Chapter Text
“Ow!”
That hurt…
Where the fuck am I?
“Hello? Anyone there? I swear if someone kidnapped me again…”
I rub my head gently, try to smooth away what appears to be a very bad concussion. “Great, just my luck! I never get a day off…” I dust myself off and stagger to my feet. Ugh, let me just message Rook or Grandpa, make sure they don’t crazy trying to find me. I pull out my plumber badge, “Grandpa? This is Ben…come in?” No response. He’s probably out cooking…Ughhh, I’m gonna try my best to forget that image coming into my head, I don’t want whatever animal he’s cooking up this time. “Rook? Hey bud, I’m alive!” Nothing, that’s odd, he’s usually around.
Huh, let’s just zip back home, this alley gives me the creeps.
“This call for XLR8!” I slam down on the dial, the welcome green light emanating from the watch. “Oh damn it, I wanted XLR8, I guess Heatblast works.”
I take to the skies immediately, shooting up high into the smog-ridden sky. “Jeez, this place is worse than Anur Transyl. Just where am I?” I blast through the city’s skies, ignorant to the watching eyes on the streets below.
“This place does not look familiar, I swear if I’m in another country…” I let out a heavy sigh, rocketing off further, hopefully I come across somewhere familiar soon, either that or I fly across the globe for a while…I hope it’s not the latter.
A few hours later, I time out and land down in another unfamiliar country, I’ve since figured out I’m America…somewhere. The signage is enough to tell me that. I just don’t recognise any cities. “I’m no geography buff, but I do have a photographic memory and I don’t remember seeing a…central city…anywhere on the map.” Huh? Being a hero, I’ve travelled to most countries and almost all of America, there’s not many major cities I don’t recognise, that coupled with my memory…I should have no problem figuring out where I am.
“I swear, if this is an alternate universe…” Lets just hope this place is more chill than meeting Rex, or my other selves. That still sounds weird to me. I continue my journey on foot, walking through the streets of the city, it’s late but the place seems decently alive, I pass by a few stores on my trip, and more than a few TV’s, all with the same headline ‘Flash saves the city again!’ At least they have heroes here. Maybe this one could help, I muse, looking over the dozens and dozens offf newspapers with his name as a headline. But one thought rises to the top of my head, “What a crap name!” Seriously? The flash! That’s the best he could do?”
Before I can form another thought, a bright red blur flies past me and abruptly stops, a few steps from my face. “Hey! I put a lot of thought into that name!”
I just stare at the bright red hero. “Seriously? The flash! What, was the streaker taken?”
“Hey! Again…Besides, you think that’s bas, the newspapers used to call me the Blur.”
I can’t help but laugh. “I don’t know man, both are still pretty bad.”
He laughs as well. “I guess so…What’s your name kid?”
“Ben. Pleasure meeting you Flash.”
“You too kid.”
“You stop for every civilian that insults you?”
“A few.”
“Well, I’m glad you stopped by me. I need your help actually.”
“You do, kid?” The whites of his eyes narrow, I didn’t even know a mask could do that! Maybe I should ask Blukic and Driba if they could make me a mask like that. I may not need one, but it looks cool!
“Hey! Earth to kid!” He waves his hand in my face a few times, looking very concerned.
“Sorry.”
“You said you need my help?”
“Yeah, you see I’m not from this universe and I could use help getting back.”
He freezes, one second, two seconds, three seconds, before letting out a loud and harsh bark of laughter. “Good one kid.” He smacks me on the shoulder. “You really had me there.”
“I’m not joking.”
“Right…Sure you’re not kid, why don’t I give you my autograph and you can go tell your friends how you met the flash?” He pulls out a pen and a picture of himself, where the hell did that come from! Does he just carry pictures of himself around?
I shove his hand off my shoulder. He doesn’t believe me? I’ll prove it then. “It’s hero time!” I slam down on the dial of my watch, my body instantly transforming and limbs mutating. “Diamondhead!” I call out, the name echoing through the street.
“Woah.” He breathes out, staring over my form. “What are you kid?”
“Believe me now?”
“I’m not sure…You’re definitely not human, but you could just be an alien…”
Well, at least they have those here, though it was funny seeing Rex’s face when I told him my transformations were really aliens. “So you’ll help me?”
He stares and reaches out to poke me.
I jab his finger away. “Hey!”
“Sorry, sorry. Yeah, I’ll help you kid…Or not kid, I don’t really know what you are.”
I sigh. “I’ll explain later. Just…Can you help?”
He cheers up instantly, replacing his look of astonishment, with the cheery smile I first met. “I’ll certainly try. Follow me kid.”
He zips off, leaving me standing in the street, confused. He zips back. “Sorry kid. Mind changing back so I can carry you?” Is this guy really a hero? He’s a bit forgetful.
I just shake my head and slam down on the symbol on my chest. “XLR8!”
“Another one?” He breathes out and I smile, well, as well as XLR8 can. “That’s not even all of them.” I call out. He gazes over my form. “You sure you’ll be able to keep up kid? You saw how fast I can move.”
“Don’t worry, I can keep up.”
He perks up and shoots off, me racing behind him.
The streets blur as we pick up speed, cities pass by and soon we end up in a completely new place, I’m front of us a grand building, with the name ‘Justice League’ emboldened on the top, sits. He slows down. “This is our stop kid.” He takes out the device he’d been fiddling with before and then nods to himself, and sets it aside. “Come on in, kid. Time for you to meet the Justice League.”
I ignore the stupidity of the name, again, what’s with these names! And follow him inside, the rooms huge, with a large dome interior and plaques and pictures across the walls. He leads me to a a set of huge doors, throwing them open. “Sorry I’m late guys, I brought a friend.” He walks in to a table with a variety of brightly coloured clothed people sat around it.
A tall, imposing man with a cape stands to meet him “Flash. You’re late. To your own meeting.” He just smirks and sidesteps him, using his superspeed. “Hey, not my fault! Traversing states takes a while.” The man’s eyes narrow before he relents and points to me. “And who’s this?”
I step forward, reverting to my normal formal. “My names Ben.” The table stares at me with shock and confusion, including the flash, who clearly hasn’t gotten used to the sight. “I asked the Flash for help and he brought me here. I take it you guys are some sort of heroes here?”
A couple eyes narrow around the table. And one man in a bright green ensemble pipes up from the back, where’s he’s sat next to Flash. “Oh come on, you don’t know the Justice League? Most famous heroes on the earth! You been living under a rock?”
“Did Flash not tell you guys? I from a different universe.” That statement is meant with a variety of reactions, a few sighs, a few gasps, a few bewildered looks. The man cloaked in black from before, quirks an eyebrow at the Flash, who just shrugs. “I forgot?” Sounding more like a question than a statement. A few of the others around him smile.
“Well, what do you need our help with? And how can we trust you?” The man asks.
I shrug. “You can’t. But I do need your help getting home. And you’re heroes, isn’t that your duty?”
A few nod. “Sit down, we have lots to talk about. A few things being, what are you? And why you seem so unphased at this scenario.”
I nod and take up an empty seat.