He's Going the Distance

Outside 1665 Nelson and around town.
[So yeah that event wasn't so fun but HEY NOW THERE IS A PACKAGE ADDRESSED TO WALLY.

Excellent.

He opens it up and... there's nothing inside. Weird. He shakes it a little, as if that would dislodge something hidden but... there's nothing inside.

But. Hey. He's...

...feeling pretty speedy.

He grins, and without a second thought he sprints down the road at about sixty miles an hour.

And then he starts going faster.

And faster.

He's circled the town a few times over the course of the next ten minutes at speeds approaching the speed of sound, which is pretty damn fast, okay. But by the time he zips back to the mailbox at 1665 Nelson, he's frowning a little.]

...still not fast enough. But hey, better than nothing.

[And then he realizes.]

...oops. I hope no one noticed that.

[Because he just raced around Mayfield in civilian clothes. Not exactly conducive to a secret identity.

Over the course of the day you might see your friendly neighborhood Flash, in full costume, racing around town. There's not a whole lot to do, but man it feels good to be running again, even if it's not as fast as he can go normally. Give a shout, he may stop and talk to you!

Of course, it's also possible you might have caught a glimpse of Wally running around this morning in his normal clothes out of the corner of your eye. Maybe. It's possible. But are you really sure?]

[Unknown site tag]
Name: Waffle
Personal LJ: captainlilith
Contact Info: AIM: theatrechcolate Plurk: withsyrup
Other Characters Played: Hiccup (worstvikingever) and Jormungandr (dearmungandr)
Preferred Housing: N/A

Character Name: Wally West, The Flash
Character Series: Justice League and Justice League Unlimited
Character Age: It’s never stated, but probably late twenties to early thirties. Let’s just say 29 to nail it down.
Background: Wally West is a forensic scientist who got struck by lightning while he was hanging around some very specific chemicals. No, really. That’s how he got his power of super speed. Anyway, once he figured out his awesome super speed skills he decided to use his power for good and became the Flash, the fastest man alive, hero of Central City.

When the world faced invasion from aliens who had previously destroyed the civilization on Mars, J’onn J’onzz, the Martian Manhunter, called together seven heroes to work together and defeat the invaders. The team consisted of Superman, Batman, John Stewart the Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, J’onn J’onzz, and the Flash. After successfully beating back the invasion, the group decided to remain a team and called themselves the Justice League. They watched over the world from their satellite, the Watchtower, and fight against various villains as they protect the earth. That’s a very basic rendition of the plot behind Justice League.

The plot of Justice League Unlimited is much the same, except at this point the original seven have teamed up with hundreds of other heroes from all over the world and across the galaxy. The force they create is formidable, and the governments of the earth start to get nervous about the fact that there is an autonomous army that, if they so chose, could take over the world with very little difficulty. Much of Justice League Unlimited deals with the conflict between the governments and the League as they try to reconcile this.

The Wikipedia page of the original Justice League series is here. The page for Justice League Unlimited is here. A brief description of each episode in both series is here. The page for Flash in both series is here. I’ll be taking Wally from between season one and two of Justice League Unlimited, so after his defeat of Brainiac Lex Luthor and his discovery of the Speed Force.

Personality: Wally is, for the most part, a complete goofball. His first instinct is to crack jokes, use bad one-liners, and generally do his best to lighten the mood, even when it isn’t entirely appropriate. He’s the most optimistic of the group, and tends to think with his heart before using his head. He may not be the sharpest tool in the box, but he means well.

Flash is said to be the “heart” of the team. Wally’s moral compass is very finely tuned, and he has a clear sense of right and wrong as well as all the fine line that separates the two. He doesn’t have a whole lot of patience for people that have proven themselves to be irredeemable, but he also has a lot of mercy for those who really do want to try to turn their lives around and make a change.

When Shayera Hol (Hawkgirl) betrays the Justice League in favor of her own people and then turns around and betrays them when she finds out they were intending to destroy earth instead of protect it, Flash is the first one to defend her in front of the rest of the League in favor of letting her stay. He’s also the first to hug her when she decides to resign without hearing what they decided. Flash trusts easily, but his trust is very rarely ever misplaced.

In regards to his rogue gallery, Flash treats them fairly, bringing them to justice, but also extending a friendly hand to people like the Trickster. Instead of immediately cracking down on him, he puts an arm around his shoulders and asks why he’s doing what he’s doing, and encourages him to get help with his mental illness. This is something that defines Wally: his instinct to find the best in everyone, his optimism that people can change, and his desire to help everyone for the better.

He does act rather immaturely rather often, which leads him to sometimes be treated as a child or the “rookie” of the team. He bemoans this fact, complaining that as an experienced superhero, he should be treated with the same respect as the others. So he is aware of how he is treated, but is unaware of how his actions lead to being treated in such a way. However, while Flash may not receive respect on the level of, say, Superman or Batman, he is a vital member of the team and they do poorly without his presence, as showcased by the episodes “A Better World” in the second season of Justice League. In an alternate dimension, Flash is killed, and without him there to set the moral standard and be the “heart” of the team, the Justice Lords (that dimension’s Justice League) end up imposing a totalitarian regime on the whole planet.

TV Tropes actually labels Flash as The Messiah. No, really. Of course, once Flash finds out about how his absence affects the team, he’s not averse to pointing out how important he is later on. He’s still the comic relief goofball, no matter how serious he gets when shit goes down.

Abilities: Super speed. That’s it, but there’s a lot of things he can do with it and some pretty big side effects that come with it. For instance, due to his hyper-increased metabolism, Wally eats a ton and quite often. Some of the things we’ve seen him do, other than run at a speed that boggles the mind, is increase his heart rate to fool a heart monitor into thinking he’s flatlined; vibrate his molecules so that the can pass through an object (this generally causes the object to explode); run in a circle fast enough to create a sort of localized tornado that kept a large amount of rubble from falling on bystanders; rotate his arms in circles fast enough to create miniature cyclones; his speed enables him to run across the top of water; and he was once able to run so fast he ran around the entire globe several times in less than five minutes. That level of speed, however, caused him to vibrate right out of our plane of existence and into a plane known only as the “speed force,” and after being pulled out of it by the rest of the team, Flash said he could never go that fast again, or he wouldn’t be able to come back. It’s implied but never stated that Flash also thinks very fast, as well as having a super fast reaction time. He can dodge bullets, laser blasts, and explosions extremely well, but he’s also sometimes clumsy and trips and ends up faceplanting into the pavement.

Flash has no super strength, but he is very fit and quite strong, but as a result of his own working out. Though he’s drawn similarly to the other men in the League, his strength and musculature would be closer to a runner’s leanness than a boxer’s arm strength. This does not mean, however, that his punches aren’t effective. He puts enough increased momentum behind his hits that they deliver, and deliver hard. Also he can hit super fast too, so there’s that.

Sample Entry: Okay so how’s the Post Office work? People have been telling me not to bother with it, but I haven’t really gotten a clear explanation as to why not. Is it like “collect fifty bubblegum wrappers or seven dollars and fifty cents and this prize can be yours ABSOLUTELY FREE!!” or is it like sell your soul to the devil kind of stuff? Because I’m not really into that whole sell your soul business. I like my soul where it is, thanks. Besides, those kinds of deals never end well.

Also how do you get a job? I mean sure, unemployment has its high points, like getting to check out the bowling alley and the roller rink whenever I feel like it, but I am so bored right now you guys, you have no idea. I need something to do or I’m going to start bouncing off the walls or beating my head against a rock or something. I need something to keep my mind off of the creep factor, too. You know? It’s like… yeeeugh, everything about this place just gives me the creeps.