A Different Kind of Story
Chapter 5: Varied Hatred
"A quick temper will make a fool of you soon." – Bruce Lee
June 2010 – Central City Elementary
The playground was brimming with noise. Children screaming… Boys running around the hallways with paper stars and excited grins. Everyone was either eating or speeding around with their friends, brimming with unkempt energy that was begging to escape.
Well, all but one student… Said ten-year-old was seated in complete silence, his large headphones on his ears and a large red hood covering his head. Strands of blonde hair could be seen poking out of the top of the hood, and calm blue eyes stared out into space as the music blasted into his ears.
For the first time in a long time, the lonely boy saw someone approaching him from the corner of his eye. He quickly looked down at the ground so that he wouldn't look directly at the approaching figure.
"Are you going to come and play… Umm… What's your name again?"
The ten-year-old didn't move from his spot, possibly because he couldn't hear the other boy, or maybe because he thought that if he didn't reply, the other kid would leave him alone. Unfortunately for the blonde, the short black haired kid stood over him patiently, casting a dark shadow onto the lonely boy.
"Hey, can you hear me?" The black haired kid asked loudly, deciding to drop the orange basketball in his hand to reach for the blonde's headphones. Noticing the attempt to take off his headphones, the blonde kid jerked back and away from the black haired kid's hand.
"I can hear you…" The blonde replied quietly, his voice low and scratchy, as if he hadn't spoken all morning. He reached up and removed his headphone slowly, along with the red hood, releasing the mop of hidden blonde hair on his head.
"What do you want?" The blonde asked blankly, looking up at the shorter kid with a blank expression on his face. This was the first time in a while that someone came up to him at lunch to try and talk to him. After all, he was the new student and everyone was already comfortable with their friend groups…
"You don't have to be so harsh, Blondie." The black haired boy replied jokingly, a wide smile spreading on his face as he nervously rubbed the back of his head. "All I wanted to know was if you want to play basketball with me!"
"Well, I don-"
"Oh, and your name!" The black haired kid interrupted obnoxiously, cutting off the blonde boy unintentionally. Said boy took a deep breath and looked up at the black haired kid with a straightened lip and a confused expression.
"Why would you want to play with me?" The lonely kid asked the black haired kid, who reached out with his hand, offering the blonde a chance to get off his seat. The blonde stared at the hand for a few seconds, before caving in and standing up, easily overshadowing the shorter boy with at least 5 more inches in height.
"Well, you look like you have some sick handles! I wanted to see if your height was just for show!" The shorter boy told the blonde with a convincing grin on his face, even though they both knew that it wasn't the complete truth.
They both fell silent for a few second while the blonde gave the black haired boy a silent stare, both of his cerulean blue eyes locking into the other boy's clear eyes. Surprisingly, the shorter kid didn't shrink away from the blonde, and instead, the same large smile was spread across his face.
Silence kept on for the next few moments, before the blonde kid reached out with his hand to the other boy.
"Daniel Allen…"
In an instant, the black haired kid shook Daniel's hand and grinned widely, clear excitement radiating from the expression on his face. Daniel couldn't hold back the sliver of a smile that snaked across his face.
"William Batson, but you can call me Billy!" The shorter boy revealed loudly. As he did, Daniel let go of Billy's hand and his hand slowly retreated back to his pocket. Daniel didn't recognize hearing that name before, and he was pretty sure that he'd heard all of his classmate's names already.
Before either of the two could get another word out, the school bell rang out loudly, catching both of the kid's attention. Unknown to the other, both boys frowned deeply when they heard the sound of the haunting call back to class.
Daniel let out a loud sigh and rolled his eyes to the side, thinking about how much trouble he was going to get into for not doing his homework the night prior. Daniel reached down effortlessly and picked up his school bag; slowly placing it on his back.
When he turned to face Billy, he saw the other kid reaching over sadly to pick up his basketball. Daniel wanted to speak what was on his mind, but he couldn't manage to get it out of his mouth… Fortunately, he didn't need to.
"So Daniel, what class do you have next?" Billy asked half-heartedly, obviously trying to procrastinate his own return to class. Daniel soon realized that Billy didn't want to go back to class either, and he smiled unknowingly; already liking the kid that shared a similar personality as his own.
"Math…" Daniel replied slowly, both of his cerulean blue eyes shifting from watching Billy to the entrance of the building that he was supposed to be entering. "But… I don't really plan on going." Daniel told Billy, uneasily walking in the opposite direction from the Math block.
Billy's face lit up with excitement and he pursued Daniel silently, and in the silence, a thick bond was formed.
A Few Days Later
Daniel couldn't pinpoint why he decided to trust Billy Batson with his secret hiding spot, or even why he continued to talk to the black haired goof ball, but for the entire week, they were always seen together or with the other one trailing close behind.
Soon enough, a watchful eye noticed the friendship that was forming between the two, and not shortly after, decided to confront it.
"So how was school this week? Meet anyone new?" Harrison Wells asked the blonde haired kid happily, a small hint of a smile showing itself across his slightly wrinkled face.
Daniel hopped into the open car swiftly, not hesitating to throw his school bag into the back of the car roughly. A large glowing smile was on his face when he turned to face Harrison, his happiness clearly showing.
"Hey, Dad! Yeah, I met this guy on Monday! His name is Billy! He's really cool! He's really good at basketball too!" Daniel went on and on about his new best friend, a continuous flow of words streaming from his mouth until they got home.
Daniel couldn't really make friends in his old school, especially after the incident. They all seemed to avoid him after that point, and whenever someone did speak to him, it was out of fear or curiosity. They were never really interested in becoming his friend…
Finally, they pulled up to the extremely large driveway and Harrison smiled outwardly as he listened to Daniel chatter on about Billy Batson. Harrison probably knew more about the kid then Daniel knew himself, but nevertheless, Harrison kept silent.
Soon enough, Daniel's energy ran out and he slumped back into the car seat and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Aren't you happy? You've been trying to get me to make friends since I got to this new school…" Daniel grumbled loudly, turning his head to face away from Harrison. Daniel couldn't understand why Harrison was giving him the silent treatment, but Daniel was certain that he didn't like it…
"Sorry, Daniel. I've just had a really stressful day." Harrison sighed, reaching his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. Billy Batson… Of all the people for Daniel to befriend, he decided to befriend the future Prince of Thunder himself.
Speaking of Billy Batson, why was he even in Central City anyways? From what he remembered being told, Fawcett City was supposed to be where the young Batson grew up…
Definitely not Central City.
"Go inside, Daniel. It's about time you took your medication." Harrison said, which caused Daniel to frown. "I also made some spaghetti and meatballs for you." Harrison told Daniel softly, a warm smile spreading across his face. Daniel's eyes lit up and he turned to face Harrison swiftly, hugging his waiting arm tightly.
"My favorite! Thanks Dad!" Daniel exclaimed excitedly, his entire structure expressing how excited he was to eat his spaghetti. After a few moments, Daniel let go and jumped out of the car, running into the mansion and closing the door behind him.
The car fell into silence…
"You're not my son."
Harrison's fists tightened, discoloring his knuckles and causing his body to vibrate slightly. His darting dark eyes locked onto the last place that Daniel was seen, drilling invisible holes into the front door of the house. His thin pink lips became tightly clamped together and his eyes narrowed.
"You're just a temporary necessity…"
2013 – Wells Mansion
"It's late Billy, what's up?"
Daniel unlocked his window and silently shifted it open, wide enough for his best friend to weasel himself in. The now thirteen-year-old Daniel rubbed his sleepy eyes as the figure clambered through the open window and into his room.
Daniel closed the window behind Billy cautiously, hoping not to wake up Harrison. That was, if Harrison was even home. After closing the window, Daniel turned and faced Billy, only to frown considerably at what he saw.
Billy was crying…
Daniel was shocked and confused. This was the first time that he'd seen the shorter boy cry, and it was truly a worrying development. Billy wasn't usually someone that cried during hard times, even when he was really hurt, so Daniel couldn't believe that what he was seeing was real…
Nevertheless, crystal clear tears ran down Billy's rosy cheeks, decorating his face with a cool wetness. His bottom lip was trembling and the sclera of his eyes was a dilute red, telling Daniel that Billy had been crying for quite a while.
"T-They're dead… M-Mom... D-Dad…"
Those were the only words that managed to escape from Billy's mouth before he could no longer speak. Before long, Daniel enveloped his best friend in a bone crushing hug, which was returned by an even stronger hug...
From that point on, their shared loss strengthened their relationship considerably and the two boys became the other's emotional anchor.
Inseparable.
Night of The Particle Accelerator Explosion
"I helped him make such a good plan and he didn't even text me back to tell me if it worked…" Billy moaned loudly, just as he sat back roughly on the teal couch beneath him. It was the night of the Particle Accelerator opening and he was waiting for the results of Daniel's little 'escapee' plot to get over to the police station.
Billy wasn't mad or anything… He was just a little… Impatient. Yeah, that was the word he was looking for.
"So are we going to fix the electricity or not? My dad said I need to be home soon…" A timid and slow voice spoke out in the room, snapping Billy out of his annoyed glaring at the wall. Turning around to face the source of the voice, Billy made eye contact with Max Mercury for a split second, before Max turned his head away timidly.
Max Mercury was probably the shiest and most withdrawn people in the entire school, and that was probably what drew Billy to try and make friends with him. Billy didn't like seeing people without friends… Unfortunately for Billy, making friends with the grey haired teenager was a lot harder then he thought that it would be.
This was the first time that Max had been over at Billy's house, and so far it was pretty fun. Well, as long as Billy was making constant conversation and ignored some of the weird things that Max would say and do…
Twirling really sharp pocket knives in his hands…
Saying 'that's what she said' to almost every joke, even if it didn't make any sense…
Staring into nothingness…
However, by far the weirdest thing that Max did was constantly bring up his family life. No matter what Billy said, Max would somehow bring up his parents and how amazing they were. It didn't take long for Billy to realize that something was off.
Plus, it wasn't the first time that he came to the concluded that Max was abused…
Billy replied to Max with a nod and soon they found themselves in Billy's backyard, way up in his tree-house trying to fix a power generator. Billy watched Max handle the power generator with calm eyes, casually sitting down cross legged opposite Max.
"Are you sure that it's supposed to be plugged in?" Max asked Billy timidly, nervously flickering his eyes between the power generator and the plug which had been connected to wall socket closest to them. Logically, the power generator shouldn't be connected to a source of electricity while they're fiddling with it, but…
"It's fine. The power generator isn't working, so it shouldn't be receiving any of the electricity." Billy told Max confidently, reassuringly reaching over to pat the grey haired kid on the back. Instinctively, Max flinched back violently, keeping Billy's hand away from his back as best as possible.
Billy's eyes crossed over in concern for Max, and the grey haired kid turned his head down to the power generator, beginning to work on it much more urgently then before. Billy wanted to question it, but assuming that it was better to leave it, Billy went on his phone to surf Instagram.
After a few minutes, Max looked up feebly at Billy and smiled weakly, his pale skin crinkling as he did.
"I did it… It's fixed…" Max said lowly, handing Billy the generator extremely slowly. Billy looked it up and down and after a quick inspection, his face lit up brightly, showing off the excitement burning from within. Billy tightened his fist and brought it forward in Max's direction, offering him a fist bump.
The room fell silent for a few moments…
Max stared at Billy's fist with wide eyes, a wondering bewilderment obviously showing on his face. Billy kept his fist bump up for a few more moments, before sighing and dropping it. He obviously hadn't been fist bumped before.
An awkward silence fell on them both, neither of them knowing what to say. Billy was going through all of the things that was coming to his head, but the only things he could think of saying was along the lines of 'Do you have any friends apart from me?', or 'You should get out more'; both being things that Billy found could be offensive.
At moments like this, Billy really wished Daniel was there…
"Well…" Billy awkwardly drummed his fingers on his uncovered knees, his eyes awkwardly avoiding eye contact with Max. "Thanks for fixing my power generato-"
Billy was interrupted from his sentence by a deafening roar ripping through the entire city, completely drowning out Billy's voice and catching their attention. It didn't take Billy long before he was kneeling by the window and looking for the source of the sound.
"Woah…"
A wave of energy swept closer to the tree-house, becoming visible moments before it struck the tree-house. Billy's eyes widened considerably and he tried to back up, but he fell back onto Max, who was trying to take a look at the spiral of light coming from STAR Labs.
In the process of falling on top of Max, Billy tangled himself up in the cable, before clumsily dropping the power generator onto the ground and accidentally activating it.
Golden electricity surged from the generator, instantly coiling around the cable and into Billy's body, crackling violently as it entered into his body and began to electrocute Billy violently. The electricity transferred onto Max, who lay helplessly underneath Billy's shaking body.
Billy's eyes rolled into the back of his head at the exact moment when the foreign energies swept through the tree-house, engulfing both of the electricity filled teens with the unknown energy.
A Month Later
Beep… Beep…. Beep….
A lone figure was seated in an uncomfortable chair in an almost empty room. Apart from the medical equipment, the only thing that that was in the room was an occupied hospital bed and the chair that the teenager was sitting on.
Billy put his head in his hands and rubbed his eyes furiously, trying to dispel the tiredness from his system. After a few attempts, Billy realized that it was useless and looked down at his cheap plastic watch.
12:01 AM
"It's getting late, Billy. We're going to be locking up soon." Cisco informed Billy ask he walked past the door, not even stopping to see if Billy was going to follow him. This was regular. Billy would come around to visit Daniel every day for about an hour and a half, usually at night, and would leave when they were closing shop.
It was directly a month after Barry and Daniel had been struck by lightning and fallen into a comma. Currently it was unknown if they were even going to wake up, let alone recover from their coma.
The room fell into silence once again, leaving Billy to contemplate his mistake. This was all his fault… If he didn't help Daniel make a plan to go and meet Barry, then Daniel wouldn't have been in the office when the lightning bolt struck.
And now, because Billy helped Daniel to meet Barry, his best friend was laying in comatose…
"I know you can't hear me… But I really need you to wake up soon…" Billy said in a low tone, his strained voice carrying over how distraught he felt inside. How cruel of the world… To take his best friend from him while also giving him incredible powers.
"I know you already know that I got some… Abilities from the Particle Accelerator explosion… But I'd like to tell you that I'm using them to save people. I don't want anyone to lose their family like we did…" Billy informed his comatose best friend, a confident smirk spreading across his face, despite the tears that threatened to escape his eyes.
The sound of footsteps brought Billy back to attention. He turned to the door while swiftly wiping his eyes with his sleeve, making sure that no one could see his glossy eyes. A few seconds later, Cisco poked his head into the room and gave Billy an apologetic smile, before slinking away and into another room.
Billy frowned and walked over to the door, before stopping and turning back to glance at the unconscious teenager. His eyes landed on Daniel's unconscious body and stayed there for a few moments, while Billy said a mental farewell…
Present – March 2016 - Jitters
"You really don't understand how much everyone missed you." Billy said loudly, before shoving a spoon full of ice cream into his mouth. It wasn't the best of ideas to be eating such a cold delicacy at the very end of winter, but who cares?! Ice cream is delicious!
"You mean, 'You really don't understand how much I missed you'." Daniel corrected him cheekily, as he sat back comfortably and took a sip of his hot chocolate. Billy's creamy skin went a shade redder and he chuckled obnoxiously.
"I hope your hot chocolate burns your tongue off." Billy tells the blonde with a satisfied grin on his face. Daniel chuckled in response, before taking another big sip of his hot chocolate, choosing not to reply yet. Billy takes the time to scan over Daniel's 'broken' arm, which was still in a triangular sling on his chest
Billy couldn't help but to inwardly laugh when he saw the uncomfortable position that Daniel's arm was in. Good thing Billy decided to transform into Captain Marvel, or else Daniel would be in a much more uncomfortable place.
"You think that my arm being broken is funny, don't you?" Daniel asked with an amused smile on his face. Unknowing to him, there was a thin chocolate mustache coating his peach fuzz mustache. Billy tried to hold in his laughter by shoving his face with more ice cream.
When Billy finished the ice cream cone, he took a deep breath and looked up at Daniel with an expecting expression on his face.
"You called me out here to tell me something, didn't you?" Billy asked Daniel hopefully, as he himself had something to tell Daniel too. About him being Captain Marvel, that is…
Daniel nodded solemnly and swirled the remainder of his hot chocolate around in his plastic cup, before pouring some of the liquid content out on the table. Billy raised an eyebrow in interest, but he chose not to question it.
"What do you think about the meta-humans?" Daniel asked Billy slowly, both of their blue eyes meeting simultaneously and trading emotions. Curiosity met burning confidence.
"Well…" Billy's eyebrows furrowed and he sat back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. "Some of them are complete crazies but other than that, they have pretty amazing superpowers! Look at the Flash and Captain Marvel! They're both pretty awesome!"
Billy watched as Daniel's face lightened up a little bit. Billy didn't have a clue where this conversation was going, but the lightened look that appeared on Daniel's face at least meant that he didn't absolutely hate meta-humans…
"This might be a weird question, but do you know any meta-humans? You know, apart from the one that tried to kill me…" Daniel asked quickly, his sparkling cerulean eyes now looking downwards at the puddle of hot chocolate. Billy raised an eyebrow and he unfolded his arms, a large and amused grin on his face.
Maybe his big reveal would be easier then he originally thought.
"Yep!" Billy said in a loud whisper, making sure that no one else in Jitters could hear. Daniel narrowed his eyes in shock, and Billy instantly knew that Daniel hadn't been expecting that answer.
"Actually, I know more than one meta-human! And one of them is my friend!" Billy whispered over to Daniel, who sat back and crossed his arms over his chest with a disappointed look on his face. Billy's lips twisted into an interested grin and he leaned forward onto the table to look closer at Daniel.
"Are you jealous yet?" Billy teased smoothly, smiling smugly at his best friend; simultaneously poking Daniel shin under the table with his foot. Daniel shook his head and used his index finger to flick Billy in the forehead.
"Ouch!" Billy grumbled loudly, obviously exaggerating the pain while rubbing the spot that Daniel flicked furiously, as if to smoothen down the pain.
"I'm not jealous of you knowing meta-humans because…" Daniel replied with a chuckle, before leaning in towards Billy. "…I'm a meta-human…" Daniel whispered extremely lowly, making sure that only Billy could hear.
That was the least thing that Billy had expected this conversation to lead. Billy's face twisted into shock for a moment, which caused Daniel's face to fall into a frown… Had it been a bad idea for Daniel to tell his best friend?
Billy's shocked face slowly melted away and was replaced with a cackle. A cackle which led to a chuckle. And a chuckle which soon led to full blown laughter…
Daniel sat back in his seat and bit the corner of his lip, not entirely sure why Billy had fallen into hysterics. What was so funny about him being a meta-human? Daniel tucked his free hand into the sling, giving the appearance that he was crossing his arms.
When Billy started to calm down from his hysterics, Daniel turned his head away to look out the closest window. Billy took a few deep breaths as he calmed down his laughter, and soon enough he managed wipe out the tears of laughter from his eyes.
"Well, that was unexpected." Billy chuckled slowly, before reaching over the table to reassuringly pat Daniel's arm. Daniel looked over slowly, his stony face easily showing how annoyed he was that he was getting laughed at.
"What's so funny, William?" Daniel asked teasingly, using Billy unused first name in an attempt to annoy him in return. However, Billy didn't care, and instead, Billy lifted his hand above the not-so-hot hot chocolate puddle and chuckled.
"You don't have to be so harsh, Blondie." Billy laughed. "All this time, I've been trying to figure out how to tell you and you just invite me to Jitters and tell me that you're a meta-human like it's nothing!" Billy chuckled quietly, making sure to be extra quite when talking about Daniel being a meta-human.
"Tell me what?" Daniel asked, narrowing his eyes. With his new-found meta-human intelligence, he had multiple ideas about what it could be, but didn't pin it down to one. Billy lowered his hand over the chocolate puddle and lightning began to arch from his palm and struck the puddle viciously, evaporating it in a matter of seconds.
Daniel instantly knew what that meant. Large grins spread across both of their creamy white faces instantly, brightened up their faces. They were both meta-humans…
"Come on!" Billy clenched his fist, dispelling the arcs of lightning that had previously been dancing across Billy's palm. Billy quickly jumped up to his feet and picked up the remainder of his delicious ice-cream dish, before heading to the exit.
Daniel wasn't far behind his friend; both boys having an abnormal level of excitement radiating off of them both.
This was going to be interesting…
Iron Heights
Leonard Snart was never someone to stay in one city at a time. His routine was simple; Steal, sell, move, repeat… He was an international thief that was as hard as a phantom to catch. In fact, Snart was most likely the very best of his profession.
Then what had landed him in Iron Height prison?
Well, a simple explanation would be that Snart hadn't expected a Meta-human speedster to intervene and spoil his master plan.
The plan was going smoothly. They had already hijacked the armored truck and they were on track to stealing the Kahndaq Dynasty Diamond right before it could get to the Central City Museum. It all seemed perfect until a bolt of lightning rushed into the scene.
They called him the Flash, as Snart would later find out. The rumors that he could run at super human speeds was an understatement… The Flash took out his entire squad in a blink of an eye, and Snart was powerless to stop it.
It was his greatest failure.
And because of that failure, he was now sitting alone in his grey prison cell; silently contemplating his revenge on the Flash. However, he would have to get out of this filthy prison first.
Clank!
"You have a visitor."
Snart's stony face didn't change though, even as he walked through the prison and towards the meeting room. Even though he didn't outwardly show it, his interest was peaking. Who could possibly be coming to visit him of all people?
When they placed Snart down at the meeting room and removed his hand cuffs, Simon Stagg was the last person that Leonard was expecting to see behind the glass…
They stared at each other for a few seconds in silence, as Snart tried to figure out why the owner of Stagg Industries was meeting up with a thief. Maybe he found out that Snart had stolen from Stagg Industries a few years ago? No, that couldn't be it…
Snart saw the smug smile that crossed Simon's face and it caused a dark pit to form in his stomach. He's lived long enough to know what that meant…
Stagg reached for the communication telephone and smoothly removed it from the wall, placing it to his ear and flashing Snart a suggestive glance at the other telephone. Leonard took a deep breath, dispelling the dark feeling that had engulfed him, before taking the telephone from the wall and placing it on his ear.
"Stagg… Make it quick. I haven't got all day." Snart said slowly, his stony persona easily coming off in his emotionless voice. They both kept constant eye contact as two unbreakable wills clashed silently.
"I guarantee that you're going to have a lotof time when we're done here." Simon told Snart slowly, before sitting back and meeting eyes with the body guards behind Snart. Silently, every cop in the room filtered out as quickly as they came in; removing every other prisoner out of the room.
Not long after, only Simon and Snart were left in the meeting room.
Snart sighed and leaned back in his chair, not breaking the steel eye contact with the billionaire sitting in front of him. He didn't need to look around the room to know that they had both been isolated. Whatever Simon wanted, he didn't want anyone else to know…
Simon put the phone back to his ear and leaned closer to the separating glass, taunting Snart with an enormous grin on his face. Snart narrowed his eyes in anticipation, not once giving away a hint of emotion to the dirty billionaire.
"I've got Lisa." Simon whispered through the phone, intensifying the already stale atmosphere in the room. If Snart was taken back by the statement, he didn't once show it.
"I'm listening…" Snart replied slowly, narrowing his eyes at Stagg ever so slightly. Stagg smiled smugly, as he leaned back in his chair and propped his right leg up on his left leg.
"I'm building a team…"
Abandoned Warehouse
"So you have some sort of telekinesis, super healing, telepathy and…"
"And hyper intelligence. All of my abilities has something to do with my brain." Daniel finished for Billy, casually pacing around the damp warehouse while stretching his previously broken arm. Billy sat cross-legged on the damp floor, tiredly rocking back and forth.
"And you can transform into some sort of Walmart brand Superman?" Daniel teased, smirking when Billy snapped an irritated glance in his direction.
"Shut it, Blondie." Billy grumbled loudly, his eyes drooping and his body tilting to the side. "I'm better then Superman."
"Last time I checked, Superman doesn't get that tired after 5 minutes of going all out." Daniel chuckled loudly, recalling the large muscular man that a fully energized Billy had transformed into just a few minutes prior. He could hear Billy's annoyed grumbling coming from behind him and it only made him grin even more.
Even despite the teasing, they both knew that Billy was far from being a weakened Superman. Maybe one day he could even be stronger… Billy told Daniel about all six of his different 'modes' that he could switch into while activating his powers.
Extreme intelligence.
Extreme strength.
Unmatched stamina.
Lightning manipulation.
Near-Invulnerability.
Extreme speed, and flight.
Over the course of the 9 months that Daniel had been in coma, Billy had found out that he could activate each ability separately and hold them for a considerable amount of time, before becoming exhausted. However, whenever he tried to use more than one of his abilities at the same time, the time it took for him to become exhausted shortened.
It hadn't taken Billy longer than a few months to figure out that combining all 6 abilities transformed him into the large muscular man that people were beginning to label Captain Marvel. Unfortunately for Billy, because of the amount of energy that the form took to stabilize, he could only stay in his Captain Marvel form for a maximum of 5 minutes.
Billy couldn't figure out how to stretch the time that he could use his ability, but Daniel easily figured it out. All Billy would need to do was choose one ability to train a day and use it until he became too exhausted to do anymore. Each day he would change which ability he would use and repeat the same actions.
That will increase the time that Billy could use each individual ability, which would eventually increase the time that he could use his full power Captain Marvel form.
No doubt, Billy was shocked and embarrassed that Daniel found out how to fix his problem so easily, but Daniel knew that he would get over it eventually. Probably later that night, as Billy was staying over.
"Hey man, I'm getting pretty tired…" Billy's voice snapped Daniel out of his stupor, and the bewildered teenager turned to his exhausted friend and took a deep breath. "How about we go back to your place and sleep for a bit?"
"You said that you were going to help me increase the abilities of my powers too, remember?" Daniel questioned the shorter teenager, slowly approaching him across the cold warehouse floor. Billy put his head in his hands and yawned loudly, as if to make his point.
"Well, I did warn you that I get really tired when I finish." Billy joked obviously, forcing a snicker from Daniel. "Plus, it's not like we can't just come back later tonight. I only need a little bit of sleep…" Billy kept going on and on until Daniel rolled his eyes and helped pull Billy up to his feet.
"Fine you little wimp, but you're going to be the one that figures out how we are going to escape without being caught by the cameras…" Daniel rolled his eyes playfully, swiftly wrapping one of his arms around Billy's shoulder and stabilizing him.
"But you're the one with super inte-"
"No 'buts'… It's my house, so it's my rules." Daniel cackled darkly, putting on his best impression of a stereotypical evil villain. Billy chuckled quietly and rolled his crystal blue eyes.
A few minutes passed by and they caught a taxi to carry them back to Daniel's mansion. The sun hung low in the sky, illuminating the sky with a dark crimson and orange tint. Twilight was Daniel's favorite time of day…
"So, how was dinner with the Wests?" Billy asked cautiously, keeping his curious eyes out of the window to watch as the buildings flew past. Daniel took a breath and rolled his eyes, forcefully pushing memories of the night into the back of his head.
"How'd you think it went?" Daniel asked, with clear irritation escaping in his voice. Daniel turned to look away from Billy and calm himself by staring out of the window at the passing pedestrians…
"Well, I know that you and Detective West have some… History…" Billy started, uncomfortably wishing that he hadn't brought up the subject. Getting on Daniel's bad side didn't typically end well. "But that was a few years ago so…"
"It doesn't mean that it didn't happen." Daniel cut him off harshly, unintentionally causing Billy to sink back in his seat. "I didn't want Barry to be upset so I had to pretend like it was all okay… Like what West did in the past didn't matter…"
Billy decided to stay silent, and the taxi fell into a thick silence. Daniel couldn't help but to contemplate the hatred that he felt for the head of the West house… If only he didn't exist, Daniel would have been able to see Barry more…
If only Detective West didn't adopt Barry instead of them both…
If only Detective West had been shot by Clyde Mardon instead of his partner…
If only Detective West hadn't been the officer on parole on the day that he almost beat that kid to death…
Daniel silently basked in his hatred and couldn't help but to remember the last time he saw the man that had adopted Barry, about 7 years ago…
March 2009
The interrogation room atmosphere was tense; almost suffocating. Extremely dark eyes met with emotionless ocean blue, and they clashed ferociously.
Even though he'd seen this boy countless times: even having pictures with him as a newborn; Joe West barely recognized the person sitting in front of him. And he definitely didn't like what he was seeing… Joe sighed and examined the clothing of the young prisoner.
A scarlet T-Shirt, obviously displaying patches of crimson liquid, even despite the dark color of the material. The shirt was covered over with a blue jeans jacket that had more…. Obvious signs of blood. If Joe hadn't been briefed beforehand about the situation, he would have been certain that this was a murder case.
On an ordinary day, patrolling Windsor Heights Elementary wasn't anything strange… It was a private school for the rich kids in Central City, so there weren't really any confrontations. However, today had to be the day when Joe West was on patrol, and all-hell broke loose.
Joe had been on the other side of the school at the time, but he could hear the screams of panic and fear all the way from the opposing end. By the time Joe managed to get to the scene of the incident, the two eight-year-olds had already been separated, and it was painfully obvious to see who was the victim…
The dark haired kid was lying on the cold concrete floor with a huge gash in his temple. His entire face was bloodied and unrecognizable, and the boy's breathing was obviously labored. Several teachers were supporting the boy, and another teacher was calling the ambulance.
However, no matter how shocked Joe was when he saw the condition of the victim, he was ten times more shocked when he saw the offender.
"Daniel…?"
Somehow the blonde had heard him and turned to face him; Daniel's artic blue eyes meeting with Joe's for the first time in years. Crimson blood had been smeared all over Daniel's face and his clothes, and it hadn't even looked like he noticed it… He looked like a rabid animal…
Barry wouldn't be happy, but Joe had to arrest him. For the entire ride and later on throughout the questioning, Daniel kept insisting that the other boy deserved it, and that he told the boy to stop speaking about his parents. When asked to describe the event in detail, Daniel told them in an emotionless tone that the boy had been bullying him for weeks.
On that particular day, the bully had touched on a very, very sensitive subject… Daniel's parents. According to Daniel, the boy had accused him of lying about the man in the lightning bolt killing his parents, and said that they probably deserved it.
That was when Daniel said that he lost control of himself. He described in fine detail about how he had attempted to strangle the bully first, but failed due to victim being physically bigger then him… About how he then balled his hands into fists and knocked bully into the lockers and bashed his head into the walls, before jumping on him and repeatedly punching him across the face; even when he was clearly unconscious and bleeding…
About how he wasn't really sorry for what he did…
That was what Joe managed to get out of him after several hours and now they were sat opposing each other across a metal table; eyes interlocked. Daniel's face had been cleaned up, but the feral glare was still dormant behind his blank eyes…
"This interview is done… You'll be free to go shortly." Joe said professionally, pushing back all of his own personal thoughts on the matter. Even despite Joe pushing back his own personal issues, Daniel could still hear the distaste that was in Joe's voice.
It was only a few moments ago that Joe got a text from Captain Singh that the case was being discontinued. The mother of the victim decided not to press charges, which would mean that this entire situation was now null. Daniel Allen almost killed a kid with his bare hands and was being let out with no consequences…
Daniel nodded his head slowly, before looking away and at the one-way-mirror. He'd seen enough crime shows to know that there were probably people behind that glass, watching all of his movements. He knew that Harrison was probably behind there, and he silently bit his tongue.
"Detective West…" Daniel said absentmindedly, his voice high pitched and innocent, with a hint of worry behind it. Joe linked his fingers together and stared at the eight-year-old for a few moments, before narrowing his eyes and watching as the blonde turned back to face him.
"Where's Barry? Does he know what happened?" Daniel asked, the feral look behind his eyes fading away as if it wasn't there in the first place. The emotionless that had been carried through the entire interview was gone, replaced with something akin to realization.
Joe took a deep inhalation and turned to face the fake mirror, contemplating how much what he was going to say next was going to hurt the boy… However, Joe had to make the best decision to protect his family.
"No, Barry doesn't know yet. It would break his heart to know that his brother did something so… Animalistic." Joe said simply, turning his attention back to Daniel, who was sitting anxiously in his seat. The small boy's face slowly went a shade darker and he clenched his fists into small balls.
"When can I see Barry again… I really need to see him…" Daniel replied swiftly, his eyes watering and his cheeks stinging red. Joe's eyes narrowed considerably. Just a few minutes ago, he couldn't get a single emotion out of this kid, and now he was on the verge of crying?
"I'm sorry to say this kid, but you won't be seeing Barry for a while…" Joe informed Daniel firmly, not even bothering to see the boy's reaction. Joe stood up from his seat and turned his back to the boy, firm in his decision.
"Mr. West… I'm sorry… I didn't mean the things that I did! Please! Let me talk to Barry!" Daniel went on and on, the tears already running down his rose red cheeks. Joe's heart fell into the pits of his stomach and he even considered it for a minute.
Eventually, Joe came to a decision…
"You won't be seeing Barry until I see that you are no longer a threat to me and my family." Joe said finally while opening the door to the interrogation room with swiftness. No matter how hard he would later try, Joe wouldn't be able to get the next few minutes of screaming out of his head…
Nor could he ever forget the feral look that Daniel had sent him before he closed the interrogation door…
The eyes of heartbreak and a promise of death…
Present – Stagg Industries
"So the plan is in effect?"
Simon Stagg's chair faced outward to face the city, and his straight face expressed the seriousness that was in his voice. If all went well, he would have exactly what he wanted in little under a week…
A figure stepped out of the shadows in the room, a straight glare piercing holes directly into the back Simon Stagg's chair. Black eyes and short straight black hair decorated the man's face, and the young face only made his aggression look more threatening.
Danton Black.
Previously a bio-geneticist who had worked with therapeutic cloning systems and cellular regeneration in Stagg Industries. When Danton was on the verge of his scientific breakthrough, Simon fired him and took all the credit for his work, leaving him with nothing.
The entire reason that Danton had been working at Stagg Industries was so that he could have a chance to save his dying wife. However, now that he was discredited and kicked out of his job, he wouldn't be able to do that…
That was why Danton had decided that he was going to kill Stagg. If Stagg was willing to let his wife die, then Danton was going to have to make him pay with her life…
However, the Particle Accelerator Explosion complicated things… When he woke up after a short coma, Danton found that he had the abilities that he had tried so hard to replicate in his labs… He could generate clones of himself, while also being able to heal every injury to his body!
Unfortunately, that wouldn't have been enough to save his wife anyways, because she was already missing… Taken, actually. Danton would later find out that Stagg took her away, using the woman as a bargaining chip to make Danton his slave.
And it was working.
Danton walked silently into the center of Simon Stagg's office, just as the man himself swiveled around in his chair to look at him. Danton clenched his fists tightly and gritted his teeth, forcing himself to make eye contact with the sick and demented business man.
"The plan is in affect… We should have the Flash in our grasps soon." Danton informed Stagg loudly, making sure that he wouldn't have to repeat himself. Stagg's small, thin smile spread across his face and he cackled loudly.
"Good. Get the Flash for me within the next two weeks and your wife will be fine." Simon Stagg threatened Danton firmly, before shaking his head and turning back to look out the glass window. Danton clenched his fist and his knuckles began to turn white due to the immense pressure.
"You are dismissed…" Simon Stagg waved Danton off, and the black haired meta-human couldn't be more furious in his life. Neither-the-less, Danton turned his head away from Danton and he left the room in silence…
Yes, he would get the Flash for Simon. But after that, Danton was going to tear Stagg's head off of his shoulder and burn what's left. He didn't deserve to be alive…
First, though, he would need to get the Flash. And what's the best way to attract a Superhero?
A bank robbery!
Enjoy the chapter? If you did, please review or leave a favorite! I really appreciate your reviews, and it keeps me motivated.How did you like the new development with Daniel?
Next Question of the Chapter is…
Where is Windsor Heights in the DC Universe?