ILoveStargirl and Noahthegrand present: Part three of our Wally West Fix!

WALLY WEST: THE FLASH

THE GRAND FINALE

Okay, let’s begin, where we last left off, Cheshire had died, leaving Roy Harper the guardian of a daughter born while he was trapped in the speed force after the events of Heroes in Crisis, the toddler Lian. He has realized through Cheshire’s death that he cannot ever become addicted to heroin again and he must be able to protect Lian and be the father she needs at all costs. 

Donna Troy has struggled to find an identity for herself in a Post Heroes in Crisis world, and this became very literal when Professor Zoom, in an attempt to save Cheshire from death while at the same time adding a new villain to his budding Injustice Gang, vibrated Donna Troy’s Brain so that every alternate reality version of her existed in one body, and freed her most evil alternate self, DARK ANGEL. Donna Troy would eventually convince all alternate versions of herself, including TROIA, the version she feared becoming most, to merge with her, ending the CRISIS ON INFINITE DONNA TROY’S, and trapping Dark Angel deep within her mind. She is leading the current team of the next generation Titans, and after the previous team fell apart, she has not let anyone but herself lead the team, afraid she is the only one who can keep it together. 

Wally West has regained his children lost in the speed force and former wife has regained her memories after Professor Zoom vibrated her brain to match the frequency of Pre Flashpoint time. The Justice League has helped him to get his children from another timeline doctored social security numbers and birth certificates so they can be enrolled in school. Wally and Linda Park plan to get married in an upcoming ceremony so they can be married officially in this timeline. Wally worries that Professor Zoom is still out there watching him, waiting to strike with a master plan. 

Professor Zoom constructed an Injustice Gang type group made up of

Zoom

Abra Kadabra

Cheshire

Dark Angel

This team fell apart after a climactic fight with the Titans in a Star Labs Facility and is now down to just Zoom and Abra Kadabra. 

After The Titans stopped Zoom’s previous plan, Donna has proclaimed that considering they have saved the world multiple times, they don’t need Justice League oversight because they’re just as much heroes as the League. 

My first article had one arc focused on all three heroes, my second was two arcs forcused on Roy and Donna, this article will have one arc that will focus on Wally and end the quadrilogy of arcs. 

NOW: 

HOW THE WEST WAS WON

Wally West and Linda Park are planning their wedding. They were married once, until Abra Kadabra erased the world’s memories of Wally West. Now, The Flash goes to Hartley Rathaway, aka The Pied Piper, one of his close friends from before the memories were erased. Wally explains this to him, and asks Rathaway if he would be willing to allow Wally to vibrate him at a frequency where he can remember the memories he lost. Hartley agrees. Wally does it, Hartley remembers, and then Wally reveals why he’s doing this: he wants Hartley Rathaway to officiate his wedding. 

Meanwhile, Linda Park and Iris West talk as they go for a walk in Iris’s neighborhood as Linda explains that she’s going to marry Iris’s nephew Wally, and that before Abra Kadabra erased the world’s memories of Wally West, she had been married to him. Also,... something else was erased by Abra Kadabra, with Zoom’s help hiding them in the speedforce. She presents to Iris as they turn the corner to a public playground and park Irey and Jai playing. 

Also, Lagoon Boy is relaxing on a park bench, having been hired to babysit Jai and Irey. 

Meanwhile, we catch up with Iris’s OTHER nephew named Wally, Wallace West aka Kid Flash!

Wallace is now living with Damian Wayne’s Teen Titans. He disagreed strongly with some of the choices Damian Wayne has made as leader of the team, but he would rather be here with his friends than with Wally West and Barry Allen. Recently, Wallace learned that he didn’t exist before Flashpoint. His very existence is a mistake. The Flash screwing up with time travel, and when he had fixed everything, Wallace West existed where he hadn’t before. Wallace West isn’t supposed to exist, he’s just a cosmic mistake, a mistake that The Flash wouldn’t even tell he was secretly Barry Allen, a man Wallace respected and trusted. Now, Barry would rather work alongside Wally West, Wallace’s cousin, his replacement, except, Wally was there first, so it’s more like he’s the replacement. 

Then, Professor Zoom attacks Wallace, flying him out of the Teen Titan’s base at incredible speeds. Wallace recognizes Professor Zoom from the Flash War. He also knows the Justice League is looking for him. Kid Flash prepares to battle Zoom but Zoom tells him he only wants to talk. Wallace gives him 5 seconds and if he doesn’t like what he has to say he’s calling the rest of the Teen Titans and bringing Zoom in. So, with five seconds, Zoom begins to communicate with Wallace as only a speedster can!

We get a history of Zoom’s life, he likes to think he was a magnet for bad luck back then, when he was Hunter Zolomon.  His father was a serial killer that killed his mother, Hunter escaped that, got married, but that went horribly wrong when he made a mistake as an agent of the FBI that resulted in his father in law getting shot and Hunter Zolomon now crippled and forced to walk with a cane.  His wife left him, he transferred from the FBI to the CCPD, Gorilla Grodd paralyzed him from the waist down, and when he tried to get the Flash to go back in time for him and fix his life, The Flash refused, claiming it could permanently alter the timeline. So Zolomon attempted to use the Cosmic Treadmill to go back in time, causing it to explode and giving himself the ability to alter his personal time frame, which means he can be really fast. 

Wallace tells Zoom at super speed that it’s a sad story, but he’s been taken advantage of by men like Deathstroke before. Some self pitying sob story by a supervillain trying to explain why he kills people isn’t going to work on him! Wallace thinks to himself that he was just doing the same thing, pitying himself as he thought about his sad past. Maybe he needs to move on. 

Zoom tells Wallace that he can tell he’s thinking about his own past, they’ve both been betrayed by supposed friends. Barry Allen didn’t tell Wallace he was the Flash, or that Wallace was a cosmic mistake, and Wally didn’t help Zoom when he could have. 

Wallace asks what that’s supposed to mean? That they’re the same? Professor Zoom did Sanctuary and framed Wally West, Wallace helps people and saves people! They’re nothing alike!

Zoom explains he’s never wanted to hurt Wally, he’s his friend, he’s only trying to make him better!

He became Professor Zoom after he was transformed, and came to the conclusion that if Wally suffered personal tragedies he would become a far better hero. So he spent years as a Flash villain. Like Wally West, he remembers Pre-Flashpoint continuity. He figured out about Abra Kadabra erasing Wally from the timeline before Wally even came back! 

Zoom tells Wally that Wallace isn’t like them! He hasn’t experienced tragedy like they have! Zoom is doing this to help him. Wally isn’t strong enough to win against real monsters! He needs tragedy so he can come back strong enough to stop people like Abra Kadabra! 

Zoom has always known this, he’s only ever had one regret, what happened during The Flash War. But, what he’s doing now, he’s trying to atone for it! They can do it together! 

Zoom knows Wallace hasn’t had the best luck with father figures, Daniel West, Barry Allen, Slade Wilson, but he can change that! He can help Wally and they can help both their respective Flash’s!

Wally checks his watch. They’ve been talking for about five seconds at super speed. Pity time is over, he already knew Zoom was crazy, but bringing up “father figures”, trying to do the exact same thing Deathstroke did, Zoom just made him mad. 

Wallace attacks Zoom! Wally West and Professor Zoom will fight him, and being much more experienced and deadly, have Wallace in a chokehold, ready to kill him with a vibrating fist! And just then… someone speeds Wallace away and attacks Zoom! With supersonic speed, Wally’s father Daniel West obliterates Zoom with a speed force infused punch to the chest! Zoom begins to fade away; revealing himself to not be Zoom at all, but the final time remnant of Professor Zoom. 

Daniel hugs Wallace, and Wallace realizes he’s going to need to call someone about this. 

Later, at Star Labs, Barry Allen aka the Flash and Wally West aka The Flash of Keystone City question Daniel. Barry handles the science side of how Daniel could be alive while Wally looks into the more spiritual side of the speedforce. We learn this is Daniel West, Iris West’s younger brother who turned to a life of crime before gaining speed force powers and becoming a murderous enemy of Barry Allen. He was captured, became a member of the Suicide Squad, and died a hero stopping a bomb from blowing up a village by speeding it away from civilians before it exploded. But, after that, like all speedsters, Daniel West’s essence became absorbed into the speedforce. 

Wally remembers that both him and Wallace West were named after the same great-grandfather, but while his father was Rudy West, Wallace’s father was Daniel West. Daniel lied to Wallace though and told him he was only his uncle, leaving Wallace to be taken care of by Iris. Wallace didn’t learn the truth until after Daniel was dead. 

Barry talks to Wallace, who while resentful of Barry, tells him what happened. Daniel explains to Wally that before he died, all he could think of was all the mistakes he had made, every bad choice that had led him to that point, that he would never get to say sorry to Iris, and how he would die never having told Wallace he was his father. Wally realizes, Daniel West got out of the speedforce the same way he did, he had a lightning rod: Wallace West. Barry has overheard this, and is glad Daniel has seemingly turned over a new leaf, but doesn’t know if he fully believes Daniel isn’t lying. And if he is, he could hurt the people Barry cares about: Iris and Wallace. He tells Daniel that he’s still going to have to go to prison, but he can have the Justice League put in a good word for him, get him visitation rights for Iris and Wallace, and get time off his sentence for what he did to stop the bomb. Wallace completely disagrees, demanding they let his father go, and reminding Barry that Amanda Waller could come after Daniel in prison! Wally West brings up that maybe it’s a bad idea, they already know she wants a speedster on her Suicide Squad. 

Before Barry can begin to negotiate and maybe find a solution that everyone can be happy with, Wallace unlocks Daniel out of his Star Labs speedster proof handcuffs. 

Wallace and Daniel escape, Wallace asks Daniel what they should do, and his father tells him he doesn’t know how long he has before The Flash’s track him down, he needs to talk to Iris.

Meanwhile, Iris meets Linda Park’s kids, while Linda discusses with her, she may have found the key to defeating Professor Zoom, she did some research and discovered Zoom’s ex-wife still lives in Keystone City. She could have insight into his mind, what he’s planning, how to stop him. Iris is zoomed away by Wallace West to a nearby rooftop, and he explains to his aunt he has a surprise, but she needs to promise she doesn’t freak out. Daniel West appears. She is freaked out. Daniel tries to tell her he’s come to make amends, she reminds him that he did that before, right before he went back in time to try to murder their father! Wallace tells his aunt this time is different, this time is better! He can vouch for Daniel! He’s changed! Barry Allen arrives, punching Daniel West and yelling at him to stay away from Iris. Wally battles Wallace; who tells them he’s not going to let his father be taken away again right after he got him back. 

Wally West thinks back to his own childhood as he fights, and how difficult it was before he met Barry Allen. Wallace West is a lot like he was as a kid, just a kid who needed a friend, and Wally found that friend in Barry Allen. 

At this moment, Wallace goes to defend his father and fight Barry, while Daniel fights Wally. It’s a four way speedster fight. Wally tries to tell Daniel to calm down, he’s only making this worse. Daniel asks Wally why he should listen to him? He knows the other Flash’s, he doesn’t even know who Wally is! Wally reveals he’s Daniel’s nephew, to his older brother Rudy West! Daniel needs a moment to think about this shocking information, and needs to take a moment to think, slowing down, but unfortunately, the wind tunnel caused by his sudden stop after going very fast blows Iris West off the rooftop! 

Meanwhile, Wallace and Barry chase each other up and down nearby skyscrapers. Wallace yells at Barry for lying to him, Barry tries to apologize, Wallace tells Barry he’s forgive him, but every time something seems to change, Barry does the same things over and over! He didn’t tell him about how he was the Flash, about how Daniel was really his father, about how the Flash of Keystone City was his cousin, and now he’s trying to take his father he never knew he had away! Barry tried to tell Wallace that all he wants to do is protect him and Iris, when he sees Iris falling off the rooftop! Daniel West zooms down the roof to try and save Iris, but Barry gets there and saves her first. Barry thinks Daniel was trying to kill Iris, and prepares to knock him out with a supersonic punch! Wally jumps in the way, tripping Barry and telling him he saw what really happened, while fighting Barry to protect Daniel behind him. Jai and Irey run towards the battle with Linda, and Daniel spots them. Wally and Wallace work together to keep Barry back from Daniel. Daniel decides enough is enough, and stops with his hands up, telling them all he wanted to do was make amends, and then he was going to turn himself in. Wallace tells Daniel he can’t let them win! Daniel tells Wallace it isn’t about winning or losing. Emotions are high with all of them, all of them are fighting to win and end the fight, because none of them want to fight because they’re family, and family shouldn’t fight. Barry looks ashamed, as do Wally and Wallace. Daniel West is taken away to Iron Heights prison. 

Wally tells his cousin he’s not going to treat him like a kid. But, if he ever needs a friend, he’s here. They’re family after all, cousins, they should get to know each other. 

Barry tells Wallace he was right, and he’s sorry. He’s going to try and do better. Wallace tells Barry he was angry and was too hard on him. 

A few weeks later, 

Iris and Linda have a storyline where the go to speak to Ashley Zolomon, Hunter Zolomon’s ex-wife, to see if he’s made contact with her. He hasn’t, but she feels responsible for the monster he’s become, and tells them she’ll do whatever she can to help stop him. After this, Iris goes to Linda’s home and they order dinner. 

Linda tells Iris she has something important to tell Iris. Wally has found out that Professor Zoom vibrated her brain to bring back all of Linda’s memories from before Abra Kadabra erased everyone’s memories. Wally has figured out how to do it too. He restored Hartley Rathaway’s memories. She wants to know if Iris wants her memories restored? Some of it might be a shock. Iris tells Linda that of course she wants her stolen memories back. She remembers Wally, but none of the details. She knows that there is so much she doesn’t know, so many memories taken from her by Abra Kadabra, she wants all of them back!

Linda goes to get Wally. Wally vibrates Iris, and suddenly, she remembers, as years of her life, and all of her time spent in love with, than married to, Barry Allen, are restored.

Our next story is The Wedding of Linda Park and Wally West, and we’ll get some time in’s and set up stories leading up to this, The Wedding Reception, The Bachelor and Bachelorette Parties, old characters important to the histories of the Flash’s arriving, Jay Garrick coming from the past with the help of Booster Gold for Wally’s wedding, some introspection from the characters on their pasts and how far they’ve come. 

Linda prepares to walk down the aisle. Wally asks Roy where Hartley is. At the same time, outside, Hartley explains to his boyfriend Captain David Singh of the CCPD he’s set up an invisible sound barrier around the church so that once the ceremony starts, if Abra Kadabra and Zoom try to get in, they won’t be able to without some severe temporary vertigo and temporary hearing loss. And then, Singh’s undercover cops, sent to watch the ceremony under the excuse that due to a story Linda Park wrote about Sanctuary she might be a target, can take them down while they’re weakened. Hartley realizes what time it is and runs inside because he’s supposed to be officiating the wedding. Wally West, almost ready for the wedding, thinks about his life and how it’s led him here. Despite what Zoom says, he has had tragedy, long before he ever met Hunter Zolomon. His father Rudy West, both of his parents having marriage difficulties, unable to stop themselves from arguing in front of their young son Wally, but Wally kept moving forward like the Flash always said, he found someone who he could relate too, found two people who took care of him while his parents were absent, taught him right and wrong: Barry Allen and Iris West, who now sit in the front row. After everything, every hurdle, from Abra Kadabra to Sanctuary, Barry has always been there for him. 

Meanwhile, at Professor Zoom’s lair, Zoom discusses with Abra Kadabra he was unable to successfully recruit the Wallace West boy, or his father. With Cheshire dead, and their access to a larger multiverse using Dark Angel gone, they’re no closer to restoring speedsters abilities to travel through time, then when they started. Zoom laments his loss of control during Flash War. He had found a friend in Eobard Thawne, and when that was taken away, he gave up on his plans to help Wally, if only for a moment. Zoom stops for a moment to remind Abra Kadabra to get the weapons ready. They need to attack Wally West’s wedding in 20 minutes. 

Zoom continues, now, he’s done everything he can to help make amends for his friend Wally West. He orchestrated Sanctuary, he…

As this speech has been going on, Abra Kadabra has been growing more and more annoyed in the background behind Zoom, slowly becoming eclipsed by him in the art until this moment. 

Abra Kadabra suddenly attacks Zoom with his magic wand, his psycho pirate mask, and sanctuary technology strapped to his body! Zoom demands to know what his partner is doing. Abra Kadabra begins to create an elaborate cracked mirror simulation of Professor Zoom’s tragic past, telling Zoom that he makes him sick! Abra Kadabra tells Zoom he’s always underestimated him! “You thought you could control me? Me! I am the master of magic! I am the archenemy of the Flash! Not you! Me! You think you deserve the applause? With your little self pity act? Bah!”

Abra Kadabra animates a Hunter Zolomon simulation. “My friend Eobard is dead! I’m so sad!” Zoom asks Abra Kadabra what the hell he thinks he’s doing. Zoom creates dozens of Wally West’s that begin to beat up Zolomon. Abra Kadabra tells him that he should have taken Eobard’s death as a sign he had eclipsed him! He had all the technology he needed, all the power, he could have been the most deadly force any Flash had ever seen! But he bungled it up! Like he bungles everything up with his disgusting love for Wally West! He could have killed Wally West years ago! Zoom tells Kadabra that isn’t the plan. Abra Kadabra tells Zoom his plan is idiotic! He came to Zoom long before Zoom came to him after Flash War. He manipulated Flash War! He manipulated Thawne and Zolomon, because he wanted help defeating The Flash! But, now, he has Psycho Pirate’s Mask,  and he has Sanctuary’s VR tech. He doesn’t need Zoom anymore! Kadabra tells Zoom he doesn’t deserve what he has! He’s a joke! Zoom is sucked into Abra Kadabra’s magic hat then pulled out, transformed into a Professor Zoom/ Bunny hybrid. A giant Abra Kadabra presents him to a laughing crowd. Abra Kadabra tells him “I made The Flash disappear! It was my prowess that accomplished the Sanctuary hoax! I deserve to be the star of the show! I deserve the applause! Me! Me!”

Zoom races through the illusion, destroying it like glass!

Zoom punches Abra Kadabra so hard, that a rift in time and space is opened! Abra Kadabra falls through screaming as his technology is torn off of him, the Psycho Pirate Mask is launched away into time and space, and Kadabra is launched into a cosmic void! Abra Kadabra lands in a field… then… he hears a voice.

“The man ‘‘tis fallen from the sky! What manor of magic is this?”

“Looke’y here fellas! It’s a witch wand!” 

Abra Kadabra gets up to find Puritans looking over his wand. He demands to know where he is. A man hits him to the ground with a stick!

“On your knees witch! Looks like you’ve fallen from your magic broomstick, well allow me to welcome you… to Salem Massachusetts!”

In modern day, Zoom smiles. Speedsters can affect time again. He grimaces. “A team was a bad idea. From now on… I work alone”.

Linda meanwhile, is scared to walk down the aisle. She confides in Iris that she’s afraid, what if something goes wrong? What if this is destined to end in disaster? Iris reassures her, everything is going to be fine. She’s a strong, investigative journalist who runs into dangerous situations to find the truth every day. This’ll be easy. Wally meanwhile, is worried about where Hartley is and is telling Roy that he thinks something is going to go wrong. Maybe they should call this off, Roy tells Wally they’ll be fine, and points out Hartley rushing back inside. The two get married, everything goes off without a hitch, Zoom never arrives, Wally and Linda kiss and say I do. It all goes perfectly, and it’s a perfect occasion. Everyone cheers as Wally and Linda leave to get into a limo with “Just Hitched” written on it. Roy and Donna kiss because it’s a romantic moment. Hartley shuts down the sound barrier. Then… once the wedding has ended, and everything has gone great… Zoom arrives, explaining he had a minor managerial issue, and he had to come late to give his best wishes to his friend Wally West, but he’s here, and he’s so happy to be here. 

Wally grabs Zoom and carries him away from his friends and family to fight him at an intersection about a quarter mile away. Zoom tells him, he may have kept him away from his family, but he has other plans, a secret weapon Wally doesn’t know about! They fight for a while and Wally tells Zoom he has a secret weapon too. 

The Keystone City Police arrive and present to Zoom his ex-wife, Ashley, who pleads with him to give up and turn himself in. This doesn’t have to get any worse! Zoom tells her she shouldn’t be here, and that things aren’t going to get worse, they’ll get better! Once he’s fixed Wally West, everything will be better! Zoom runs away and Wally follows!

Zoom explains this will end the same way it always was going to, Wally alone against him. A race. 

If Zoom succeeds in getting to a high enough speed, he’ll travel back in time and, taking a page out of Eobard’s playbook, ruin Wally’s life so badly he’ll become the hero he was meant to be! 

But, if Wally wins, Zoom’s speed powers are taken from him, Wally becomes stronger by allowing the man who was once his friend to be ravaged by speed force energy… and he becomes stronger!

The Race Begins.

Zoom is going faster than Wally. Zoom tells Wally he’s doing this to help him. Wally isn’t strong enough to win against real monsters! He needs tragedy so he can come back strong enough to stop people like Abra Kadabra! 

Wally begins to catch up. He explains he has had tragedy, long before he ever met Hunter Zolomon, everyone has bad moments in their life, and he’s still always been an optimist, always tried to help people. To quote Barry Allen: He’s always kept looking forward. Tragedy doesn’t make you the hero of the story, it’s what you do after. It’s helping people. Wally has never let tragedy define him, he’s let his friends, his family define him, while Zoom has done nothing but revel in tragedy. Wally is catching up. Sweat runs down Zoom’s face as he grits his teeth and runs faster than he ever has before!

Zoom tells Wally everything he’s done, he’s done to make him better! To make him stronger! He tells Wally “Linda, Irey, Jai, Wallace, Iris, Barry, Roy, Donna! They’ve made you weak! Dependant! You are the Flash! You don’t need anyone ... except for me!”  Wally is falling behind, he’s out of breath. He isn’t going to make it! Zoom is just too fast!

Wally thinks of his family, of Barry, Jai, Irey, Wallace, Jay, he takes strength from each of them, he feels just a little bit of their speed force in him, and he just barely surpasses Zoom in the race! Zoom’s energy is absorbed into Wally! Wally grabs Zoom before the speed force can consume him and carries him away! Wally carries Zoom away and slows to a stop. Hunter Zolomon has lost the use of his legs, but he’s alive. Wallace and Barry arrive carrying Iris and Linda. Barry runs back to grab Donna and Roy, who had tried and failed to follow behind by motorcycle. They were about ten miles back. 

Later, back at the church, Ashley Zolomon leaves; sad, but hopeful for the future now that her ex-husband is behind bars. Iris tells Linda she doesn’t think she can do it, Linda tells her she helped her before the wedding, she’s here to help her now. Iris goes up to Barry to tell her that as a result of Abra Kadabra erasing everyone’s memories of Wally, Flashpoint, and the cosmic retcon, they both forgot something important: they used to be married.  

Our final scene will be a heartwarming moment after a time jump to Roy and Donna with Linda and Wally having a picnic with Jai, Irey, and Lian. Linda tells Wally it’s nice to get some peace and rest after everything that happened. Wally tells her not to thank him, thank Wallace. We reveal Wallace running through Keystone city, locking up criminals at the police station the second they commit crimes. Donna gets a text from Lilith who says hi to everyone. Jai, Irey, and Lian play. Wally thinks that they’ll be better than them some day. Donna jokes that children are the future. Wally tells Linda he loves her, and they kiss. Echoing the end of our Sanctuary arc, Wally tells her this feels good. This feels real.