So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

( Robert Frost, Nothing Gold Can Stay. )

CENTRAL CITY, ALREADY A CITY BUILT AROUND THE IMPOSSIBLE, begins to rot in ways no one can explain. Objects corrode in seconds, buildings crumble without warning, flowers wither between breaths, and people begin dying from a mysterious affliction that seems to age their bodies from the inside out, transforming them into grotesque crystalline sculptures that are no longer human. But this is not time itself unraveling. Something far stranger has come to Central City━something ancient, parasitic, and hungry.

Lily Keane, a young and brilliant scientist at S.T.A.R. Labs with the ability to manipulate, perceive and stabilize frequencies, has spent her career studying phenomena most people would consider impossible. Nothing, however, could prepare her for what begins happening across the city. When the Flash, Kid Flash, and Impulse arrive at S.T.A.R. Labs seeking answers to the strange anomalies affecting not only the city but their own bodies, Lily realizes the disturbances are not isolated incidents. Their connection to the Speed Force is attracting something sinister to Central City, and whatever it is, it is growing stronger with every passing hour.

As Central City descends into an impossible nightmare of decaying streets, collapsing structures, crystallized corpses, and unexplained temporal anomalies, Lily and Wally find themselves growing closer, their feelings becoming an unexpected source of hope amid the horror. But loving someone connected so deeply to the Speed Force comes with its own dangers, especially when Wally's condition begins deteriorating faster than she can help him.

Now, with Central City becoming a graveyard of crystallized bodies and decaying remnants of what once was, Lily, Barry, Wally, and Bart must race against an enemy that does not simply want to destroy their city━it wants to feed upon the very force that makes the Flash Family who they are. They have only one chance to uncover where this sinister force came from, sever their connection to the Speed Force, and stop the decay before Central City becomes something that can never be restored.

Because in a city built on speed, something has finally found a way to make them run out of time.

STARRING

LILY KEANE . . . ECHO 🌀

BRILLIANT. GENTLE. PERCEPTIVE.
THE VOICE WITHIN THE FREQUENCY.
　

EVEN AS THE WORLD FALLS APART,
HOPE HAS A FREQUENCY.

WALLACE WEST . . . KID FLASH⚡️
( or just WALLY )

PLAYFUL. RESILIENT. DEVOTED.
THE HOPE THAT OUTRUNS THE DARK.
　

EVEN WHEN THE SPEED BETRAYS HIM,
HE WILL KEEP MOVING FORWARD.

WITH

jessica keane ✶ NURSE
matthew keane ✶ FIREFIGHTER
jacob keane ✶ STUDENT
barry allen ✶ THE FLASH
bart allen ✶ IMPULSE
iris west-allen ✶ JOURNALIST
henry allen ✶ PHYSICIAN
nora allen ✶ REAL ESTATE AGENT
joe west ✶ DETECTIVE
caitlin snow ✶ SCIENTIST

✶ dedications ✶
mithranidel maliraology pepperronys pseudonym-lux void-daniella starfragment samwnchesters latte-to-go indirys xonceuponatimex justanillusion KookieANDLeo dash-of-clarity liminal_faces -beewrites-

　✶ alright, y'all know the drill. as always, i do not own or take credit for DETECTIVE COMICS (DC) or any of it's characters. all rights respectfully belong to the writers and creators. i do, however, take credit for all the original content found within this story, from the original characters, plot, and dialogue.

　✶ anyways... welcome to my WALLY WEST fic ⚡️ before we dive into the story, I would like to give a massive shout-out to my friend KookieANDLeo. without amanda and her insanely beautiful talent which initially inspired my DICK GRAYSON fic, SPOREFALL, this story and the others in the DC: DARK ORIGINS series wouldn't even exist. so, let's all say thank you amanda!

　✶ amanda is a very talented artist, and a while back, she posted this really gorgeous body horror art of poison ivy, which i just instantly fell in love with (the horror enthusiast i am lol) and immediately told her that it was giving gotham city horror fic vibes. so, naturally, after several months of brainstorming, i came up with the idea for SPOREFALL, which then inspired other DC horror fics just like it that i made into a series of fics. also, here's the poison ivy piece that amanda drew! isn't it just to gorgeous? 😩 you should all go follow her. like, now. i'm not even kidding lol.

　✶ this fic is also available on ao3 (dunbonnet) if you would prefer reading it there. feel free to check it out on either platform, whichever you find easiest. i also share content for my fics on tiktok (dunbonnet) and tumblr (dunbonnets), including edits, incorrect quotes, and other little snippets from this fic and the series it belongs to. if you enjoy that kind of thing, you're more than welcome to follow along there as well. and if you're on tumblr, my ask box is always open. i love hearing your thoughts, questions, and reactions, whether it's about this fic, the characters, or anything else you'd like to talk about.

　✶ trigger warnings include but are not limited to: violence, gore, blood, death, vulgar language, sexual themes, etc. please read with caution. you have been warned.

© ANDREA / DUNBONNET 2026