"Am I selfish?" Victor pondered, lost in thought. The question had been bugging him for some time now. At this point, it was becoming very hard to ignore.
Was he selfish? Was keeping his cards hidden more important than saving people who were dying at the hands of metas indirectly created by him?
Honestly, with a single use of his biokinesis and vast repertoire of abilities, it would be a blatant lie to say he could not find that blood-sucking meta.
In fact, it would take nothing more than a single thought to accomplish it in a matter of moments.
Whether it was commanding his creation to flood the streets of Central City in search of the meta, or unleashing his senses to their absolute limit to scour every corner and depth of the city, it would be easy. Basically effortless. It would cost him next to nothing in energy or time.
But no matter how he considered it, he did not act. It was not that innocent lives meant nothing to him. If anything, it was quite the opposite.
That was what made it so impossible to ignore. To know someone would die, to know he had the power to stop it, and still stand aside and do nothing. Yeah, that was selfish. He would not deny that.
Then again, he was no hero. Still, that was not a proper justification. Saving people should not come from trying to be a hero. It should come from basic human decency. And as much as the phrase annoyed him, it rang true all the same. With great power comes great responsibility.
He sighed deeply. One of the reasons he was even having this thought was because he had begun to notice how power-hungry he was becoming. He was growing self-centered as a result.
Even now, the urge to rush into parallel Earths was becoming harder to suppress. Very soon, this planet would have little left to offer him.
Being hungry for power was not wrong. At the end of the day, the only reason he wanted more power was so he could live without constant fear. Fear of danger. Fear of dying because he was not strong enough. Fear of losing the people he loved because he was not strong enough. In the end, strength was the only universal currency.
But it could be done without losing one's values and morals. He had never been selfish. At least, not before this new life had begun to change him. That change was not one he wanted anymore.
"Victor, Victor…" A voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He shook his head before turning to Caitlin.
"Um, are you listening?" she asked, arms folded, her expression sharp.
"Uh, sorry. I got lost in thought," he said quickly, apologizing.
"Please stay with us, Mr. Cassian. This concerns the people of Central City," Wells said. His gaze lingered, scrutinizing Victor a moment longer. Victor nodded, shelving his thoughts for later.
"So, as I was saying, Black's ability to multiply himself should consume stamina, meaning he won't be able to keep it up indefinitely. You just have to find the original. Once you do, the rest should come easy."
"Barry, you'll be doing most of the heavy lifting. Your specific skill set is an advantage against Danton," Wells said, turning to him.
Barry nodded, arms folded. "What about the other meta?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer.
Wells sighed, rubbing his forehead. "We know next to nothing about this meta. It'll be very difficult to find effective countermeasures."
"But maybe Caitlin can find something useful," Wells added, turning to the doctor.
Caitlin nodded. "I'll see what I can do."
"We have a plan of action, but we still need to actually find them," Victor said, wondering exactly what Wells had in mind. If there were no results by later tonight, he would have no choice but to deal with the situation himself.
"Don't worry. Leave that to us," Cisco said, flashing a grin at Dr. Wells. Working together, their chances of locating the meta were higher.
"Okay, in the meanwhile, we'll be in the training bay," Barry said, gesturing to Victor to follow.
Everyone had their role. Caitlin was the doctor, an expert in biology; she would be working to find anything that could be used against the manbat, giving them a tactical advantage in a confrontation.
Cisco and Dr. Wells would be working on triangulating the metas' location as well as locating Danton Black. He and Barry, on the other hand, were the muscle of the team.
In the halls, on their way to the training bay, Victor was the first to break the silence. "How are things with Joe?"
Barry exhaled, exhausted by the situation. "Not good. He barely talks to me now."
"Can you blame him, though?" Victor said. Barry's words, however true, had been harsh and wrongly said. "If I were in his place, I would kick you out."
Barry rolled his eyes. "Actually, I'm thinking of getting my own place soon."
Victor stared at Barry in disbelief. "Hmm. Took you long enough."
"On a serious note, you shouldn't have said what you said, even if it might be true."
Barry remained silent. He didn't need to be told to know his words had likely been hurtful.
"That's up to you to fix," Victor said. Barry was likely already aware of his wrongdoings; more scolding wouldn't make it any better.
"So, how's Iris… and Mr. pretty boy?" Victor said, grinning. He was enjoying Barry's reaction a bit too well.
Barry's face darkened instantly. He glanced sideways at Victor with a hint of malice. "Please don't start," he said quickly, trying to avoid the direction of the conversation.
Victor's smile only deepened. "I told you several times to make your move, but no, you didn't. Now see where your hesitation led you."
Barry's face darkened further. He knew he couldn't avoid the conversation at this point. "I don't think Iris sees me the way I see her."
Victor stared deadpanned at Barry. More than five years of constant encouragement and advice, and you are still hesitating, he complained inwardly.
"You're afraid to break the boundaries of your sibling relationship," Victor said, then paused. "Forget it. It doesn't matter anymore. You've lost your chance."
That was the truth. His presence in the timeline meant that Eddie dying to stop Thawne would likely not happen. The probability of Barry getting with Iris in this timeline was abysmally low.
Later in the evening, Victor and Barry were sparring. Actually, it wasn't a spar; it was just Barry dodging and increasing his speed usage proficiency.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. Icy projectiles cut through the air at speeds rivaling a bullet shot from a low-caliber pistol. Victor waved his hands frantically, trying to hit the scarlet speedster.
Barry was sharp on his feet. Multiple dull shards of ice flew toward him from different directions, trying to pin him down and limit his range of motion. He didn't panic; in contrast, he was calm.
Like Victor had once said, a speedster's mind was faster than their body. It took practice and intense focus to achieve, and even then it was disorienting, his body constantly struggling to keep up.
A series of speed-assisted acrobatic moves later, he was free from the tight spot.
"He's getting better at this," Victor mused. They'd been at it for a while now. He could see Barry improving in real time. That was exactly what he wanted. To make sure he could use his speed effectively and not lose to regular humans later on.
"I think that's enough already. My arms are getting tired." Although he could go on for much longer, it was starting to get boring.
Barry agreed. Just as they were planning to rest, Cisco's voice echoed through the speakers. "Guys, we need you in the Cortex now. We found something."
They both quickly rushed to the Cortex. Everyone, including Caitlin, was present, gazes fixed on the monitor displaying a camera feed. On the feed, several vehicles were barreling down the road. The road led to only one place: Simon Stagg's Villa. It didn't take a genius to guess who it was.
"Watch this too," Cisco said, pulling up another image. This time, the footage showed men in tactical gear and heavy weaponry stealthily making their way toward an abandoned building.
"We triangulated the manbat's location to this abandoned building," Cisco explained.
"So Danton's heading to Stagg, the manbat's under siege by armed forces. "We need to split up and handle them separately." Victor said arms crossed.
Time was critical. Barry quickly decided they would split up. He would take on Danton, his speed giving him the edge, while the man-bat would fall to him instead.
"Be careful," Wells said with a slight nod.
They returned the nod and pulled down their masks. Cisco grinned behind the monitors, feeling pride at his creation. The deep-blue suit Victor dorned, the red-gold suit Barry dorned. It was perfect.
Victor split from Barry in a blur of red and blue. Using ice constructs and propulsion to increase travel speed. It took Victor several minutes to arrive at the site with Cisco's assistance.
When he arrived on the scene he could already hear horrified screams, bones snapping like twigs. His expression darkened instantly. He ran into the building urgently; he almost used his superspeed in reflex, but he quickly cautioned himself.
At superhuman speeds, he dashed into the building. He arrived just in time to see the last man alive scrambling backward in fear. The beast lunged at the man with the intent to kill.
But Victor was faster. He leapt in front of the strike, taking the full brunt of the attack. The punch carrying several tons of force hit his open palm with a soft thud. It was effortless.
He glanced sideways at the horrified man behind him. "My apologies for being late. Leave the rest to me."