Central City

August 28, 2010 13:00 CDT

"740…745..750…755. Come on! Come on!" Wally tried to shout between breaths as he ran on his uncle's cosmic treadmill, pushing through the pain of lactic acid buildup in his muscles. "Where's that magic number?" However, as Wally stubbornly insisted, magic, even in metaphors, doesn't exist. As soon as Wally reached 760 mph, the pain in his legs became too much, and he nearly collapsed in exhaustion. Wally held on to the foam handgrips, his head and torso bowed down, and panted like a dog after running in the hot sun. After several minutes of collecting his breath, Wally slowly rose and glanced at the monitor. The number 760 flashed on the screen as if it were laughing at him. "Damn it! I still can't break the sound barrier!"

Ever since the Team's run in with Psycho-Pirate a month ago, Wally's been pushing himself harder than usual on his uncle's cosmic treadmill in the basement. Sure, he was able to break free from Psycho-Pirate's trance all on his own and free his friends, but that did not mean his words weren't true. Well, most of them weren't. Wally may not be the joke of the team, but Psycho-Pirate was absolutely right that Flash never wanted a partner. It was a fact that haunted Wally since he became a superhero two years ago. However, that didn't mean Psycho-Pirate was right about Kid Flash never being as good as the Flash. If Wally trained harder so that he could be faster, he would not only be as good as Flash, but Flash will actually want Kid Flash as a partner.

Thankfully, Uncle Barry had S.T.A.R. Labs build him a treadmill able to withstand velocity over the speed of light. Wally wasn't allowed to run without his uncle or Jay (except on Team missions), but he was allowed to use the treadmill without supervision which meant he had the means to overcome that insecurity any time. Then he'll be unstoppable! Except for one little problem…

He still, despite a month of constant training, can only run just barely at the speed of sound.

Wally groaned. Uncle Barry can run over a hundred miles faster the speed of light. How the heck was he supposed to prove to his uncle that he was worthy to be his partner if he could barely break the sound barrier? At this point his low self-esteem is right. Why even try? Wally quickly shook that thought out of his head. He has to try! If he doesn't, he'll never catch up, and Uncle Barry will leave him coughing in the dust. Then his stomach growled. "A little lunch of one whole pizza, two hamburgers, and a plate of fries should help clear my head and refuel my stomach." Then he sped to the kitchen.

Ten minutes of rummaging through the kitchen didn't lead to what he wanted, but it did lead to leftovers from last night's birthday celebration. Add a freeze-dried pizza to the mix, and Wally was good to go. Unfortunately, his cell phone rang before he could take the first bite. Noticing that the incoming call was from his uncle, he greeted, "Hey Uncle Barry. I thought you were actually going to try not being late for the League meeting."

"Haha very funny, Kid. I was on my way to a Zeta-Beam, but I noticed an unusual transaction going on at the PNC Bank across from the Lampert Building."

"The Rogues?" Wally asked.

"No, just some regular bank robber, but he's armed and holding hostages," Barry answered.

"Hmmm," Wally hummed. Fighting the Rogues was much more challenging than fighting regular thieves, but regular thieves were willing to kill whereas the Rogues were not. Still, the day needed saving. "Where should I meet you?"

"Meet me behind the bank. So far the cops haven't showed so we still have the element of surprise on him."

"Got it." Wally hung up and looked longingly at his lunch. Lives were at stake and there was no time to finish the leftovers and wait for the pizza to heat up even with super speed. "Goodbye salad, mashed potatoes, baked beans, and pizza. Parting is such sweet sorrow." He took a drumstick. "Except for you. I'm eating you on the way there." He took a bite and ran (at human speeds) until he came to a little, barely used park in the neighborhood and changed into his Kid Flash costume. He tossed the bone away and ran to the meeting spot.

Merely a few minutes later, he was behind the back where his uncle was already dressed and leaning against the wall. "So what's the plan?" Kid Flash said as he tried to conceal his heavy breathing. He had been keeping his training a secret from his uncle. There was no way he could ever tell Uncle Barry why he'd been training extra hard lately. Afterall, how could he explain his training to a partner who originally didn't want to be a partner? And how could said partner will continue to want him when he finds out how weak Kid Flash really was? No, it's better to keep this hidden.

"And hello to you too, Kid." Kid Flash shot Flash a look that said shut up and get down to business. Flash merely chuckled. Then he turned serious. "While I was waiting for you, I ran past the window to get a sneak peak of what's going on. There is one masked robber inside armed with what I think is a handgun."

"You think he's armed with handguns?" Kid Flash asked. Flash didn't seem to notice his concealed panting, and fortunately his stomach wasn't growling. However, it was only a matter of time before his stomach started begging for food, and Flash will interrogate Wally on why he's so hungry from just a little skirmish. It's just some random guy. I can easily fight him with just one measly drumstick in my stomach, Wally convinced himself.

"I don't know, Kid, I'm not a gun expert. That's your aunt's expertise. The gun looks the size and shape to be a handgun. I just know it's not a shotgun or anything of that nature. Anyway, there are twenty-three customers inside and seven employees. "

"So, rescue first, then attack?"

"Yes, but we have to do it before he has time to shoot."

"Hey, speed is our gig. That won't be a problem."

Flash smiled. "Afterwards, we'll disarm him, but be careful, Kid. Captain Cold's freeze gun will give you a little frostbite, but this guy's gun will put a hole in your head."

"I know. You worry too much."

"I have to with you. Now let's go before I'm late again. Batman threatened me with extra monitor watching duty if I'm so much as a nanosecond late."

Flash vibrated his molecules through the backdoor and unlocked it so his partner could get in. Then Flash out his index finger over his lip, signaling to Kid Flash they must run quietly. Kid Flash nodded his head in understanding. Flash took the lead, running short sprints round desks and through hallways until he stopped on a dime at the entrance employee entrance to the front of the building and crouched down and peeked from behind the door, hidden from the thief's view. Kid Flash, was not as fluid in his sprints almost running like bull in a china shop. (Well, not exactly like a bull in a china shop. As a self-respecting science nerd, he religiously watches Mythbusters and knows that bulls are actually quite nimble in china shops.) At one point, he nearly knocked over a vase and was lucky to catch it before it crashed and alerted the thief of their presence, far cry from Kid Flash's normally smooth style of running.

Kid Flash crouched beside his uncle and observed the scene before them. The thirty hostages were huddled together in a circle in the middle of the building. No one was restrained, gagged, or blindfolded. The armed robber was indeed masked with a black ski mask over his face and armed with a gun at his waste though neither Kid Flash nor Flash could make out its type since it partially hidden by the armed robber's body. Kid Flashed guessed that this guy was a newbie because rather than watch over his hostages or have friends to watch over his hostages while he robbed the bank, this guy didn't even bother looking at them and instead chose to turn his back to them and look outside the window.

"What's the plan?" Kid Flash whispered.

"We grab the hostages and go. Then we'll engage."

From their hiding spot, the two speedsters soundlessly ran to the hostages. Flash grabbed a man around his age in a suit and quickly put him over his shoulder in a fireman carry while Kid Flash, being of lesser weight and body strength, quickly searched for a lighter hostage and found one in the form of a 12 or 13-year-old girl. Kid Flash swung her over his shoulders like his mentor and ran for the back door. As soon as Flash was about to enter the hallway, a wall of ice suddenly appeared, covering the entire entrance and trapping them both inside. In shock, the two speedsters whipped their heads around to see the armed robber aiming Captain Cold's cold gun at the employee entrance.