MASK OR MENACE IC INBOX

[runningstart]

WALLY WEST
"You've reached the personal voice mail of the Wall-man. The honor is yours! Leave your deets, I'll holla back atcha."
[ BEEP. ]

KID FLASH
"This is the contact for Kid Flash. If it's an emergency, call Robin; he'll know where I am. Otherwise, leave your info and I'll get you back ASAP."
[ BEEP. ]


[ voice | text | email | action ]

( Please specify in tag subject line if the contact is for Wally West or Kid Flash! )

Comments

call.

[runningstart]

[He really does not want to tell her. He doesn't want to tell a single person that he thinks this could hurt, and even if she wouldn't be too hurt by the news-

Something like this could happen to her Wally. Especially if the Reach exist there. Jaime told him that they stop the invasion, but if they still exist, something like this could happen. The universes have too many similarities between them. And- Okay, so he'd sat Carrie down and made her tell him all about an alternate Barry he'd never meet because he had to know if something happened. So.

Plus. He doesn't want to go through with her what he went through with Robin. She'll be angry enough he took this long to tell her. And if she hears it from Jaime or something for whatever reason, she'll be angrier. And...she's been here for years. Maybe she can help.

So.

Ring ring ring.]

[boobwindow]

[ She picks up after the first ring. Once the conversation has transitioned from text, something slightly impersonal when communicating, to actual voice she figures something is wrong or there's something important he needs to tell her -- or both.

She doesn't have the best feeling about this, but she answers swiftly, her tone cautious. ]

Wally?

[runningstart]

Hey.

So, look. Uh. [is the casual approach a bad one? it's the only one he's got in his arsenal with the lack of sleep he has under his belt so that's how it's gonna go]

Lllllook. First promise you won't freak out. Or at least that you won't get mad and yell at me or something.

[boobwindow]

[ While she doesn't sound too alarmed, Peej is getting an even worse sense about this. ]

That... that doesn't sound good, Wally.

[runningstart]

[is he going about this the wrong w- yeah probably]

I've just kind of had a lot of yelling in my life lately and I'd be good without any more. But. [SIGH] Okay uhhh...Bart told me some...stuff. About what happens in the future. And apparently I [nope can't say die] disappear. After this mission. ...Disappear for a while.

[boobwindow]

Disappear?

[ That's too vague. Did Bart give him specifics? ]

What did he say?

[runningstart]

Something about this thing the Reach come up with to destabilize the Earth's magnetic field. It needed kinetic energy to interrupt the process, I dunno...me, Barry and Bart all provide that energy, and I'm...y'know, the slowest. So all the runoff hit me. And I disappeared. [Just...keep it matter of fact.] Happens about five years from where I left off.

[boobwindow]

People don't just--

[ "Disappear", she wants to say, but she knows that isn't true. Wally did disappear in her world and his entire family had gone with him. Lost somewhere in the Speed Force. ]

That can't be right.

[runningstart]

Bart was there, he saw it. And he wouldn't just make something like this up.

That's why I was asking about Barry. I dunno if that- I dunno if I like, y'know, die or if it's something that can be fixed. So. I'm researching.

[boobwindow]

[ This is going to weigh on her conscience if she doesn't tell him now. He's been honest with her, so it's only right she's honest with him. ]

I've never fully understood how it works; if it's cosmic forces, magic, maybe it isn't real death. That doesn't always stick for people like us.

[ A beat. ]

I have to tell you something, too. I've never been sure how to bring it up.

[runningstart]

Oh Jesus. Do I disappear in your world too? This is a universal standard thing? God I am getting so tired of this alternate dimension crap!

[boobwindow]

[ Another awkward pause. ]

... you did, Wally. I didn't want to scare you.

[runningstart]

I'm not scared. [sorta but covering it up with intense annoyance] Okay so, what happened? Do you know? Or anybody here from your world, do they know?

[boobwindow]

It was during the Crisis. There was another Superboy from a different reality. He was incredibly dangerous and powerful, so you, Jay and Bart tried to stop him. Jay couldn't keep up, I think -- [ he might be fast, but he's not young ] and something happened to you. You disappeared into some other dimension with your family.

But you came back. The Legion of Super-Heroes brought you back.

[runningstart]

[That....sounds very familiar. The disappearing while running part anyway, except Wally was the only one to vanish, because HE was the one too slow.]

Okay but- How, Kare, I need numbers, I need data. This might be what happens to me back home but I won't know unless I can compare the physical circumstan- is there any way to get that info? [forgive him if he sounds desperate and frustrated, peej. It's because he's desperate and frustrated.]

[boobwindow]

Wally.

[ Her tone is soft, sympathetic. ]

I can't, I'm sorry. I don't know if this is something data will solve either.

[runningstart]

[Wally is quiet for a moment too long, tense and upset but not with Karen.]

...fine...it's fine. It's- I'm just back where I started, that's all. Nothing's changed.

[boobwindow]

You didn't die, Wally.

[ She wants to emphasize that, even knowing how frightening it can be to be displaced and not knowing how or when you'll get back home. She was gone maybe a couple of days at most and it was practically hell on her physically and emotionally. ]

You'll come back because you're a strong person. [ A quiet sigh. ] I know it's frightening... I only wish I knew what else to say.

[runningstart]

No- [Wally makes a noise of frustration.] No, I'm not. Back in my world I disappear because I'm the slowest. Literally, the reason I'm gone is because I'm not a strong person- and I'm not gonna rely on being strong to come back from whatever the hell happens to me anyway! That's not how the world works! I can't just hope I'm good enough to survive whatever it is because good people die and good people don't come back all the time, every day! I'm going to find a solution using something that's actually real, something that's quantifiable because that doesn't rely on good feelings or random chaotic occurrences to work properly!

-I gotta go. I can't- I gotta go. [he hangs up, drops his phone on his bed and pulls on his sneakers to run for a few hours. he'll apologize for shouting later.]

[boobwindow]

Wally, wait--

[ Damn it. ]