Absolute Speed

"So, get on with it," a man said to a teenage girl who was cowering in front of him. They were surrounded by infinite darkness with the only source of light being him. The light did not even cross five metres before it too faded in the darkness.

"Yes, yes. I want to have the power of The Runner with a few twerks. First, I want you to remove all the other powers except Immortality, absolute Speed, absolute stamina, nigh invulnerability, superhuman strength and all his experience in using his powers and the primordial energy," the girl quickly said.

"Your wish has been granted and in turn, you will surrender your karma to me," the man said before stretching out his right hand towards her. Different colors floated out of the girl and into his palm where he let out a satisfied moan. "Good luck." With a twitch of his finger, the girl was gone.

"...ise! Denise!"

Denise woke up with a start, startling the person calling out to her, making him stager backwards and flopping onto his ass. She looked at her hands in disbelief as all sorts of memories got into her mind. She didn't know it but she was combing through thirteen years worth of memories in just a second; yet it seemed like an hour to her.

"I'm...I'm alive!" she gasped when she was through sorting out the memories. "After all I went through, I'm actually alive!" She was talking so fast not even the animal with the best hearing would distinguish her sound. She then looked at the person who had woken her up and saw Kid Flash aka Wally West moving his right hand to the floor so that he can push himself up but he was so slow he might as well be frozen in time; she wondered how this Wally West was so slow compared to the comic counterpart. Then, she slowed down her own perception till it was the same wavelength with Wally's and helped him up.

"Sorry, sorry, I black d out it seems. Where's Captain Cold?" she asked, dusting him so fast she was a blur.

"Don't worry about it. Captain Cold is out cold," he joked, making her roll her eyes and let out an exasperated groan. Just then, a red blur came from behind Wally, stopping at o his left, revealing the Flash, Barry Allen, smiling at them.

"Alright, Snurt is in custody and it is time for us to head over," Flash said.

"Yes, about time!" Kid Flash said before he took off first.

"How long do we give him a headstart?" Flash asked with a cheeky grin.

"A few more seconds, it'll break his ego more," she smiled back.

A few seconds later, the two sped away, quickly catching up to Kid Flash who looked dismayed. He gave her a glare which she returned with a small smirk.

"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" Kid Flash pouted and he didn't need eyes to see she was nodding.

"C'mon Wally, we'll be late, pull up the slack," Denise said, speeding up a little bit more just to antagonize him.

"Runner, stop antagonizing him," Flash reprimanded her. The rest of the run to DC was quiet, maybe because Wally could not stop pouting. When they were near the hall of justice, they saw Batman with Robin, Green Arrow with Speedy and Aquaman with Aqualad.

"I knew we would be late. Nice going, Kid Flash," Denise mocked him, giving him a small tap on his arm, but due to her strength, he felt like she punched him.

"Oww, what was that for?" Kid Flash groaned in pain. She did not answer but looked at the others. "But, I'm gonna let it slide because today is the day. The day we meet the League."

"Yes, we should head in right away," Batman said then led the way in with Robin. The others followed, reporters clicking at their cameras with h much gusto. At the entrance, they were met with Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado.

"Robin, Speedy, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Runner, welcome," Manhunter said before letting them inside the Hall. The door hissed closed behind them while the reporters and tourists made sure the they got their money shots. "You now have unlimited access to the gym and everything else inside the Hall."

"Make yourselves at home," Flash said, before looking at Runner. "and tone down your excitement to a two."

"I'm perfectly calm," Runner said before she laid eyes on the Hall's super computer. "Sweet." In a second, she was on the keyboards, already breaking the fifth firewall, a smile on her face. Batman narrowed his eyes when he saw this then looked at Flash who was massaging his forehead.

"Sorry, she's like this whenever she's near machines. Unlike us who use the speedforce, she is gets her speed by her metagene. Her intelligence was increased and with it came the love of computers," Flash explained.

"Done," Runner announced. "Now, who wants to see what Bruce Wayne's bedroom looks like?" Everyone, especially Batman, Robin and Flash glared at her so much the air would become superheated if they had the power. "Okay, okay, I'll step away from the computer."

"This reminds me, when are we going to see the floating fortress?" Speedy asked. The other sidekicks perked up when they heard this, except Runner who was looking at the computer longingly. Batman turned his glare at Green Arrow who rubbed his neck in embarrassment.

"Sorry, I thought it would be a good idea to tell him," he sighed. Batman turned to Speedy.

"The Tower of Justice is only accessible to fully fledged members of the League. You are not ready yet," he growled but Speedy was not backing down.

"Not ready yet? We busted our asses day and night and you tell us we are not ready! Why are you treating us like kids?" Speedy asked. Runner rose her hand almost immediately.

"I don't know about the rest but I'm thirteen years old so technically I am a kid," she said, making Speedy turn to her.

"Don't you want to be not treated as a sidekick?"

"Why would I ever want that? Flash took me in and trained me on my powers. I will not disrespect him by deciding to go rogue when he thinks I'm not ready," Runner said, seriously, before that was broken apart when she saw what came to the screen. "Ohh, goody, goody tickets to see Beyonce have been bought!" Her change in demeanor caught everyone off guard, making them look at the screen where they saw a ticket to Beyonce live concert in Los Angeles showing. "Looks like I'll be busy next weekend." Speedy gritted his teeth before turning to the members of the League.

"I will not stay here and be humiliated. If you think I am not ready to be part of the League, that's fine," he said before taking his yellow cap off. "I quit."

"Wait, Speedy, don't be hasty now," Kid Flash said, arriving in front of him in a second. "Let's calm down and think this through."

"I am calm and thinking straight, Kid Flash. Our mentors will not come to a point where they agree that we are ready to be in the League. We will forever be sidekicks to them and I am tired of them thinking that," Speedy angrily said to hen headed to the exit.

"Sometimes things happen out of our control, Speedy. You came here thinking you would be part of the League but ask yourself this, are you sure you want to stand besides Batman, Superman, Wonderwoman and the rest, make hard decisions that will make you question your own sanity right now or when you have matured enough to have sense of what action and consequences mean," Runner said out loud, looking at the screen while still typing. Everyone was once again blown away by her words that even Speedy stopped walking.

"But, I totally support you going solo, maybe this is your character arc, the moment when you realize who you are and what you present. Maybe you will end up impressing the League so much they will let you in or you will end up dead in a ditch somewhere. Either way, good luck and don't forget to send post cards," she said with a small smile on her face. Speedy scoffed before walking away when Kid Flash speed to Runner and slapped her upside on her head.

"You just drove out friend away!" he glared at her.

"Oh c'mon, Speedy is gonna be fine. He is a more serious Green Arrow," she joked.

"Hey!" Green Arrow shouted. Just then, the screen changed to show Superman.

"Superman to Justice League, there's been an explosion at project Cadmus, it's on fire," Superman stated.

"I've had my suspicions about Cadmus. This may offer itself as an opportunity to in..." Batman was cut short by another emergency call. It was Zatarra calling about a sorcerer who was blocking the sun with an amulet. Batman looked at Superman who told him the fire was small before Batman directed the Leaguers to deal with the sorcerer.

"Stay put," Batman told Robin and the others.

"What? Why..." Runner quickly covered Robin's mouth.

"Don't worry, Batman. I'll make sure I have them all seated and waiting for you," she told the caped crusader with a smile.

"Hn," Batman said, narrowing his eyes before he led the other Leaguers out.

"What was that?" Aqualad asked.

"Now that the grown ups have gone and Batman has not left behind any listening devices, we sidekicks will go on a separate mission; Project Cadmus building," Runner enlightened the others

"Why would we do that?" Kid Flash asked.

"Think about it. Batman is suspicious about the project and more often than not his instincts are always spot on. We do this mission, a mission they shunned, infiltrate Cadmus and unearthen their secrets and be successful, Batman might be in the mood to listen to us propose about forming our own team," she said. "Maybe a covert mission, doing the missions that are too high profile for the League to do."

"Why not join the Justice League?" Kid Flash asked.

"The members will always see us as kids till we hit that eighteen years mark and I can't tolerate five years of constant dismissal on their part till they can finally hear my voice. At least this way, with more completed missions under our belt, we can ask and successfully enter the League when we are sweet eighteen," she said. The others were quite impressed with this plan. "And it will all start with this burning building." Clicking a button, the screen showed the burning building. It illuminated the resolved looks on everyone's face while staring at the screen.

"Let's go then," Robin resolutely said as the others nodded.