Joining the internet hype has probably been the best and worst decision of my life. It allowed me to get in contact with social media, this site and of course you guys. But the worst decision because I now know what I miss :( The hype around Halloween, I know it's there. But sadly we don't celebrate it here in The Netherlands D:

Last year we had an exchange to Wales, guess what day we went back home? On the morning of Halloween -.-
But we have lovely traditions as well, and we invented Christmas :D But we celebrate it entirely different.

Either way, the second part of the story Coldhearted! With a bit of Dutch culture thrown into it :D Hope you like it!

November 13, 2010. 16:52

"Wally, hurr-" Iris started to yell but before the redhead could finish her sentence a blurry figure sped towards her, stopping mere inches from her.

"You called?" Wally said, grinning brightly up to his aunt. Iris rolled her eyes in annoyance at the behaviour of her nephew but couldn't help the grin that was creeping up her face.

"Alright speedy, your uncle is waiting" Irish shushed him, pulling Wally into a quick hug. "I expect you two to be back at least tomorrow but only because it's Saturday, and stay safe. Don't think I could take another hospital visit"

"Don't worry babe, we'll be careful" Barry butts in, causing Iris to release her nephew, who sent his uncle a grateful look. "You ready to go kiddo?" He asked, directed his gaze to the younger redhead, who nodded in return, pulling his cowl fully over his face; Kid Flash replacing Wally West.

"Where are we going exactly?" Barry asks, looking over at his nephew with a raised eyebrow.

"The Netherlands"

Barry kept his eyebrow raised but didn't comment on Wally's choice. He had a habit to pick weird places, so Barry was kinda expecting him to say something like that. "Alright, race ya!" Barry quickly announced before they both took off, fast enough not to alert any neighbours when they left the house.

And they ran, accelerating with every second that passed until they were at their greatest speed. At least, until Wally was. Barry still had something left to give but otherwise he'd lose sight of his nephew, and he promised his wife that he wouldn't. Not after going through the experience of being called by Batman, saying his nephew was in the hospital.

Perks of being a speedster was that he healed fast, but that didn't take away the fact that it was scary to hear it.

They ran for a good hour until they reached the east side of America, stepping onto the water and zipping across it without any difficulty whatsoever. Barry looked backwards at his nephew, delighted to see the huge smile on his face while he accelerated just the tiny bit, laughing as the water went everywhere around him.

Barry snickered lightly to himself, the first time they had tried this it wasn't a big success, lightly spoken. Ending with a drenched Wally, and a nasty reddish bruise on his chest and stomach from slipping. But neither of them admitted defeat, or Wally's defeat in this case, and they tried until Wally succeeded as well.

Which was pretty much a must if they even wanted to do this, sure there were zeta tubes to a few key places outside America, but that would negate the whole purpose of the trip, and it wouldn't be as fun as just running across.

Eventually they passed England, avoiding the country altogether and running directly over to the Netherlands instead, stopping when they reached the first sign of shelter they could find and skidding to a halt. The beach was heard from a distance and the cold wind whipped around them.

Both Wally and Barry were panting slightly but nothing too major.

"So.." Barry started, straightening himself and looking at his nephew. "Can I give you my present now or..?" He dragged out the sentence, leaving Wally to fill in the last part.

"What do you think?" Wally said while cocking a smile.

"Thought so" Barry said before reaching for the backpack that he was carrying, which was really weird, seeing the flash with a backpack, and taking out a small, rectangular box messily wrapped up with wrapping paper. Wally grinned and took the present, quickly ripping of the paper and revealing a little box mostly used for...

"Uhm Flash?" Wally started, remembering to use their hero names while they were in costume. "I think you have to give this to Aunt Iris, not me" He said, and Barry barked out a laugh at the comment, clapping a hand on Wally's shoulder.

"It's not a wedding ring kid, besides your aunt and I are already married. Now open it" He said, nudging his nephew before Wally complied, opening the little box and gasping in surprise.

"No way!" He squealed, taking out the golden ring and looking at his uncle. "You're giving me a ring?!" Not any ring, but a speedster ring nonetheless. It was something Wally often wondered about when he was obsessed with the place, in fact, it was the first thing he asked his uncle when he discovered he was the Flash, after asking to be a sidekick of course.

But Barry never explained it thoroughly, and he never received one while being Kid Flash.

"I thought you deserved one, turning 16 and having your own team" Barry explained and Wally grinned, handing the ring to his uncle so he could show how it worked.

November 13, 2010. 18:02

After having been explained how the ring works they changed out of their uniforms, Wally grinning like an idiot as he continuously eyed at the ring that was on his finger, and on Barry's. And the two of them walked into Amsterdam, the capital city of the Netherlands.

"So, anything special on your mind?"

"All you can eat" Wally replies with a grin, pointing at the several restaurants that were advertising 'all you can eat'. Barry shrugs, shaking his head knowingly.

"It's your birthday present, you decide" And true to his word, Wally picked out a quiet all you can eat restaurant and they quickly got approached by a relatively young waitress.

"Are you familiar with the concept of all you can eat?" She asks as she directed them to their table. Barry nodded, sitting down on the opposite side of his nephew.

"We are, thank you" Barry replies, ignoring the wide and knowing grin that was on Wally's face. Of course they were, all you can eat and speedsters mixed well together, for obvious reason. Other restaurants just didn't quite cut it as well as the all you can eat ones did.

"I will be back shortly to bring you the card and to take your drinks" The waitress announced with a smile before she left.

"We have to come back her next year" Wally suddenly said and the blond man across the table looked at his nephew with a strange look.

"You know the whole plan of doing this was to be a tourist for once instead of racing through it. Not picking the same country twice" Barry said softly, cautious to raise his voice too high so others could easily hear him. Wally snorted slightly.

"I know that, I didn't mean on our birthday or anything" He quickly said. "I'm just saying, I've read that two days ago was some sort of celebration here, my birthday actually. The 11th of November, and it sounded really fun to do. And I thought, why only do this on our birthdays?"

"A celebration of what?"

"It's something similar to Halloween -did you know they don't celebrate Halloween here?-" Wally interrupted himself and Barry gasped mockingly, but he was still surprised to hear it. Halloween was a big celebration at their house every year, even if Wally had only done it once in his life, and that was when he was already 12.

It was still a big holiday for the Allen family.

Stupid parents. Barry thought but shook the thought away. Still, it was weird to think that such a big holiday wasn´t celebrated somewhere else, especially since it was a concept known in the entire world. Though it certainly wasn't new information, or the only country where this was the case.

"Well they don't, instead they celebrate something on my birthday instead and…" He stopped himself as the waiter returned, a little booklet in her hand to take their orders.

"Hello" She politely said but Wally caught her attention.

"Do you know anything about Sint Maarten?" Wally asked, causing the woman to frown at him before brightening again.

"Oh you mean Sint Maarten, yea" She replied, uttering a different pronunciation to the word. "It's similar to Halloween I suppose but without the scary stuff. Kids make their own lamps, from milk cartons or something like that, and they go to other houses with a bunch of kids and sing songs for candy. Instead of saying Trick or Treat"

The woman explained and Barry and Wally both listened closely to the description.

"Don't you miss celebrating Halloween?" Wally asks with a slight frown but the waitress laughed politely.

"I don't miss it because I've never experienced it but I think all of us wonder what Halloween is like in America, you are from America right?"

"We are" Barry agrees. "Thank you for telling the story by the way"

The woman cocked her head to the side with a genuine smile. "It's my pleasure" She said. "Would you like to order something to drink first?" She asked, gesturing to the pen that was in here hand, but ultimately leaving the decision up to the two speedsters.

"I would like a beer please" Barry said.

"Small or big?" The woman asked.

"Let's go for a big one" Barry said and looked at Wally, who in turn waited before the waiter was finished with writing down the order on her notepad. Once she was done she turned to the ginger.

"I'll have a tequila please" Wally said with a grin, ignoring the surprised gasp from his uncle as he showed his ID to the waitress, who nodded upon seeing his age.

"What do you think you're doing?" Barry hissed once the waiter was gone, leaning in close. "It may be your birthday but you're sixteen, not twenty-one"

Wally grinned, mockingly leaning in as well. "The drinking age in the Netherlands is sixteen Uncle Barry" He said, before creating some distance between him and his shell-shocked uncle, who was gaping at his nephew with his mouth wide open.

"You little.." He started before laughing. "Oh you certainly are Iris' nephew" He said while barking out another laugh. And Wally joined him before Barry turned serious again.

"Just because you have a high metabolism doesn't mean Iris won't find out" He said threatening and Wally gulped slightly, putting a hand on his heart with fake betrayal.

"You wouldn't"

"Consequences my son" Barry said in a serious voice, stroking an imaginary beard.

"You're no fun" Wally fake pouted, but smiled again, because let's face it, he couldn't be mad at his Uncle too long. And he would enjoy the moment for now. Until they both had to face the wrath of Aunt Iris. Because they knew fully well that she wouldn't be happy with either speedster.

"So who suggested it, Roy or Dick?" Barry asked when the waitress set down the first drinks and left again.

Wally smirked, taking an experimental sip "Both did"

YJ

If you do celebrate it, I hope you have a wonderful Halloween!