Before Rai knew it, what felt like decades seemed to fly by. During this time of suspension, he had been adhering to his unyielding training endeavors.
Now, he sat cross-legged while his three mentors, the guardians of the Speed Force, guided him towards his rightful path.
"*sigh*."
Rai exhaled deeply through his mouth, assaying his mental foundation.
"That's right... feel for the prime vibrational frequency ...That's how you'll find Omen.Grasp all that is perceivable to you." Stated Max Mercury.
Before the four of them projected a vast and wide Time Ocean projection that Rai had been practicing summoning through his long and exhausting labors.
"*Sigh.*"
Although Rai breathed heavily, in truth, there was no need for him too. After all, he had become the true consciousness of the Speed Force.
If Omen attempted to create another consciousness similar to Rai, it would have inevitably failed. That's because Rai had essentially become the first and only consciousness for the Speed Force. This meant that if Omen attempted to reach into the core, Rai would have been able to sense his grasp, adhering to his call.
In fairness, If he didn't, just like the original Speed Force, He would have had his being ripped apart and destroyed by the heart and recreated in Omen's image. In a way, this meant that he would always in some way or another be subservient to the Prime.
With that being said, Rai had no conventional bodily functions. There was no need for him to sleep, use the restroom, or eat. The same thing was true for Omen as well, but with Omen being the heart and epicenter of the Speed Force instead of its neurological network.
The reason Rai breathed in Speed Force Meditation was that his foundation was because the feeling was simply relaxing to him, with his foundation being based on human anatomy. It put Rai's mind at ease when he felt the sensation of air entering his would be lungs, although he could stop the habit at any time and be completely fine
"*Sigh*."
The amount of time Rai and his mentors spent together amounted virtually to the same quantity of time it took for an infant to reach retirement age 5 times over. But during this time, Jay, Max, Johnny, and Rai hadn't migrated much from the initial location Rai originally warped into.
The reason for this was that there was no need to travel much in the Speed Force Realm. Simply being in a portion of its infinitely expansive diameter was enough to get an overall understanding of its nature. After all, a portion of infinity was still infinity.
The guardian's goal was to get Rai to understand the ins and outs of the Speed Realm. To succeed, he had to know himself as well as his enemy. In efforts of this, all Rai would need to do was grasp the atmospheric reality around him to gain access to more of the Speed Force. This would take time and understanding. In a sense, Rai would have to change who he was. With time, he began to do so.
"*Sigh*"
Although Rai was almost a completely different person in terms of the Speed Force knowledge, he still had a long path to run. This path included mastering the sixth sense of vibrational frequencies and destroying the cancer that disguised itself as the mind of the Speed Force.
In his training, he had already succeeded in finding alternative versions of his mentor, Johnny Quick residing throughout the multiverse and different timelines. He had later done the same with Jay and Max. His current task that he had been working on was finding the location of his creator, Omen.
Unlike finding any other person in existence, finding Omen was like finding a needle in a needle stack that amounted to the size of a planet. It was like looking for a single grain of sand on the ocean floor. That was how Jay described things, but in truth, finding the location of a singularity was more akin to looking out into a universe in search of one dust particle scattered among infinity.
Honing in on the Vibrational Sense was something that was absolutely necessary if Rai was to become the New Speed Force in its entirety. With Vibrational sense Mastery, One would be able to notice the formulation of a Paradox as soon as it is composed.
As the new Speed Force, it would then become Rai's responsibility to consume the paradox as if it were food for him, stopping Time Travels in their tracks and destroying universes that disobeyed the laws of time.
Although the process seemed extreme by human standards, this was the equivalent of the acids of a person's stomach digesting food and redistributing energy to their cells. Once Rai had reached a certain level, fixing paradoxes would only be a reflex, similar to how it was for the Speed Force before him.
Although ideally, the creations of time paradoxes would be prevented through the digestion process, mortal beings always seemed to have a way of avoiding the consequences of violating reality. That couldn't be helped. Sometimes a virus would pass through a human body and kill it. Other times, a human would grow to adapt to it, Just like the Speed Force had so many times in the past, and how Rai would in the future.
In the Time Ocean before Rai, a countless amount of realities splayed.
"*Sigh*"
'Where the hell is he.'
Rai couldn't help but become slightly frustrated.
Unlike when he was able to physically feel for the vibrations of his mentors, which was already an impossible task in itself, finding Omen was different because he had no initial aids. All he knew was that he was supposed to be in search of a being similar to himself. He had been in search of this being for what felt like a millennium, but in a place that transcended the fourth dimension, it didn't mean much.
"Relax... it's only been a little bit. Omen won't be going anywhere. His timeline is moving at a fraction of a snail's pace while we're here. You have nothing to worry about."
Stated Jay. He could see the frustration On his disciple's face starting to build.
"That's easy for you all to say. For me, my brain was generated on the grounds that it was human… it's hard-." Before continuing, Rai realized his mistake. Because his mentors were so far ahead of him in terms of intelligence and maturity, it made it easy for him to forget that they themselves were once human. Their glares undoubtedly reminded Rai of this.
"It was hard for us as well. Are you trying to dismiss our humanity because we've been isolated for so long?"
Johnny asked, sounding slightly offended.
"That's not what I'm saying at all... you guys had the equivalent of 100 human eons to adapt psychologically to the sensation of being inside the Speed Force while I had a few hundred years… It's just a challenge to get used to." Rai commented while continuing his search.
Jay, shaking his head, spoke sternly.
"Kid. Unlike you, we didn't observe the multiverse from the perspective you did. We didn't have your special privileges or the knowledge you had coming into things. We all became one with the Speed Force alone and afraid for our lives. Blind and directionless."
"We spent a lot of time in solitude… Far more than you have or will ever have too." Jay spoke while shaking his head.
Although this may have seemed like Jay intended to humble Rai, there were slight undertones of spite in his words. The reason wasn't because of Rai's complaining.
Instead, it was that Rai was oblivious to the phenomenal strides he had made in terms of understanding.
At the beginning of his training, Jay, Johnny, and Max were all shocked at Rai's rate of progression. They couldn't comprehend why he intuitively knew so much regarding the Speed Force nor did they understand how he was able to obtain so many skills effortlessly. That was up until Rai revealed that he had knowledge of their techniques from a secret means.
Although they wanted to know why Rai was equipped with so much, they chose not to pry too much. Rai had become the Speed Force Consciousness. The more powerful and knowledgeable he got, the more it would benefit them and all Speedster kind.
Jay, Max, and Johnny showed Rai that there was a state of higher learning that blew his mind many times over. And so, Rai absorbed all that he could.
"...Even though you had aid by peeping on us from that Source window, to say your progression in the Speed Force is impressive would be a disgusting low balling of the progress that you've made so far. I don't think that even if we had all of the tools you had, we would have been able to reach your level… So don't stress yourself out. Don't rush the task at hand." Jay said while patting Rai's shoulder reassuringly. No matter how jealous he was of Rai, he was his student whom he was slowly growing to care for.
Chiming in, Max added.
"He's right. You're doing a good job. The speed at which you're navigating is more than outstanding. It's remarkable."
"Believe it or not, you pretty much already found him. And you did it pretty much without our aid."
Johnny smirked.
The three guardians knew the exact vibrational frequency of Omen, only taking them the equivalent of what would be 3 minutes to find him originally. They could have given Rai his exact coordinate in space and time, allowing him to navigate the dimensional maps, but locating Omen was an exercise he could get any handicaps on, for it would have hindered his growth.
"Alright... I'll keep looking."
Their words had motivated Rai to continue.
Being pushed to move forward, Before Rai knew it, the Time Ocean Showed him the exact thing he needed to see. But just because he needed to see didn't mean it was something he wanted to see.
Opening his eyes, Rai was shocked to see a lifeless Cisco in the arms of Omen.
"No..." He felt like he was being punched in the gut as he saw his friend's dead body limp in the arms of Omen.
'What... What happened? Why is he dead?'
Many facial expressions overlapped Rai's.
Dread. Despair. Agony. Guilt.
"Ah... I'm sorry kid."
Jay uttered. He didn't know the relationship between Rai and Cisco, but he could tell that it was a close one.
Rai had no words. He didn't know how long it had been since he had last seen Cisco, but due to him being the Speed Force, his memories would never escape him. It was a gift beforehand, but a slight curse now.
"Damn..."
Rai uttered.
"We knew you two had known each other well..."
Max said, sincerely feeling for his apprentice.
"Yeah... It's been a while, but... this still sucks."
Rai said with a sigh looking on at The Arrowverse.
Omen rocked back and forth as stubborn hot tears slid down his face. As all four observers paid close attention to the scene, it was then that a strange phenomenon occurred.
"Hey. What's going on?"
Rai, being the most invested, was the first to see what was happening. Omen's Vibrational frequency had begun to fluctuate causing him to shit in and out of existence.
A being's vibrational frequency was specifically detailed to them. It was like a celestial thumbprint of sorts. In Omen's case, he was being warped and changed ever so slightly as seconds went by.
"It's not just his body changing frequencies, it's the space around him as well."
Johnny said with confusion.
Strange, almost invisible waves were shot off of Omen in a multitude of directions at random.
"Wait... Rai, as Omen, did you ever even awaken any abilities." Max asked.
"No... Nothing I can think of..."
As those words slipped out of his mouth, Rai began to recall all of his memories.
Images flashed into his mind about the strange irregularities that had occurred since he arrived in the world of DC.
``When I first arrive!" He screamed internally.
Rai recalled the exact moment he had transmigrated. He had an overwhelming sense of vertigo before he shifted. One so severe that it caused him to fall on his tail. He had again felt this sensation when the Particle Accelerator exploded. After that, He felt the sensation whenever he encountered Eobard Thawne and Barry Allen... But as he recollected, the sensation had reached its pinnacle whenever he interacted with Cisco.
Why did Omen get transferred to an alternative reality, to begin with? The same reality he had been complaining about moments prior. How did he get transferred into a T.V Show?
"Hey... Can one of you tell me what exactly it means to be a singularity?" Rai asked Max in a panic.
"It means that there is no way to account for one's probability… you know this. Why are you asking right now?"
"I need to know if they can develop powers. Is it possible?"
Rai frowned.
"Like I said, with them being a glitch in reality, anything is technology possible… Including rare cases where they develop powers… You think Omen is one of those rare cases?"
"Yeah..."
Rai nodded.
"That makes sense considering he was originally from beyond the Source Wall and somehow managed to make his way here... a task gods couldn't achieve… but how did he get these powers? What activated them? What was the catalyst?"
Johnny's confusion was shared by everyone present.
"I'm just as confused as you."
Rai stated in confusion.
"This isn't just vibrating one's molecular structure… He's bending Space."
After moments of observing change, one of the waves that Omen shot from his body caused a tear in reality, ripping apart its fundamentals and creating a white wormhole that led to an unknown location. As the four looked on, the portal slowly began to drag Omen in against his will.
'Shit... If he dies in that portal, I could die as well.'
Thinking about self-preservation, Rai thought Omen might have known something. In turn, Rai attached a telepathic link to his other-self.
"*Zap.*"
Sending a bolt of electricity from his head durable enough to handle the void of space and time, Rai intended to intertwine minds.
***
'With all this death... It feels like I'm in Injustice.'
"*Zap.*"
I didn't know why, but as Cisco fell to the ground, I felt a painful sensation in my head, as if being zapped by lightning, but physical pain was dulled by my distress.
'Shit... I guess I'm leaving then... I hope they stay safe.'
***
As Omen's body went into the portal, the mental link was snapped which caused a feedback loop that launched Rai's backwards.
"*ZAP*"
The Ocean of Time closed while Rai flew.
Tumbling backward, all three Speed Gaurdias ran at full speed, catching Rai quicker than instantaneous.
"What happened just now?"
Max asked with a voice of concern while Rai held his head in pain.
"I don't know... But Obviously, on top of having the Speed Force, Omen is a Metahuman capable of manipulating space."
With the dots connected, Rai realized that Omen's transportation into the DC Universe was far too coincidental for his liking. He had a feeling that what happened just before his eyes was proof of that.
'I'm from… no. He's from the real world where he had a real life. It was a shitty one, but a real one. Aside from Jesus Christ himself, no one actually had powers…' Rai tried to think of every scenario that he possibly could to wrap his mind around how Omen obtained his powers but there was no solid conclusion. All he could do was wonder.
"Yeah... I think that you're right." Jay announced while the others nodded.
"Do you have any guesses of where he might have gone just now?" Although Johnny was the one to speak, all the others had the same question.
"Yeah."
Rai looked lost, but his answer was certain. He knew that Omen was traveling to the world of a tyrant God.
***
"I don't know who you are, but I suggest you answer my question."
Although he wanted his answer, I had to watch my words carefully.
"I can't answer your questions while I fall at this Speed." My words were incomprehensible to anyone who didn't have super speed, but with Superman here, I knew he would be able to aid.
Squinting his eyes at me, he gave a slight nod, then launched himself forward.
"*Wosh*"
Catching me in his arms, Superman tossed me over his shoulder, flying me down to the ground while everyone in our vicinity was moving at the speed of slugs.
Floating down to a white marble staircase, I realized that my arrival had interrupted what looked to be a large press conference of some sort.
Placing me on the ground while firmly gripping my shoulder, Superman looked onwards at the hysterical crowd.
"Wait! Stop running! Superman's got 'em!"
A man with a black fedora and a camera shouted, informing the rest of the crowd.
Seeing that the man's voice didn't seem to reach the ears of others, Superman decided to take action. Clearing his throat, he declared,
"ENOUGH."
With such an intense voice, I almost jumped in surprise. If I hadn't been equipped with my Speed Aura, my eardrums would have ruptured due to being so close to him.
Superman had just displayed his ability, Super Ventriloquism. It allowed him to throw his voice long distances giving the illusion of being in multiple places at once, or projecting his voice so that large crowds heard his call. In rare cases, He would use this ability in the comics to catch enemies off guard.
One simple word bought all the eyes upon the Man of Steel's imposing figure.
Although we were the same height and looked to be within the same weight range, his presence was unnerving to me.
'Clark Kent... Superman.'
While normally, I would have been excited to meet such a figure, a couple of factors prevented this.
One: I still had a scar on my heart from seeing my friend die.
Two: I had no idea where or when the portal had popped up.
Three: I didn't know anything about this Superman aside from one thing. He was fast.
Although I hadn't been falling at my maximum, the fact that he was able to process and converse with me while I used Speed Speech let me know that he was at least a potential contender.
Letting go of my shoulder, he preached to his audience.
"There is no need to fear. The situation is under control. The portal has disappeared, and the culprit doesn't seem to be a threat. After I'm finished with this short speech, he shall be taken into my custody for further questioning." Superman was composed, intelligible, and elegant when he spoke. He exuded the aura of someone of noble descent.
I had no idea where things would lead if I attempted escaping, so I decided the best option for me would be to remain composed.
I had just consumed Grodd's and was faster than I ever was… And yet, I was uncertain of my capabilities. After all, I killed Thawne with a single punch, not allowing him to get a single word in like villains usually do. But even with my new enhancements, I still had to acknowledge that I had been previously partaking in a cakewalk. Now, I had to move in a full-blown sprint due to the competition in my new marathon.
The Threat-level between The Arrowverse in comparison to real comic worlds was just far too great. It was the difference between heaven and earth.
'Hopefully, he's one of the mentally stable ones. I'm not ready to face this planet-destroying Communist, yet.' I thought, referring to Red Sun Superman.
Throughout the multiverse, there were many variations of Superman.
There was a Superman who was a zombie and a Superman that was a Green Lantern. There was a Superman that was a crime lord while there was also a Superman who was raised by Darkseid, the God of Evil.
All of these Supermen had a few things in common…
Upon reaching adulthood, they were faster than the Speed of Light.
In fact, they were so fast that a few of them exhibited the ability of time travel… Something I hadn't even grasped as a version of The Flash.
Although I had been training every day, in my defense as to why I hadn't been training speed, my practice was more geared towards Speed Force Meditation. Studying the nuances of the Speed Force, and maneuvering the unknown.
Speed was something I intended on working on sooner rather than later. The same could be said about my martial arts training. My only hope was that I didn't wait too late.
The Superman that I knew was leagues beyond me when it came to strength. He was strong enough to move planets on his own while I struggled to lift trucks at my base level strength. He could Sneeze galaxies away while I barely used the air sac behind my ribs. He could go toe to toe with Darkseid while I probably couldn't handle Krypto the Superdog.
Superman was a leader. One that garnered the attention of the crowd before us. Whatever Superman intended on announcing, it was important judging by his tone and aura.
'Wait...'
Looking at Superman gave me a sense of a Deja vu, specifically when I looked at his slightly armored costume.
'This... Something's off about him."
His suit looked slightly different from the most prominent Superman suit. It looked slightly armored.
As I thought this, Superman glared at me once more.
"Look forward."
Words didn't escape his mouth, but his look said all that needed to be heard.
Nodding my head and pretending things were normal and natural, I abided. I still need to gather more from the situation at hand.
In the crowd, I realized for the first time since arriving that there were 5 news vans from different channels and 12 police squad cars with the letters GCPD written on them. The press surrounded us and were taking pictures in a frenzy.
'The Gotham police department?'
There were only a few things GCPD stood for. With Superman here, I was damn sure that GOD didn't stand for the Graduate Coordinated Program in Dietetics.
"Before being interrupted, I was answering the question of Ms.Vale in the front row,"
He said while pointing to a red-headed woman dressed in a gray tailored coat and work dress.
'Vale?'
I thought with a brow of inquiry. Vale was the last name that I was relatively familiar with within DC. It was the last name of one of the most famous news reporters in the world of Dc who was born and raised in Gotham city
'Okay... Here are the facts. Superman for some reason is in Gotham. He's doing an interview and looks to be about 30years old, which tells me that he's been in the superhero game for a bit... He didn't seem surprised to see me but rather annoyed and on edge... This tells me that he's not new to seeing portals… And although context clues lead me to believe this is Gotham, there's no sign of Batman which implies three things.
One: He doesn't exist.
Two: He's a lot more laid back compared to every version of him in DC.
Three: They're at odds…' While a hamster ran on a wheel in my head, Superman spoke.
"I told you that I killed the Joker... No. It would be more accurate to say that I informed the world that I killed the Joker… You all should know that I do not regret any of my actions." Superman proclaimed.
With that statement, the complications of my situation increased tenfold and thousands of other scenarios began to play in my head.
'Out of all worlds I could have been transported to... it had to be a version of that one.' I reflexively massaged my temples.
Injustice.
The comic series depicted a reality in which Superman lost his wife and unborn child due to a Joker scheme. Not only that, but on top of killing Superman's loved ones, The Joker nuked the city of Metropolis, murdering millions in The City of Tomorrow effectively terraforming it into The Town of Yesterday.
Once Superman discovered that The Joker was the one responsible for Metropolis's massacre, something within him creaked. His breaking point had shattered… a few minutes later, so did The Joker's rib cage. From that moment on, he began to obsess over control.
In the Injustice world, he ended up policing the entirety of the world, creating a global cease-fire in a matter of weeks. All earth wars ended, but a new tyrant was born. With the majority of the Justice League losing either their lives or the lives of their friends and families, the remainder backed Superman completely. Injustice Superman decided to build a Regime that struck fear into any who would point their swords toward Earth and its people.
I knew this universe well... very well. I read all 217 issues of Injustice, after all…
I just never in my wildest dreams would have thought that I would end up in a version of it.
"Individuals like him have hurt your city, time and time again. They will not be allowed to do so anymore."
"I will no longer allow them to kill, maim, and terrorize only for them to be healed by modern medicine. I am not Batman... I am your new protector. Your true protector… And I will not allow mental Illness to be used as an excuse for their terrible misdeeds."
"There will never be another mad man who scars this earth like The Joker once did... And so, starting from today onwards, myself and other league members have decided to relocate these people far far away from Gotham, for the sake of its people."
It was clear that the people of Gotham had been through quite a bit in the past. To a lot of them, it seemed like Superman was a new beacon of hope while to others, it seemed as if a nightmare had just begun.
"I promise... they'll never threaten you again."
With that declaration, the crowd blew up with questions, delight, and other mixed emotions but Superman paid them no mind.
He only turned to me and motioned for me to follow.
And so I did, making my way backstage behind noise-canceling curtains.
***
"Now... I would like you to answer my question."
Superman said while crossing his arms.
"..."
"..."
"Who are you, and where are you from?"
'Okay... Powers of Superman.'
I began to recall what I knew from the comic book world relating to this situation at hand.
'He can detect lies by listening to a person's heart rate... This Superman can probably move faster than me even though I have the Speed Force… And in the comics, it was confirmed that he could move a moon with his bare hands, so he's way stronger than me.'
"Judging from our talk earlier, It's safe to assume that you're a Speedster. You shouldn't be taking this long to respond." He wasn't outwardly hostile to me, which was a good sign.
"...I'm Omen. From Earth."
For a moment, he paused in surprise.
"Where on Earth?" It was strange.
"Bronx."
Superman's eyes then began to glow blue as he scanned my face. I already knew exactly what his goal was.
"Hmm... How are you…Are you a practitioner of magic? A wizard of some kind?"
"No. Why?"
"Because when I tried to use my X-Ray Vision on you, white electricity was covering your face. Not just your face, but your entire body."
At his words, I was surprised. It appeared that his X-Ray vision didn't work on my Speed Aura. To him, I could only assume that I must have taken on the appearance of living energy.
"It's one of my abilities."
"Hmm. Is that so?"
"Yeah… It is."
"What purpose does it have besides hiding your identity?"
"It shields me from damage, slightly."
Saying that my speed aura slightly protected me was a ridiculous statement considering that it allowed me to survive explosions, but telling Superman this bit of information proved no use and wouldn't have been beneficial for me in any way.
"Why don't you take it off? You shouldn't have a reason to feel threatened by me unless you've done something wrong… Is that the case?" Superman asked with mass ridicule and speculation.
"Why wouldn't I hide my face from a man who just announced to the world that he killed another fellow man." Although my words may have seemed as if I disagreed with his actions, this couldn't have been further from the truth. The Joker was a monster. This was undeniable.
No one even knew the number of people he killed during his time living and experts could only estimate. If he had remained alive, it would have only caused more chaos in the world. In the case of The Joker dying, I was on team Superman… but that was only at this stage of his life. With time, I knew that he would only become more of a tyrant as his interest grew more aligned with utilitarianism.
Having the level of physical power he had, anyone who disagreed with him would eventually be suppressed… Without checks or balances, absolute power like his always corrupted.
"You heard my speech… I did what was necessary for the world to be safe."
"And I'm doing what's necessary for me to stay safe… you plan on taking that away from me?"
I asked.
"..."
"..."
For a minute, he frowned, then shook his head no.
"Even though I could force you to take it off, I won't. You haven't proven to be a threat to humanity yet…" With his words, a weight was taken off of my shoulders. I didn't want confrontation right now nor did I think I could handle it. I had a new goal in not getting in between the conflict between Batman and Superman.
I also had a side goal in figuring out how to escape this universe.
All I wanted to do was train more, and figure out more about myself and the Speed Force along the way. The Injustice world was too easy to get caught up in.
"Thank you for respecting my boundaries."
"Of course. But just because I'm allowing you to remain anonymous for the moment, that doesn't mean you're scot-free. Like I said outside, I still need information on you, so you and I will be going to the Justice League's Watchtower."
"Why there," I asked, internally alarmed.
"Because I need to make sure that you really are what you say you are and not an invader who is plotting the destruction of the earth."
"That's a stretch."
"It may be, but even if you are from earth, that portal that you came from raises red flags. For all I know, It could have been the door to another dimension with another Earth. What if the matter on that earth is incompatible with the matter on this earth? That would make you a ticking time bomb." He rationalized.
Although he was only making wild guesses about who or what I was, He was pretty spot on. His logic for wanting to take me to the Watchtower was also pretty responsible as well so I couldn't really refute what he had to say.
"You have a point…" I nodded.
In the last reality, there wasn't an alternative version of me. I was curious about the probability of the same scenario happening here as well. But logic overcame my curiosity. Hiding my face seemed like it was the proper decision to make.
"But what happens after I answer all of your questions and you get all of the information you need?" I asked.
"That's dependent on the outcome of today."
He then put his hand to his earpiece.
"Barry. I need you to make your way up to the Watchtower. I could use your Speed Force Expertise."
After a few moments of communicating over coms, Superman refocused his attention on me.
"Can you follow me?"
Defying gravity, Superman lifted himself from the earth's pull.
Giving him a nod, I got into running position.
"*Wosh*"
"*Krakakakoom*"
Rocketing forward, Superman and I ran through the streets of Gotham, which were comparable to the streets of New York. I didn't mean this in a good way.
"*Sigh*"
'Smells like home.'
As I sprinted through the streets, I saw civilians on guard and homeless people by the dozen.
Looking up at Superman, I could see his eyes shifting from left to right until they landed upon something. Looking down, he raised his hand signaling me to stop.
Halting, Superman momentarily took a detour as I decided to lean up against the side of a corner store, awaiting his return. As I did, people began to take notice of me.
'That's weird.What was the reason he stopped all of a sudden?'
I thought as I crossed my arms.
"Mommy, Look! It's the Flash!"
A child screamed, interrupting my thoughts as he ran down the street, starstruck.
"The Flash?" The kid's shout drew the attention of others in the vicinity. Before I knew it, People started to form around me in mass.
"No way!"
A grown man with a Flash t-shirt screeched with excitement.
"It's really him!"
A woman shouted.
Although the city gave off a miserable aura, the atmosphere wasn't what powered it. Similar to New York, it was its people that brought Gotham to life. I was experiencing this first hand as many people of different races and ethnic backgrounds began to approach me.
Those who were afraid to openly approach me stood at a distance, taking pictures while those who weren't entered my personal space.
"Wow!"
"Sick! Look at his costume!"
"Is that new?"
"Are there new toys for the new costume yet?"
"No, I don't think so. I'm Always active on the forms so this must be new."
"Hey, Flash! You're my favorite Hero in the Justice League."
A woman shouted.
"He's a lot more buff than I thought."
'So… This is what it's like to be a well-known superhero.'
I hadn't even said a word or even moved from my spot and yet I was being treated like a Superstar.
In the Arrowverse, I never really stayed in one place long enough to experience this, so right now, I had mixed emotions. Part of me wanted to tell all of these people that I wasn't the Flash while another part of me just wanted to go with the flow and didn't want to disappoint the people of Gotham. This was probably the only time in their lives that they would ever see an individual with superpowers so close to them. What was the harm in pretending for the moment?
"Excuse me, Mr. Flash?" 5 little kids ran up to me in glee while their parents stood close by.
"Hmm?"
The little boy had on a red beanie with a Flash logo, a Flash backpack, a red puff coat, and red shoes.
"Can I get your autograph?" He asked with a red washable marker and piece of paper in his hand.
Crouching down, I nodded my head and forged The Flash's signature, which was just the word flash with a lightning bolt replacing the L.
"Wait! Can I get one too?"
"M-me too!"
As I continued to be the person that I wasn't, the crowd only increased in size.
Before I knew it, I was in a sea of people.
5 minutes later after signing all of the autographs I could, I saw Superman floating in the air with his arms crossed and a soft look in his eyes.
Upon making eye contact, he then gently floated to a nearby building.
'Guess he wants something.'
Nodding my head, I cleared my throat.
"Okay, everyone. Now, I gotta go save the day."
"Awe… But I want to take more pictures!"
Before the crowd could complain more, I focused all of my energy on my legs and super jumped into the air, leaving only afterimages behind.
'That was a lot. I should probably come up with a secret identity that I use when I'm in civilian mode.' I thought.
Arriving at Superman's location, he stood with his back turned to me.
"That was kind of you… truly. But in the future, try not to impersonate league members?"
Turning around expressionless, I nodded at his words.
***
Rai is not the MC. Omen is. Rai cannot live without Omen but Omen can always make another Rai. Remember this, Kids.