Disclaimer: Based on characters and references created by DC Universe and the CW, which I do not own. Enjoy!


"Switched realities?!" Kara exclaims, leaning further in her living room chair in between Lois' and Clark's.

"We know it's hard for you to believe," Older William, who stands between the seats across from them that are occupied by Barry and Oliver, says.

"And you said you've been having visions?" Clark asks.

William nods. "One of them was our friend telling us to come here and train these two for some upcoming threat." William gestures to Oliver and Barry.

"Well, do we know who would do such a thing?" Lois asks. "Why these…visions are happening to you or what's causing all of this?"

"That's…" He holds his tongue for a moment, thinking of a way to phrase it without lying. Not just in front of his father, but also in front of Clark, who can detect vital signs. "…still a case in progress."

"Here." Younger William, who just came from the small kitchen, hands Barry a coffee with some cream and two sugars, as requested. He then hands Oliver the other with Half-n-Half and with a special Kryptonian or, in this case, speedster sugar that equates to over 1,000 calories.

"Thanks bud," Oliver says with a smile as he takes the coffee.

"I think I know what we're dealing with," Clark says. "William, you said that one of the men was holding a book. One that was expelling a lot of energy from its pages."

"That's right," Older William confirms.

"Well, I only know of one artifact that can alter reality so easily. The Book of Destiny."

Everyone raises an eyebrow except for Lois, who presses her elbows to her sides and bites her lip.

"Book of Destiny?" Both Williams repeat.

Clark nods. "It's an ancient artifact, said to be made by God when he was creating time and space. In it, he wrote every single event that was, is, and could be. It contained every single possible event in the multiverse. The last person who used it here switched his life with mine. I even had to do the unthinkable and work with Lex Luthor to take him down."

Barry and Oliver look at Clark with a frown or narrowed eyes, for they do not know who that is.

"Bad guy," both Kara and Older William say.

Oliver and Barry then nod with acknowledgement. However, Kara's cheeks flush and she shifts her eyes away from the group. Older William doesn't know whether it was awkwardness or the fear of evoking his father's rage. Most likely both.

"There's…a price, though," Clark says, his voice and lips trembling a bit. "He was too weak minded to handle its power. By the time we got the book away from him, it had driven him nearly insane. Even when trying to set things right, it almost did the same to me." Lois takes Clark's hand, helping him calm down a bit. He takes a deep breath before continuing, "To prevent anyone else, including Luthor, from using it, I sealed it away in the Phantom Zone, with extra precautions. I don't know how anyone could get their hands on it in there."

He probably knows the ins and outs of the place Older William thought.

"Then we need to act fast," Oliver suggests. "Barry and I need to learn how to use each other's powers, prepare for whatever it is Shazam tried to warn William about."

"Sounds like a plan," Clark agrees, clapping his hands and standing up. "And I'll be more than happy to help you with mastering Super Speed Oliver."

Younger William turns to Barry. "And we can get—"

"ME…to train you Barry," Older William interrupts. "You go out to the barn and get your equipment ready. I need to have a word with Will here."

Older William guides his younger self out of the living room and into the small kitchen area. He can feel the stares of Barry and Oliver on his back, confused as to what happened. He looks back, seeing them along with the others heading outside, giving both him and younger him the room alone.

As they enter the small island kitchen bordered by a countertop shaped like a C, Younger William asks "Connor, what the heck?". Older William sometimes forgets that his younger self now calls him that to help differentiate them both. "We can get Bruce over here and have him train Barry."

"I know that, but…" Older William breathes a quick sigh. "There's a reason Bruce left Earth 1 and came here. He wanted no one to find him. And he made me swear an oath of secrecy before I left. Something I intend to uphold."

"Well, they can keep secrets too," Younger William argues. "Barry, Dad. They don't have to mention a thing."

"Bruce wouldn't take that chance," Older William refutes. "I am more than capable of training Barry. Trust me. Okay?"

Younger William, after a short pause, nods.

"Good," Older William says. "Now, let's go. Can't keep the others waiting."

As they leave the kitchen and head out of the house, Older William echoes a thought that his younger self is thinking as well: I hope I'm right.


Barry, once again, falls flat on the grass when Older William, once again, manages to grab and throw him. Barry groans and clutches his hip. Though the grassy ground of the field is soft enough, he still feels the sting of bruises on his body that the speed force would usually heal instantly.

"Again," Older William says.

Barry nods, takes his escrima sticks, and slowly gets up. He sees the sympathetic stares of Kara, Lois, and Younger William, who spectate their sparring lesson. He gets into the position taught to him about half an hour ago, the escrima stick in his left hand in front of him, and the stick in his right chambered just above his shoulder.

As soon as they engaged, Barry repeats the pattern of strikes in his head as he does them. Backhand, forehand, backhand, forehand, backhand, and forehand TO THE SHIN!

Barry swings wildly at Older William's shin, who jumps above it and onto Barry. He then uses his momentum to roll them both to the ground. After what felt like spinning in a chair, Barry finds Older William on top of him with an escrima stick to his neck and one knee on his stomach. His other leg posts on the ground, keeping his posture firm.

"You still have the mindset of a speedster," William says as he gets up, keeping the stick to Barry's neck. "If you don't set it aside, you'll never improve."

Older William offers Barry a hand, which he immediately takes because his body does not feel like getting up on its own.

"Can't we just…take it easy?" Barry asks, short of breath.

"I took it easy on you about half an hour ago," Older William says. "And our enemy will never take it easy on you, especially one who can change reality. You need to know at least the basics before taking him on."

"I know. I know. But…" Barry lifts his hands up as much as his body will let him. "Why can't I rely on my fists? I know some boxing, at least."

"And the Green Arrow knows a variety of martial arts," William explains. "And at this moment, you're the Green Arrow. All that knowledge and experience Dad had is in there somewhere, we just have to find out how to awaken it. Now, we can go slowly just a couple more times. But after that, we need to go back to normal speed. Again."

Barry looks over to the other side of the field, seeing Oliver and Clark racing near the barn, and takes a deep breath. This is going to take all day. But at least I'm not alone in figuring out my new powers. He picks up the escrima sticks and gets back into position quickly before they spar once more.


They run all over the field, reaching every flag set out for them by Lois. Like the first two times, Oliver has been ten steps behind, and like the last two races, Clark is the victor, being the first to run through the barn after collecting all the flags.

Clark, seeing that Oliver has not followed him in, looks at his watch and counts, "three, two, one…"

On time, Oliver runs past Clark, just stopping at the picket fence outside the house. Clark can't help but shine an amused grin, seeing Oliver look as if almost tripping on himself, which is still an improvement from when he actually did the first two times.

At least he's learning to stop.

Oliver looks over to Clark, breathing a bit heavily. "You stopped running," was his excuse.

"Or you overshot," Clark corrects.

Oliver breathes a heavy sigh and walks over to Clark, complaining, "What is the point in racing? There are more practical ways in preparing for a threat. I can get some combat training."

"And that can take days or weeks," Clark argues. "This is the fastest way you are ever going to learn how to control your speed."

"Then why on a farm? Why not a training center with equipment?"

Clark looks up at the sky for a moment, trying to remember the right memory to tell Oliver, to help him understand how much this farm helped him. He discovered many of his powers here when he was a kid, all of them culminating in one important lesson, which prepared him for what he would become. After looking out at the field, one memory came to mind. One that made him smirk, but also filled him with dread.

"When I was a kid," Clark began, pointing towards the field. "Pa and I were playing catch. He threw one over me, and I ran. Ran faster than a speeding bullet. I couldn't stop myself for a while, had no control. Next thing I knew, when I did stop…" Clark turns to the far area to his right with a distant stare. "I was ten miles away from home, afraid of running, even of walking. It took my folks all night to find me." He then turns back to Oliver with a gleam in his eyes. "The next day, Pa brought me out and told me to run. Run as fast as I can TOWARDS them. Gradually, I learned how to stop, how to control how fast I ran. I began doing similar things with all the other powers I discovered."

Oliver crosses his arms and tilts his head a bit. "Are you saying I should be doing something to focus my powers."

Clark shakes his head. "I'm saying that when you run or do any power, you should focus on what matters to you. Always keep someone or something in your mind because it doesn't just help you improve. It's the reason you even run in the first place. The reason you are a hero."

Oliver doesn't say anything for a while, looking at the ground. Maybe he's thinking about what matters to him the most in the world. At least, that's what Clark hopes.

After a while, Oliver lifts his head up and says, "Can we go again?"

Clark smirks. "Of course."


Barry lets loose another concussion arrow, which hits the top can accurately. The can flies off the stack of cans supporting it, landing silently on the grass. Barry smirks, for this is the third time in a row he hit something. The first five have been hitting nothing but the air next to it or scathing it as he adjusted his aim.

"Very good," Older William says. "Reset!"

Kara zips in quickly and sets the paint can back on top of the other ones.

William hands another arrow to Barry. This time, an arrow with sharp tip. "Now, with this arrow, you will want to aim at the shoulder." Older William points to one of the two cans that is between the three cans supporting them and the top can they are holding up. "Aim for the right can on the second row."

"Got it," Barry acknowledges.

He takes a deep breath before placing the arrow on the bow and drawing it back on the string. He takes his time to aim at the paint can and then inhales to steady his shot. He lets the arrow fly and hit the target, taking the top paint can down with it.

"Yes!" Barry exhales, raising his fist in the air. "Three in a row!"

"Well done," Older William says. "But taking time to aim at a stationary target is one thing. Learning to do so quickly at a moving target, and possibly multiple targets, is another." He then pats Barry on the back. "But you're off to a good start."

Just then, Clark and Oliver stop by, both of them stopping almost in synch, with Oliver stopping just half a second after Clark. Oliver is hunching down, breathing a bit heavily. But Clark looks fine, standing straight and lets out a calm, controlled and satisfied breath. He gives Oliver a pat on the shoulder and lets him catch his breath before they walk over to the others.

"How's Dad progressing?" Older William asks.

"He's certainly gaining more control of his speed," Clark answers. "His ability to stop along with me is improving. But he still has a long way to go."

"I'm getting the hang of it," Oliver insists. "I just don't know if it's enough to face an emerging threat that can happen at any time."

Barry smirks sinisterly. Oh, it's time. "You know what?" Barry says as Oliver stops just a couple feet ahead of them. "I have an idea." Barry points to the far corner of the field. "You run over there, come back at me, and I'll try to hit you with an arrow."

Oliver is about to say something, but then closes his mouth after a few seconds. It then forms a fake smile as Oliver glares and subtly scoffs at Barry. "Okay. Where did you hide the remote-controlled bows?"

Barry flashes a fake smile of his own, saying in a mostly assuring, but subtly sarcastic tone, "Dude. Come on, I'm not you."

Everyone raises an eyebrow or looks at the ground to find what both of them are talking about.

"Um, remote-controlled bows?" Older William asks, tilting his head.

Oliver raises a dismissive hand. "Just…forget about it. Let's get it over with."

Oliver runs over to the corner Barry pointed at a moment ago and is there in just a second. He yells out, "Ready!"

Before taking aim, Barry gives Older William a smirk and a thumbs up with his hand close to his side. William only nods in response. He then raises the bow and draws the arrow and string back. "Here we go."

Remembering how he caught the arrow, Barry waits for Oliver start running. As soon as he does, Barry shoots immediately, knowing that Oliver will catch it at the speed he is moving. And he does, stopping at the same place he was at before.

Oliver relaxes and scoffs playfully. "Nice try—"

On cue, the arrows from the remote-controlled bows in the bushes fire into Oliver's back. He screams in pain, followed by agonizing groans. Barry, in contrast, begins to laugh almost hysterically, hopping up and down like a kid on a trampoline.

"Oh, I've waited four years for that, man!" Barry exclaims. Seeing Oliver turn around, probably anticipating someone to pull the arrows out of his back, reminds Barry of what he wanted to do next. "Hold on. I gotta take a photo of this."

"Wait, WHAT?!" Oliver screams out as Barry takes out his phone and snaps the photo quickly before running over to him.

"Okay, okay. Hold still."

Barry pulls the arrows out of Oliver quickly, who screams and grunts in pain one last time before turning back around. He opens his mouth, ready to yell at Barry, who is ready to take it. Instead, he stops short, looking past Barry and at Older William, who has his fist over his mouth, his head bent low, and his eyes almost squeezed shut.

"William!" Oliver yells. "Did you know Barry was planning this and let it happen?!"

"No!" Older William refutes, trying to keep himself from laughing. But he can't resist. "I helped him set up the bows." Both he and Barry laugh even harder, giving each other a high five to what they believed was a prank well executed.

But not to Oliver. "You think this is funny?! You think my abilities are some sort of joke?!"

"Dad," William starts to say as he settles down a bit. "Relax. There's nothing wrong with having a little fun while training. Besides, you heal fast."

"Stay out of this William!" Oliver commands. William takes a couple steps back, his smile fading a bit.

"Oliver," Barry joins in. "We were just having fun."

"I shot you before to teach you how to case an environment. Not to 'have fun' or get a laugh off!"

"Dad," William interrupts, this time his voice and stare more serious than assuring. "Calm down."

Oliver's nostrils flair, his breathing somewhat harsh as he glares at Barry. He then walks up closer to Barry and points at his own face, saying "Hit me."

Barry takes a couple of steps back, his eyes growing wide. "Wait, what?"

"Come at me! Try to get at least ONE hit in."

"Deck him Barry!" Lois, who is sitting next to Younger William, yells. All of them look at her with curious looks, but Older William looks at her with a glare of frustration.

Lois shrinks back, but whispers not so silently to Younger William, "I'm sorry Will, but your father's a bit of a jerk."

"Yeah, yeah. I know," Younger William responds in a rushed and harsh tone, trying to save her from Oliver's rage.

"Well?" Oliver asks Barry, seemingly ignoring Lois' comment. "Are you coming at me or what?"

"No," Barry refuses. "I'm not doing it. This isn't how I train."

"Oh really?! You train?! I thought your powers just came from the sky!"

"Dad, just drop it," Older William pleads.

"Need a peanut gallery? Can you not do anything without your wife in your ear?"

"Are you serious, man? Felicity invented quarterbacking!"

"I don't think that you can make it through more than nine hours without some…SAPPY motivational speech!"

"Dad, I said drop it!"

Barry walks away, but Oliver is not done. "Your team betrayed you! You needed them, and they weren't there!"

William, instead of walking towards Oliver, steps away as he says, "Dad, that is enough!"

Barry quickly turns around to say, "I'm not doing this!"

As Barry walks away again, he hears the crackling of electricity, usually a warning when super speed is about to be used. Barry turns around quickly, reaching into his quiver for a concussion arrow to knock him out. However, as he sees the blinding silhouette of Oliver coming at him, William is also there, leaning down and tripping Oliver over him and onto the grass.

He planned for that. William actually planned for that.

Barry can see the glare on Older William's face as Oliver gets up. When seeing it himself, Oliver doesn't try to stand up nor does he get upset at him. All that can be seen on him is a blank stare.

"W-William, I—"

Older William raises a hand, stopping Oliver from finishing his apology. "If you had master even HALF of Barry's speed…I wouldn't have laid a finger on you."

The subtle tone of disappointment must have been enough to make Oliver regret what he has done, for he doesn't rebuke that fact. But Older William doesn't seem to care. He just walks away.

"William. William, wait!" is the last thing Oliver pleads to Older William. But he just keeps walking.

Older William's glare is like that of Oliver's, but Barry knows that kind of glare. He's seen it from Joe when he was disappointed in him. He even had a similar glare when he was disappointed in Nora. But now the roles have reversed, the son being disappointed in the father.