Copying the Speed Force

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Barry watched Damon's eyes remain focused on the place where Barry had just been standing. He watched Damon's arm stretch out slowly. Barry's own fist had already reached Damon's face.

In the next instant, Damon would be sent flying.

Barry Allen had always been thin and weak. He could not help imagining the scene of Damon punching empty air while Barry used super speed to knock him away. Perhaps afterward, he could bring Damon to the police station.

Just as Barry was looking forward to that fantasy becoming reality, he suddenly noticed Damon's eyes move.

Damon actually glanced sideways at him, and the corner of his mouth lifted into a strange smile.

How was that possible?

Barry's mouth opened in shock. Then Damon's slowly extended arm suddenly sped up and swung at him.

Smack.

A crisp slap rang out. The nearly frozen world returned to normal, and Barry flew backward, slamming hard into the wall. His once clean-cut face swelled high on one side. Dizzy, ears ringing, cheek numb, Barry stared in shock at Damon, whose body flashed with red lightning.

"It was you."

Barry could never forget that color of lightning. The night his mother was murdered, the light had looked exactly like this.

"You killed my mother."

Barry rushed at Damon in fury.

The world slowed again. The Speed Force activated, and yellow lightning flashed around Barry.

"Why did mine come out the same color as the Reverse-Flash's?"

Damon looked at his own red lightning and clicked his tongue slightly. Then he waved a hand and sent the charging Barry flying again.

Bang.

At high speed, Barry crashed into the wall once more. The two rapid blows made him groan and pass out.

When Damon copied the Speed Force, he also copied Barry Allen's experience using it.

Unfortunately, that experience might as well have been nothing.

So Damon did not stack his speed at all. If he moved too fast and swung before Barry had even arrived, that would be awkward.

Even with the same speed, Barry was no match for Damon.

Looking at the unconscious Barry, Damon turned into a streak of red lightning and vanished.

Bang, bang, bang.

Gusts of wind swept rapidly across the streets. Skirts were blown upward one after another, and only after a long while did cries of surprise sound behind him.

Red lightning darted freely through the city.

Swish.

Damon sat down in the chair inside the Disciple and let out a faint breath.

"Fast."

Damon smiled in a good mood. At first, he kept only to Barry's newly awakened baseline. Later, he tried stacking it once. The speed itself was fine, but because the sudden acceleration came without experience, he quickly canceled it.

This was Barry Allen's speed right after obtaining the Speed Force. It was basically fast enough to vanish in a blink.

But it was still far from lightspeed. After all, light traveled about three hundred thousand kilometers per second, and in the comics, Wally West had once reached thirteen trillion times the speed of light. At that level, describing how fast it was became almost meaningless.

Damon did not care about the top speed yet. As long as experience and control kept up, Infinite Stacking would eventually make him the fastest being in the DC universe.

What interested him was the color of his Speed Force.

Under normal circumstances, since he had copied Barry Allen's Speed Force, its color should have matched Barry's yellow. Instead, it had become red, like the Reverse-Flash's.

Could Barry Allen have been the Reverse-Flash in disguise?

"So why did that happen?"

Damon frowned and began to recall.

After obtaining the Speed Force, his memory became even better. Many vague memories from before grew clear again. He remembered that in the comics, Speed Force color seemed to indicate speed level. The slowest was red, then yellow, blue, black or white, and finally gold.

But that did not fully explain his problem.

The difference in lightning color was one issue. Whether he would be bound by Barry Allen's connection to the Speed Force was another. That second question was easier to verify. When Damon used the Speed Force, he could feel the presence of its energy, being consumed and replenished at the same time. He only needed to watch Barry use the Speed Force while Damon did not. If Damon's own Speed Force energy changed, the two were connected.

If the Speed Force he copied was separate, that meant two different Speed Forces existed in this world.

That would be very interesting.

"Copying abilities from people with no experience really is troublesome."

Damon rose and released the Speed Force again, familiarizing himself with it.

S.T.A.R. Labs.

After Barry left, Caitlin Snow was preparing to go as well. She had agreed to meet Damon at her home that night. But just as she packed her things, a gust of wind swept past her. In the next instant, Barry Allen appeared inside the lab, bruised and bloodied.

"Barry Allen? What happened to you?"

Caitlin asked in astonishment.

Cisco Ramon and Harrison Wells looked over in surprise as well.

"I... I found the man who killed my mother. I just met him. Red. It was red lightning."

Barry spoke excitedly.

"He has super speed like me, and he... he seems faster than me."

"That is impossible."

The moment Barry finished, Harrison Wells denied it with unusual agitation.

Seeing everyone look at him, Harrison realized he had been too emotional. He paused, then explained.

"Barry, it is impossible for there to coincidentally be someone with the same ability as you, someone even faster than you. At least not now."

"But I did meet him," Barry said. "Not long after I left here, a man robbed me. I did not take him seriously at first, but he quickly showed the same speed I have. Twice. He was faster than me both times, and then I blacked out."

"I saw it clearly. Red lightning. Exactly the same as the night my mother was killed."

"A man?"

Caitlin instinctively thought of Damon, but surely it could not be that coincidental.

Harrison Wells pushed up his glasses and looked at Barry with grave seriousness.

"I still do not believe something that coincidental could happen. But if this person truly exists, Barry, I will help you find him."

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