"Welcome to Keystone City; Hope You Brought Your Scuba Gear... that's what the sign *should* say!"

"Wally, calm down..."

"Garth... someone *sank* my Keystone!"

With that, The Flash gestured to the vast lake where his city once *was*, where it no longer was. All that was there was... water, and a lot of it. With that he sighed, because no matter what way he looked at it, it wasn't going to change. It was as though the ground had just swallowed up Keystone City, or it had been scooped up, and the hole of where it was now laid filled with water.

"I should get myself some customized Flash suits, like Batman has. Arctic Flash, Space Walk Flash... and in this case, Deep Sea Flash..."

"Oh, will you stop it. It's not like we won't get to the bottom of this."

"Oh, we will alright. That's why I brought *you* along."

"If you call dragging 'bringing'..."

In many ways Wally was glad to have Tempest here with him. Not only a teammate of his from the Titans, Garth was one of his oldest and dearest friends. Someone that he could trust with his life, and the lives of all of the citizens he was sworn to protect. Garth, Wally knew, was used to responsibility, being a guardian of all life under the seas, a responsibility that The Flash couldn't even begin to comprehend. Tempest was always the serious one, calm, collected. Another reason Wally had literally rushed his pal away from the Titans Tower in New York, here to this landlocked area. This wasn't Garth's area of familiarity, but then having a lake for a city wasn't Wally's either.

Leaning against the greeting billboard to the city, the only sign that Keystone City had actually once been here. Looking up, he saw his image plastered on the sign. "Home of the Flash... more like The Swimming Pool of The Flash..."

"Will you stop it? I know you're worried. For them, for your wife... for failing them. But hey, like I said, we'll get to the bottom of this." Garth stood from where he had been kneeling at the edge of the water, examining it. Turning his purple-eyed gaze to his pal, Tempest motioned towards the water. "You did bring me all this way to help. Besides, you called it a swimming pool, so you mind if I take a dip?"

"Be my guest, please." Despite his sour mood, Wally found himself smirking to his pal. This wasn't something that he could just run to and solve before it happened. It was already done.

Hardly making a splash, Tempest entered the water, surfacing some distance out, his head just bobbing up. "Come on in, the water's fine! And surprisingly deep. Very deep. I think it ma-... Urk!" But then Tempest was gone with a sharp *gulp!*.

"... AquaFin Flash with Whirlkick Action..." Shaking his head, sighing once, and hesitating no longer, The Flash dove in.

My name is Linda Park, and though I didn't take his last name, I assure you, I am Wally West's wife. The ring on my finger is my proof that The Flash is going to get me out of this. Now, just to reassure the rest of Keystone's residents of that.

I wasn't born in this city. I didn't grow up here. But like my husband, came here. I made it my own. Sure, I've been offered jobs, bigger and better jobs, since I accepted the anchor job at WKEY. But I've come to like it here. I've come to respect and like the people here... expect for when they are screaming in my damned ear.

"Are you sure you can't whip up something to shut them all up?!"

"If you want me to waste the time on it. Though, with all this noise I don't even think I can concentrate to rig up anything."

Great. Where's a Flash when you need one?

With that Linda sighed and stepped forward, away from her companion, Hartley Rathaway, Piper Piper. Having been downtown at city hall taping a piece for the evening news, she was ground central for the city... fell. And that also placed her at the focal point for all of the frantic people wanting answers.

Putting her hands up, she attempted to yell, to try to get their attention. Ironic, as she captivated them at 6:00pm and then again at 11:00pm, but here and now she might as well be talking to a blue screen.

"This is pointless. I've never seen them like this. Like they can't wait three seconds for Wally to get here..."

"What?"

Great. if the master of sound can't even hear her, how was she going to make this mob behave?

Suddenly a silencer would come, from over Linda's shoulder as an intense beam of cold energy cut it's way through the air, coming from City Hall. Turning, Linda noticed the familiar face, that of Captain Cold. And right behind him was Mirror Master, and then Weather Wizard. Some of Wally's greatest foes; the Rogues Gallery.

"I suggest you all listen to the little lady," Cold sneered to the now stunned wall of people, baracaded behind. "Or better yet, how about you listen to *us*."

*beep!*

"...Jesse!ThisisWallyandI'vegotthissituationinKeystone,onlyreallyit'snot*in*KeystonesinceKeystone isn-... Wait, why am I calling you? I mean, I know you have your own stuff to handle right now. Besides, I'll call Garth.... Ah, gottaru-..." *click*

*beep!*

"Jesse? This is your mother. C-c-call me."

She almost stopped herself there. Her mother calling her, with a panicked voice? What did Libby need now?

*beep!*

"Jesse! It's Wally again... what's Garth's number? Comm frequ-... Nevermind. I'll just go fetch hi-..." *click*

Jesse just had to shake her head, because no matter what what trouble Wally was into, his panic was enoguh to make her smile and forget that her estranged mother what just called her.

*beep!*

"Every day you get home at exactly 5:12, turn on the radio, and check your mail and messages. Your apartment number is #24. On Tuesday nights, which this is, you go to the gym on Quiently street and use the treadmill for approximately twenty-six minutes, you always push yourself too hard at the end of your workout - like you will be able to catch him if you run fast enough." Pause. "You return home, picking up a salad on the way, as you never make time to cook for yourself any more. Your favorite color is yellow. I know exactly where that mole is." Pause. "You know me, but you don't know who this is. I know you." Pause. "Be sure to call your mother back, she sounds worried. Oh, and Jesse... I'll see you at 5:21. Precisely."

*click*

Dropping her mail, which she had been checking, Jesse swallowed as she checked her watch.

It was 5:20.

"Why are you doing this?"

"I think I can answer that for you, Linda," Piper said as he now stood, taking up a stance beside his friend, Mrs. Park. "This is their city too, and while they rob from it now and again, it's their's to plunder. Not someone else's."

"Well, lookee whose talkin' all high an' mighty, like he didn't run with us at one time, like he ain't don this too." Mirror Master smirked as he sauntered down the steps of City Hall, flashing a small palm-sized before the reformed villain. "Come a long way... sure you changed all that much, Hartley?"

"Get that damned thing out of m-..."

"Piper, please, if they're here to help, then we should let them until Wally gets-..."

"Wally?! The Flash?!! He may be your husband, be we aren't going to be sitting by waiting idle for him to save us. We've got powers of our own, and we'll use them," snarled Weather Wizard as he stepped forward to, waving his wand around before Linda and Piper. But then the Wizard smiled, "But that pales to the power we've got now."

Linda split-taked to Piper, who did the same to her, wondering what the Rogues could possibly be going on about. Here they were, not where they should be, with a whole town of paniced people, with no Flash in sight. And here she had the Rogues, strutting out of City Hall, mentioning something about power? And then she blinked. "Wait, you don't mean-..."

Stepping away from the crowd that he was menacing with his freeze gun, to keep them quite, Captain Cold smiled. "Oh, that's right. The mayor's hid himself away, and without your husband here to save us, the poor man's gone desperate."

At that all of the Rogue's pulled out matching pouches and flipped them open, showing off the golden badges.

"We've been deputized."

She shouldn't be running from this. She knew she was better than this. She was Jesse Chambers, CEO of Quickstart Enterprises, a nationally recognized and respected company. She was Jesse Quick, superheroine, champion and just a strong independant woman. Yet, she was running.

She hadn't even bothered to stop to change into her costume. It was almost 5:21, with just seconds to spare. And she was fleeing her home in Philadelphia, in a panic.

She was running stupid, and she knew it. Which was the most frustrating thing of all.

She had fought demons. She had battled alter-dimensional beings. And who knows what else, and not even batted an eyelash.

And now she was running halfway across America, scared witless, because of one little phone message.

Perhaps what was most frightening of all was where she was running to. She would miss greeting her visitor, as she had to go see her mother.

Well, at least now he had found his city. But the bad thing was that if he didn't get air in the next twelve seconds, he'd drown before he ever got to it.

Submersed in the lake that was Keystone City, The Flash found himself struggling with a gigantic squid. An aquatic beast that had Tempest wrapped up tightly, tugging the struggling man towards it's beak. Wally *wanted* to help his friend, but The Flash was completely out of his element. not to mention trying to fight for his life. The surface looked to be so far above him, as he felt himself being dragged downward.

Holding what breath remained in his lungs in, attempting t make it last, Wally beat on the tenacle that was latched about his waist. What calmed him though was the sight below him, on the floor of this contained pool.

Settled at the bottom was a shimmering dome, a field through which Wally could see the lights of his city. And those lights were the becons on his hope. If the lights were still on, people were alive. Linda was alive.

But he wouldn't be for long himself if he couldn't...

"Breathe! Wally... BREATHE!"

"I would if I could here, Garth, but it's not like I can breathe water, now can I?!?"

"Actually, you can. Now. You just did. So how about getting yourself free, and then giving me a little help here in return?"

Taking a moment to realize he was breathing water, Wally concentrated and reminded himself that in his struggles he had seen Garth chanting, now that he thought about it. He should have known that his pal would have thought to save his life, before Garth thought about his own.

Spinning his leg rapidly, The Flash managed to wiggle it free from the squid, before the creature could reaffirm it's grip on him. Now loose, Wally attempted to backpeddle in the water, trying to think of a way to help his friend.

This was all just too much, and none of it was making any sense. Who would do this? Sink Keystone, cover it with a ton of water? Everywhere he looked he saw sealife, all kinds of it. Schools of different kinds of fish, eels, kelp, and heck, was that a whale?

"Wally! Some help?!"

Shaking his head, The Flash concencentrated, and looked back to his pal who now was now straining to hold open the beak of the squid. Spinning his arms, Wally directed a miniture vortex jet at the creatures head. With the stream of water striking the sea beast, it recoiled, enough to slacken it's hold on Tempest, to allow Garth to slip free. But, by the nature of physics, Wally was propeled backwards through the water.

Feeling awkward, Wally attempted to stabilize himself, before before he could even try, already Garth was there to catch him. "Steady there, Wally. I got you."

"This so isn't right..."

"Now you see how I feel on land, when you race off to beat on the bad guy before I can even get my bearings straight." And Garth had to smile as that shut the Flash up, at least for a moment. He released Wally, looking down to the domed-over and protected city below. "What isn't right is I would almost swear we were out at sea... save for the difference in depth, pressure, light exposure and all of that. Someone went to great lengths to accomplish all of this. The sea life here, it would have had to have been lead here through extensive underground tunnels. I can't even begin to imagine the patience that that would take..."

That coming from garth told Wally a lot. "Well, this is already taking more patience than I ever had. Now, I have to find a way to raise Keystone. Somehow. But we have to get there to it first."

"Race you?"

Wally just narrowed his eyes at Tempest, but he couldn't blame his pal for the wisecrack. "I deserve that, considering how many times I have sprung that on you. But lead on."

Tempest nodded to this, and grabbing his friend and teammate about the waist and started to propel the pair downwards, towards the dome.

"Whoever is behind this, Wally, they have to know that you'll come for them. For Keystone, to save them. They're likely prepared for you."

"I'm just struggling to figure out who it is. I can't see one of the Rogues doing this, unless it's a new one. Fishtank Master, or something..."

"You sound a little bitter."

Wally wondered if he could be blamed for that. He was used to saving people from being threatened, from being held hostage. But not like this. And he wasn't accustomed to being a spectator in saving the day... Especially when the day was his to save.

Nearing the dome, the pair of heroes pulled up short, both needing to figure out a means to slip inside. "Don't suppose you brought yourself a key?"

"Harhar. I was given one to the city, but I left that in my other costume."

"I suppose we could always knock," Garth suggested.

"No need, boys."

The voice came to them from behind. Turning, they were both greeted with the view of a green-garbed, goggled and mohawked figure, riding astride a shark with shiver of the creatures in tow.

It was the Marine Marauder.

When was this going to start making sense?