Tales From the Cave-Wally and the Magic Lamp

One Step Ahead

"HALT! IN THE NAME OF THE LAW!" A redheaded teenage boy scrambled to the edge of the roof. He glanced behind him to see three steaming, shirtless guards wielding their swords and snarling right at him. "I'm going to slice off your scrawny lil' hands and hang 'em on my wall as a trophy!" The freckled boy was bewildered. "Its just a loaf of bread!"

Bracing himself, he leapt off the roof of the building and onto a canopy nearby. He bounced off of there and landed on his feet on the ground. "Oh, NO, you don't!" "You're not gonna get away THAT easy!" The ginger teen did a two-finger salute towards the guards still standing on the roof above. "See ya in a flash!" The guards went into shock when he disappeared in a streak of red and brown.

Wally West zigged and zagged through the streets in the blink of an eye. All around him were street performers and peddlers selling all sorts of things, from curry snacks to golden bracelets. He rounded the corner and hid behind a building, panting to catch his breath. Just then, Miss Martian's voice entered his head via the Team's telepathic link.  Wally!  You're in big trouble now!

Wally smirked.  Don't sweat it, Green Cheeks!  I'm not in trouble unless I get caught!  He took a few steps to his left and bumped into a bare chest.  I'm in trouble!  The soldier sneered at him.  "End o' da line, thief!"  He raised his sword over his head and was just about to end everything right then and there when three little gray balls hit the ground in front of his feet and burst into a thick black smog.

From out of the smog flew a young acrobat with dark hair, dark glasses and a dark outfit.  He did a flip in the air and stuck the landing in front of his best friend.  "Alright, Rob!",  Wally said.  "Perfect timing, as usual!"  They shared a brofist before Robin hopped onto his shoulders and rode Kid Flash as he sped through the streets.

They came to the tallest building around.  Wally let Robin off his shoulders and they ran side by side up the steps, with infuriated soldiers yelling things like, "Outlaws!" and "Riff-raffs!" nipping at their heels.  At last, they entered the room at the very top.  There were no doors, just a single open window, and the guards were gaining on them.  Wally and Robin were cornered.

The soldiers grinned maliciously as they drew their swords and stared at the two heroes-in-training with evil intentions glinting in their eyes.  "You're all outta options, buddy!"  Wally's eyes happened to shift to the floor, where there lay a dirty old carpet.  He dove in, flicked it off the floor, and grabbed Robin by the arm.  "Here goes nothing!"  "Kid, what do you think you're doiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnggg!!!"

As that last word was said, Wally leapt out the open window, clutching the carpet with one hand and Robin's arm with the other.  He leaned onto the carpet like he was lying down and got his buddy to do the same.  A terrified Robin hung on for dear life as he and Wally soared through the air.

"Don't let them get away!"  The leader of the soldiers jumped out the window after their targets, but with nothing to drift their movement, they all fell straight down ten stories—right into a pile of fertilizer, that was being sold by a discount peddler for little to nothing.  Said peddler put up a ON BREAK sign and grabbed his shovel to dig the guards out of his manure.

Wally landed the carpet perfectly, far away from the sight of the people of the village.  He jumped to his feet and held the bread up in the air like a trophy.  "That, was too easy!"  Robin came up, covering his eyes, his sunglasses gone.  Concealing his features with one hand, he used the other hand to dig through the pockets of his hoodies and pull out one of the many spare pairs of glasses he kept on hand.  Slipping them over his face, he let out a breath of relief.

"Wally!"  Addressed speedster looked up at the sound of his civilian name.  All around him stood his teammates—Kaldur'alm, Conner Kent, M'gann M'orrz, Zatanna Zatara, Raquel Ervin, and, last but certainly least in Wally's opinion, Roy Harper.  M'gann, the maternal one of the group, had one hand clutching over her heart.  "You guys nearly gave me a heart attack!  All that trouble for a loaf of bread?!"

Suddenly, there was a small whimper.  The rest of the Team looked behind them to see two little children, both as skinny as rails, dressed in rags and staring hungrily at the bread that Wally held in his hands.  Said teen smiled warmly as he slowly walked towards the two orphans.  He got down on one knee before them and held the bread out to them.  "See?  I told you I'd get you two some lunch.  Here, take it."

The little boy grabbed the loaf, grinning with true happiness.  His sister smiled weakly at their benefactor.  "Thank you.", she said softly, almost in a whisper. She led her brother into the corner, where they broke the loaf of bread in half and began to gobble it down hastily.

Robin walked over to KF's side and slapped a hand on his shoulder. "That's what we like about you, Wally. On the surface, you might seem ignorant, cocky and full of yourself, but deep down inside, you've got a heart of gold." Wally smiled back at his best friend. "Thanks, Rob."

All of the sudden, there were the sounds of trumpets and horseshoes clopping down a path. Kaldur turned his head to see a bunch of people crowding together. "There he is!" "How handsome he is!" "What fine clothes!" Kaldur narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What is all that commotion for?", he asked. He followed the sounds, the Team close behind, to see what all the fuss was about.