A Tale of Kid Flash

Robin spun away from Cinderblock, safely out of range as Cyborg shot at the villain with his ultrasonic cannon.

"Please, could you be leaving now?" Starfire called out in an endearingly hopeful voice, always in the mood to make friends rather than to fight. However, instead of politely backing off, the concrete creature rushed towards her, causing the Tamaranean to fly up in the air, narrowly missing a swinging limb, and shoot a few starbolts out of her outstretched arms.

It had been well into the night when the team recieved an alert that Cinderblock had escaped from the Jump County Jail-again-and was attacking pedestrians in front of a 24-hout mini mart. So, tired and grumbling, the Titans pulled themselves together and had headed after the cement monster.

Beast Boy headed him off and turned into a large green elephant, trumpeting loudly before rushing at Cinderblock, only to be tosses to the side like a rubber ball. Crumpling to the ground, Beast Boy quickly shrank back into himself, rubbing his head and groaning.

After a quick glance that their companion was alright, Raven and Cyborg ran up to the villian and shot at him with their respective powers, Cyborg unleashing another sonic wave while Raven levitated some nearby trashcans and hurled them at Cinderblock. Still, their waves of power simply bounced off the large body, only serving to make the concrete cretin angrier. Reaching up with a roar, he caught sight of Starfire flitting around him. He swatted her down like a pesky fly, the alien princess hitting the ground with a muffled thump and lying there.

Angry, Robin snapped out his bo staff as he waited for his teammates to recuperate, but he wasn't given much time when the criminal swung at him with one leadened arm. Jumping into the air, Robin managed to twist nimbly and land on the outstretched limb, running up the arm with quick, sure steps and quickly striking the blockish head twice with his staff before backflipping off of Cinderblock and landing safely on the ground, knees bent to absorb the impact.

"Still as jumpy as always." a teasing voice floated our of the surrounding darkness, and Robin froze, eyes widening as he whipped his head towards the familiar presence. "Oof." he gasped as Cinderblock took advantage of his distraction and pelted him in the stomach, sending the much-smaller teen sprawling to the side.

"Give a guy a little warning next time." he croaked as he saw a familiar red and yellow figure leaning over him. It grinned and flashed him a thumbs up before rushing away at an impossibly fast speed, diverting Cinderblock's attention to the far end of the dirty parking lot where they were fighting, long enough for Robin to push himself to his feet.

Robin turned around, still breathing heavily, and was greeted by his shocked team. Four stunned gazes met his, and they turned around as one to see a little yellow blur dashing around Cinderblock's feet, twisting and tangling until the gargantuan creature until he was disoriented.

Seizing the opportunity, Cyborg let out another decimating sonic wave, this one set at twice the intesity as the others. Coupled with Starfire's and Raven's attacks, it sent Cinderblock reeling, by which time Robin had snatched a bola from his utility belt and sent it spinning at Cinderblock. It wrapped around his legs, sending him crashing to his knees. Beast Boy transformed into a green yak, and headbutted the criminal, knocking him out.

He changed back and loped over to join the Titans, all of whom were too occupied with looking at the eveidence of their victory with satisfaction to notice the yellow blur pull up next to them.

"Hey, Rob." Kid Flash quipped, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"KF!" Robin cried, stepping forward to greet his friend. He found himself being hugged, his hand being shaken and his back being pounded in an enthusiastic "bro hug", all at the same time.

"Uh, excuse us." Raven deadpanned. Her eyes looked at the two boys curiously. "Who is this?"

"Oh, sorry." Robin grinned, stepping away from his friend with a sheepish smile. "Titans, this is Kid Flash. KF, this is Starfire, Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy." he said, pointing out the individual members. He didn't need to, though. Even Kid Flash ahd heard all about the Teen Titans and their work in Jump. It was, after all, tradition in the superhero community to take notes on all other metas in their country.

"Whoa," Beast Boy suddenly said, his eyes growing wide, "You're like, the Flash's si-uh, partner." he changed quickly, remembering that some people were sensitive-cough cough, Speedy-about being called sidekicks. He practically gushed over the second hero, junior hero, whatever, he had even met.

"Sure am." Kid Flsh said, donning his trademark crooked grin. "I'm just taking a little vacation from Central City-you know, tour the world, stiff like that." he said, spreading his arms out grandly. "I heard that my old buddy Rob was staying here and I decided I'd drop by."

"Yeah, thanks." Robin grumbled, rubbing his ribs, but even the Titans could hear the uncharacteristic smile in his voice.

"How do you know friend Robin?" Starfire asked, brows lowered and her head cocked a few degrees to the side.

"Me and Rob go waaaay back." Kid Flash said, running over to the shorter boy's side and giving him a noogie, or at least attempting to. Robin ducked out of the way, rolling his eyes.

"Really?" Raven asked, comparing the usually silent countenace of Robin with the perky, upbeat chattiness (and was that and understatement) of Kid Flash.

"Sure." he said amiably, dissapearing momentarily then reappearing over by Raven's side. "I could tell you about it over dinner, if you'd like." he purred, leaning in and smirking, one eyebrow raised. Raven looked unamused and raised her arms, sending the ginger speedster flying backwards.

"Or not." Kid Flash said, getting up and rubbing an arm. He clutched his stomach and grinned sheepishly. "Hey, um, sorry about asking this already, but do you guys have any food?" he said, his yellow and red arm still firmly pressed up against his gurgling stomach.

"Food?" Beast Boy and Cybrog chorused, the two of them glancing at eachother and grinning. "To the Tower!"


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An hour later the gang plus Kid Flash were resting in the tower, having filled up on pizza and old soda. Beast Boy and Cyborg were fighting over a battered silver game controller ("This one has better handling!" "Yeah, well, I saw it first!") while Raven was grudginly helping Starfire clean up the kitchen after her latest pudding creation had exploded in the over, splattering both Starfire and the entire kitched in a sticky, foul-smelling, bright orange paste.

Robin and Kid Flash were relaxing on the sofa, chatting about old times with Young Justice. The speedster had found out quickly that Robin didn't want to mention Batman, so he filled up the awkward air with fun stories about how he and Flash had gotten in and out of trouble.

"I ran into a group the other day, called themselves the Hive Five, even though there were six." Wally pursed his lips together criticizingly.

"The H.I.V.E.? They're pretty tough.: Robin said, a barely concealed warning in his voice.

"Yeah." Wally brushed it off. "That Jinx girl's pretty nice, though." the canary-clad speedster said, causing Robin to look at him weirdly.

"Uh huh." Robin said slowly, talking as if to a little kid.

"She is!" Wally insisted, a blush rising up his freckled cheeks. "You know, once she gets over that 'trying to kill you' phase."

"Sure." Robin snickered.

"Hey, can I talk to you somewhere private?" Wally cut through Robin's chuckles. He looked at his old friend confusedly, but said nothing as he directed him to one of the many balconies on the outside of Titans Tower.

"So what's up?" he asked, leaning against the railing and staring at him quizzically.

"Why'd you leave?"Wally said, getting straight to the point. He tore off his cowl and looked straight at his best friend, long-suppressed feeling of hurt and anger bubbling up to the surface.

"Wally, I'm sorry I didn't say anything, but-" Robin began, only to be cut off by his furious friend.

"But what?" Wally snapped, the uncharacteristis anger looking so out of place on his face. "You just left, Rob! Didn't tell anyone; it's like you were trying to be all cool like Spe-Red Arrow!" Wally said, flinging his hadns in the air. "Were you tired of being a sidekick? Being second place wasn't good enough for the oh-so-perfect Boy Wonder, was it?" Wally said, throwing his friend's nickname like an expletive. Robin was at a loss for words. He had never seen his friend so angry. "Megan cried for weeks! And you should have seen Kaldur and Superboy, they were so mad and I didn't know-"

"I'm sorry!" Robin finally shouted, stopping his frind's monologue. "I had to leave."

"Why!" Wally said, slightly calmer now but still simmering.

"Because Batman wanted to make me quit Robin."

"What?" Wally froze.

"You heard me." Robin said morosely, long-gone memories suddenly at the forefront of his mind. "I got in some..trouble, with the Joker, and Batman told me that I was done with Robin if I was going to be as stupid as that..." Robin closed his eyes and let his chin drop to his chest. "So I ran away. I'm really sorry I didn't tell you, but if I stayed longer he'd have found me." Robin said, twisting his fingers and wringing his hands. "And I didn't want to be stopped. You get it, right?" he said quickly, looking into his friend's eyes in desperation. "You wouldn't stop being Kid Flash, would you?

"Jeez, Rob. You should have said something." Wally said, falling back against the cool wall and running his finger's through his wind-blown hair.

"I know." Robin said.

"But hey, looks like you're doing pretty well now!" Wally said in an effort to lighten the mood.

"Yeah." Robin agreed. "The Titans are great. You know Speedy does a little work with Titans East, now?"

"That liar." Wally snickered. "He really does like being on a team."

"He liked it, just doesn't like being League sponsored. It makes him feel like he owes something to GA." Robin said, nodding. "You could be a Titan, too, if you want. Everybody would love having you on the team."

"I would," Wally started, uncertainty on his face. "But I just started this 'on my own' thing and I'd like to try it out some more. But I'll stop by, and I'm just a call away."

"Here." Robin said, digging through his utility belt and drawing out a yellow and black communicator, the polished 'T' shining even in the dim starlight. "Take this. You can be an Honorary Titan."

"Thanks." Wally grinned, tucking it away in one of his wrist compartments. He looked at a hidden watch and his eyes widened. "Oh, man. Sorry, Rob, it's past four, I gotta run." he said, backing away from the edge of the balcony and heading back inside.

"What? It isn't even dawn!" Robin said, surprised. "But you've only been here for a little while."

"Sorry, man." Wally repeated, tuggin on his cowl and slipping on his goggles. "Places to go, people to meet."

"More like people to annoy." Robin teased, and Wally zipped over and slugged him in the arm.

"Well, I'm going now." he announced, and the other four teens in the tower came over and clustered around him. Wally looked over their heads and caught Robin's eye.

"See you." he mouthed, and then zipped away before anybody could blink. Robin walked back out onto the balcony, smiling as he watched a familiar yellow blur rush across the water and kick up dirt on the rocky Jump City shore.

"See you." he said softly.