Wally West had spent the entire evening replaying Cisco's words in his head.
You have a lot to learn.
He sat alone in the West residence, elbows resting on his knees, staring at the floor while the television murmured in the background. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw himself stumbling across the bank lobby while Shazam and the others handled the situation.
It wasn't supposed to happen like that. He was Kid Flash. He had powers that most people could barely imagine, and he had spent months learning how to use them. Yet Barry was gone, Billy had been put in charge, and now even Cisco seemed to think Wally wasn't ready.
A familiar voice drifted from the hallway.
"Wally, you've been sitting in the dark for nearly an hour. Whatever happened today, you don't have to carry it all by yourself."
Francine West stood in the doorway.
Wally looked up so quickly that his chair scraped against the floor. His mother's face was gentle, her eyes filled with the same concern he remembered from childhood. She looked exactly as she had before cancer had taken her from him.
"Mom?"
She crossed the room and sat beside him, placing a hand over his.
"You've been trying so hard to prove yourself, sweetheart. I can see it wearing you down. You don't have to be the fastest person in the room to make me proud of you."
Wally stared at her, struggling to find words. He had spent years learning how to live with her absence. He remembered the hospital, the helplessness, the anger he had buried beneath jokes and bravado. Yet here she was, sitting beside him as though none of it had happened.
"I keep thinking that if I were better, if I were faster, nobody would have to worry about me," he admitted. "Barry trusts Billy to protect the city. Cisco thinks I can't handle myself. Everyone keeps telling me I have potential, but nobody seems willing to let me prove it."
Francine squeezed his hand.
"Then stop trying to prove yourself to them. Become the man you want to be. You don't need their permission to do that."
Her words settled into the empty spaces inside him. For the first time that evening, Wally felt his frustration begin to ease.
He leaned forward to embrace her.
And the room went dark.
Wally jerked awake on his couch, his heart hammering against his ribs. The television continued playing, but the hallway stood empty. There was no mother beside him, no hand resting over his, no warmth lingering in the room.
He pressed both palms against his face.
It had been a dream.
It had to be.
Yet the memory felt so real that he could still hear her voice.
Across the city, beneath the abandoned remnants of an old industrial facility, a figure watched the same scene through a shimmering projection. Blue lightning crawled across dark armor, illuminating a face hidden behind a metallic mask.
Savitar had been patient.
He had watched Wally struggle with his place among the heroes, watched the resentment build whenever someone questioned his judgment. The young speedster wanted to matter. He wanted to stand beside Barry, not beneath his shadow. More than anything, he wanted to believe that his speed could make him worthy of the people he loved.
Savitar understood that hunger intimately.
He had once been Barry Allen.
And he knew exactly how to use it.
The following morning, Wally arrived at STAR Labs before most of the others.
He found Cisco in the Cortex, reviewing security footage from the previous night's bank robbery. The older man glanced up as Wally entered, but his attention returned to the monitor when another image appeared.
"Morning," Wally said, approaching the console. "I've been thinking about what you said. I know I made mistakes yesterday, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. But I need you to understand that I'm not trying to steal anybody's place on the team. I just want to know that I can handle myself when things get dangerous."
Cisco leaned back in his chair.
"I know you're not trying to take anyone's place. That's never been the problem. You want to help, and that's good. But wanting to help doesn't mean you should throw yourself into danger without thinking. Barry learned that lesson the hard way, and he still makes mistakes."
"Barry gets to make mistakes because he's Barry Allen," Wally replied. "Everyone trusts him to come back stronger. When I mess up, it feels like I'm proving everybody right about me."
Cisco's expression softened, but he didn't offer the reassurance Wally wanted.
"Then stop measuring yourself against Barry. You're not him, and nobody needs you to be him. You have your own strengths. Build on those instead of trying to outrun every doubt in your head."
Wally nodded, though the answer did little to settle the frustration he had carried into the building.
He left the Cortex shortly afterward, telling Cisco he needed some air.
As he crossed the corridor, a faint whisper reached him.
You can be more.
Wally stopped.
The voice seemed to come from nowhere, yet it carried a strange familiarity. He turned toward the empty hallway, his senses searching for movement.
Nothing.
Then the whisper returned.
You don't have to remain the weak one.
Wally's breathing quickened. He followed the sound toward the lower levels of STAR Labs, where a shadow stretched across the wall despite the absence of anyone standing beneath the lights.
A figure emerged from the darkness.
Savitar.
Wally stepped back instinctively, his body crackling with yellow lightning.
"You're supposed to be gone," he said, forcing confidence into his voice.
Savitar tilted his head.
"Gone? You have mistaken absence for defeat, little speedster. I have been watching you. Every stumble, every failure, every time you looked at Barry Allen and wondered whether you would ever be enough."
Wally's hands clenched.
"Stay out of my head."
"I don't need to enter your head. You leave the door open yourself." Savitar moved closer, his armored footsteps echoing through the corridor. "You want them to trust you. You want to protect this city. You want your mother to look at you and know that her son became someone extraordinary."
Wally froze.
Savitar noticed.
"She's still with you, isn't she? The memory of her. The things you wish you could tell her. The life you might have had if the world had been kinder."
Wally's expression hardened, but the words struck deeper than he wanted to admit.
"You don't know anything about my mother."
Savitar's voice lowered.
"I know that you would do anything to see her again."
The corridor dissolved around them.
Wally found himself standing in a quiet room filled with afternoon sunlight. Francine sat near the window, smiling as she had in his dream. She looked real enough to touch, and when she reached for him, he felt the familiar warmth of her hand.
"Wally, you've grown so much," she whispered. "But you're still holding yourself back because you're afraid of disappointing everyone."
His eyes burned.
"I just want to make a difference, Mom. I want people to know they can count on me."
"Then stop letting them tell you what you're capable of." Francine brushed a hand against his cheek. "You have a chance to do something no one else can. Don't let fear take that away from you."
Behind her, Savitar's armored silhouette appeared in the window's reflection.
The image vanished before Wally could turn.
He found himself back in the corridor, breathing hard. Savitar stood several feet away, one hand extended. Resting in his palm was a small, dark stone that seemed to swallow the light around it.
The Philosopher's Stone.
Wally recognized it from the reports about Alchemy, the mysterious figure who had been turning ordinary people into metahumans and granting them abilities connected to their past lives.
"Alchemy's power is tied to this," Savitar explained. "As long as the stone remains in this world, it can be used against you and everyone you care about. You have the speed to reach the Speed Force and cast it away where no one can use it again."
Wally stared at the stone.
"Why would you tell me how to stop it?"
Savitar's mask turned slightly, hiding whatever expression might have been beneath it.
"Because you have the ability to do what the others cannot. Barry will hesitate. Cisco will demand a plan. The others will tell you to wait. They will always find a reason to hold you back."
The image of Francine appeared once more behind him.
"Don't let them take this chance away from you, sweetheart."
Wally reached toward the stone.
For a moment, something inside him resisted. Cisco's warning returned to him, along with Shazam's voice telling him not to rush ahead. He remembered the bank, the civilians, and the humiliating sight of himself stumbling across the floor.
Then he remembered his mother's smile.
He took the Philosopher's Stone.
Savitar watched without moving.
Wally turned toward the exit, yellow lightning gathering around his body. He believed he was finally doing something that would prove he deserved his place among the heroes.
He didn't see the faint blue lightning spreading across Savitar's armor.
He didn't hear the quiet, satisfied laugh that followed him into the corridor.
The Philosopher's Stone had never been the key to Savitar's defeat.
It was the key to his return.
And Wally West was about to deliver it exactly where Savitar wanted it.