Hightail: The New Speedster

Training

"You never want to run in blind, as you progress your speed you'll see things slower, and time will adapt to your speed, so you'll have the time to observe," Barry says standing arms crossed, in front of the time vault.

"That's an effect of the speed force right?" I ask struggling to contain my excitement.

"I mean yeah, it affects us so that we can perceive things faster than anyone else." He replies stepping to the side opening the vault.

"Cool!" I respond.

"Now typically I'd start you off with a race, but something tells me you're a little more advanced than an average speedster. Complete the seven training simulations and I'll let you out in the field." He says pointing into the chamber.

"Wait really?" I asked barely able to contain my excitement.

"Seriously, but you have to complete them all, now lemme see what you're made of." He answers quickly, turning down the hallway to the cortex.

"Oh, I'm gonna beat these so fast like you would not believe!" I think to myself rushing into the vault.

The vault is round now and has clearly been modified from its original purpose. A panel opens in front of me, a bot steps out holding a bow and arrow.

I laugh, remembering the story Felicity told me of Oliver shooting Barry in the back.

The bot draws an arrow firing it. The arrow moves slowly from its origin position, almost as if it's not moving at all. I walk right up to it and it barely seems to have moved at all. I look behind me seeing my white trail of lightning originating from where I was standing but moments ago.

"Cool." I think, looking around the vault.

Four holes had opened up along the walls. Two coming from the right and left, and two right behind my originating position. Arrows could clearly be seen beginning to fly out. I ran around the room, carefully grabbing each arrow until I had five in a bundle.

"Now what to do with these?" I questioned silently.

I looked at the bot which hadn't seemed to move. I began towards it not paying attention to the trail of lightning I'd left behind. My body came into contact with the lighting and sent me flying against the wall.

"That's a rush!" I exclaimed, slightly in pain.

I noticed a sixth arrow suddenly flying through the air. This time wary of the damage my own lightning could do, I avoided it and snatched the arrow out of the air. Back to my original intention I approached the bot, sticking one arrow through the calf, another through what would've been a thumb ligament, and a final one placed carefully through a knee cap, dropping the rest of the arrows.

I carefully surveyed the room, noticing how long my trail of lightning was. It had barely dispersed from my starting point, despite me having run into it already and being flung back.

Like a switch flipping off, I slowed so that time could resume regularly.

The bot fell to the ground, simulating what it would've been like had I been fighting a real person.

"Hey Volt, that's enough training for today, we need you in the Cortex," Cisco announced over the intercom.

I sped into the Cortex wondering what was up.

Cisco spun in his chair, giving the dramatic villain greeting. Seconds later Barry sped in.

"How fast were you going in there?" Barry asked, an awestruck look upon his face.

"Umm..." I went silent for while thinking, "I actually have no idea, but it definitely wasn't as fast as I could've." I answered.

"Hmm, well I couldn't see you at all," Cisco commented.

"Yeah, and all I saw were white sparks that lasted an even shorter time than the blue sparks that appeared when I first encountered Savitar," Barry added.

"Huh, neat," I said proudly.

"I'm at least four times faster than I was then Volt, and though it hurts my pride to admit, you are the fastest speedster I've ever encountered," Barry admitted.

I laughed with excitement and began grinning.

"However, I wouldn't get too cocky, you still have a lot to learn." Cisco pointed out.

"You're right, sorry, just a little excited about my new powers," I admitted.

"That's fine, but just remember, with great power, comes great responsibility." Barry reminded.

"I get that and all, I understand it, but isn't that trademarked by that comic company uh... Marvel, I think it was?" I asked, probably thinking of something else.

"You know you're probably right, but that's not gonna stop me from using the quote." Barry conceded.

"So, if we're done here, can I get back to the time vault for training?" I asked, feeling the need to move.

"Actually, I've got something else in mind, lemme take you to the training room," Barry replied, putting his hand on my shoulder and beginning to lead me.

"Hold up! Are we not gonna talk about how he mutilated that bot!?" Caitlyn objected.

Barry stopped, looked at Caitlyn as if having an oh yeah moment.

"What?" I asked, legitimately confused.

"Right, so you know we don't kill people here, right? We just arrest them, try to keep the injuries as minimal as possible." Barry explained.

"Oh... Yeah, Felicity might've mentioned that before I came over, sorry I'm just used to doing things Oliver's way, seeing as I was part of Team Arrow a month or two ago." I agreed.

"Right, and since Oliver and I are best buds, that's why you're only getting a warning, that and I've made my own mistakes in the past." He reconciled.

"Timelines!" I coughed.

The whole team suppressed their laughing, while Barry gave me a disapproving look.

"So what was this thing in the training room?" I asked changing the subject, leading Barry towards the hallway, and low-fiving Iris on my way out.