Disclaimer: As y'all should know by now. I do not own the rights to RWBY or those to the Flash.
Y/n Pov:
"So... You ready to talk?" I ask the tied-up White Fang grunt in front of me.
"Like I'll ever talk to you, human!" He says before spitting into one of my lenses. 'Well, time to use that method again.'
I wipe off the spit with one end of my scarf. "Pretty sure you just contradicted yourself there, buddy." I start vibrating my vocal cords to sound like I've crawled out of hell and channel electricity to my eyes so that they're glowing gold. But, with my goggles red lenses, it's probably more of a fiery orange glow, even better for this occasion, "Oh well, time to scramble your brains." I vibrate my hand and move it closer and closer to the grunt's head, inch by inch, until finally.
"All right! All right! I'll talk! Just please don't kill me! I've got kids! If I die, who's gonna take care of 'em?" I stop moving my hand closer to him, but I don't pull it back and keep it vibrating.
"Answer my questions, and you may live to see your little ones again," I say, not letting up on vibrating my vocal cords either. 'Why is it that when I put my hand through a goon's chest or have it vibrating near their head, they mention kids. What? Do they think I'm gonna let them go immediately and give them a slap on the wrist instead of knocking them out and leaving them wrapped up for the police?'
"Whatever you want! Just, please, don't kill me!"
'Never planned to kill you anyway. But you don't have to know that.'
"The name of your leader. The guy who used to call the shots in Vale before he was forced to roll over." 'Seriously, five warehouses, and I still can't get a name. Because somehow, everyone was too green to have met the guy.'
"Adam! Adam Taurus! That's the guy you want, right?"
'Finally! A name!"
"Was he the man in charge before you and your buddies had to take orders from Torchwick?" The grunt shakes his head rapidly in agreement. "Well then, what can you tell me about him?"
"He's a bull faunus with horns. Tall has red hair. Never seen without his mask and carries a red sword. And he doesn't wear a uniform like me, and his mask looks different too. But if you think you can take him, then you're wrong. He'll cut you into pieces, just like all the others who got in his way." The grunt gives me a sadistic grin.
"It's hilarious that you think I'm scared. Taurus may be strong, but I'm sure I've faced stronger, much stronger." I let out a small laugh. "After all, fighting a mind-controlled Kryptonian in gladiatorial combat is no easy task. But do you want to know what I want right now?"
"What is it?"
"Well, what I want, is simple." I knock out the grunt and let my voice and eyes go back to normal. "To get home and sleep in my own bed." I stand up and look around the warehouse again. Like the last five, this one is loaded with stolen dust and knocked-out goons. 'Well, time to clean up the place.' I call in an anonymous tip with all the necessary details before running around, tightening the ropes on everyone, and leaving a note for the cops, along with the security footage I snagged from their makeshift surveillance room. Then I speed over to Beacon and into my dorm.
'Man, I feel tired. What time is it anyway?' I take out my scroll and look at the time, 3:00 AM. 'Oh wow. At least it's Saturday now. Who cares if I sleep in?' I phase out of my suit and climb into bed.
*Third Person Pov*
Nine hours later, Y/n is still sound asleep in his bed. Then, several loud bangs start to echo throughout his room, the last one causing the door to burst and send a shower of splinters and chunks of wood flying at Y/n with one piece conking him right on the head and startling him awake and causing him to fall on the floor after throwing a lightning bolt at his perceived attacker. The bolt flies through the air but strikes the wall instead; thankfully, it doesn't light on fire.
"Whoa! Lightning Buddy, it's just us. And what was that? Did you just unlock your semblance? Or did you already have it and wanted to show it off later? Either way, you can throw lightning. How frickin cool is that?"
Y/n, still on the floor and hidden under his blankets, finally aware of what is going on, puts his super suit back into his ring, puts on a pair of shorts at superspeed, and tries to act surprised about his "new" ability. "Um, I uh. I didn't know I could do that," Y/n says, standing up and looking at the scorch mark burned into the wall with wide eyes. He then turns to face Nora, "Also, why did you break down my door?"
Pyrrha tilts her head in confusion, "Do you know what time it is?"
Y/n tilts his head and blinks. "Uhh. No. Why?" Y/n's stomach decides to announce its presence with the loudest noise it can achieve, causing Y/n to wrap his arms around himself. "But I take it a missed breakfast." He says with a bit of red dusting his cheeks and an embarrassed smile.
"You did. It's about two-o-clock right now," Jaune says.
"Wait!? What!?"
Jaune starts laughing like a maniac, "I'm just kidding. It's twelve something."
Y/n lets out a breath and lets his arms fall to his sides, "Oh, thank god. I thought I was out for eleven hours."
"Eleven hours? That's nothing. I could sleep a whole day if I wanted to." Nora says with a very proud grin.
"Interesting. But I'm starving and feel like I could pass out at any second, so," Y/n claps his hands," I'm heading to the cafeteria if any of you are interested." Y/n then starts walking to his closet, grabbing some clothes before stepping into the bathroom and taking a shower. A few minutes later, he walks out wearing a purple t-shirt with NICE VIBE written on it in white, navy blue jeans, and a black and white pair of Remnant's equivalent to high top Converse. He then notices that JNPR is still there. "Oh, you guys are still here. I thought you left."
"It would be rude to leave without saying goodbye," Ren says.
"True," Y/n says, nodding his head in agreement. "Well, I'm sure you guys have things to do, so I'll see you later."
"Actually, we came here to ask if you wanted to head to Vale with us," Jaune says.
"Um, sure, not like I have any business to take care of. Just, ya know, let me get something to eat before I pass out."
"Sure."
"Alright."
*Timeskip*
"Wow, you can sure eat a lot," Nora says to Y/n after he's done with his fifth plate of food.
"Oh, this is nothing. Remember when we went to Big Belly Burger with team RWBY?"
"I still don't know how you managed to down fifteen triple triples, three big gulps, and nine orders of large fires without puking your guts out," Jaune says. Y/n lets a grin crawl onto his face.
"Believe me when I say the answer is long and complicated."
"Does it have to do with you being able to throw lightning?" Ren asks after taking a sip of his tea. His question has Y/n go still for a few seconds.
"I think," Y/n says after a few seconds of silence.
"You... think?" Pyrrha asks.
"Like I said, long and complicated to the point I'd rather explain when team RWBY is with us than repeat myself," Y/n says, standing up. "Now come on slowpokes, let's go. Before we miss the next airship to Vale."
*One Bullhead ride later*
"So, where are we heading?" Y/n asks with his hands behind his head.
"The arcade, Ren, and Nora have never been to one, and Pyrrha hasn't set foot in one ever since she won her second tournament."
"Well then, let's go. The lines are only gonna get long-" Y/n doesn't finish his sentence after he spots something all too familiar, a trail of blood-red lightning.
"Y/n, you okay?" Nora asks her friend in concern.
"Yeah, yeah, I am. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because one second you looked fine, and the next you had a thousand-yard stare," Ren says, adding to Nora's question.
"Believe me, guys, I'm fine. Nothing to worry about. Not one thi-" Y/n doesn't finish his sentence again this time because he gets taken by a trail of red lightning for all of JNPR to see.
Y/n Pov:
'Have I really come to the point in my life that I need a stronger than fuck? I'm barely eighteen, and I've had to deal with several homicidal speedsters, a telepathic gorilla, a literal man-shark who's tried to eat me several times, a high school dropout that managed to make a gun capable of crippling me. Oh, can't forget the evil clone of myself, a brainwashed Superman, and a Nazi doppelganger of my father. Honestly, at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if I have a kid that comes back from the future to save my ass from dying in some sort of multiversal crisis. Where was I? Oh right, this bitch again.' I prepare for the inevitable rough landing, and sure enough, he lets go of me, and I crash into a tree back first. 'Alright, how is he going to try and kill me this time.' I stand up, put my hands behind my back like I'm in pain, and look at him.
"What do you want this time, Thawne?" I ask, hoping that I sound like I had the wind knocked out of me. 'I swear if it's to kill me-'
"The same thing as always. To kill you, Flash!" The Reverse-Flash says in his distorted voice.
'Oh, golly gee willikers, how could ever I guess that? Not like you've been trying to do that since I was nine.'
"Right, the one thing you can't do. Because that's a paradox even your pathetic imitation of the Speedforce can't save your ass from," even with the mask he's wearing, I can tell the bastard's surprised. "What, you think I didn't know, well, news flash Thawne, I figured that out ages ago. I also found out that you idolized my future self when you were younger, so I know that somewhere buried deep inside is a small, infinitesimal piece of you that is happy that I'm even near you. And before you go off spouting some bullshit about how I'm not acting very hero-like, well, the hero that did, is dead. He died when you made me an orphan. So the Flash you always looked up to and aspired to be is gone. You really did kill two Flashes that day, my old man, after you both kicked each other's asses and the version of me you grew up reading about in the museum. So come at me, and see what this Flash is made of," I say, feeling the Speedforce roaring to life in my cells.
Thawne charges at me like a bat out of hell, but my monologue wasn't for nothing. Once he's close enough, I look away and bring my hands together at superspeed after channeling enough lightning into them, and well, I basically become a human flashbang for all of two seconds, I think. But plenty of time to get out of Thawne's way, change into my suit so fast I'm sure my clothes are gonna light on fire, and throw a lightning bolt at him.
*Third-person Pov:
The lightning hits the Reverse-Flash and sends him crashing through several trees, reducing them to splinters due to how fast he was going. He's then struck in the back of his head with Y/n's helmet. The winged helmet bounces back into Y/n's hand before he flips it so that the inside faces Thawne and punches it repeatedly at superspeed, causing it to let out several sonic booms that disorient the Reverse-Flash further. Then the Reverse-Flash begins to stand up again before he's kicked in the gut, causing him to roll over. He finally manages to stand throws a bolt of lightning at Y/n, who dodges it but gets tackled into the ground leaving a crater.
"How are you still have your speed? The amount of Negative Speedforce energy I put in you should have drained your power until nothing was left so that I could kill you! So why do you still have it!?" Thawne demands. Y/n just answers with a smirk that's obvious despite the scarf over his mouth. "Answer me, FLASH!" Thawne roars, grabbing Y/n by the throat and delivering a blow to his right side, striking his liver and opening a gruesome cut on his side.
"So you did mess with my speed." Y/n grinds out, trying to escape his arch-nemesis hold. "Figures, you never could stand me being as fast as you. As for how I still have it, well, I just do," Y/n says before kicking Thawne between his legs. Forcing the Reverse-Flash to let go of the red-clad hero and fall to the ground in pain, or he would have if Y/n didn't grab him by the neck with one hand and rip off his mask with the other, exposing the face of the Reverse-Flash. One that would have been considered handsome if it weren't for the several burn scars on the right side of it. Along with what used to be an ordinary eye, the white of it now stained with blood and the once blue iris a dull gray, it was a miracle that he could even see out of it.
"Nice to know you still have the gift my father gave you for killing the love of his life. But I think it's time I end this and send you back where you belong," Y/n says. He then tosses the Reverse-Flash into the air, waits then lets loose a lightning-fast barrage of bone-rattling punches at the Reverse-Flash's ribs and finishes off the assault with a vicious punch to the solar plexus. Thawne recovers faster than expected and delivers bone-breaking strikes to the Flash's legs. He then grabs the Flash by the collar of his suit and races to the frozen wastelands on Solitas. Thawne lets go of Y/n, who falls limp onto the ground before several of his ribs are broken when the Reverse-Flash stomps on his chest, forcing Y/n to groan in due to the several chunks of bone now piercing one of his lungs, blood quickly beginning to fill the organ.
"Seems you're not made like your other-self. To think I considered you my nemesis." Thawne lets out a sadistic laugh. "But now you're nothing but a sniveling child beneath my heel. Even Allen would have put up more of a fight. You, your nothing but a boy playing 'hero,'" he taunts.
Y/n mutters something under his breath.
"What? I can't hear you. Speak up," Thawne says, slamming his foot down onto Y/n's chest again and twisting it and piercing Y/n remaining lung.
"N-not, pl-play-i-ing... hero," Y/n painfully rasps out, blood seeping through his now torn scarf as he says the words.
"Right. Because a hero always dies in the end. I think after I'm done with you, I'm going to parade your corpse around both worlds. Maybe even visit your grandparents and have a complete set of dead Garrick family members.
"You... stay away... from... them," Y/n threatens, his eyes glowing gold beneath his goggles and lightning arcing off of him.
"Or what?" Thawne removes his foot from Y/n's chest before violently lifting him up by the throat, causing the electricity to stop flowing off him and his eyes to return to normal. "You'll kill me. Yeah, right." He then punches Y/n across the face, making his goggles fly off his face and onto the now red snow. "You're just a kid who got in over his head."
Y/n doesn't respond vocally. Instead, he phases his hand through the Reverse-Flash's forearm at a frequency that causes the tendons to sever and shatter the bones in it. With no way of supporting Y/n's weight, the now useless appendage drops and is ripped painfully off the Reverse-Flash's elbow with a shower of blood following it. The red liquid coats the snow further and spills onto Y/n's limp form, the young hero on the brink of death from blood loss, lack of oxygen, and the sub-zero temperature. The Reverse-Flash runs away, paying little attention to the Flash, focusing more on preserving his own life.
Y/n Pov:
'So... cold. Chest hurts. Legs hurt too. Can't breathe.' I grab my scarf and tug on it while phasing. It comes off easily. 'Better. So this is how I die, huh? Not some battle to save the world or anything like that. But because of a fucking psychopath with a grudge just can't leave me alone. Can't believe I'm really gonna die in the middle of nowhere in another universe. I can't believe I spent so much time trying to get home, all the failed breaches, the late nights taking on criminals so that I could feel like I was back in Keystone. That feeling never lasted long always wore off the next day.' I see a curtain of green forming in the night sky, the northern lights. 'Well, there are worse sights to see when you're gonna die. And I'll be able to see Mom and Dad again soon.' I watch the lights shimmer until eventually, I feel my eyes start to close, little by little. 'Well, I guess this is the end of the Flash.' I breathe out and close my eyes for the last time.
...
...
...
"Wake up, slugger. You've got lives to save and work to do." I bolt up and look around. It's... my old room back when Mom and Dad were still alive. I turn to look at where the voice came from and see...
"Dad!"
"No need to shout, son. I may be dead, but my hearing works just fine," he says, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed.
"So I really am..."
"No. You're not. Not yet anyway. I'll explain but just come downstairs with me. There's someone who wants to see you."
"Who?"
Dad looks at me with a serious look in his eyes. "Your mother. And she is not happy." I shudder at that. Even now, I can still remember every time my mom really got angry about something. For such a kind woman, Mom could scare the devil himself if she gets mad enough, she never hit me or yelled at me, but holy fuck is she terrifying.
"I'm in trouble, aren't I?" I ask, knowing damn well what the answer is.
"You're stalling, aren't you?" Dad asks me with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah." I take a deep breath, "Alright, let's go." I walk past Dad and notice something. I'm almost the same height as him now. 'Time really has gone by.' I walk downstairs and see Mom sitting at the kitchen table, drumming her fingers on the polished surface. Every tap sounding like the bang of a gavel to me. "Hi, Mom."
"'Hi, Mom.' That's all you have to say. Not even an 'I'm sorry I died at eighteen.'?"
"I'm sorry I died at eighteen."
"YOU BETTER BE, MISTER!" She shouts while standing up. "Do you have any idea how much I worried about you every time you said you wanted to be the Flash? I was terrified that you'd end up dead and now look what's happened. My own son standing before me not even ten years after I was murdered."
"Mom. I'm sorry I made you worry. But ever since I became a speedster, I have been trying to live up to the legacy that Grandpa and Dad left. And you think I don't know how you feel, well guess what, you're right. But do you know how I feel every day knowing that I can save you and Dad, and having to force myself not to because of what that would cause, the lives it would ruin, the people it would kill, the wars it could start!? I have to imagine all of it and tell myself that it would be my fault if any of that happened! The blood of millions would be on my hands and mine alone for acting on that one selfish desire of wanting to have you two in my life again!" I meant to sound calm when I said all of that but instead, I'm yelling at my own mother. 'I'm definitely screwed now.' Mom starts walking toward me with tears in her eyes and... hugs me?
"My beautiful boy. You've been through so much. And I'm sorry your father and I couldn't be there for you when you needed us," she says before letting go.
"It's not your fault. That blame lies only at the feet of the monster that killed us."
"Actually about the whole, you being dead thing," Dad says. "You're not really dead yet. You still have some time here, granted, not a lot, so I'll give you the cliff notes version since I can't use my speed. When Thawne killed me, he ripped out my speed, now him being the overly proud jackass he is, decided not to absorb it, so all that energy went back into the Speedforce, where it stayed for a year until you were struck by lightning."
"What does that mean?"
"It means you never had your speed. You had mine, well, more specifically, the remaining energy I built up during my life. Your speed is still dormant inside you, thanks to the dampener in your heart."
"Wait, so I was born with speed? But can't use it because of a dampener in my heart. Why did you even put it there?"
"Because with so much Speedforce energy in your system at such a young age, you aged rapidly, to the point that you would have been twelve by the time you two. So I ran to the 65th century and created a dampener there, custom-made to suppress your speed. I also got a device to revert you back to your proper age. I would have taken it out of you when you started going through puberty, but that never happened. Anyway, the dampener is still in you. So, if you were to phase while slowly raising the frequency that you're doing it at, you will feel the dampener and be able to take it out, reawakening your speed. And with your speed back, you'll make what's left of mine yours."
"Okay, but if this entire time I've been tapping into the energy you generated, then how can I do more than run real fast. How can I even use the speed I have right now?"
"Simple, unlike when sharing the force with someone who never had a connection to it you did. Meaning you can do more than move at superspeed minus being able to use the few more powerful and broken abilities of a speedster without help. As well as the fact the dampener was damaged enough to let the energy you generate leak out and back into your system, allowing you to start developing the necessary skill to control your speed and not age at six times the normal rate of a human."
"Oh."
"Yes, 'oh.' But onto the real reason why you're not dead yet. Your aura is keeping you alive."
"How do you know about that?"
"Simple, your mother and I have been watching over you ever since we died. So we know about your time on Remnant. Either way, your aura is keeping you alive, but unless you make the choice in time, you will die."
"How is it keeping me alive? I'm pretty sure it broke because I'm here, aren't I?"
"You didn't activate it," Mom says in a matter-of-fact tone. "Honestly, how you forgot that when you made the honor roll every quarter and semester is beyond me."
"Anyway, since it never broke because you forgot to activate it, now it's working overtime to fix your body. But you have to choose to get back up. But when you do, remember these things. Number one, even as speedsters, we stumble and fall just like everyone else, but we are always the first ones to get back up. Number two, we shoulder the burdens others can't because we can. Number three, sometimes you need to take your helmet off. Number four, I will always be proud of you. Now number five, you are my son, and because of that, I will always love you. And Y/n, what I hope for you, may be the greatest thing that a father can hope for his son, is that one day, you will become a father yourself. And then you will know how much I truly love you. Now I'm sure your mother has a few things to say to you," he says, wiping his tears away and looking at Mom.
"Y/n, I want to tell you so many things, but I'll stick with the most important ones. Find someone who loves you both as Y/n and as the hero you are. And if your grandparents taught you right, then you'll love that person as much as they love you. Second, no alcohol until you're legally allowed, speedster metabolism or not; if I see you drink a drop of the stuff, I will come back and beat some sense into you. Third, be careful with your money. And finally, well, I love you, my beautiful boy. So much that even when you're out risking your life every day, I can't help but be proud of you and the good you do and the lives you save," she says, pulling me into another hug and crying. Dad joins in without hesitating. It's... nice. I'm gonna miss this feeling. I pull away after a minute or ten.
"I'm gonna miss you guys," I say, barely able to hear myself over my own crying.
"We know, but even if were gone. We will always be with you in here," Mom says, pointing to my heart.
"Besides, now that you know the truth about your speed, every time you use it, it'll be like I'm right there with you. Now run Y/n, run. But don't forget to live your life, son. After all, even Y/n Jackson Garrick matters to the world."
"I won't forget. Not now, not even when I'm older and grayer than Grandpa and Grandma," I say before walking towards the front door. "Mom, Dad, I love you. And thank you for everything," I say, taking one last look at my parents before opening the door and stepping out.
*Third-Person*
Y/n awakens, his wounds now healed, stands up and vibrates his hand before reaching into his chest, grabbing what feels like a small orb of metal and removing it. The result is instant. A bolt of lightning crashes down from the now cloudy sky and strikes him, leaving a crater and standing in it, the fastest man alive. He races off, leaving a trail of gold, blue, and white lightning.
A/n: Tada another chapter.