Chapter 4 - Inside The Speed Force Part I

Axxel stirred awake to the peaceful noise of birds chirping, water rushing, and a noisy silence that could only be nature in its purest form. It was exactly as Axxel imagined heaven would sound like, so he didn't even bother to open his eyes, just indulging in the feeling of absolute bliss.

Of course, Axxel's memories of the Omniversal War had remained intact, and judging by his life as Axxel Crawford, he knew that his sacrifice in the war was probably what got him into the Heaven of today.

Apparently, one good deed could save someone from damnation.

Admittedly, one of the greatest feats of Axxel's life was juggling ten girlfriends simultaneously for three years, two months, and seven days – not the kind of act that would – or should – get someone into Heaven.

"A reward well-earned," Axxel grabbed a fistful of grass and moaned like an orgasming woman.

Still, the sensation of Heaven didn't last very long. The pungent scent of something deeply unpleasant assaulted Axxel's nostrils.

"What the heck!" Axxel cursed the Heavens and lifted himself from the ground, but the more he tried to get up, the more he sunk into the squishy mud-like substance beneath him. It smelled a lot like –

"SHIT!" Axxel cursed and opened his eyes to a body covered in brown goo. "Aww, sheesh! It got in my mouth again!"

Axxel rolled in the turd, clutched at his throat, and spat until he began puking his guts out. The mere thought that he was dreaming about Heaven while covered in poop, churned his guts into a near-oblivion state.

And, of course, it had to be a truckload of poop.

"Where am I?" Axxel rubbed his head, uncaring about smearing more poop on his already poop-saturated forehead. He was still alive, or maybe, he was in Hell – anything was yet to be determined.

Massive trees stretched for as far as the eyes could see, large creatures – small due to the distance from Axxel – flew through the skies unhindered, and it quickly became obvious to Axxel that this was neither Heaven nor Hell – or even Earth for that matter.

The green glowing shrubs and plentiful vines covering the ground gave an impression of an Ancient Jungle, but the massive trees indicated a forest of some kind – if forests could appear so bizarre.

Two contradictory states of vegetation that seemed alien in origin, but if such was the case, and this was indeed some Alien World – when would Axxel make it back home?

Wherever home was at that!

Any halfwit fan of the DCEU or DC comics would know the Multiverse was infinite, and that meant an infinite number of Worlds where Axxel could be trapped, and each of such worlds was equipped with its own dangers.

"Sometimes…" Axxel pressed his head into his hands, wondering if his knowledge was worth the hopelessness it invoked in his heart. "knowing is just as bad as not knowing some things."

'One step at a time,'

Axxel slowly crawled out of the huge poop, trying his best to imagine it was a cloud of cotton candy instead. Looking around, a closer examination revealed extinct Flora and Fauna, with smaller critters that glowed a variety of colors.

Sometimes, they would also flicker with traces of electricity.

Everything in sight was either small, weird, or extremely beautiful – in an ugly sort of way. Then again, Axxel wasn't exactly someone to judge the beauty of something, especially considering the fact he had yet to see his own reincarnated features in their entirety.

Axxel desperately tried to wipe away the brown poop smudging his body, and assumed a combat stance, ready to tackle whatever challenges – new and unidentifiable – this World would bring to his doorstep.

Yet, plans never survive contact with the enemy.

And this was a big fucking enemy!

---RUMBLE---

---RUMBLE---

Axxel's planning phase didn't even last a second as the massive foot of a scaly creature created cracks in the hardened Earth, sending all nearby creatures scurrying away. One of those creatures was terrifying enough, so whatever was coming had to be at least doubly so.

He barely managed to get a peek at the foot of the creature through the crevices between huge trees, and his instincts immediately screamed for him to run away. If two feet weren't enough, then he should find another one.

It was only then that Axxel realized that the trees around him seemed more like a border than anything else. Almost as if shouting 'Weak people to the right'.

"A nest,"

As soon as the Aspiring Speedster realized what was afoot, he attempted to superspeed away but a couple of steps later, Axxel found that his body was moving slower than a toddler crawling for a treat.

Obviously, something was very wrong.

---RUMBLE---

Another loud rumble, but this time closer. Axxel's Marine training jumped into overdrive in the absence of his speed. Human creativity was brought forth in desperate moments, and there was no moment more desperate than this.

Luckily, the Aspiring Speedster was not too reliant on his Superspeed, or he would have been fucked like every other DC Superhero when they lost their abilities. Without a moment of hesitation, Axxel leaped back into the poop, diving like a professional swimmer and rolling around as if his life depended on it – which it did.

He rubbed every bit of his body in poop before rolling into the cover of a nearby hollow tree trunk. The vines in front of the trunk obscured his location. The darkness of the tree trunk also matched the dark-brown poop camouflaging his skin, so it provided a natural barrier that gave Axxel further protection.

---RUMBLE---

The strongest rumble yet alerted Axxel that whatever monstrosity owned the nest had just returned home. Hopefully, the creature would spot nothing out of place. From the tree trunk, The Aspiring Speedster watched as a massive eye lowered, trying to spot any discrepancies within the nest.

The eye looked almost intuitive, but that was impossible – animals couldn't think so deeply, right? The eye was reptilian in nature – or at least, something close to it. A dragon was not outside the realm of possibility.

There was no telling what it was, but Axxel was beginning to have his suspicions. He only hoped that it wasn't a type of Predator Alien, since that movie gave him the creeps. Still, nothing was outside the realm of possibility as yet.

When the eye glanced over his location, Axxel's blood froze and his heart skipped a couple of beats; finally, his suspicions were confirmed, and he knew exactly where this place was. It was indeed a planet, but the place was a bit unexpected.

As soon as the eye moved away, Axxel could breathe easy once more.

"The Savage World," Axxel cursed, not sure whether to be happy or sad at that revelation.

Axxel should have been able to guess what this place was immediately when his Superspeed was rendered inert, but his Comic knowledge was a bit rusty in certain parts. How could he be expected to remember something he read casually a few years ago?

The Savage World, one of the three known Islands that exists within the Speed Force, and a place where all Speedsters cannot access their speeds. If there was ever a need to battle a Speedster countless times faster than himself, Axxel could bring them here.

And… well, be trapped for eternity.

The Savage World could be considered a retirement home for certain Speedsters. It is also inescapable, containing Flora, Fauna, and Technology from the past, present, and future – sometimes, colliding realities all at once.

Anything displaced in time would usually be trapped for eternity on this Island.

"So, I am in the Speed Force, huh?" Axxel mused, knowing that there was no escape from Savage World, but also contented to be inside the Speed Force.

It was one thing to read about the place on Wikis or watch video descriptions about what the Speed Force would really look like, but it was another thing to witness the Speed Force in all its glory.

Axxel directed his gaze above and witnessed the storm of energy hidden behind the false sky of The Savage World. It was a blinding, terrifying momentum that was infinite and undefinable by all but higher dimensional beings.

At the same time, it was incomparably beautiful.

'That right there is the power to erase entire worlds from existence,' Axxel's thoughts trembled under the knowledge of such a fact. 'There was truly no other power greater than the Speed Force.'

However, the thing that irked Axxel the most was the fact that - as close as he was to the source of a Speedster - it was forever meant to be just beyond his reach. He definitely didn't have luck like Barry Allen, but maybe, his Protagonist Aura would activate after a couple thousand years in The Speed Force.

After all, nothing aged in Savage World, so Axxel had eternity to figure a way out, given he survived that long, which was not likely with his luck. When the rumbling faded into the distance, Axxel knew it was safe to come out of hiding, but he remained hidden for a couple more minutes just to be absolutely sure.

Many of his fellow Marines died due to such technicalities, so he learned to be absolutely certain before relaxing his guard. Previously, Axxel was caught in a war between the forces of good and evil and fought recklessly without care for losing a life he had only just obtained.

But now, Axxel had a feeling that this life would be his last, so he had no intention to forfeit it so easily. Sneaking outside the tree trunk, Axxel examined the nest for anything monstrous, and when nothing reared its head, he was ready to depart.

Only, something caught his eye – several eggs the size of human heads smeared with mud and dirt. Obviously, the monster from before had come to unearth the eggs it had carefully hidden. Since food in The Savage World was hard to come by, Axxel took one of the eggs into his embrace, and steadily departed the nest.

Sadly, he had missed one key detail.

The Savage World held objects, animals, and plants from the past, present, and future, so it was not surprising to find Advanced Technology lying around. A couple of seconds after Axxel removed one egg from the pile, an alarm rang loudly in the jungle, notifying the creature that someone had trespassed into its nest.

---RUMBLE---RUMBLE---

Turning right, Axxel could see a fifty-feet tall, cybernetically–enhanced T-Rex tearing through the large trees as if they were minor twigs. And, of course, it was making its way towards the nest.

Theirs not to make reply,

Theirs not to reason why,

Theirs but to do or die…

Axxel definitely didn't want to die, so with the egg in his embrace, he darted away from the nest like an Olympic Athlete, using his superhuman physique to its limits. Still, there was no way he could outrun a cybernetically-enhanced T-Rex, even with his superspeed, so there was definitely no way he could do it without his superspeed.

His only choice was to outmaneuver the creature, using its lack of flexibility to his advantage. This was standard Military practice to avoid large targets. Axxel leaped nearly ten feet in the air, latching onto a tree branch.

Just as he was prepared to jump once more, the T-Rex's tail extended, rooting the entire tree out of the ground. Axxel fell to the ground with a loud thud.

"Fuck! A mechanical tail that extends," Axxel rubbed his bruised bottom, mentally adding another point to the theory that Darkseid cursed him with bad luck.

He barely managed to slip into a hollow log just as the creature took a bite out of the ground next to the log. And, of course, to add insult to injury… the T-rex's jaw was also mechanical, meaning chewing even rocks was no problem at all.

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Author's Name: The_Young_Flash

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/The_Young_Flash

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