Disclaimer: I don't own Justice League Unlimited.

Complicated Simplicity

Epilogue

It had taken a month or so, but Central City calmed, and the people of the city moved on from the deaths caused both by the breakout at Iron Heights, and the destruction wrought by Zoom.

Dreamslayer almost regretted breaking the peace and quiet.

Well, no, actually, he didn't.

After all, he was the Lord of the Dimension of Terrors. He didn't like peace and quiet.

With a blast of magical energy from his flaming skull, Dreamslayer blew open the front of the bank, and his various henchmen ran to the getaway vehicle. The voices of the well-oiled crime machine Dreamslayer had built since his escape from Iron Heights surrounded him.

"C'mon, let's go, let's go!"

"I've got it, get the next one!"

"Okay, we're almost done!"

This was all so easy. Dreamslayer had no idea why Volcana hadn't wanted to come.

A gust of wind made the flame on his head waver slightly.

"Hey, what happened to that bag I gave you?"

"I put it in the van."

"Well, it ain't there now!"

"What? Of course it is, you just gotta look."

"Hey! There's another one missin'!"

"Uh… boss?"

Dreamslayer floated down to the ground. "What is it?"

"The bags of money? They're, uh… kinda disappearing."

"What? But-" he thinned his eyes. Not that anyone could see the gesture beneath his flaming aura. "Show yourself! I know you're here!"

The Flash came to a halt in front of him.

"Ah HA! The Flash!"

Silence descended.

Flash cocked an eyebrow. "Uh… 'Ah ha, the Flash'… what?"

More silence.

"I…" Dreamslayer seemed to be struggling. "I'm not sure!" he yelled. "I was planning on you insulting me by now!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Uh, you stink, and you're as smart as a butt."

Dreamslayer laughed. "Ah HA! Well, it will be you who will be as smart as a butt when I am done!"

Flash just stared at him.

"…with… you…"

The speedster looked at the henchmen nearest to him. "Dude… why are you working for him?"

"Good dental."

"Ah. Well, you're gonna need it." His tone was apologetic.

The henchman sighed. "Yeah, we figured."

In a few seconds, they were all unconscious.

Dreamslayer snarled in anger and floated a few inches above the ground. "You may have defeated them, but you will be no match for… Dreamslayer, the Lord of the Dimension of Terrors!"

He looked down at the Flash, but he was gone. A red gloved hand tapped him on the shoulder. Dreamslayer looked over, irritated.

"What?!"

After five super speed punches, Dreamslayer was out, police sirens wailed, and Flash was on his way.

His communicator beeped.

"Hey, Wally, it's Dick. Could you tell Vic I'll be a bit late to the party?"

"Why?"

"Uh… just… generally late."

Flash grinned. "Said something to piss of Kori?"

"No."

Silence.

"…shut up."

"I'll tell him. See you later, okay?"

"Right. Are you still bringing Linda and the others?"

"Yup. John and Shayera are on their way, Carter has to close up the Museum first, and Jay and Joan… well, they're coming sometime. Jay's really bad at timekeeping, but Joan's really good, so… it could go either way."

"Right, right… where are you now?"

He ran down the street outside Linda's apartment, and, on schedule, she was waiting at the curb. She let out a surprised 'oop' noise as he scooped her up at super speed.

"I'm just stepping onto the Central City bay now. I'll be there in about ten minutes, the rate I'm going."

"Okay. See you then." Dick paused uncomfortably. "Wally?"

"Yeah?"

"You're feeling okay now, right?"

"Uh…" He frowned. "Not yet."

Wally looked down at Linda, who gave him a quick, tender kiss on the lips. He came away grinning.

"But I'm definitely getting better."

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(A/N: This chapter doesn't really add anything more to the story except to establish that Wally is getting back to being the Flash we all know and love, and not this angst-ridden, dark guy. But that's important, so I guess it does add something.

Anyway, since a good number of you enjoyed my little 'behind the scenes' type thing last chapter (well, a few of you did), and I enjoy doing that kind of thing anyway, I thought I'd put in some stuff here.

The entire inspiration for this story came from a digest of 'Prelude to Infinite Crisis'. In that book, Flash and Wonder Woman (who is blind for some reason) go after Cheetah and Zoom. Because of Diana being blind, Wally has to lead her with the lasso of truth tied to him. As a result, he becomes brutally honest. While on the trail of the two villains, they come across a wrecked house with a murdered elderly woman inside, killed by Cheetah and Zoom. While cradling the woman in his arms, Wally says:

"My Uncle Barry believed in the death sentence. And so do I. There are some people who need to die."

That got me thinking about how unlike the JLU Wally that statement was, and if there was any way I could push him towards thinking in that way.

Zoom was originally going to be a merge of Hunter Zolomon and Eobard Thawne from the comics. Zolomon would have been a Thawne that had travelled back in time (from the Batman Beyond era) to torture Wally for something he was going to do to him in the future, giving Wally some angsty issues because of that. There would have been a Batman Beyond prologue/epilogue to go with that, with Terry and Warhawk hunting Thawne before he travels back in time. In the end I just thought that was way too confusing and complicated (if JLU has taught me anything, it's to keep stories simple), and Wally doesn't really suit big epic stories like that anyway. In this version, Grodd would have also made an appearance, though I can't remember how or why.

There were quite a few different outcomes to the story, as well:

1) Wally does kill Hunter by snapping his neck, leading into Wally turning himself in and going on trial for manslaughter, a la 'The Trial of Barry Allen'. But I didn't like that because of how grim and gritty it was. That may have worked for Barry Allen, but JLU Wally? Nah.

2) Wally would send Hunter into the future through the speed force, leading into another Batman Beyond era story with Wally's daughter Iris West having to fight Hunter alongside Bart, who would have been the Flash at that point. And Terry would have played a fairly prominent part, obviously.

3) Hunter's coma was actually him having an 'out of body' experience, and finding that he could possess people and objects (like the Flash villain Tar Pit from the comics). This would either have been in the 'present' or in the Beyond era.

4) Pretty much as it is now, except Wally would reveal his identity to the world as a sort of act of defiance against his enemies who think they can change him by attacking him personally. This would have resulted in Linda leaving for 'time to think' and the Black Flash story I talked about last chapter.

I didn't go with this because another certain superhero publicly unmasked, and I didn't want this to be a copy of that. Also, Wally wouldn't be so selfish as to put all his non-powered loved ones in that kind of danger. When Wally went public with his identity in the comics, he didn't really have anyone close to him without powers (as far as I know), whereas in the JLU universe, there's Linda, his Aunt and Uncle, his parents, his co-workers at the police station…

2 and 3 just seemed too complicated and/or epic, and not really Wally material. They didn't give Wally anything to struggle with on an emotional level either, which I always look for when planning out a (serious) story. I think the way it ended up was for the best. But then again, that's what I think. What do you think, readers?

And may I just say, Linda's characterisation in the show is incredibly frustrating to write around, since she's this smart, capable, savvy woman in the comics, and in 'Flash and Substance' she just… wasn't. But I like to stay faithful to the shows while still putting in comic elements (e.g. Hawkman and Atom hanging out, Dr Mid-Nite attending to Flash's injuries, Mr Terrific getting ticked off at Cyborg's 'Family' remark), so 'ditzy Linda' it was, just with stronger characters traits put in there.

Sigh.

Anyway, on to the thanks and kudos!

Thepennameboo: In your last review, you were bouncing happily around the room, so hopefully you enjoyed the rest of the story. Thanks!

LarSinger: My thanks to you for your positive comments on the Wally/Linda relationship. As you can guess from the above paragraph, getting Linda right was a bit of a struggle. Glad you enjoyed the story.

Riana1: Good God, I think you like these stories more than I do. Kidding. But seriously, it's great to see someone enjoying these so much, and from someone who's obviously a big fan of the source material. Too many thanks to count for you.

El Varon: Thanks for your support; very much appreciated.

Balletangel19: Your knowledge of random Flash facts is truly frightening. How do you remember how many sugars Wally has in his coffee? Awe inspiring. ;) Looking forward to more updates on 'A Speedster is Born'.

Mist: Glad you enjoyed the story! I hope I'll see you for my next fic.

Kitsunefire: Your only review, and it was a grammar correction. Sigh. :P Hope you enjoyed the rest of the story!

Luc Star: I haven't heard from you in a while, so I'll just say that I hope you enjoyed the story, and also, y'know, thanks for the reviews!

WarrenAngel: Nice to see a comics fan enjoying the story; I could practically see you rubbing your hands in anticipation when you talked about Hunter becoming more important. Although I will call you out on one thing; while they're green in the comics, in the show, Wally's eyes are pale blue (in 'Flash and Substance', anyway; they're black in the other episodes).

Proponent of EVO: I hope you enjoyed the rest of the story. Thanks for the feedback!

Hhgbh: Seriously, what can be said? You're a rock. Thanks for being a beta (when I'm sure you had better things to do), thanks for the support, thanks for the reviews… too many thanks to count. Hope I wasn't too much trouble. ;)

Scarlet Flashernel: I hope you enjoyed the later chapters; considering your knowledge of the comics, I'm interested to see your opinion.

I am The Lev: I am still incredibly flattered that you took one of my fics as an example of how to write a story. Did you read that, everybody? AN EXAMPLE OF HOW TO WRITE A GOOD STORY! Ahem. ;) Anyway, thanks for the reviews.

JLAFan: Good to see you enjoyed the comedy; I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy my next story, which is basically just Wally + Dick + Roy Chaos.

Kokuryu: You have no idea how much I laughed at your 'time loop' comment. The Flash does seem to have time travel problems when it comes to the women in his life, doesn't he? If it's not Barry's wife being reincarnated a thousand years in the future, it's Linda being erased from the timeline by Abra Kadabra. Ah, well. Thanks for the reviews!

Rogueandkurt: Thanks for your reviews! I'm curious to see what you thought of the final few chapters.

Kj: You want Nightwing? Do ya? Huh? Well, you're gonna get Nightwing, sucka! ;) But in all seriousness, look out for my future JL stories. I guarantee that one in particular will involve Nightwing and the Titans in a big way… But anyway, thanks for reviewing!

KF Fan: Considering just how much fun your Wally-centric stories are, it's always good to see you reviewing, especially in a positive way. Thanks for the reviews, and I hope you enjoyed the rest.

-BaNg bAnG-Punker4Life: Thanks for the reviews!

God of Static: Considering your username (and assuming it's the Static Shock character you're referencing), I hope you enjoyed all the Static Shock stuff I put in this story. That show really is better than many give it credit for. Thanks for reviewing!

Doc-trigger: Thanks for your reviews. I can't agree with you more on the lack of good Wally stories. There are very few that aren't romance or angsty to the point of "Wally, just… shut up." Although that's quite a few JL fics nowadays since the show finished. Ah, for the good old days…

Princofreaks: I appreciate your honesty, and I'm happy that you could see past your distaste for the Wally/Linda relationship and enjoy the story. Thanks for reviewing!

Red Tigress: Thanks for complimenting my Flash knowledge. A little ego boost never hurt anyone. ;) Oh, and thanks for the feedback, don't forget that.

Lady Jaye: Good to hear (read?) you enjoyed the story; your characterisations of Wally and Ollie are probably my favourites ever (except for the shows, of course). Thanks for the reviews!

Jemand: Thanks for the feedback! More chapters, as requested. What'd you think?

J: I don't know if you and Jemand are the same person, but if you're not, thanks for reviewing!

Also, thanks to:

The World's Finest website for info on Static Shock names and details.

Hyperborea: Those Who Ride the Lightning website for a metric ton of information on Flash stuff.

Probably a hundred other things I'm forgetting, but those two are the really important ones.

And thanks to all who review this chapter as well!

Hope you had fun, folks.)