Quick Note: I've added the young Justice League members to this AU (from part 1 of the crossover movie). In case you were wondering.
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Sol burned brightly today.
Of course it always burned brightly, but for some reason it felt brighter today. There were still a few days before the scheduled rainshowers came through, so clouds were few and far between. A cool breeze blew by every few minutes, though sadly they were nowhere near close enough to the ocean to smell the salt. All in all, it was simply a nice day, the kind of day where you could do anything you set your mind on, where motivation is as plentiful as the light blue flowers that grew all around the base of Nexus HQ, never needing to worry about a lack of sol-light.
It was almost clear enough that Violet could even make out the Inner Ring from ground level. That was normally impossible during the day with the glare from Sol, but a girl can dream.
["Runners, On Your Mark!"]
Then again, dream later. Now was the time to focus.
Violet Rose, a 17 year old tech student at Signal Finishing School, put both feet on the blocks and took slow, deep breaths as she waited for the gun. Her shoes and track outfit were top-of-the-rack as usual, but the star of the show was her Bionic Accelerator (pending a better name) – an experimental device mounted to the front of her chest that should, if she got her numbers right, help her win this competition. At first glance it looked like a dinner plate glued to the front of a steam-powered clock with a big red button added just for the lulz, but there was a lot of advanced tech hiding in there. Today was the day to see of it could pull its weight.
She wasn't alone in this race, one should note – next to her in the line were a few other students, all vying to gain the attention of the Headmasters of Signal and hopefully win a scholarship to get into Beacon Technical University. All were testing methods of increasing their speeds. All, including Violet, were looking to become proper Speedsters.
And just to emphasize how important it was, they had a very special guest today: Barry Allen. The one and only Flash.
Needless to say, everyone was nervous.
All around the runners sat hundreds of spectators, all cheering for what they hoped would be a good show. Most were rooting for Harriet as she was easily the favorite to win, and Violet knew that if anyone was likely to outrun her today, it was the chick with the mohawk. Still, that was a big 'if.'
["Get set…"]
Everybody at the starting line fired up their respective tech one by one, Violet among them – she lightly slapped the red button on her Accelerator and felt her body 'rev up', as she called it. Heartbeat increasing, nerves firing at higher rates, eyes twitching at the edges… yep, everything working so far.
BANG-!
Let's do this.
Harriet immediately pulled ahead, but Violet was right behind her, feet pumping for all their worth as the world around her lost a little bit of color. The roar of the crowd rapidly faded away as they took off, covering dozens of meters in just a few seconds. None of the other runners were visible, but Violet didn't dare look back to see where they were.
The route for the race was easy enough to follow at these speeds, made easier by the lightning bolts coming off of Harriet's boots – her device combined a high-friction grip with an inertial dampener to allow for maximum traction with minimal effort. Pretty ingenious, actually. That combined with Harriet's already impressive physique gave her a major advantage.
Violet, on the other hand, had created a means of taking her own natural biological processes and cranking them up to 11 – the only side effect so far had been an alarming increase in her metabolism. Running burned a lot of calories already, but running with the bodily equivalent of a hyperdrive was a bit more draining than anyone first believed.
Harriet glanced back and saw Violet right on her tail. She frowned, turned back and pushed harder, pulling further ahead.
Violet pushed harder as well, unwilling to let the lead grow any wider.
Signal FS had quite a bit of land to work with for this race. The track covered several kilometers and ran a circuit around both the campus and a large portion of the nearby city of Vale. It didn't interfere with any of the highways, so they were in no danger of traffic. Faculty waited at various points along the track in case anyone's tech failed or the students got into any accidents, as these sorts of events were always risky. No one can truly prepare for every possible scenario, after all.
They passed a large green banner with a '1' – that was the first quarter.
Violet gave her device a quick look to confirm the power was holding steady, and it was… though she had no way of knowing how long this morning's heavy breakfast would last. The world rushed by in a blur, as though it was in more of a hurry than Violet. That was the thing about the Accelerator – it didn't so much make you faster as it made the world around you feel slower. Such a unique perspective was one of the many things Violet loved about this kind of work.
Up ahead she could make out the city skyline, most prominent of all was of course the Nexus HQ Orbital Elevator that ran right up to Sol Station. One of these days Violet knew she would get up there; one of her biggest goals was to see the world of Remnant from the highest possible vantage point. Hopefully today would mark the first step towards reaching that goal.
She blinked as she returned her attention back to the ground, to the race, and found Harriet far ahead of her. Violet blew a sigh from her lips as she slapped the red button again.
The world slowed down a little bit more.
Now in 2nd gear, Violet watched as all color drained out of her surroundings. Even the lingering bolts of lightning from Harriet's device were lasting a few seconds too long as she passed them, quickly catching up with her classmate. She could also feel her body burning up more energy, so she let up on a little of her effort to try and counterbalance the effect. It wouldn't help much, but if it let her finish the race then all the better.
Violet barely heard the surprised yell from Harriet as she took the lead. This was the first time she'd used 2nd gear outside of the lab, so no doubt the crowds back in the stadium were equally shocked. This was probably the limit of how fast she could go and still have the School's camera system keep up with her.
The '2' banner blurred by so fast she almost missed it. Halfway done with the track. Now they were getting into the city limits.
"Having fun out here?"
Violet almost screamed as she found none other than Barry Allen easily keeping pace with her. She would have stopped if not for her body moving automatically now. "More or less," was all she could say in response.
Barry smiled, the yellow glass bubbles around his eyes glittering in the sol-light. His body also gave off energy similar to Harriet's device, though the effect was a bit different mainly due to how it worked – unlike all the students who were developing technology to amplify their speed, Barry's was entirely coming from his Semblance. He called it Speed Force. All it did was let him run as fast as he wanted with no upper limit. The simplicity of this power was ultimately what made it so devastating to his opponents. Rather than increase his speed, Barry's red and yellow uniform was designed to help him slow down and control his movements.
Violet also smiled, though her own goggles were quite cheap by comparison. Thankfully the track was both clear and fairly straightforward, otherwise turning her head would've sent her careening out into the open sky.
While still running, Barry said, "How fast can that thing go, anyway?"
"Dunno," said Violet between breaths, "Haven't tested it… that far…"
"No better time than now, I'd say."
"But… I don't…"
"Relax, I've got Clark hanging out above us in case anything goes south." Barry gestured upwards, but Violet didn't dare try to follow it. "Cut loose, kid. I wanna see what you can do."
"Okay, one extra… gear…" Violet was starting to lose her breath, but hopefully she could go a bit further. "I don't… I mean, I need to adjust… the settings… before I do any more…"
With heart pounding both from her nerves and the thrill of running faster than most cars on the market, Violet slapped the red button one more time.
…And instantly regretted it.
Now the world not only rushed by her, it started to turn gray and blur into a continuous mass of shapes. Blood started to drain from her face from the excessive g-forces she was putting herself through. But most alarming of all was that she no longer had the ability to turn. At all. She sailed right off the track, through a street for less than half a second, and down a crowded boulevard. The fact that she didn't run over any pedestrians and leave them a bloody spot on the wall was nothing less than a miracle.
And then, to her horror, she kept going… right out over the open ocean. She was running across the surface of the water. IN 3RD GEAR.
Barry's voice eventually found its way to her bleeding ears, "Alright, I'm impressed! You can stop now! Downshift or something!"
"I can't!" Violet's eyes were trying to produce tears, but the wind was ignoring the goggles and drying them out anyway. No… they were gone. They'd blown off somewhere back there. "But if I stop, I'll stop fully, AND I CAN'T SWIM! ! !"
Barry's voice didn't reach her again, though he was clearly yelling. A burning sensation started to quickly eat away at her insides, like her very guts were starting to combust. It rapidly spread to her legs. She had mere seconds before the water would claim her, and there was no way she'd float long enough for rescue.
But thankfully… thankfully… it didn't get that far. The instant she finally lost the fight with fatigue and stopped moving her legs, Violet was being carried up and away from the water.
The last thing she registered before passing out was the sight of a red and yellow 'S' emblazoned on a steel chestplate.
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Only the gods knew how long Violet was unconscious, but what she did know was that she'd survived. This kind of headache would never follow someone to the afterlife. And if it did, she had a few divine butts to kick.
Violet found herself in a hospital room with multiple IVs dripping into her arms, along with the beeping of an ECG next to her raised bed. Several people were in the room with her, most notable those of Barry and Clark, the latter known to the people of Vale as 'Superman' – he was obviously the one who saved her life. He only had on his uniform inside, having shed his Powered Armor just beyond the hospital doors. Just behind them stood Glynda Goodwitch, Headmistress of BTU, and she was busy chewing out Barry in particular.
Another voice spoke, this one far more quiet, "Do you have any freaking idea how badly you scared me, sis?" One very specific face was right next to Violet's, two hands holding one of her own and shaking.
"I might…" Violet coughed weakly, "…have some clue. Sorry, Lu-lu."
Eyes the color of lavender filled with tears as Lu Xiao Long, Violet's adopted sister, wiped her face and sniffed. Her long green hair shimmered blue and yellow in the fluorescent lights of the room, an effect she always called 'prismatic green' for how cool it looked. "Seriously, Vi… freaking don't ever do that again."
Violet glanced over at Barry just as he looked back and grinned, their eyes metting. She said to Lu, "No promises."
"You're lucky Superman caught you and not Mom… or she'd have ended you on the spot."
"I believe that."
Lu's watch gave a beep. She frowned at it. "Really? Looks like I gotta go already. You get some rest, ya little butt." She leaned in and gave Violet a kiss on the forehead before getting up to leave the room. Violet took notice of the bulge under her shirt just below the collar; it was easy to forget that older Anchors like her sister's needed to be shielded in a hospital. Likely why she couldn't stay very long.
Life on Remnant was not easy for an Outlander. Not even the adopted child of a Major Secretary.
"We looked over your device after Clark brought you in," said Barry. Apparently their prior conversation was over. He gestured to a side table where Vi's Accelerator sat waiting. "No damage, but man… you've really got something special here, ya know that?"
Violet blinked audibly.
Clark stood nearby and said, "We've both seen a lot of interesting ideas come out of Signal, but I don't think either of us expected someone to make a device that emulates Barry's Semblance like that."
"You actually outran me." Barry crossed his arms, but his smile made it clear he was not mad. "I'm legit impressed, kid."
"You'd be a lot less impressed if she ended herself," said Goodwitch from the other side of the room. The older woman was looking over Violet's paperwork with a sour expression. "I'm holding you responsible for any long-term damage she may incur."
"Yes ma'am," Barry said in a low voice.
Goodwitch quickly ushered the boys out of the room, but not before Clark gave Violet a gentle rustling of her hair on the way out. They both smiled as they waved goodbye.
"Now then," said Goodwitch. "I'm sure you can guess that you didn't win the race yesterday."
Violet nodded, only a little shocked that a full day had passed. "I kinda figured."
"What you did was beyond dangerous, young lady. You could have ended someone. Many someones."
"I did notice that, yes."
"By all accounts I should have you expelled from Signal. Or barring that, put you on Community Service for the next 20 years to clean up your mess."
"But…?"
Goodwitch sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "But… that would interfere with what needs to happen next. I consulted with OZ after you were stabilized. You know what that is, right?"
Violet nodded, "That's the A.I. that runs Nexus HQ, right?"
"In the simplest terms, yes. Almost every piece of equipment in that tower is run by that program. And after analyzing the footage of your race yesterday, OZ has instructed me to…" She sighed again, taking a moment to collect herself. "To admit you into Beacon Technical University."
Silver eyes went wide. "Admit me? But… I didn't win…"
"I did not make the call."
"Wh-What about… Signal?"
"I've already met with the Albain brothers, and they've given their approval. Your lab equipment is being relocated to a room at BTU as we speak."
"I… I…" Violet was again feeling light-headed, but for all the right reasons. "I'm not ready."
"Again, it was not my call. And… … … it's already done." Goodwitch walked forward and handed Violet a small ceramic plate with her name, student ID number and photo. "Congratulations."
Violet Rose passed out on the spot.
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Designation: Remnant-2991 (Hero-Tech World, "Sector 1")
Type 5 Variant World (Multiverse Hub)
Class 5 Population – Multiple Variants Detected, H/F Ratio Indeterminate
Grimm Threat: NOT DETECTED
Environment: YELLOW
Integrity: YELLOW
Culture: RED
Dust/Aura: GREEN
Deviation From Standard: 64.3%
Special Note: This world is probably the one I need to keep the closest eye on – not only are they a hub for interdimensional travel, they're also doing what I'm doing and scanning other worlds, though they call them 'Sectors' for some reason. Way less catchy. Once I can hack into their database then I can copy their information, and my database will be ever closer to completion. Mwahahaha.
Special Note 2: This world is also part of an alliance with three other worlds, and they're basically patrolling the known universes in order to "enforce their laws" or some such bullshit. Laws are relative, dipshits. Still, I can't risk them finding me out here; what little I do know is that scanning and unauthorized traveling between worlds is strictly prohibited by their little think-box AI, so I'll probably get in some trouble if I get careless. Luckily I've got Rain.
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Author's Note: I tried this one about a dozen times before finally getting something I was happy with, both for the story and the overall setting. This world was loosely inspired by the likes of Overwatch with a bit of Demolition Man tossed in for flavor, but sadly I didn't get to showcase very much of it here. However, this was only the first look; once I get the main story of Paradigm up and running, we'll be spending a lot more time in this Remnant.
And nope, I'm not doing the preview anymore. Whatever I come up with next is whatever I come up with next. I've got way too many AUs floating around in my head to try and bottleneck the next idea that wants to come out and play.
=^..^=