July 1st

0921 EST

CJ felt his mind racing. Literally.

He needed to calm down. He tried to slow his breaths, but it felt as if he was hyperventilating at the speed he ran. CJ then noticed a tingling sensation coming from his hands. When he looked down he saw his hands vibrating profusely.

The sight was enough to distract the speedster from his actions, so he skidded to a stop in what seemed to be a little town across from their own. He looked around, taking a breath to gather his thoughts. Sighing to himself, CJ walked over to the curb of the road he was on and sat down, his head in his hands.

If it weren't for Tristan and his stupid critical tendencies, CJ wouldn't have sprinted off. But he had, and now the speedster was a town over with only his quick-fire thoughts to keep him company. He ran a hand through his hair in frustration, until a voice broke him out of his reverie.

"Having fun?"

CJ felt as if practically jumped out of his own skin. He turned to face a familiar face.

"The Flash's Lightning Bolt, Bristol," CJ had to catch his breath once again. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to sneak up on people who are having an internal battle with themselves? How did you even get here, anyways?"

Bristol sighed. "What is it with you and the Flash, Stone?" She gave him a sideways glance before smiling a bit. "And one, no I can't say anyone has told me that before and two, Priscilla teleported me here to check on you. I wanted to make sure you were alright."

The speedster took a slow inhale, and an even slower exhale. He then remembered what brought him to the place he was in now, and sat back down. It might have been Bristol sitting next to him, but the wind started to pick up, and CJ could imagine how this scene must look to others. A discouraged boy and a too good beautiful girl trying to comfort him, hair blowing in the wind.

Pathetic, he thought.

CJ heard Bristol sigh and then she spoke out.

"I don't need Telepathy to know what's on your mind, you know." The brunette girl said, giving him a sympathetic look. "You ran to blow off steam from what happened between you and Tristan, right?"

"Actually no," He let out a pathetic chuckle. "I was actually thinking how us sitting here together looks like a lame romantic comedy."

Bristol gave him a curious look, but realization filled her eyes and her lips curled up into a soft smile. "It does," she laughed.

Despite all that was racing through his head and heart, CJ found himself smiling. He turned to face her. It irritated the speedster quite often how he can run faster than Mach 4 and never need to catch his breath, but when he stares at Bristol it's like he needed to learn how to breathe all over again.

"Uh, CJ?" Bristol voiced, her voice laced with a laugh. "What're you staring at?"

CJ blinked as if he had been flicked between the eyes. He said something really intelligent, like "Uhhh," He felt his cheeks warm up and he averted his gaze.

Thankfully, Bristol laughed. "Come on, Speedy, how about a side mission to cheer you up?" She asked, standing up. She held out a hand, an amiable glint in her chocolate eyes.

CJ bit his lip, but took Bristol's hand. He stood and smiled, but when Bristol let go of his hand, he felt a pang of disappointment echo within him. He forced the feeling away. "So, Avatar, what do you have in mind for this side mission of yours?"

Bristol ran a hand through her dark hair, looking down the city street they were on. "I'm not sure exactly, but I guess that's half the fun." She smiled at him impishly before starting down the street.

As the two of them walked side by side, they both flinched at the sound of the Caretaker's voice in their ears. "Bristol? Have you found CJ yet?" Priscilla's voice rang out.

CJ knit his eyebrows together in confusion, but Bristol simply rolled her eyes and sighed. She pressed a finger to her left ear. "Yes, I have. We'll be back later, don't worry Priscilla."

"Bristol, your job was to retrieve CJ, now come back to headquarters."

"We're tough kids, Priscilla, we can handle ourselves without you yapping at us for a few hours." Bristol scoffed.

"Bristol Vandeviere don't you dare--"

Bristol dared. The sound of a small switch flicking off was enough to make CJ's eyes widen. They weren't permitted to turn off their earpieces, and yet here was the Elemental Empress, breaking protocol.

The brown-eyed girl looked at CJ impishly. "Come on, let's cheer you up." She said kindly and started off.

CJ whistled in impression at her. In that moment, he gained a lot more respect for the girl that he usually gave her credit for. Grinning to himself, CJ jogged off to meet up with Bristol and the pair walked down the street. As they walked CJ could feel his problems drift farther away from his mind's thoughts.

Some time had passed and CJ began to feel a little anxious for an unknown reason. If this was an ordinary day he would have listened to his gut, but he decided to push it away. Just as he did so his eyes widen and he let out a gasp.

"What!" Bristol said, having a startled look on her face.

"COMIC BOOK STORE, DEAD AHEAD!"

With that CJ bolted leaving Bristol in the dust. He sprinted ahead, to the end of the street where the shop was located. As soon as he was standing in between a couple of racks of comics, he realized that he had abandoned Bristol halfway down the street.

Shaking his head to himself, CJ dashed back and scooped Bristol up into his arms before dashing back to where he was in the store. He let her down and blushed a bit. "Sorry for leaving you," he mumbled.

Bristol arched an eyebrow, but the grin on her face took away from any sternness she was trying to convey. She whacked his arm. "Dork," she laughed. "Don't use your abilities, we're in public."

CJ rolled his eyes, and dashed to the DC section. Zipping to the left and right becoming a blur in "DC: The New 52" comic books.

"You done yet, Speedy?" Bristol laughed.

"Speedy is Green Arrow's partner by the way." CJ said while still running around excitedly.

"Well that doesn't make much sense?" She retorted.

"DON'T QUESTION THE COMIC BOOK GODS!"

"You need to chill." Bristol laughed. She walked over to a nearby shelf and glanced at the visage of a speedster on the cover. "Fine, I won't call you Speedy anymore," she mused.

"Then what will you call me?" CJ asked. He had stopped darting around, but was leant up against a shelf, flipping through the pages of another comic.

"How about Flash? Or Kid Flash?"

At the sound of two of his favorite heroes, if not his ultimate favorites, CJ looked up from his comic book slowly, eyes wide. "Really?" He asked, a childish grin on his face.

Bristol glanced at him and laughed goodnaturedly. "If it makes you happy, sure. But you have to come up with a nickname from one of these comics for me." She challenged, a slight smirk on her face.

CJ stood up straighter, putting his comic aside, and cracked his knuckles. "Challenge accepted." He said confidently.

It was a doomed mission from the start. The speedster darted around, flipping through different books trying to find a hero with control over the four elements, but alas he came up empty handed. Each time he glanced back at Bristol, he found her leaning against a wall, watching him with amusement.

"Well, uh, you're Killer Frost! And...uh...Fire Storm!" He managed, racking off the names of heroes off the top of his head.

Bristol knit her eyebrows. "Sounds more like Tristan and Aetna's nicknames to me," she said impishly.

CJ huffed, his cheeks turning pink. "Fine, then...Static Shock! Aqualadette!" He thought. Finally, he gave up. "Oh, you know who you are!" He exclaimed in exasperation.

Bristol laughed, "Never take a challenge you can't wi-"

CJ sprinted over to her and covered her mouth with his hand before she could finish. He looked her in the eye and He could tell she understood. CJ took his hand away and they both stood there in silence. The speedster took a 360 turn and listened carefully. Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.

"You feel that too, right?" Bristol muttered under her breath.

CJ nodded, his heartbeat pounding in his ears. His battle senses kicked in, and he grabbed Bristol's hand and together, they crept around the corner of a shelf. They peered out from behind it, and standing outside the comic book store was a man in a dark trench coat. His eyes glazed over the windows, and before his gaze got to the heroes, Bristol and CJ ducked away.

"Psyche," Bristol confirmed. "What's he doing here? Did he follow us?"

Before CJ could answer the anxious feeling he had earlier came back immediately. It was almost unbearable, nausea overtook him as well.

"Did who follow you?" A deep voice from above asked.

Bristol gasped. The voice seemed to be coming from all directions, but it seemed to resonate from before them. Surely enough, a figure in shadows began to appear before them: Psyche.

"CJ, go!" Bristol ordered, throwing her hand out before her. A flame emanated from her palm, spiraling outwards and towards the shroud.

It caught Psyche off guard, which was all the time they needed. CJ snapped out of his trance and picked up Bristol. He bolted out of the store with Bristol in his arms. Moments later, they stopped to gather what had happened.

"How did he find us?" CJ asked. He stared down the street, at the store in the distance. Psyche didn't appear to be coming out of it anytime soon. He glanced at Bristol, and his heart fell when he saw her with her back against the wall, wincing in pain.

"Bristol? Are you alright?" He watched her, fear in his eyes.

The brunette girl took a shaky breath, but matched CJ's gaze. "Yeah," she managed. "I'm fine."

"He got inside your head didn't he?" CJ said with concern.

Bristol took another deep breath, looking at CJ with something that looked like sympathy. "No, actually," she mumbled.

CJ searched her eyes, trying to find some sort of answer as to why she was in pain. He noticed she wore the exact same look that she had worn when he asked her about her deepest secret all those days ago. Then it hit him.

"The way you used your powers..." He said in a comforting tone.

Bristol winced. "Quit finding out my darkest secrets, Stone, it isn't cool." She managed, but the laugh in her words shattered her facade of anger.

CJ smiled but their moment was broken by the form of Psyche appeared in front of them once more, and the solace the heroes shared was dragged into the vortex of shadows that their enemy created.

"Stand and fight, heroes." The telepath taunted. "Or are you both too weak?"

"If you hadn't noticed," CJ said. "We're already standing."

Out of the corner of his eye, CJ saw Bristol straighten up. "Yeah, so maybe you should sit down, Psyche!" And she threw her hands forward.

CJ looked at her confused, it appeared like she was trying to push him, but nothing happened.

"Uh... Bristol, we're trying not to die here." He said with a nervous chuckle.

"Just wait."

As she said that a nearby fire hydrant erupted, and a monstrous burst of water targeted Psyche and set him flying away.

"Now's when we run, Speedy," Bristol said.

The speedster pouted. "What happened to Flash?"

Judging from the look on Bristol's face, if CJ didn't shut up and sprint them both away, he was about to get slapped. "Not the point, right. Time to run." He picked Bristol up and bolted away.

As the speedster bolted away he could hear the blood curdling scream of their opponent. Curiosity overtook him and he turned to look at the Telepath. Big mistake on his part. Before CJ knew it they were both on the ground with a body shaped shadow starting to form into their enemy.

"Not even you Rapid, can outrun your own mind." Psyche said, cackling.

The telepath watched the heroes scurry away from him, stumbling to stand. Psyche took an interest in Bristol, and his eyes glowed violet as his telekinetic abilities kicked into gear.

Bristol began to levitate, crying out in pain as her mind was under control. She couldn't escape Psyche's mental grip, but for some reason, CJ knew that if the telepath had control over her for too long, her mind could become what kills her. She kept crying out in frustration and pain and CJ felt sparks began to form around him.

No one was allowed to hurt Bristol. Not as long as he was alive. He had to do something, he needed to stop relying on others to help him get out of dangerous situations. CJ needed a plan. He analyzed his surrounded within a second and his mind started to strategize. He knew what he had to do, and if he couldn't pull it off it could end up killing Bristol. But he had no choice, this was his only shot.

CJ heard another one of Psyches ominous laughs.

"CJ...run..." Bristol choked out.

"Yes, Rapid! Run," Psyches voice echoed all around."Run away like you always do!"

CJ didn't retort, not even a sarcastic chuckle. All the speedster did was get in a sprinting position, one fist to the ground, head down. He knew he had to concentrate, he took a deep breath, and the plan was in motion.

All the chaos around him seemed to fade until there was nothing but silence. The rubble and the gravel around him started shake.

Concentrate, CJ thought to himself. Concentrate.

He felt a surge of power flow through his whole body. Starting from the top of his head making its way all the down to the soles of his feet, and he knew it was time. All the sound came back within a second, ground still shaking profusely, and the speedster raised his head. CJ smirked and he was a blur.

Faster, Faster, Faster! Was all he was thinking. Around, around, and around he ran. Creating a vortex around his enemy and his friend. Sucking the air out of the cyclone he had made. This was only step one of his plan. As he looked he could tell phase one was working. Psyche began to waver at first, then started to gasp.

It was now time for phase two CJ thought. He wasn't entirely sure if what he was about to try was even possible, but if Barry Allen can do it, so can he.

Concentrate CJ, concentrate. Lighting began to flicker behind him, and he knew it was the right time. If he were to fail, it was the end of Bristol and himself. But he had to try, he couldn't let his best friend die.

Phase two was in motion, CJ put all his heart and soul into what he was about to try. A silent scream from CJ's mouth and he felt himself become two. An echo of himself inside the vortex he was creating. He didn't have time to bask in the glory of what he achieved. It all seemed to happen so fast, he sprinted and pulled Bristol into his arms. Then bolting straight into his real self.

He couldn't believe he actually did what he did, then his vision started to blur. He changed course immediately and prepared to dash away back to Brightbay City with Bristol, but he stumbled. He slowed to a stop, staggering to the ground with a groan.

Despite having just being subject to mind control, Bristol seemed stable enough to drop from his arms before she crashed and collapse next to CJ. "CJ, are you alright?"

The speedster rolled onto his back, groaning as he sat up. "Y-yeah," he panted. "I've never ran that fast before."

Bristol smiled a bit, tears in her eyes. "Thank you," she said softly. "Without you, I probably would have died."

CJ grinned impishly, ignoring the vertigo racking his body from head to toe. "What're friends for?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw shadows and at that point, CJ was about ready to give up. If Psyche wasn't at least somewhat disabled after what CJ had done, who knew how to beat him?

Bristol noticed the shadows and a visage of determination found its way onto her face. "My turn," she said in a low voice.

"Bristol, no!" CJ croaked. He tried to stand, but the vertigo was too strong so he crumpled back down.

The Elemental Empress stood her ground, as if she was watching a legion of enemies marching to destroy her own empire. Her hands flexed at her sides and the wind grew from a soft breeze to a hurricane-force gale. Maybe it was just CJ, but he swore he could hear thunder approaching.

Before Psyche could do anything to hurt either of them, Bristol threw her hands forward with a defiant yell. The wind around them materialized into a vortex, and her tornado went flying straight for the telepath.

Bristol staggered, reaching for the wall for support. Just as CJ thought they both were doomed, with both of them struggling in pain, a flurry of icicles shot past their frame of view and pinned Psyche in the chest as he recovered from Bristol's attack.

"Tristan!" Bristol exclaimed.

"Hooray," CJ mumbled dejectedly.

Surely enough, Tristan stood at the entrance of the alley they were fighting in. Avi stood at his side, her neon eyes unsettling as she challenged Psyche's own telepathy with her own.

"What exactly do you think you both are doing?" Tristan yelled. Whatever force of wind Bristol had summoned wasn't fading, and the thunder CJ had heard was louder now.

"Fighting one of Rune's minions, how about you, Tristan?" CJ retorted.

The dark haired boy grit his teeth, and a flurry appeared at his hands. "Are you asking for another fight, CJ?"

"BOYS!" Avi shouted from between them. "Both of you need to focus immediately or else we all are in present danger."

As much as CJ would have loved to get back at Tristan for what he did earlier, Avi was right. The Union was combined together and surely, their converged force would be enough to stop Psyche.

"Convergence?" Bristol asked, the same strategic look in her eyes as before.

"No other choice." Tristan confirmed. "So, yes."

The four heroes stood in a line, facing the telepath. Shadows seemed to curl off of his trench coat, but the grimace on his face was enough to send shivers down CJ's spine.

"I've taken all four of you down before, Union. Do you want me to do it again?" Psyche taunted.

"We've sent you to Shadowedge before, Psyche. Would you like us to do that again?" Bristol scoffed.

While the telepath focused his gaze once more on Bristol, CJ yelled the command. "Now!"

The Union commenced the convergence of their abilities. Bristol summoned another vortex of air as Tristan sent a blizzard of his own making towards the telepath. Avi's eyes glowed green with the activation of her mind control, and CJ blitzed forward to deliver a super-sonic punch.

It appeared that their plan worked, because when CJ skidded to a stop and the wind and ice faded, Psyche was nowhere to be seen. However, they weren't that lucky.

"Psyche has disappeared," Avi confirmed. "Our convergence was only a cover for him to teleport elsewhere."

CJ turned back to the group, each one of his steps seemed to take a lot out of his energy. "But how could he do that?" He said weakly. "We have his amulet."

"I do not know, CJ, but we will figure that out soon enough." Avi said, disappointment in her own voice.

CJ glanced at Tristan and Bristol, who seemed to be engaged in another staring contest of frustration like they always had with one another. It twisted CJ's heart around, but before he could interrupt with a snarky comment, he collapsed.

Black spots danced before his eyes as he stared up at the sky. The vertigo from his attack on Psyche had taken its toll and it didn't feel good at all.

"CJ?" Bristol asked in alarm. She crouched down beside him, Avi and Tristan following.

At the sight of her watching him with concern, CJ remembered all of the different elemental attacks she had executed that day. He might not have been able to develop a nickname for her earlier, but he had one now.

"I...have your nickname." CJ coughed. "You're Element Lad."

The last thing CJ saw before blacking out, was the look of frustration and happiness in Bristol's eyes, and the confused faces of Tristan and Avi before the darkness enveloped him and he was out cold.

~~~

CJ didn't know how long he was out, but when he finally opened his hazel eyes, he saw that he was back in his room in headquarters. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. The vertigo might have passed, but he still felt a little disoriented. With a glance out his window, he saw the sky turn violet, and realized that he had been out for essentially the whole day.

He stood up, stretching a bit, before padding across his room to the door. In all honesty, he half expected to find Priscilla snapping at him the second he woke up but to his relief, that wasn't the case.

The speedster crept into the hallway, and was greeted with voices resounding in the distance from the cortex. It didn't sound like the Union, or Priscilla, so who could it be?

CJ didn't want to overexert himself, but his curiosity got the best of him. He became a blur, bolting down the metallic hallways until he reached the cortex. "ALRIGHT WHO ARE THE INVADERS?" He bellowed.

The so-called 'invaders' turned from their position atop the platform. A group of adults, all dressed in supersuits of their own, acknowledged CJ with confusion or distaste. Judging from the aura of authority they seemed to emanate, CJ realized who they were and instantly felt stupid.

"CJ, I'm glad you're feeling better." Priscilla said, walking into the cortex with her clipboard in hand. The rest of the Union followed her in tow, and he shot a confused look to Bristol, who returned the look with a confused one of her own.

"Union, I would like to formally introduce you to the Contingency of Heroes." Priscilla announced, gesticulating towards the group of adults atop the platform.

CJ's eyes widened; his suspicions were correct. He glanced at his teammates, and from the looks of it, they were all thinking the same thing.

The Contingency rarely ever visited headquarters, only appearing willingly at the Union's induction ceremony every New Year's Eve. They were too busy saving the world most of the time and if they were here now, it only meant one thing.

Something really bad was about to go down, and CJ wasn't exactly sure he wanted to find out what.