by Hitman 44077
Continued from Kid Flash: Wally West in Crisis
Kid Flash ran toward Blue Valley, carrying with him the Flash costume and Barry Allen’s ashes. Just moments before, he’d learned that the disease killing him was now in remission, and for now his health was in the clear.
After all we went through, we managed to stop the Anti-Monitor, Kid Flash thought. And through some strange set of circumstances Superman mentioned, the five Earths now exist separately from each other again. (*) I have no idea how or why, but I’m glad. I can’t imagine how I would have felt not existing. The toughest task is yet to come, though. He glanced at the box containing Barry’s Flash costume.
[(*) Editor’s note: See DC Universe: The Rock of Eternity.]
Kid Flash arrived at his parents’ home and knocked. Robert West opened the door, grateful to see his son alive.
“Hi, Dad,” Kid Flash said.
“Wally! Thank God you’re safe! Where have you been?” Robert West asked his son as Kid Flash walked into the house.
Mary West heard the two men’s voices and hurried to the front door. “Wally!” she cried out, the tears beginning to flow as she hugged her son. “Oh, Wally, you’re safe! Oh, my God, we were so worried about you!”
Kid Flash hugged his mother with one arm as he held onto the package containing Barry’s ashes and costume. “I was worried about you two as well. With what’s happened the past few weeks, it’s amazing we’re alive to talk about it.”
Setting the package down, Wally West addressed his parents. “I have some good news for you two. I told you before I left that I have a disease that’s killing me. Well, I journeyed with the other heroes to the antimatter universe anyway. While I was there, I received a blast of antimatter. It seems that it has countered the effects of my disease. It’s still inside my body, but it’s being kept in check by the antimatter. I was checked out at STAR Labs, and they confirmed it. I’m no longer dying.” Kid Flash removed his mask and smiled as a tear of happiness dropped from his eye.
“Oh, Lord, thank you!” Mary West shouted happily, hugging her son.
“I am so happy for you, Wally,” Robert West said, wiping a tear away from his eye as well and also smiling.
“I’ve got a little time, but I’ll need to get going in a while,” Wally said, removing his costume. “I’m going to wash my Kid Flash costume and take a shower. Once I’m done, I’ll tell you everything that happened there and why I’m not done yet.” Within a second, he’d placed his costume in the washing machine and started it up, then returned back to his parents.
“Take all the time you need, Wally,” was Robert’s response.
Wally sped up to the bathroom and entered the shower, turning the water on. While he could have bathed at super-speed, he chose to do so normally. This is going to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done, Wally thought, washing his hair. I haven’t even come up with the words to tell Henry and Nora. I’d meant to stop by before this Crisis struck, but I never got around to it. How do you tell someone’s parents that their son is dead?
I know what happened to Barry, thought Wally as he rinsed off the soap and shampoo. That nut the Psycho-Pirate told me everything. No matter what, I won’t lie to them. They deserve the truth, and I won’t betray their trust or Barry’s.
Wally turned off the water in the shower and used a towel to dry off. He then ran downstairs to the washer, as his suit was clean. Using his super-speed, Wally dried the Kid Flash costume himself and put it back on. He then walked to the living room where his parents were sitting.
“That was fast. I swear I’ll never get used to that,” Robert West said to his son, referring to his powers.
“You said you had something to do. What on Earth do you need to do now?” Mary West asked her son, a bit concerned.
Kid Flash paused, not sure how to start explaining what he had to do. “Mom, Dad, you know that there have been problems on our world, and that several heroes died trying to save it. God, I don’t know how to say it.” He paused, thinking of his uncle Barry.
The look of compassion was written on Robert West’s face as he saw that something was truly haunting his son. “Wally, it’s okay. Does it have anything to do with the rumors regarding the Flash?” he asked him.
“Yeah. When I was in the antimatter universe, I found this.” Kid Flash picked up the package, removed its top, and showed his parents the costume of the Flash. The faces of Robert and Mary West showed immense shock.
“Oh, my God,” Mary West whispered, placing her hand near her mouth.
“I learned that the Flash sacrificed his life to save our universe, among others,” Kid Flash said, fighting against tears. “This was his testament. His ashes, which were found in the costume, proves that a human died in the costume. This hurts me so much.”
“Oh, no,” was all Robert West could say.
“I have to turn this over to the Flash’s family, Henry and Nora Allen,” Kid Flash said, regaining a sense of composure. “They need to bury their son.”
The announcement of Flash’s secret identity hit Robert West hard. Barry had been married to Robert’s sister Iris a few years before she died. He’d liked Barry. They hadn’t kept in touch all that well, but he thought highly of Barry all the same.
“I — I never suspected,” Robert West said. “You said something before you left about Barry being dead, and he’d been missing since he was supposed to marry Fiona Webb. I can’t believe it.”
“This has taken a toll on me,” Kid Flash said somberly, picking up the package and putting the top back on. “I never thought a day would come that Barry’d be gone, but now he is. I don’t know how long this will take, but I need to see the Allens right now. I’ll be back in a while.”
“All right, Wally,” Robert West said, as he walked over to Kid Flash and hugged him. “We’re here for you, son. Remember that, please.”
“Thanks, Dad. I love you both,” Kid Flash said as he traveled toward Central City and the Allens’ home at super-speed, carrying Barry’s legacy.