001 - Arrival

[fasterthan]

[Action - 1665 Nelson - Morning] [When Wally wakes up, the world is molasses.

No... that's not right. The world is still the world, it's just he's moving through it like it's molasses.

Okay that's kind of overstating it. But still. It's obvious from the moment he wakes up and tries to look around the room that he can't move even a tenth of the speed he's used to. In fact, he falls rather spectacularly out of bed when he tries to zip around the room and ends up flailing, tripping, and landing quite gracefully (and loudly) on the floor.

He's stuck at normal speed.

How...

He's kind of freaking out. The room is weird, there are weird pictures with him in them and the clothes are all wrong... and everything he does is so slow. True, he wasn't The Flash his whole life, he was normal once, too, but just like he had to get used to suddenly having super speed, now he's suddenly without it and he has no idea what's going on. Time to start talking himself through it.]

Okay. So I have no idea where I am, my suit's nowhere to be seen, and my powers are completely gone.

[He scratches his head.]

Guess this calls for some investigating.

Crap. Never was really good at that.

[He sighs.]

Guess I should start by getting dressed. Don't want to start an investigation in my PJs.

[He'll do so and start poking around the house.]

[Phone - Later that morning] So hey, Wally West here. Sorry for interrupting your beautiful morning but I'm randomly dialing and you're the lucky winner! I seem to be new here... uh... I think I got the basics down... mind helping me out with some specifics?

Comments

[has-no-plan.livejournal.com]

At least that's one thing we can agree on. It's horrible. I've never been this long without speed!

[He still sounds very bitter.]

[fasterthan]

...how long have you been here?

[Also he's still really bothered that he or some other version of him made this kid mad for some reason.]

[has-no-plan.livejournal.com]

Four months. They even make me go to this boring school and I have to do all the work at normal speed!

[fasterthan]

Holy crap. [Wally is appropriately horrified.] Seriously? I am so sorry, dude.

[has-no-plan.livejournal.com]

...There's gotta be somethin' wrong with you.

The Wally I know would never say that.

...I like you better this way.

[fasterthan]

Wait, really? What would... uh... your Wally say?

[has-no-plan.livejournal.com]

...I'm not sure but it would be something a stupid jerk would say.

[fasterthan]

[Okay he laughs.]

Sorry you gotta deal with a stupid jerk version of me, Bart. Sounds like we come from... I dunno, different worlds or something like that.

[has-no-plan.livejournal.com]

Well if you don't know who Iris is, something has to be seriously wrong.

...Or that. I guess your theory could be right too.

[Pause.]

I've been to alternate universes before. I should've thought of that...

[Thinking is hard.]

[fasterthan]

Yeah, we had to deal with a whole Justice League from another universe. They were actually pretty bad. It was weird.

[has-no-plan.livejournal.com]

Alternate universes usually are weird.

Being a superhero is weird.

[fasterthan]

Don't I know it.

Oh speaking of which, though. Could you do me a favor and... you know. Not tell people about the whole Flash thing? You know. Just on principle.

[has-no-plan.livejournal.com]

What kind of superhero do you think I am?! Max taught me about secret identities ages ago. You're not a naggy Wally, are you?!

[He's terrible at keeping them, though.]

[fasterthan]

Dunno. I hope not.

Sorry, I was just pretty surprised to end up calling someone who apparently knows who I am despite the fact that I never met them before.

[has-no-plan.livejournal.com]

We're supposed to be...related. But if you're some weird other Wally West, the Flash, the damn lord of speed...

[fasterthan]

Ooh, lord of speed, I like that. Who came up with that one?

But yeah, pretty sure I don't have any Barts in my family.

[has-no-plan.livejournal.com]

You're not the lord of speed, you just act like it. Always tripping me and telling people what to do...

What about your Uncle Barry?

[fasterthan]

Wait, really? Man, I trip myself too often to want to trip other people. Unless they're, you know, villains. Not that there's any other speedsters anyway. Only person I'd have to trip would be Superman and no way am I gonna do that. He's usually flying anyway.

Also no, no Uncle Barry.

Wow I'm screwing up all over the place tonight YOU DIDN'T SEE THAT ACCOUNT FAIL

[has-no-plan.livejournal.com]

All the time! "No Bart, don't do that!" and then he...you...whoever...trips me!

...No other speedsters?! But Uncle Barry was your mentor?!

[A Wally that was not Kid Flash. He cannot even consider that a possibility with all of the people expecting him to be Kid Flash.]

XD

[fasterthan]

Wow. Harsh. I mean, sure, I guess the easiest way to stop me would be to stick out a foot and trip me but ow that hurts. Sorry, man. Actually I probably shouldn't apologize, he sounds pretty different from me.

No, I never had a mentor. Had an accident with some chemicals and a bolt of lightning and TA DA superpowers. It was a pretty surreal experience and it's not the kind of thing that gets... duplicated. So no, no mentor. Had to figure it all out by myself. Might've been nice to have a mentor, though.

[has-no-plan.livejournal.com]

You're cooler already.

...That's what happened to Grandpa Barry?! ...Err...my grandpa. The...other...Wally's...uncle.

[This is too confusing for his tiny brain.]

[fasterthan]

This is too weird. I mean I'd get it if the other me went through the same thing I did, but it's all different! So this Barry guy went through the chemicals and lightning thing? How did you guys get your speed?

[has-no-plan.livejournal.com]

...Oh. Wally got struck by lightning too.

Max said he got it from Native Americans or something, Johnny and Jesse use their weird math stuff, Jay breathed in some funny stuff, and me, my cousin Jenni, my dad, and his sister were all born with it.

...But in the end it all comes from this weird Speed Force thing.

[fasterthan]

[There is completely flabbergasted silence on this end. Congratulations, Bart, you just rendered Wally speechless.

After a few moments though, he manages to recover.]

...that many? Seriously?

[He's quiet again.]

Wow, Bart. I'm jealous.

[has-no-plan.livejournal.com]

Well, my dad and his sister died before I was born, and Johnny did too recently...

[Pause.]

Huh? Why?