History FanFic / FlashByNorthwest

* AlternateUniverse: Invoked in-universe with the magic book--the setting of the story takes place in a crime-noir world where the heroes don't have their superpowers and everyone they know is in a completely different role from canon. For example, Wally becomes a rather seedy detective in the mold of Sam Spade, John is a rich socialite, J'onn is a shady accountant, and Bruce is a movie producer and a ''genuine'' playboy. However, certain characters' book counterparts don't share the same name, such as Carter Hall being named Joe Gardner in the story (which gets Shayera into trouble when she repeatedly calls him Carter).

* BigDamnHeroes: In Chapter 12, John and a disguised Shayera show up just in time to save Wally, Diana and an injured Clark from Helena Bertinelli and her mobsters, who moments earlier had the trio pinned down by gunfire.

--> '''John:''' Do you have any good news?

* EagleEyeDetection: Employed here and there by Wally, most prominently in Chapter 13 (with some assistance from John).

* GoodCopBadCop: The book universe's version of Hal Jordan and Harvey Bullock, respectively.

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: [[spoiler:J'onn's character]] is murdered and the body set up to look like a car crash into a tree. However, Bruce, John, Shayera and Clark notice discrepancies at the crash site.
* MurderTheHypotenuse: Within the book's universe, there is suspicion that John may have killed Mari (who is his wife in the story) so he could be with Shayera.

--> '''Wally:''' Skin discoloration, bright pink pigmentation. Crusted vomit around the mouth, indicative of nausea. No visible trauma to the rest of the body, though for now victim must remain clothed. Looks like he was poisoned. ''(sees John and Shayera staring at him)'' You know I do this for a living, right?

--> '''John:''' It's easy to forget.

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: In-universe, going hand-in-hand with YourMindMakesItReal; one prominent example is Green Lantern's ongoing LoveTriangle with Shayera (his ex) and Vixen (his current number) playing itself out in the book's story by portraying John and Mari as a married couple and Shayera as John's mistress.

* UnstoppableRage: Bruce goes through this in Chapter 12, resulting in him giving a bloody NoHoldsBarredBeatdown to [[spoiler:the book-universe's Joker]]. Diana and John ''just barely'' show up in time to restrain him and calm him down.

* YourCheatingHeart: Zig-zagged. According to the book's mystery plot, John was cheating on Mari with Shayera [[spoiler:and Katma Tui]], and Mari herself is rumored to have cheated on ''him'' [[spoiler:with Bruce]].

* ShoutOut: Chapter 13 reveals that Flash has labeled the buzzing feeling he gets in the back of his head whenever he's found a good clue as his "[[ComicBook/SpiderMan Spidey-sense]]."

* YourMindMakesItReal: One of the book's powers; as Zatanna explains to the heroes, it forms its reality out of what it picks up from the minds of the people it sucks in. Additionally, she warns them that if at any point they are injured during the story, they will still retain those same injuries when they are brought back to reality.

* UnstoppableRage: Bruce goes through this in Chapter 12. [[spoiler:On finding Tim's dead body with white, purple and green substances under his nails, Bruce remembers [[WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker what the Joker did to Tim in the real world]], flips out and charges toward the book-universe Joker's known hangout, where he beats Joker's henchmen bloody with their own guns, then breaks Joker's gun over the man's head, breaks his arm to the point that a bone is jutting out, and beats his face so severely that [[EyeScream one eye is swollen shut and the other is simply]] ''[[EyeScream gone]]''. Diana and John ''just barely'' show up in time to stop him from killing Joker]].

* UnstoppableRage: Bruce goes through this in Chapter 12, courtesy of the book-universe's Joker. To be specific, he beats Joker's henchmen bloody with their own guns, then breaks Joker's gun over the man's head, breaks his arm to the point that a bone is jutting out, and beats his face so severely that [[EyeScream one eye is swollen shut and the other is simply]] ''[[EyeScream gone]]''. [[spoiler:All of this is triggered by Bruce finding Tim's dead body with purple, green and white substances under his fingernails, invoking ''very'' bad memories of [[WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker what the Joker did to Tim in the real world]]]].

* DirtyCop: Ollie Queen, a shady mobster in the book's universe, hints that Wally used to be this.

** Late into the story, Katma Tui--who in the book's universe is one of John's maids--is revealed to have been this toward him. [[spoiler:They were lovers during his war service, then he set her up as a maid in his wife's employ and put his mistress in a comfortable house close by; Kat resents that she never got that kind of treatment, the kind she believes she rightfully deserves]].

The story starts when Vixen drops dead immediately upon reading a book she finds in the founding Leaguers' conference room. Turns out the book is in fact a magical item that transports anyone who reads even a word or line of its text inside the realm of the book's story; said story happens to be a Sam Spade-esque murder mystery where Vixen's alter ego Mari [=McCabe=] is the murder victim. The League's Original Seven soon get transported into the story, as well, and find themselves de-powered and in various roles according to the book's plot; the central role goes to the Flash, whose identity in this universe is that of the main detective, Wally West.

* HeKnowsTooMuch: The heroes discover in their investigations that Mari's character was intending to make a big announcement at Bruce's party, but was murdered before she could do so; the theory is that the announcement must have included a secret that somebody didn't want getting out. [[spoiler:This is also revealed to be Diana's specific motive to kill Mari. Both women were in some of [[{{Blackmail}} Clark's scandalous photos]], and Clark notes that if the intended announcement was about the photos, Diana's reputation would have been sullied]].

* HeKnowsTooMuch: [[spoiler:Diana's motive to kill Mari. Both women were in some of [[{{Blackmail}} Clark's scandalous photos]], and Clark notes that if Mari's intended public announcement was about the photos, Diana's reputation would have been sullied]].

* CultureClash: A minor example in the second chapter--Clark is initially surprised that while Lois writes the stories he presents to her, they're all submitted in his name instead of hers. Then he realizes the time period is in the 1940s, twenty years before gender equality began picking up speed in RealLife.

* DrivesLikeCrazy: Shayera, as revealed in Chapter 7.

* AlternateUniverse: Invoked in-universe with the magic book--the setting of the story takes place in a crime-noir world where the heroes don't have their superpowers and everyone they know is in a completely different role from canon. For example, Wally becomes a rather seedy detective in the mold of Sam Spade, John is a rich socialite, J'onn is a shady accountant, and Bruce is a ''genuine'' playboy. However, certain characters' book counterparts don't share the same name, such as Carter Hall being named Joe Gardner in the story (which gets Shayera into trouble when she repeatedly calls him Carter).

Fortunately, the seven all still have their real memories, and in the real world Zatanna is working alongside Dr. Fate to find a way to get them all out safely. In the meantime, while the seven work on solving the book's in-universe mystery, they are forced to face their characters' darkest secrets and confront friends turned into foes by the book's magic, as well as confront their own real-world issues...

* SituationalSexuality: In the book's universe, Diana is in a relationship with Audrey, her Kasnian friend in the real world. She also flirts with a female receptionist in an attempt to get information Wally can't get the normal way.

* SituationalSexuality: In the book's universe, Diana is in a relationship with Audrey. She also flirts with a female receptionist in an attempt to get information Wally can't get the normal way.

* AbsenceOfEvidence: In the book's plot, Mari [=McCabe=] is killed via gunshot. The gun is at the scene of the crime...but there are no fingerprints on it. Plus, EveryoneIsASuspect, but there's no hard evidence at the scene of the crime to implicate any one particular person.

* EveryoneIsASuspect

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: The book universe's version of Harvey Dent, here a police detective and un-scarred.

--> ''Not that Wally wasn't smart--Bruce not only knew what Wally did for a living but had copies of all his school transcripts and job performance evaluations in the Batcomputer--but Bruce had never known anyone else who went to such great lengths to hide the fact. It seemed odd to be in a world where Wally was the detective and he himself was genuinely nothing more than the playboy.