Chapter Text
June 18, 2007
3:21 PM CST
Blue Valley, Nebraska
Earth-12
When they were kids, long before their lives became swept up in teenage rebellion and super secret villain organizations, Wally, Dick, and Roy used to talk about the places they grew up in.
Roy would describe his life growing up on a Navajo reservation in Arizona, telling the younger boys how his dad used to take him backpacking in the forest before he died, and how, when he went to live with Bravebow, he and the other kids used to explore canyons and valleys, trying with rare success to stay out of trouble. The archer told them how he took off after Bravebow died, and somehow managed to land himself in a mansion in a massive city in California, and what a massive culture shock that had been. Roy had always seemed indifferent about his childhood, even as he lost two father figures before the age of eleven. But there was always a dimmed look in his eyes and the slightest waver in his voice that told Wally that the archer was faking his nonchalance.
Dick, on the other hand, always spoke about his childhood with giddiness and wonder, which is about what one would expect from a kid who grew up traveling the world in a famous circus. The youngest boy’s impossibly blue eyes danced as he regaled his red-headed friends with stories of traveling through the highlands of Scotland and the hills of Austria; across Swedish mountains and Canadian forests and Mexican beaches. His voice was shaped in an accent that was a little bit French and a little bit Romanian and a little bit Italian and a little bit Russian and a little bit Spanish in a language that may or may not have been some convoluted version of English. The acrobat described how the bustle and noise of Gotham City was just enough to be comforting and familiar, even if the dreary atmosphere of the city and the quiet calmness of Wayne Manor was not.
Comparatively, Wally had a surprisingly normal childhood in Blue Valley, and even when he moved to Central, the only significant change had been that he finally got to feel safe and loved in his own home.
Dick and Roy used to tease Wally about growing up in a place ‘where nothing ever happened’ and how ‘it’s so boring, Wally! What do kids even do for fun, stare at each other?’
Wally had spent pretty much his entire life in the Midwest- in two different universes, nonetheless- and he had yet to see how people thought it was boring . (Except Ohio. Wally has Opinions™ about Ohio.)
Because here he was, in Blue Valley of all places (it really was just the Smallville of Nebraska), fighting some psychic who called himself Brainwave.
Wally had never heard of this guy before today. Stargirl needed a hand in her hometown, and S.T.R.I.P.E. was temporarily out of commission (the robot was, Pat was fine) due to taking some pretty harsh damage on a recent League mission, so the younger hero had called into the Watchtower for backup. A good thing too, since Brainwave seemed to be messing with people’s heads, alternating between controlling them, and simply making them manic. Why, Wally wasn’t sure.
So here Flash was, trying to figure out how to take this guy out. He voiced as much to Stargirl, who hovered nearby glaring determinedly at the villain who stood about a hundred yards down the road. Flash was reluctant to get too close to the psychic, since he didn’t know what his telepathic range was.
The blonde side-eyed the speedster, “That’s part of the reason I called in backup!”
Fair enough.
“Does he have any weaknesses?”
Stargirl shrugged. “I don’t know! All I know is that he’s telepathic and that he’s going around just…making people go crazy!”
Her point was proven when a woman- probably in her mid-thirties- who was trying to hide underneath a patio table at a nearby cafe started screaming and clutching at her head. Flash darted over to her and knelt down, his hands hovering as he wasn’t quite sure how to help her.
“Ma’am?” He called softly, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder.
The woman stopped screaming almost immediately and was silent for a moment. Wally opened his mouth to ask if she was okay, but before he could get a word out, the woman turned and lunged at him, tackling him to the ground and pinning him there. Wally grabbed at her hands as she clawed at his face. The look in her eyes was vacant one, even as her face contorted into a feral snarl.
Wally finally managed to catch the woman’s hands and flipped them so he was now the one pinning her down. He hoped he wasn’t hurting her as she struggled beneath him.
The speedster squinted up at his fellow Leaguer who was slowly hovering closer to Brainwave.
“Stargirl, can you blast him?” Flash asked, nodding at her staff.
Stargirl shook her head, “Tried that earlier. He just pulled cars and stuff to use as shields!”
Wally groaned. Of course he was telekinetic, too. Why wouldn’t he be?
He thought for a moment, trying to come up with a plan. He’d very rarely gone up against telepaths without either another telepath at his back or previous knowledge on how to take a specific one down.
He did have an idea, though. Flash gestured with his head for the blonde to come over to him. Stargirl landed on light feet next to him, careful to avoid the still kicking feet of the woman Wally still had pinned.
“I need a distraction,” Wally told her.
“What are you going to do?”
“Just keep him facing one direction. If he’s focused on you, I should be able to take him out from behind.”
“What about the civilians? If he’s got more under his control…” Stargirl trailed off, glancing down at their captive.
The woman stopped struggling suddenly, going limp on the pavement. Wally let go of her before rolling her over and picking her up bridal style. He looked around as he stood up with the woman in his arms. Brainwave wasn’t doing anything anymore, save for staring very creepily at the two heroes. He wasn’t even monologuing.
What kind of bass-ackwards villain was this guy? He didn’t even monolog!
“Looks like she’s the last civilian in the area. Keep Brainwave on this block, and it should stay that way. I’m gonna take her to the hospital real quick, and then I’ll be right back,” Wally nodded at Stargirl.
She glanced at Brainwave before looking back at Wally, her expression wary. No…nervous.
Wally gave her a small smile, “Ten seconds, max.”
She studied him for a second longer before a steely expression set in her eye. Stargirl squared her shoulders as she turned to face the villain. In her hand, her staff glowed, as if reflecting it’s master’s determination.
“Go,” she called to Wally. He noticed that it was loud enough for Brainwave to hear her. Courtney twirled her staff and widened her stance. “I can handle this freak.”
Wally smirked, pivoted on his heel, and took off for the local hospital. He dropped the woman on a gurney in the ER, and wrote a note to the staff about her condition, signing it with a flourish, and leaving it next to her arm.
He returned to the fight, only to find that Stargirl was not doing too hot. She yelled out insult after insult, though Brainwave didn’t seem phased. He didn’t really even seem interested.
Wally stayed out of Brainwave’s line of sight, but he caught Courtney’s eye, and nodded once. She smirked.
The blonde lowered her staff to shoot at the psychic, but Brainwave seemed to anticipate it. With a flick of his hand, Stargirl went flying backwards into a brick building. She fell to the ground with a thud, her staff clattering to the ground beside her and rolling away.
Well, that certainly didn’t go as planned.
Brainwave still hadn’t noticed Wally, so the speedster sprinted toward him, ready to tackle.
Apparently, Wally had been wrong about the villain not having noticed him.
Brainwave didn’t even turn toward Wally when the speedster was forced to an abrupt stop, falling to his knees, a familiarly painful sensation buzzing through his head. He’d gone against both Psimon and Grodd enough times to know what a brainblast felt like. He was going to have a helluva headache after this.
Then, it started to get worse.
The first, and only, time Wally had ever had Oliver Queen’s famous chili, he’d been 13 years old, at a Justice League (and family) barbeque at the Kent Farm. Wally had been to places where Ollie had brought the chili before, and the funny thing he noticed was that the only people who ever seemed to go anywhere near it were Ollie, Bruce, and Barry.
Which, obviously, meant there was more food for Wally. (Hey, cut him a little slack, he was a growing teenager- a growing speedster teenager, at that.)
Wally had ignored Roy and Dinah’s warnings as he’d approached the food, and had only been further encouraged by Hal’s goading.
He doesn’t say this very often, but holy shit, Wally should’ve listened to Roy.
He’d only taken one bite, and the next thing he knew, he was floating face first in the duck pond, desperate to cool off.
When the speedster resurfaced, he chugged half a gallon of milk, not even caring that half of it was pouring out the sides of his mouth.
About four years later, M’gann had decided to make homemade salsa with chili peppers, and Wally had been struck with, what was at the time, a brilliant idea. He’d texted Dick his theory before grabbing one of the peppers (Megs had a whole basket of them, she wouldn’t miss just one), and then zooming to Artemis’ room to grab the container of cool mint Ice Breakers she kept in there.
Needless to say, capsaicin and menthol do not cancel each other out like he believed they would.
And his little shit of a best friend had the audacity to let him know that the ‘ oh shit, too hot ’ and ‘ oh shit, too cold’ nerve endings were separate only after Wally texted him to guess what hellfire tastes like.
Wally imagined that if you combined Ollie’s chili and the taste of hellfire and poured that into his brain before dunking his head into a vat of boiling acid and then launching him directly into the sun, that pain still wouldn’t compare to whatever the fuck was happening to his mind right now.
Wally was pretty sure he could see shrimp colors, now.
He didn’t have enough time to really think on that fact (or the question of whether or not Kaldur could see shrimp colors- he’d have to ask him one day), however, as the pain very quickly became too much, and he promptly passed out.
When he opened his eyes again, it was dark, and he was having a hard time breathing, almost like there was a pillow on his face. He shifted for a moment and…oh.
He was lying face down on a bed or something.
The speedster flipped over and noticed that the ceiling of…wherever he was was…rocks? Was he underground, somewhere? In a cave? Either way, it was well lit.
He heard a faint buzzing to his left, and turned his head to see a tv that was just static, with a ‘No Signal’ notification floating around the screen. There was something achingly familiar about this…wherever he was. Wally watched the emblem bop around the screen for a couple minutes, silently routing for it to hit perfectly in the corner. It never did. Dick must’ve hacked the Cave’s tv to prevent that just to irritate Wally and-
Wally sat directly up, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. This wasn’t possible. It absolutely was. Not. Possible.
He was on a different Earth. Another universe.
Mount Justice had been destroyed .
So, how the hell was he here?!
The white noise of the tv was soon joined by another noise. Soft footsteps coming down the hallway. They got as far as the doorway before they stopped. He heard a soft gasp, and turned towards the noise.
In the doorway stood a familiar face, even if her skin was paper white, rather than the grassy green he was so familiar with, and she’d grown her hair out from the pixie cut she’d had the last time he’d seen her, now closer to the length it was those first few years he’d known her.
“M-M’gann?” His voice caught in his throat at the shock of seeing one of his best friends again.
One of her hands came up to cover her mouth, as she let out a wet laugh, her eyes shining and threatening to spill over with tears.
“By the gods,” She breathed. M’gann stepped closer to him, raising a shaking hand to rest on the speedster’s shoulder and squeeze. “It is you.”