Young Justice Season 5 - The Fifth Generation

Episode/Chapter 12 - Past Part 2

"Thad, hey Thad!"

"Hm?"

A week had passed, and Bart ran up to Thad after school, "did you know that my grandpa was the Flash?"

"Huh, really?"

"We talked about him in history class today." Bart nodded, "I wish I could go back in time to meet him."

Thad smirked, "hey, I'll make you a deal, Kid."

"Hm? Deal?"

Thad wrapped his arm around Bart's shoulders, "yeah. See, I know a guy who has a blue-print on how to build a time machine. If you can get me another blueprint I'm looking for, I'll tell you where to find this blueprint for a time machine."

Bart's eyes sparkled, "can you really do that, Thad?"

"Oh yeah." Thad nodded, "but you need to get me something in return, may I remind you."

"Anything!"

"Good." Thad pulled him closer, then lowered his voice, "I'm looking for the Speed Force formula..."

"I know where that is!" Bart jumped, "Dad keeps it in a bookshelf in his office!"

"Good." Thad nodded, "now, this blueprint is with someone you're going to have to go visit in Happy Harbor."

"Happy Harbor?" Bart's excitement wavered, "th-that dump across the country?"

"Yep. That Happy Harbor." Thad nodded, "there's a guy there known as Nathaniel Tryon. He has a blueprint for the time machine you want. With your speed, I'm sure you can get there in no time at all."

"Yeah, but..." Bart muttered, "it's really... Scary at Happy Harbor... Dad and Mom told me to stay away from there..."

"They're hiding something from you." Thad explained, "there's something big down there that they don't want you to know about."

"Really? Like what?"

"Oh, if you're so curious, why don't you go find out for yourself?" Thad shrugged.

"I'm going, then!" Bart nodded with determination, "and trust me! Once I get back, I'll be a completely different person!" With that, he ran off.

"Hm." Thad smirked, "me too, Bart. Me too."

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"It's... Awfully threadbare, here..." Bart gazed around as soon as he arrived about thirty minutes later in Happy Harbor. Ashes fell from the sky. The once fertile harbor was now just a wasteland of decay and entropy. He wandered around for some time before he approached a large mountain that stood, barely holding up, right next to the beach.

"What's this... This place was never in the history books..." Bart looked around the area, then spotted a small and very rusted plaque with the following words carved sloppily into the metal: Mount Justice.

"So, you fascinated by Mount Justice, eh Kid?"

Bart turned around, startled to see a man in an orange suit and an inhibitor collar around his neck. He looked like a zombie from the comic books Bart had read, "gah! Stay back!"

"What?" The man looked at him weird, then laughed, "hey, I'm not going to hurt you."

Bart stared at the man, then calmed down, "sorry, but you look..."

"Sick and demented. I am. It was after everything that happened in the past."

"The past?"

"Yeah. Way back when this place was actually inhabited with people and kids your age."

"So... What happened?"

"I was captured by a group called the Reach... Forced me into an experiment... Really felt the mode..." The man sighed, "because of me... I killed thousands of people, and even the Justice League couldn't stop me... Until after my suit blew and wiped out thousands of lives in Central City. Including their guardian..."

Bart tapped his chin, "hold on, the Justice League? I remember them. They're that superhero group my grandpa was a part of..." That's when Bart realized what he had just heard, "hold on, did you say you killed the guardian of Central City?!"

"I went through too much destruction that day..."

"The Flash?"

The man looked at Bart sadly, then nodded slowly.

"But..." Bart swallowed hard, "you killed my Gramps..."

The man stared in shock, "'Gramps'... What's your name?"

"Bart Allen. Grandson of Barry Allen, son of Dan Allen."

"My name's Nathaniel Tryon... At that time, I was known... As Neutron."

"Nathaniel! You're the guy I came looking for!" Bart immediately switched subjects, "I need to build a time machine in order to go back in time to save the Flash."

Nathaniel looked at Bart, "do you really think you can do that?"

"Of course." Bart nodded, "I just need to build that time machine."

"Right." Nathaniel pulled out a rolled up blueprint from his jacket and handed it to Bart, "you need to go back in time to stop me, save the Flash, and change the time stream... Restore what this wasteland once was."

"Crash!" Bart nodded, "let's get to it."

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Next time on Young Justice Season 5 - The Fifth Generation : Episode/Chapter 13 - Present:

"Artemis, we have to keep trying!"

"No, Wally... I'm sorry... We're all sorry... But there's absolutely no way... You have to use the serum."

Wally shook his head in rejection, "there's no way I'm gaining my power and strength from a drug."

"Wally, it's the only way at this point if you want to continue in the field." Karen explained.

"Wally, please just use it." Barry urged.

"It's no good." Wally sighed, "I have no choice. Then am I hanging up the shoes for good?"

Artemis bit her lip, "that's up to you to decide now."