride stops here.” Wally remarks, throwing all the shards at a tire, causing the car to drag across the road, Mirror Master tries to slow it down, but is unsuccessful as it slams through a fire hydrant and grazes several car bumpers before finally stopping, well, crashing at a bus stop. Wally stands close by, his arms crossed as Mirror Master crawls out of the wreckage, battered and bruised, and but still pissed.

 

“Y’know Scudder, you sound a little caught a little cold, I’d recommend a physician before a cell at Iron Heights.”

 

MM scowls as he’s being handcuffed and taken to a cop car.

 

“Fack off, ya Ronald Macdonald wearin’ sonova-” He's cut off by the door closed by one of the officers.

 

“Sorry, what was that? I couldn’t hear you. Maybe you should ask for some ginger or chamomile tea, I’ve heard they’ve been giving them out in prison!” Wally chuckles after saying that.

 

“Kid Flash!”

 

He turns to see a man followed by several officers, presumably the one leading these guys.

 

“Captain Phillips.” He introduces himself, shaking his hand. “Thank you for helping us out, a bit surprised to be honest, I was expecting the other guy to show up.”

 

Wally keeps his mouth shut, while he loves being a hero and helping out and all that, he doesn’t really like when they bring him up.

 

“No problem Captain, I’ve dealt with my fair share of Rogues on my own.” He turns back to Mirror Master. “Although he doesn’t sound like the Scudder I know.”

 

The captain scratches the back of his head in response. “That’s because he isn’t, his name’s Evan McColloch, typical lowlife known for petty theft and drug use. He was taken to Iron Heights, bunked up with Mardon, and around a week or so ago, he along with Scudder’s equipment somehow went missing; we’re not sure how he got it, but that’ll be for later. Our concern now is getting him back to cell.”

 

Wally nods in response before he hears his name called out; he turns his head back to see several reporters, giving the usual questions. ‘How are the Teen Titans?’ ‘Who are you currently dating?’ ‘Will you be joining the Justice League?’, the usual. Until he feels a tap and looks over his shoulder to see a new reporter that he doesn’t recognize and looks to be about his age.

 

“Linda Park, 52 News, I’d like to ask a few questions, if you don’t mind?” While he’s dealt with the news due to his work with the Titans and Barry, the fact he’s by himself, along with Linda’s… unique look? He starts getting a bit nervous.

 

“Uh, yeah! Why not?” As he finishes saying that, he’s immediately given a question.

 

“What do you have to say about the current issues of superheroes?”

 

“Pardon?” He raises his brow in response.

 

“Well given the recent occurrences of robberies in several cities, along with certain heroes caught in recent controversial circumstances, people are questioning whether or not you should be marked as a vigilante, especially after what just happened.”

 

Wally’s confused, until he examines the area around him. The buildings' windows nearby are shattered, several cars are heavily wrecked, the pavement is covered in skid marks, and at least two fire hydrants are spraying what’s likely an expensive amount of water.

 

“Do you have any thoughts on that?” His attention is brought back by Linda. He stands there, attempting to give an answer or anything, but instead apologizes before running off. In less than a second, he stops outside of the city next to the “Welcome to Keystone!” sign, breathing a sigh of relief. Then he hears a ping and pulls his phone to see a text from his boss. Which said ‘don’t bother showing your face back to work.’ with a trashbin emoji sent along with it.

 

“Great.”

 

-

 

Wally stares at the statues of himself and Barry as they run against each other which causes him to reminisce about the days when things were simpler; when he and his uncle Barry were just the fastest duo, fighting the likes of Captain Cold, The Turtle, the Top, and the rest of those Rogues.

 

He looks around the unfinished museum, “I wish you’d be here to see it.”

 

His days of reminiscing are interrupted when he feels a small buzz in his back pocket from his phone, he pulls it out to see a text from Hartley, a good friend and even better paying roommate, asking if he’ll be at the local bar tonight. He sighs before deciding he might as well.

 

“I probably need to relax a bit.” He sighs before speeding off.

 

-

 

“Well I can’t say I’m surprised, kinda hard to do retail, a job that requires you to be around people, if you’re busy fighting a weirdo mirror guy on the other side of town and not there.” Hartley comments, trying his best to soften the blow of logic towards Wally, but probably making it worse.

 

“It was a mirror gun and the guy took over a truck that was going through the city like a maniac! Besides, it was barely five minutes.” Wally interjects, to which Hartley raises his brow.

 

“So then why did you get fired?” He inquires which causes Wally to put his head on the table, exhausted being reminded of it.

 

“Apparently we have specific times for breaks, and our boss came in early to see me not there. Chunk was let off with a warning, I got fired. According to him anyway…”

 

Hartley shakes his head. “If it helps, you lasted longer than the other guys expected.”

 

Wally looks up, dejected as all hell. “Sorry…”

 

“Hey, it’s no big deal! I pay for most of our rent anyway, however if you’re still looking for a job-”

 

Wally snaps back up from the table and cuts him off immediately. “No, hell no.”

 

“Oh come on! My company is successful, it’s been doing well for months, it wouldn’t hurt to have a speedster as company mascot.”

 

Wally rolls his eyes.

 

“Like I’m gonna be a sellout… I might be struggling, but I’m not Booster Gold.”

 

Hartley raises his empty glass for a drink, which gets filled before he immediately takes a sip.

 

“Well, let’s get off topic then. Have you heard anything from the band?”

 

Wally sighs in response.

 

“Donna’s been trying to broker peace between Themyscira and the UN, Garth’s gone back to help guard Atlantis, and Roy… I’ve heard he’s been recovering after the fight with Ollie.”

 

“What about Dick?”

 

Wally closes his eyes, really hoping he wouldn’t ask about him. “Same as the nine months, just silence. I mean I’ve asked Bruce and he said he’s still looking.”

 

Hartley puts his hand on his shoulder. “Hey, he’ll pop back up again. Guys like that will pop back up after a while.” There’s a few moments of silence before Wally tries to break it.

 

“Look, I’m just tired and I imagine you invited me to get distracted, so let’s do that instead.” As he tries to refocus the topic, Hartley catches a cute-looking guy heading past his direction.

 

“Tell you what, why don’t you get started while I go powder my nose.”

 

He looks at him confused before it hits him.

 

“You’re not ditching me for a hook up.”

 

“I’m not, I’m just.. going to powder my nose while you get started for the heavy drinks, besides it’ll take you like a bottle and a half to get buzzed and I’m paying for it anyway, so get to splurging.” He finishes before heading off in the man’s direction. Wally sighs while looking at the bartender.

 

“Just give me a Mai Tai.” As soon as the bartender starts making them a female voice besides him adds.

 

“And a white russian for me.”

 

Wally looks to the side to see… Linda Park?

 

“Hi?” He accidentally says. Linda looks at him confused.

 

“...Hi? Have we met?”

 

He gets a bit nervous and lets out a cough before adding. “Uh no no, I just recognized you for interviewing Kid Fl-”

 

Linda immediately groans. Just as the bartender drops off their drinks to which she takes a big swig off the glass.

 

“Don’t remind me. The last thing I need to be reminded of is today's bullshit.”

 

As he’s about to ask they notice one the tvs is on channel 52, which is issuing a public apology on behalf of the entire news network towards Kid Flash for our… blunder, we promise to not make that mistake, a male news desk reporter says, smiling with the fakest smile that’s ever smiled.

 

“So If you’re one of those ‘flash fans’ that’s been harassing me all day, can you please just text me? It makes it easier for me to block you and I’d rather not worry my eomma and appa.” Linda says, taking another swig from her drink.

 

“Seriously?” He asks, stunned.

 

“Seriously. Like you wouldn’t believe the amount of crazy love this guy has. And he’s not even the main guy!” Hearing that caused him to accidentally let out a chuckle.

 

“Is that funny to you?”

 

“Nononono, of course not!” Wally tried assuring. “It’s just… It reminds me of people who called me weird because I thought I was obsessive when he was the president and only member of the Flash fan club.”

 

She smiles. “Well you’re not wrong, that is pretty damn weird.”

 

“Tell me about it, Wally West, president of the Flash fanclub of Blue Valley Junior High, it was pretty rough.”

 

Her light chuckle explodes into a full blown laugh.

 

“Wally West? Is that short for Wallaby?” She asks mid-laughter. Wally just stares at her, slightly charmed by her laughter.

 

“Well, I’m glad you’re taking it well. And it’s actually short for Wallace.”

 

Linda’s starts to devolve down into a light laugh.

 

“Sorry, sorry, I just needed that after today. And y’know Wallace isn’t any better, right?”

 

Wally shrugs. “Beats Wallaby.”

 

They share a laugh. An hour passes as Wally and Linda continue their conversation, with Linda venting and Wally laughing as she does impressions of her boss and coworkers. Linda looks at the time on her phone and notices she has to head home.

 

“Shit, I gotta go, it’s been fun.” Linda says with a warm smile as she gets ready to head out. Wally looks at his phone, noticing a text from nearly 40 minutes ago from Hartley which says ‘Going back to my room, have fun with her!’ followed by ‘YOU’VE GOT THIS’ which he finishes with a thumbs up emoji.

 

Wally sighs, annoyed initially but relieved. He looks up to see Linda heading out, he goes after her and grabs her arm before she’s out the door.

 

“So as it turns out, my roommate and former drinking buddy decided to play hooky. So now I have a bunch of free time. Would you mind having me be your chaperone until we get to your place?”

 

Linda raises her brow. “It’s not that far, it’s only three blocks from here.”

 

“Still better safe than sorry. Besides, I’ve been liking our talk and I kinda want it to continue, if that’s all right with you?”

 

“You realize this is the type of stuff serial killers say to lure their victim, yeah?” She asks. Wally tries to respond and starts to stammer before he notices her smile. “Sure, why not. Besides, you look too wimpy to be a killer.”

 

“Hey, what do you mean by wimpy?” He follows as they both head out. What would’ve been five minutes was instead extended to about 15 minutes of Wally and Linda talking and sharing laughs. She notices her apartment nearby and stops in front of him.

 

“It’s my stop, it was… great talking to you.” Linda says. Wally can feel his lightly freckled cheeks starting to heat up while he tries to shrug it off.

 

“Aw, it’s-it’s nothing, I mean who wouldn’t do it for a famous reporter… Well, infamous now, but you get my point. You were… fun to hang out with.” They both share a wave before Wally starts to head off, but he stops as he turns around and thinks to himself.

 

‘I can’t believe I’m thinking this, whyIamIthinkingthis? This is a bad idea, youjustmether. Don’tdoitwallly! Don’t do-’ He immediately turns back to face her.

 

“So, would you like to hang out again sometime this week or whatever?”

 

“Like where and when?” She asks with a hand on her hip.

 

“Oh, like the park, on friday?” She purses her lips, contemplating it for a few seconds before shrugging.

 

“Well it beats drinking in a cramped bar, I’m game. Meet me at my workplace for round two Wallaby.”

 

Wally starts unconsciously smiling, feeling a bit of excitement and relief.

 

“Gre-great, I-I mean, challenge accepted. I will see you then for round two Linda Park.”

 

She chuckles before waving him off once more and closing the door to the apartment lobby. Wally can’t help smiling, he can feel the electricity and energy in him start to surge as he zips through the streets.

 

-

 

“You know, if you could just surrender just for today, I’d really appreciate it!” Wally says, gritting his teeth as he stands in a wrestling ring, surrounded by a crowd of criminals, presumably people he and Barry had taken in in the past. As he’s faced by a samuroid with a silly face painted onto it, followed by a man dressed in a revolting mash of blues and yellows, naming himself Trickster Jr, with several drones surrounding them.

 

“No dice dude! Do you know how big I’m gonna be once I kill you? I’m gonna make it to the big leagues of Doom Social!”

 

Wally stops, looking at him puzzled but before he could ask what the hell Doom Social is; he notices the samuroid attempts to decapitate him and he moves to the right, where he ends up getting grazed on his left bicep by the katana from one of the samuroids trying to slice him, but he gets thrown against a barricade from the shockwave of the glowing blade.

 

“Ooooh, looks like Kid Flash needs to get back to Titans academy, he seems like he needs his mommy and daddy Flash to make him all better.” Trickster says with a taunting tone as it’s followed by the audience laughing and cheering. To which Wally grinds his teeth in response.

 

“You are so frickin’ annoying!” He yells out before running at the samuroid by the side, as he jumps he brings his legs up to dropkick its head, it attempts to block but with such a strong speed, the momentum causes it to zip across the ring as it uses its katana to slow what would’ve been a harsh crash into a gentle, almost perfect landing with it kneeling.

 

“Money well spent.” Trickster comments with a nod. Wally starts getting up as he hears a beep, he pulls out his phone to see the time on his phone.

 

‘Dammit, I’m already late.’

 

“If you’re trying to phone a friend, don’t bother. The satellites don’t allow any outside contact apart from these cameras.” Trickster says as he gestures towards the drones surrounding them. Wally only smiles before saying.

 

“Like I’m gonna lose to someone more pathetic than the Prankster.”

 

Trickster’s smile sinks into a frown. “You… are not funny.”

 

“You’re right, I’m not.” Wally says as he jumps back up, putting his phone back in his pocket. “What I am, however, is done with this circus act. Don’t worry though, I’ll be finishing it with an explosive finale.” He finishes as his glow from hazel green to a shiny blue light. He takes a deep breath as bolts of electricity start surrounding him as the Samuroid goes into an offensive stance, in a momentary flash of light, Wally disappears and reappears on its left, throwing a harsh left hook charged with electricity at its head.

 

“Strike one.” Wally says before immediately disappearing and reappearing once more behind it and hurls a charged kick at the back of its neck, it’s thrown forward, twitching even more with small sparks popping around and its mask off and revealing its weak spot. “Strike two.”

 

It takes a few steps back as it turns around to see him vanish once more. It stands perfectly still, waiting for its moment as it uses both hands to hold onto the katana tightly, causing the blade to glow again. Wally materializes on its right and tries again to throw another jab, but it throws a charged defensive slash, forcing Wally to step back and block the blowback with both of his arms. He takes in a breath as he tries shrugging off the gashes on the back of his wrists from the shockwave.

 

“Ooooh, that’s gotta hurt!” Trickster Jr comments.

 

“Shit!” Wally mutters. He attempts to throw a storm of punches, to which the Samuroid seems to have caught on and counters every hit with it’s blade. He attempts to throw one final strike, but it catches his final punch, grabbing his fist and using all of its energy to throw him at one of the posts. Wally hits it with a harsh smack, seemingly able to, if barely move and fighting the ability to stay conscious. He gets back up, wincing as he can feel the bruises in his back and knuckles start to immediately heal.

 

“Come on Kid Flash. All bark, no bite, all talk, no trick.”

 

Wally's eyes glow for a second before he blinks and hurls himself directly at it. The Samuroid with a perfect speed counters his hit with the end of its hilt and turns the blade to stab him in the chest.

 

“Oh ho wow! Looks like we got a superhero casualty first people! The Kid Flash falls to the blade of the Samuroid!” Trickster exclaims as the audience cheers. He gets in the ring clapping his hands. “Bold and Brash, I like it! Too bad though, not for me. But hey! I’m getting several sponsors for this. Guess you’ll be joining the other gu-” He stops as he gets closer, noticing the body shaking; no, not shaking, vibrating, as it disappears. The Samuroid tilts its head in confusion while the audience mumbles in confusion.

 

“Strike Three,” Trickster and the Samuroid turn behind them as Wally stands there, white hot glowing ball of chaotic electricity is held in his right hand. “You’re out.”

 

“Oh shit!” Trickster yells out as he jumps out of the way before Wally flicks his finger, releasing the energy directly at the Samuroid’s head. It tries to block it, but it’s too late as at an instant, it falls down on its knees, its head missing and chest almost split in two. He beat it. The audience begins to run out in waves, but apparently not in time as Wally begins to hear sirens close by. He takes in a deep breath as he sees Trickster Jr. freaking out.

 

“That-That Samuroid was a rental! Do you know how much money I’m gonna have to waste to reimburse it?!”

 

Wally can only roll his eyes before he grabs Trickster and ties him at one of the posts. “Hey, now you know what to do with that revenue. Now I’d hate to fight and run, but I got a date I’m late for, and I’d rather not miss it soooo.” In an instant he’s gone.

 

-

 

Linda waits at the lobby of 52 news; ‘The best channel that gives the most important news for 52 weeks a year.’ Or that’s what the motto she’s heard a thousand times says. She doubts it given recent events with her boss. She sighs as she checks the time once again.

 

‘6:00 pm.’ She reads off her phone.

 

“Come on Wally. Where the hell are yo-” As she’s muttering, she notices him running to the building. As he stops, she notices the way he’s dressed, almost like he’s prepped for a last minute dressup for the prom, bowtie and everything.

 

“Hey.” He says, before taking a few breaths, “Sorry I took so long, m-my alarm broke again and my roommate decided to leave early and-and.”

 

Linda can’t help but smile while rolling her eyes. “Well now, I think the being late-part is the least of my worries.” She points to his outfit. “You do remember we’re just going to the park, right?”

 

Wally looks down, finally noticing how he’s bizarrely dressed for something as mundane as the freaking park. “We-Well, I guess it’s been awhile since I last went out with someone.” He says with an awkward smile.

 

They both stare at each other before they start lightly laughing at how weird this first date has already started.

 

“Well for second dates, this one is a contender for one way to start one.”

 

Wally scoffs. “You’re counting our weird meetup?”

 

“Beats the alternative.” Linda muses.

 

“Which is?”

 

“A night of drinking with a weirdo named Wallace.”

 

“It’s Wally.”

 

“Not how I remembered it.” She counters, putting her arm around his, to which Wally winces, trying to hide the pain from the earlier fight. Linda notices, but decides that’ll be a problem to figure out later. They walk through the city.

 

“You’re gonna love what they’re having over there.” Wally says.

 

As they arrive, she spots several teens running in costumes of the Rogues while being hounded by a younger girl dressed in a Flash onesie, laughing playfully. Her eyes widen as she looks to see the full Flash festival. Full of people wearing all types of Flash memorabilia

 

“I… know you’re not the biggest fan of the Flash, but I thought maybe you’d be down to have a fun night if nothing else. Plus, it’d help give you a lay of what Keystone is really like.” He gets a bit more nervous as Linda stays silent. “If you want, we can just leave-”

 

“No!” she yelps, slightly spooking Wally. “I-I mean, I’d like to get a further look into the festival, I mean, it has been a few weeks since I’ve been here. So, where do we start?” She asks, giving him that unique look that makes Wally’s cheeks go red.

 

“Well, let’s start with one of my personal favorites. The Pinball Wizard machine!” He says enthusiastically as he grabs her by the hand and takes her to the blue festival tent that was an arcade which contained several machines based on several villains that were fought by speedsters she assumes.

 

“Now THIS is one I’ve been wanting to play again for a long long time.” Wally says with a devious smile, Linda sees the machine he’s talking about, a pinball machine that has the Flash and Green Arrow, fighting against some guy dressed in red pajamas with yellow stars and moons plattered all over him.

 

“This?” she asks, balking at the idea of starting their date with a pinball machine of some weirdo.

 

Wally doesn’t hear her though as he starts playing it, but within seconds, he immediately fails. Wally clicks his tongue in frustration before trying again, which he again fails. He tries one more time, while whispering, “Third time’s a charm.” which results in another failure. He sighs. He looks back to see Linda looking somewhat bemused by his focus on a pinball machine.

 

“Sorry, it’s just something that me and Ba-” He cuts himself off, clearly melancholic about something or someone. “Me and someone I knew used to do when I was younger. Even when I didn’t sucked, I never forgot having fun.”

 

Linda looks at him, it’s the first time she’s seen him look vulnerable, she looks back at the pinball machine before taking a deep breath. “So how does this game work then?” She asks, getting to the machine and trying to start it. She looks back to see Wally looking shocked at what she’s asked.

 

“I don’t…”

 

“Well you dragged me here for this pinball game, might as well get my shot at it no?” She says in a way that sounded like she was wanting to beat this game.

 

Wally doesn’t know what to say, “Um…” He tries his best to shake it off before going to her to explain the instructions. “Okay, so you need to keep the ball up and out of the bottom using the flippers, and have them hit these targets, the more you hit them, the more points you get, until you get the highest score in the game.”

 

Linda’s silent for a moment, taking in everything he’s said.

 

“Again, you don’t have to-”

 

“No I don’t, but I’m going to cause now I see a challenge, and I’ll be damned before I lose to something as simple as a freaking pinball machine.” She finishes, with a fierce expression that Wally hasn’t seen before, one that as far he could see could rival Batman’s from the few experiences he’s had with the guy.

 

As the game starts, Linda immediately gets 100 points by hitting the switches several times, which in turn bounce off the buttons. Within half a minute, she’s already pushing to 1200 points, Wally can’t believe it, she’s already got a higher score than what Barry, Iris, even Hal had. He begins to realize that he’s been truly underestimating this woman. A minute passes before the ball finally goes past the flippers and the game ends with her score being 54300 points.

 

“Damn, I didn’t get first place.” She sighs.

 

“Woah.” Wally says, astonished. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who could score that on the Pinball Wizard machine.”

 

“Well I aim to please.” She remarks. “So what else do you have for us to do?”

 

Hours pass as they navigate the festival, going to a ferris wheel based on Starro, a photo stand-in of Justice League Antarctica, and a walk in the haunted House of Secrets; which they tried getting passed through as quickly as possible due to how much it freaked them both out. As they head out of the festival, grabbing their souvenirs of pictures and a Flash Fox plush. Linda is the one to finally break the calmness.

 

“I can’t lie, that was pretty fun.” She reflects.

 

“I told you you’d have a fun night. Though to be honest, I wasn’t expecting it to be this chaotic.”

 

She raises a brow with a smile. “This is coming from the guy dressed in a two piece suit for a carnival trip?”

 

Wally tries to retort, but realizes she has a point. But they stop as they hear the fireworks above them, which they look up and watch together. He almost didn’t notice Linda holding herself close to him but the pain from earlier helped to make him realize and reminded him to get some rest as soon as he gets home.

 

“Soooo, what’d you think?” He asks.

 

“As far as second dates go, I’d definitely put it in the top three. Maybe top one if I’m feeling generous tonight.”

 

“Well, we could just try again next week, maybe go through one of those pristine restaura-” He’s cut off by Linda kissing him on his left cheek.

 

“I’m just messing with you, you dork. It was fun.”

 

Wally suddenly can hear his heart beating very intensely, his hands getting sweaty and his cheeks going incredibly red.

 

Linda can only roll her eyes in response while adding, “Geez, if I knew a simple kiss like that was going to make you that nervous, I would’ve just-”

 

She’s cut off as well as Wally grabs her by the shoulders and plants his lips onto hers, kissing her. She’s shocked initially but starts to reciprocate as it goes on. It feels like hours could pass and nothing could stop their love. But they are cut off by the final boom of the last of the fireworks going off. As they separate, they look back at each other, both red in the face by what just happened.

 

“Uh-Uhm, wha-what’d you think of that?” Wally retorts, attempting to swerve the conversation.

 

Linda just smiles, she smiles in a way that makes him feel comfort.

 

“I guess I stand corrected.”

 

Nothing else as intense happens as Wally takes her back to the front door of the lobby of her apartment.

 

“So, I’ll see you soon?” He asks.

 

She nods. “Obviously after that, there’s no doubt. But I’m picking the place next time!” She adds before waving him goodbye and heading into her apartment. As she sets everything she got from the festival down, she turns on the tv, which shows channel 52 talking about Kid Flash fighting and taking down the Trickster Jr’s internet showdown show. As well as showing footage of Kid Flash fighting the Samuroid. She starts to think about the pain he expressed that she noticed earlier when she got close to him, as well as the mention of someone that Wally knew that presumably had passed that name had started with a B A. She decided to open her laptop and do some research.

 

“Who are you Wally?...”

 

-

 

Wally opens the door to his apartment; he notices the tv being on and showing the recent report of Trickster Jr’s defeat thanks to him, followed by the kitchen lights being on. He shrugs it off, assuming it to be Hartley getting a late night snack. He takes off his jacket and his clip-on bow tie before throwing them onto the arm of the couch and heading into the kitchen.

 

“Hey, sorry I took so long, I got a little caught up with Linda.” He says while going through the cupboard and pulling out a box of donuts. “You wouldn’t believe how good she was with the pinball machine, it was crazy.” He adds while scarfing down two donuts in less than a second.

 

“So that’s what’s been bothering you, huh?” An old voice responds, one that’s nothing that Hartley sounds like, but is one he recognizes. He closes the cupboard door and sees Jay, sitting at the dining table. He’s dressed in civilian garb; however his classic helmet sits on the table alongside a cup of oj, Jay’s favorite.

 

“Jay! W-What are you doing here?” Wally asks, slightly shocked.

 

“I’ve been meaning to check out how things have been back home since I had to take over Barry’s spot on the league.” Jay replies, running his index finger across the rim of his glass of oj.

 

Wally nods his head in affirmation. “Well, things have been normal, a few new bad guys decided to show up and be a pain, had to deal with a robbery and an evil influencer, same old same old.”

 

“Right. So who’s this ‘Linda’ you’ve been talking about?” Jay asks, “I assume she’s that new reporter I’ve been seeing on the news, but I’m curious to hear from you.”

 

“Oh, she-she’s nobody important. Ju-Just someone I met last week at Chyre’s. Well, okay, actually I-I met her after beating another Mirror Master, she gave an interview that sucked and apparently everyone else hated. But, when you get to know her she’s uh… kinda cool.” Wally’s silent for a bit, remembering the last couple hours.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Yeah, she’s pretty cool if you ask me.”

 

“That… That’s good to hear.” Jay’s silent for a bit, trying to remind himself of why he’s here.

 

“Listen, as you know, next week’s the opening day for the opening of the Flash museum.” He stops himself, contemplating whether now was the time before he shakes it off. “I’m thinking of retiring.”

 

“...Wait, what? You’re retiring” Wally lets out, “Why?”

 

Jay looks at the ground. “Kiddo, I’m getting old, but these criminals and supervillains, they’re getting younger and stronger.” He immediately puts his hand out to reassure him. “Don’t worry though, it won’t be immediate, I’ll have to convene with the League before it’ll be finalized. But yeah, I’ll be hanging up the ol’ helmet.”

 

Wally blinks at his response. “B-But somebody’s gotta be the Flash…”

 

“I know, kid.” Jay stops as he gets up and pulls a ring from his pocket, one that he recognizes. “That’s why I wanted to give you this.”

 

He hands Wally the ring as he opens his palm to look at it. It’s a silver ring with the head resembling the Flash symbol. He takes off his old ring he already had and sets it on the counter before putting on the new one. He presses the button and a suit pops out, within a flash of a second, he puts it on. He looks at himself from the mirror of the dining room, dressed in crimson and mahogany red fabrics with lines of silver decorated across his suit.

 

“Wh-When did-” Wally stammers, stunned at the suit. “How?” He finally lets out.

 

“Barry made it before he… passed. It was gonna be your birthday gift, but after what happened, I knew you needed time, I just wasn’t sure when.” Jay says as he puts his hands in his pockets. “Now, I think I know.”

 

Wally can feel tears starting to form and fall as he’s reminded of the days when he and Barry would bicker, with him asking when he would become the Flash and being either taken off track by the fight or told that “Iris would have his head if he even considered it.” He knew he was joking, and knew he had always dreamed of it since he was a kid, and that one day he’d be ready; the question was always… When? He wipes away his tears and turns back to Jay.

 

“Thank you Jay, really.”

 

Jay smiles but blinks when he hears a beeping as he pulls his sleeve up to show his watch, which blinked as it showed an alert.

 

“Looks like it’s time for me to go.” He finishes the glass of oj, grabs his helmet and puts it on, of which in a blip, he transforms into his classic superhero outfit. “Take care of yourself kid, okay?”

 

Wally nods in affirmation as Jay zips out of the apartment. He presses the button on the ring as he transforms back into his regular clothes and puts the suit back into the ring. He hears the ringing of his phone as he pulls it up and sees a text from Linda. ‘I know the truth’ followed by ‘meet me near the river tomorrow at sundown’ and finished by ‘please don’t lie’ before she stopped texting. He tries to ask her but she doesn’t respond and just leaves him on read.

 

-

 

Wally walks through the riverside, going along the trail as he sees Linda, sitting on the roots of a tree close by, dressed in what he assumes is her casual wear. He walks up to her, not immediately noticing him before he pipes up.

 

“Hey.” Wally greets.

 

She looks up from her phone. “Hey.” she responds neutrally, almost in a manner that felt… distant to him.

 

“Soooo, you wanted to talk, right?” He asks, trying his best to soften any blow she tries to hurl at him.

 

“Yeah, let's.” She turns off her phone and puts it in her back pocket before standing up to Wally. “I know you’re Kid Flash. Now, before you ask, no I’m not telling anyone else. But you need to be honest with me.”

 

Wally sighs before he puts his hands up in defeat. “Alright, where do you wanna start?”

 

“How about the beginning?”

 

Wally sighs as he takes a breath. “Fair warning, it ain’t pretty.” He warns, to which Linda nods in dismissal. “Ever since I was a kid, I always loved the Flash, and I mean my mom would love to show you the amount of Flash stuff I owned-”

 

“Please, back to the story.” Linda cut off, trying to be patient with him.

 

“Right, one day, my aunt Iris introduced me to her boyfriend, Barry Allen. I thought he was a bit of a weirdo. But he seemed nice, he showed me around his lab, trying to impress me since we couldn’t go out during a thunderstorm. But during this, there was an attack at the lab involving some weirdo named Computron, who tried to get revenge on Barry, he tried to hide me, but I got out and went to get a peek. That’s when I saw him, the Flash, knocked out and looked like he was about to die. I did my best to get him off of the Flash, but he threw me onto some chemicals nearby, and as I tried to get up, I got struck by lightning.”

 

“A week later, I woke up finding out I had speed powers, which I tried to have some fun, grabbing snacks, running across the ocean, all the fun stuff you could think of at thirteen. But of course Barry found out and revealed to me his secret, that he was the Flash and offered me a spot as his sidekick. I was of course ecstatic, I get to fight alongside the greatest superhero ever, how could I say no?” Along the way, I met the Justice League, formed a group of likeminded kids and became the Titans, which I came up with by the way; and life was great!” Wally says as his lips tighten, reluctant to continue.

 

“And then?” She asks.

 

“And then nine months ago, Barry and I got into a fight about some dumb thing involving me not wantng to keep going. I didn’t want to keep wearing myself down, Barry wanted to help, but I was too stubborn to listen. Then he… he went on a mission with the League, and…” He closes his eyes, taking a deep breath before finishing. “He died. He… gave his life, his everything to save everyone. I wish my last talk wasn’t for something so stupid.” Wally looks at the ground, his eyes sullen and filled with remorse.

 

“You kept going though.”

 

“How could I not?” Wally adds. “The world needed Flashes more than ever. Despite everything sucking, I had to keep going.”

 

“So what changed?” Linda asks

 

Wally looks up. “You did. You make it worth it.”

 

Linda looks at him stunned. “You’re kidding, right?”

 

“Not at all, I mean… I never met anyone like you, someone who didn’t care about the Flash, but cared about me for me. Wh-Who isn’t afraid to confront anything or anyone, who brought up her boss’ ugly goatee, who overacheives at a game despite thinking it’s dumb.”

 

“It was dumb, but fun.” She adds.

 

“See that, you being you is what makes it worth it. I like you Linda Park, maybe way too much, but I like you.”

 

Linda looks around, trying to find the right words to say, she knew he meant it, but she needed space and time. She grabbed her purse from nearby and got ready to depart before turning.

 

“Give me time, I’ll-I’ll let you know when I’m ready to talk to you again. Okay?” She starts to walk out.

 

“The opening for the museum is on tuesday!” He yells out, causing her to stop and look back. “If you’re down to visit for an interview. Which I’d appreciate.”

 

She smiles and softly nods. “I’ll think about it, thank you.” before heading out.

 

Wally lets out a sigh and pulls his hand back up to look at the ring Jay gave him, the ring that Barry made for him, the ring that told him “He was the Flash” now.

 

-

 

Wally stands behind the curtain, dressed in his new outfit and feeling nervous despite not being in front of the cameras.

 

“You seem tense.” Hartley.

 

“Yeah, sorry.” Wally shakes off, “It’s just, I never thought a day like this would come.”

 

Hartley simpers in response. “Well to be fair, the plan was started six months ag-”

 

“Not what I meant.” Wally interrupts as he looks down and directs both hands at himself. “I mean this, I never thought it would be so soon. It’s ironic, despite everything, I don’t know what to do.”

 

Hartley sighs, putting his hands on his shoulder. “Don’t know if this helps much, but I’ve known you long enough to get that despite the odds being absurdly stacked against you. You’ll figure it out man, you’ve gone long enough to show me that.”

 

Wally looks up and smiles.

 

“Speaking of showing up…” He comments as he opens the curtains a smidge. “I don’t see a Linda Park. Think she’ll show up?”

 

“She’ll let me know, I trust her well enough to do that.” Wally starts straightening up and putting himself together as he notices the time. “But for now, now it's time.”

 

He walks out of the curtains onto a large crowd of people, some he recognizes like the mayor and the captain, followed by dozens of people he doesn’t recognize, like reporters and the like.

 

“Uh, good afternoon everyone. It-It’s been a while since I’ve faced cameras like this.” He starts with a pause, looking back at the notecard in his hand until he decides to do something different, something brash, something… like him. “I’m not a speech person, never was to be honest, probably why I never was a leader on the Titans. But what I am is someone that always wanted to be like Barry Allen, someone who always seemed like he had everything figured out and that nothing could slow him down. Which made me having to put this suit on so, so much more difficult. But one day, I realized it wasn’t, one day I realized I didn’t need to be like Barry Allen, I don’t need to be like Jay Garrick, just doing my best as me is what matters. And that’s what I’m proud to show.” He puts his hands on both sides of the podium.

 

“I come here not to remind everyone of Barry Allen, but of the impact the Flash meant to everyone in Keystone and in Central City. So I’m proud to be working with Rathaway Industries and the mayors of both cities to present The Flash Museum.” He finishes as everyone starts clapping and cheering. He walks off the stage, greeting both of the mayors while taking several glances at the reporters hoping to see her, but is unsuccessful.

 

He fails to notice Hartley giving him a side hug. “Dude that was way better than I was hoping for! Thought that up on the fly? Maybe you should do more speeches.”

 

“Yeah, that’s never happening.” Wally responds while laughing softly. “If you need me, I’ll be over near the superhero and sidekick statue.” He finishes as he waves off Hartley and zips past several visitors to stop at the now finished statues he saw before of him and Barry, with a plaque on the bottom reading.

 

“Flash and Kid Flash, The Fastest Duo to have impacted both cities.”

 

“A bit lame, but kinda sweet.” He hears from beside him, he turns to see Linda, dressed in her typical reporter attire.

 

“Hi.” He says with a slight smile.

 

“Hey.” Linda responds, smiling back.

 

“Good to see you.”

 

“You too.”

 

It’s a bit of an awkward silence for a couple moments before Wally takes in a breath. “Soooo, are we good now?”

 

“Yeah, I think we’re good now.” She follows it with a coy smile. “However, I think I deserve a little bit more if that’s all right with you?”

 

Wally raises his brow in confusion. “Liiiiiike?”

 

“An interview, a proper one this time. Don’t worry, I won’t be an ass this time.”

 

“What a shame, I kinda like that though.” He comments as they both share a laugh and walk together through the museum.

 

Done