Chapter 117: Time Wraiths! Ian Account Stolen!
The rainy night had not yet stopped.
Thunder rumbled.
Lightning not only tore through the sky outside the house, but countless blue lightning bolts seemed to light up inside as well—the Speed Force vortex in the center of the living room spun wildly like a black hole.
It mercilessly devoured everything around it. The genuine leather sofa was torn into fragments and sucked in, instantly turning to dust, even the floor tiles were ripped up and drawn into that violent energy vortex.
Ian only had time to save Mother’s antique vase, but couldn’t save Father’s toolbox that was placed a bit farther away—it seemed Superman was really delayed by something.
The toolbox was filled with things Clark loved most, like wrenches and pliers.
Accumulated over several years.
Farm boys just love tinkering with these things.
Now all gone up in smoke.
The corpse of the Reverse-Flash who had just died was also swept up, floating toward the vortex core, and in the last moment before disappearing, his yellow uniform peeled off like burning paper scraps,
revealing the body beneath rapidly carbonizing.
Flesh withered at high speed.
Even the corpse opened its eyes and let out a hiss—speedsters gain the right to use the Speed Force, so they must pay the price; their final destination is neither heaven nor hell.
But to become slaves of the Speed Force.
Just like those black figures swimming in the Speed Force vortex. Each black figure represented a former speedster, who after death would serve the Speed Force forever.
Until the end of time.
“What is that?” Ian also saw the black figures in the Speed Force vortex; he asked despite knowing, attempting a sneak attack, but Reverse-Flash easily dodged Ian’s teleportation sneak attack.
After all, the speed of his eyeballs’ movement determined Ian’s landing position, which speedsters could never miss observing, not to mention this newly appeared Reverse-Flash seemed far faster than the previous one.
He even appeared behind Ian’s landing position the moment Ian moved his eyeballs, but didn’t attack, merely whispering softly with his electronic reverb.
“Ian Kent, you are a boy who shouldn’t exist. Perhaps the universe granted you some wondrous abilities, but in front of a speedster, your abilities are utterly insignificant.”
This seemingly non-violent Reverse-Flash still spoke from on high, with the inherent arrogance of speedsters, “The little tricks the universe gave you are completely worthless in front of a speedster like me.”
“In the end, you’re just a product born from Flashpoint, created by our abilities.” Reverse-Flash appeared in another position the instant Ian turned to attack.
Still not counterattacking Ian. This Reverse-Flash’s focus was always on the Speed Force vortex; he clearly had no interest in killing Ian or The Flash.
The shadows in the vortex reflected on his damaged mask.
Those shadows writhed like living things.
“Oh, really?” When Ian attacked again, his brain was already frantically calculating; he knew he needed enough data to analyze Reverse-Flash’s movement patterns.
To deal with speedsters.
Most people could only rely on prediction.
Ian was the same.
“You’ll understand I’m just stating facts, and I hope the pain of losing family tonight will give you enough motivation to grow.” This Reverse-Flash’s speed was at least twice that of the previous one.
“Just like your two older brothers.”
He was too fast.
He could even stand in place, just slightly tilting his body to dodge Ian’s predicted heat ray. Of course, Ian’s sneak attack this time was clearly much closer to Reverse-Flash than the last.
This was real progress.
But the room for improvement was still huge. Upstairs, Jonathan and Jordan were lying at the edge of the broken ceiling, tense; they too were startled by a glance from Reverse-Flash.
“Damn, what happened at home while I was studying?” Jordan seemed to have just realized what happened; before that, he had been holed up in his room with headphones on.
Not exactly defying the wind.
But truly focusing allowed Jordan to practice controlling his super hearing well, shielding out sounds he didn’t want to hear, only listening to the music and “yes” sounds he wanted.
Said to be studying.
Not wrong.
But that slightly guilty expression made Jonathan hesitate to speak.
“Intruders broke into the house, but Father’s phone won’t connect…” Jonathan ultimately didn’t criticize his second brother, instead gazing worriedly at the living room below.
They were all huddled on the same corridor, watching from the edge.
“Father is Superman; he’s probably just too busy. Maybe I should go help Ian; after all, I’m Little Superman too.” Jordan said as he prepared to jump down.
He was pulled back by Jonathan.
Not that Jonathan thought Jordan shouldn’t go; he dragged a wooden box from under the bed, neatly stacked with small statues of various styles. “Quick, put some statues on yourself.”
“And put some on Ian too. These are occult protective gear. Though there’s a risk of offending deities, enemies who smash statues are definitely worse than our offense to the deities.”
Jonathan was still so superstitious.
Jordan had no words to refute.
He thought Jonathan made a lot of sense, so he took the statues Eldest Brother handed him and kept hanging them around his neck, while Jonathan watching this scene showed his rigor.
“Different vital areas need different statues, like God’s statue goes in the crotch; the most powerful deity must guard your most vulnerable spot.”
Jonathan was teaching.
Jordan was seriously responding.
While the two discussed support plans. Downstairs, facing Reverse-Flash’s verbal attacks, Ian tensed up, staring dead at the man constantly blurring in the distance.
“Lose family? What are you talking about?”
Ian
To this.
Reverse-Flash just gave a wicked smile.
“You’ll get the news soon; don’t rush. I look forward to seeing your potential.” Reverse-Flash played Riddler with superb electronic sound; he glanced at Barry Allen and struck a running pose.
“Tonight is the beginning of the Justice League’s downfall, and each of us seems to have our own game.” As Reverse-Flash’s last words fell, he immediately started running.
This guy instantly turned into a red lightning bolt.
Straight out of the house.
At the same time.
The Speed Force vortex exploded violently!
Several black shadows burst out, pouncing toward the living room like ghosts.
They had human forms but wore rotting skin, half their faces flesh, half withered bone, clad in black battle suits with Speed Force emblems.
“Roar roar!”
The humanoid monsters roared.
Not like sounds living things could make.
They were—black lightning.
Time Wraiths with legs.
Speedsters’ exclusive Grim Reaper.
Black lightning existed for one purpose: to end the lives of speed heroes and villains in the DC universe, pulling speedsters back into the Speed Force to become part of them.
The moment nine Time Wraiths appeared, their gazes locked outside—red electric arcs from Reverse-Flash’s escape still lingered on the street.
“Roar—”
Eight Time Wraiths flew out directly.
They instantly became black streams of light.
Their speed even far exceeded ordinary speedsters. Clearly, this group’s target was the Reverse-Flash, who didn’t belong in this spacetime and was in an abnormal state detected by the Speed Force.
Their movement was bizarre; each step left charred footprints on the floor, extending forward like fast-forwarded footage.
The eight split into eight directions for pursuit and blockade.
As for the remaining one.
“Clang!”
It stayed in place not because it didn’t want to move, but just as it and its “companions” burst from the Speed Force vortex, still twisting its neck and posing, it was sneak attacked.
Unlike Reverse-Flash.
Time Wraiths never cared about those daring to touch them.
They could dodge.
But didn’t need to.
All living things touching them would have their life taken—thus, carelessly, without flashing, a double-door refrigerator fell from above, slamming the unlucky last Time Wraith in place.
Still carrying some cold temperature inside.
Of course.
Minus twenty degrees wasn’t enough to slow the Time Wraith much; it ignored the material obstruction and phased through, but Ian, long prepared, grabbed its right leg used for running.
“Roar roar roar!!”
The Time Wraith roared in anger; it always reaped others’ time, yet today someone dared grab it? It turned to look at the little boy who seemed utterly fine.
This moment.
The Time Wraith was stunned.
It seemed to only now realize it had encountered something dirty.
“Roar roar roar~”
It couldn’t speak, or couldn’t anymore, only roaring a warning at Ian who grabbed it, and extended its hands to try taking Ian’s life directly.
However.
The Time Wraith soon discovered its “innate” ability wasn’t working as it should; the opponent not only didn’t step toward death but smiled even more twistedly.
“Wait one hour, just one hour; you’re definitely a great supplement!” Ian’s arm was indeed eroded, but it was just decaying his flesh.
【Berserker Experience+9】
【Berserker Experience+7】
【Berserker Experience+8】
……
Ian stared at the profession awakening countdown.
He really didn’t want to give up this rare species. Swallowing a Time Wraith might give him speed-related boosts; if not, he could offer it to his godfather.
Just like the Son of the Demon God before!
Ian had suffered enough from low base attributes; he wanted to crush the Speed Force purely with numbers like Father, as speedsters were a natural counter to superheroes like him with insufficient panels.
“Just one hour! Won’t delay you too long!”
Ian yanked hard to pull the Time Wraith toward his body; maybe he didn’t tell enough little white lies usually, as his soothing didn’t convince even the “ghost.”
“Roar roar roar!”
The Time Wraith struggled desperately.
Like a Komodo dragon caught by an Indian brother.
When it found Ian’s hands unmoving, it even kicked at Ian’s face with the other foot—resulting in its other ankle being grabbed too.
Facing the boy with glowing eyes.
The Time Wraith finally made a decision against its speedster identity.
“Crack!”
Tooth-gritting fracture sound rang out—it broke its legs to escape. The upper body clawed madly on the ground, using hands instead of feet, turning into a black lightning bolt that drilled into the Speed Force vortex.
The outside world was too dangerous!
It wanted to hide in Speed Force mommy’s embrace!
“Damn! Come back! I won’t eat you! Christmas is coming; I’ll make you my reindeer.” Ian couldn’t catch up, of course; his deception didn’t fool the Time Wraith.
After all.
Time Wraiths were just dead.
Not stupid.
They once had useful brains too.
“If I dive in, can I become a speedster too?” Ian wasn’t always so bold; at least this moment, he didn’t dare rashly tail the Time Wraith.
Of course.
The Speed Force gave him no choice.
“Whoosh~”
The Speed Force vortex vanished completely in an instant, as if it had never existed, and the living room went from noisy back to silent.
It disappeared too fast.
As if the Speed Force itself feared Ian rushing into its body.
“Don’t be like that; Santa Ian’s reindeer now only has two reindeer legs left?” The two legs in Ian’s arms were still trying to escape his clutches.
However.
Even with red Speed Force flickering on the legs, it was useless; Ian’s strength was great, and they were still firmly pressed in his arms.
【Berserker Experience+4】
【Berserker Experience+3】
【Berserker Experience+3】
……
Some force was still corroding Ian’s chest.
But no big problem.
Once Self-Healing Tide activated, lost vitality would be replenished; that constantly corroding force even made Ian feel a pleasure hidden in the corrosion.
Time Wraith’s legs.
Could well become Ian’s new leveling artifact.
“Good stuff!”
Ian studied the two twitching Time Wraith legs like a new toy.
The black limbs writhed in his hands.
Red electric arcs jumping on the legs’ surface occasionally crackled.
“Ian! I’m here to save you!”
Jordan’s voice came from above. With a “boom,” this second young master smashed into the living room in an undignified pose, stuffed bulging with statues from Jonathan.
Looked quite comical.
But somehow had a solemn feel.
“Where are they?”
Jordan, full of religious aura, looked around; his gaze finally locked on the wriggling legs in Ian’s hands, surprised and slack-jawed.
“Can’t give you these; I still have uses for them!” Ian’s vigilance rose instantly; to be safe, he quickly hid the Time Wraith legs behind his back.
“I know they must have uses; don’t mess around, Second Brother wouldn’t steal your things… I actually just want to ask, what was up with that yellow-suited guy?”
Jordan coughed dryly.
Very awkwardly changing the subject.
Awkward silence filled the air.
“That’s Reverse-Flash.” Barry Allen’s voice suddenly cut in; this speedster had woken up at some point, leaning against the broken wall, rubbing his bruised black neck.
“He came for me. Sorry, got you all involved.” Barry Allen’s voice carried guilt; he felt it was his fault the family’s kids suffered this undeserved disaster.
No one really cared about that.
“Oh oh.”
Jordan’s eyes darted, focus clearly unique.
“He? Not she?”
He didn’t know what he was expecting; Second Brother with social anxiety lacked effective teenage life, so it was clear he had extreme flashy repressed tendencies.
Ian couldn’t help side-eyeing.
He had paid special attention before.
His own Second Brother, still in his room, had instinctively poked out during the roof breach for certain reasons, but shrank back after seeing the sky-exploding figure and Ian.
“Our lab has never considered this issue; fair enough, no one knows Reverse-Flash’s gender clearly. Maybe I should tell Dr. Wilson about your guess when we get back.”
“If Reverse-Flash is a female speedster, we’ve definitely been looking in the wrong direction.” Barry Allen seemed inspired by Jordan’s wild idea.
He woke up late.
So didn’t know what happened before.
Ian hesitated to speak.
And at that moment.
Barry Allen looked at Ian holding two legs.
“You fought Reverse-Flash? And… those aren’t Time Wraith legs you’re holding, are they?” He was clearly shocked again by Ian.
Those were Time Wraiths speedsters fled from!
How did it end up just two legs?
Held in a little boy’s hands??
For a moment.
The Flash couldn’t piece together what happened.
“Two Reverse-Flashes; one ran into my Second Brother’s gun, got badly injured, then killed by the other Reverse-Flash.” Ian said, each armpit clamping a Time Wraith calf.
He recounted his outrageous encounter.
Speedster time travel issues were probably beyond even The Flash; Barry Allen’s shocked expression showed it.
“Two Reverse-Flashes?”
Barry Allen shot upright.
Nearly triggering Speed Force.
“No wonder Time Wraiths appeared!”
His gaze locked dead on under Ian’s arms.
“I think you should… let it go… it’s poisonous.” Barry Allen even shrank back further; he clearly feared Time Wraiths greatly.
“If it weren’t poisonous, I wouldn’t like them.”
Ian blinked.
He looked at his corroded armpit; the system’s occasional experience prompts were decreasing; he even felt the Time Wraith’s “toxicity” a bit underwhelming.
“……”
Barry Allen didn’t know how to respond to Ian.
He didn’t even understand why Ian could still talk; by rights, Ian should be deader than dead by now—Time Wraiths killed on touch.
Are Kryptonians that broken?
Barry Allen, never encountering this before, clearly hit a knowledge blind spot.
“You saved us all; must be tired. I can take them; maybe I’m not afraid of poison.” Jordan offered eagerly, looking suspiciously ulterior.
“No, I need to use them to push myself hard. Once little me catches that Reverse-Flash, I’ll make him deliver takeout for me 24/7 nonstop.”
Ian had noted the grudge with Reverse-Flash; at least thirty years of takeout to settle it—he felt Reverse-Flash’s battle suit was perfect for deliveries.
“???”
Barry Allen fell silent after hearing Ian.
“Did you know I have a takeout company? I entrusted it to Uncle Bruce to manage.” Ian preemptively claimed it, speaking to Barry Allen.
Hearing this.
Barry Allen swallowed hard.
“I can’t… I can’t do takeout; I have other work.” He seemed afraid Ian would grab him for deliveries too; The Flash’s thinking was sometimes that quirky.
“What a pity; you’re my Uncle Barry—I’d buy you medical insurance. Not tempted? Work thirty years and get promoted to shareholder.”
Ian’s temptation made Barry Allen’s mouth twitch wildly.
He wanted to pass out again.
At that moment, Jonathan, who had called dozens of times with no answer, returned from the side, holding his mobile phone with a worried face.
“Still can’t reach Father.”
He had a bad premonition.
“I’ll go find Father right away.” Ian recalled Reverse-Flash’s words and felt uneasy; grabbing The Flash’s removed battle suit, he went to the burst water pipe to wash.
Aquaman and Queen Mera’s heads were still buried in the fish tank blowing bubbles.
“You don’t need to wash my clothes; go find Clark and Diana quickly.” Barry Allen was awkwardly supported by Jonathan to sit on a pile of rubble ruins.
He scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly, “Actually, my legs will be fully healed soon; I can wash my own clothes. Maybe I can even support you later.”
The Flash was always keen on superhero work.
However.
Water sounds continued not far away.
No response.
Moments later.
Ian came out shaking wet hands, followed by guilty-faced Jordan—this sturdy boy held a stack of money in his left hand, a familiar chainsaw in his right.
“No rush, Uncle Barry; rest well.”
Ian showed a sunny boy’s smile, “My Franklin already instructed Jordan; he’ll ensure your legs stay in Schrödinger’s ideal state.”
The Kent family’s youngest seemed quite understanding.
However.
Barry Allen wasn’t happy at all.
“What are you doing?”
Barry Allen didn’t dare look more; one more glance and he feared using Speed Force to run off hands-free—there, the nearby boy had put on his uniform.
More precisely, forced himself into his uniform.
The red-and-gold bodysuit stretched comically wrinkled on Ian, mask askew hanging behind his head; the ill-fitting uniform looked cheaply made.
“Clearly, I’m now a core Justice League member— The Flash.” Ian found a way to join the Justice League, performing his signature skill again.
Account stealing expert.
No account in the world Ian couldn’t steal; only those he wanted to or hadn’t yet, as the previous Batman incident proved his stealing skills supreme.
The world only knows superheroes.
No one cares who’s under the superhero uniform.
The uniform.
Is the heroes’ true body!
“?????” Barry’s mouth formed an “O.” This hurt more than seeing Iris on a date with another man—at least she didn’t wear his battle suit!
“I’m The Flash!” Barry protested weakly.
“Uniform on me—who knows?” Ian blinked, starting to wrap exposed wires around himself, “Justice League can’t be without me—I mean without The Flash.”
He corrected timely; nearby good Second Brother immediately played straight man.
“I know this; The Flash is an indispensable Justice League member, like 3D zone can’t be without My Little Pony!” Second Brother’s words instantly silenced everyone in the room.
Including Ian.
Realizing he misspoke, Jordan hurried to Jonathan—the gentlest Eldest Brother was helping the fish tank, seemingly unable to heal injured Aquaman and Queen Mera.
“Ian said Atlanteans use kelp for injuries after getting hurt; he couldn’t find kelp but gave me these nori.” Jonathan was sticking nori on the two superheroes in the fish tank.
The Polie nori kind.
“I’ll help you.”
Jordan prepared to ostrich in this area.
However.
“Come guard Uncle Barry!”
Ian called him back again.
Helpless Jordan returned to the living room ruins, sat beside Barry Allen, and placed the chainsaw—not planning an empty warehouse trip—on Barry Allen’s legs.
“Sorry, Uncle Barry; Ian gave too much…” Jordan apologized early amid Barry Allen’s trembling; knowing what brats could do, Barry Allen quickly looked back at Ian.
“But you don’t have Speed Force; how can you be The Flash?” Barry Allen ignored complaining, gazing helplessly at Ian hanging wires on himself.
“I can pretend I do.”
Ian pulled out his mini reactor, connected, debugged; then blue arcs sparked on him, finally tinkered to yellow arcs.
“Few know I’m actually a top student.” Ian felt the current stimulating his body, speaking softly without boasting.
【Berserker Experience+1】
He turned up the current.
Arcs on him intensified.
But damage wasn’t high.
“Your brother is about to electrocute himself cooked!” The Flash smelled his suit’s aroma. He shook frantically the boy sitting beside him, using chainsaw to suppress his broken leg.
Barry Allen felt his battle suit scrapped, but didn’t want Superman’s youngest scrapped too.
“Ian has his plan.” Jordan didn’t move, steady as a rock, chainsaw steadily on Barry’s plaster leg. He and Jonathan knew who was the smartest kid at home.
“Right, I have my plan, Uncle Barry. Without your body, you can’t see this is my Speed Force resonance; I don’t blame you— The Flash is that magnanimous.”
Ian’s voice successfully gained electric tone.
He couldn’t make his muscles truly vibrate blurry, but The Flash’s classic hood only left his mouth exposed anyway.
Mouth vibrating was enough.
“How’s that? Solutions beat problems; this time, no beatings possible because Ian is home, but The Flash will support his utterly loyal Justice League.” Ian first glanced at the slack-jawed bootleg Flash, then seriously at his Second Brother.
“Time for lines.”
He reminded softly.
“Oh oh.”
Jordan reacted and lowered his voice hurriedly.
“Run, Ian, run… you’re the fastest man in the world.” His tone undulated, making nearby Barry Allen’s neck stiffen with a spectacular expression.
“Starting! Run!”
Ian directly tied the two Time Wraith thighs to his legs—the frantically wriggling Time Wraith carried him out; four legs ran faster than two.
“Whoosh!”
Ian really succeeded in finding a way to steal speedster-exclusive speed without cost—real Speed Force flickered on the two outer legs!
“Bang~”
Ian who crashed through the wall.
Seemed to become a speedster too.
He ran super fast.
Just turning corners was a bit hard to control direction.
No big problem.
Teleport to steer was totally fine.
I didn’t manage time well; if I trick you saying I have an exam tomorrow, will you ignore my 30-year-old age and believe me?—20k words tomorrow, for real.
