Sherlock meets The Flash and Arrow

Chapter 10

Cisco

We take our fighting stances. John calls out, "Try to not hurt him too much!" I glance at Sherlock, then remember we're not on speaking terms, so I call back to John, "Who are you talking to?"

"Both of you." Like John, I'm not sure who will win. I have the superpowers, but I'm not comfortable with them. I did learn a lot from Oliver, though, but I can't say I've had many chances to use that training. Sherlock, on the other hand, is clearly an experienced fighter. He's settled comfortably into a fighting stance, standing on the balls of his feet, leaning forward slightly, with his hands raised.

He does have one disadvantage, though. This is the last word I would usually use to describe him, but he's...relatively normal.

I've seen him fight Barry, and this will probably be the fight of my life. But I have to try. See if I can at least get some of my anger out of my system. I don't feel like myself when I'm this mad.

John

Before Cisco and Sherlock can start fighting, Oliver comes over carrying an arrow. It's one of the ones filled with the green stuff. "Before you go and beat each other up, can I test this first?" Cisco and Sherlock nods, so Caitlin gives Sherlock a helmet. Sherlock flips it over in his hands as Oliver continues, "It's a portable brain scanner. Caitlin wants to know how you tamp down your pain reflexes, and I want to see if these actually work on you."

"I thought that was why you shot John."

"It was, but I'm just making sure there aren't...outliers who don't feel pain as strongly. This is the most objective way we can test that."

Sherlock sighs dramatically, then puts the helmet on, then takes the arrow from Oliver and pushes it into his upper forearm.

Caitlin looks at her end of the brain scanner. I look over her shoulder and Cisco looks over the other. Parts of Sherlock's brain start lighting up. Caitlin's zoomed in on the dorsal posterior insula, and it lights up, along with the medulla oblongata and the cerebellum. The first is the pain center, the second is the involuntary motion center and the last is the voluntary motion center.

Caitlin turns to Oliver, "Well, it looks like your arrows work on everyone. He's definitely feeling as much pain as he should. Just as much as you did when you tested those arrows after development, at least. Which is as much as Barry's lightning hurt you." Cisco glances at Oliver, surprised. He obviously didn't know that Oliver tested those arrows on himself.

Oliver nods. "Thanks."

Sherlock's dorsal posterior insula is still lit up. Looking at the scan, I say, "Just so I know, Sherlock, do you actually feel that pain? Or have you somehow persuaded your body to not?"

"I certainly felt those three arrows Oliver put in me."

Oliver looks at him and says, "You're lucky I didn't put more in you. If I'd known they weren't broken...Everyone cracks eventually."

Cisco looks at Sherlock and says, "I have an idea."

Cisco

I root around the back of the training room until I find what I'm thinking of. It's a dagger made out of the stuff from Rupture's scythe. "If this cuts me, I can't shoot sonic blasts. If it cuts Sherlock, he gets weakened and I get a power boost. It's the element of chance, in a way." I set the dagger in the middle of the room and step back over to Caitlin. I look at the scan she's holding. The pain center is less bright, but it's still lit up.

"Why's the arrow lasting so long?" I ask Caitlin.

John glances at me, then back at the scan. "It's not the arrow. That would be from the hole in his hand and his leg."

Oh, right. "Can he take the helmet off now, or are you still running tests?"

Caitlin says, "Oh, he can take it off."

Sherlock takes the helmet off and stands up. He walks over to the dagger and picks it up. "Is the energy drain from the dagger permanent?"

"No, of course not. A couple hours of drainage, probably. But not permanent."

Sherlock puts the dagger back down and walks over to where he was. He takes his coat off and drops it behind him.

Oliver

This will be a very interesting fight. I have to say, I'm rooting for Sherlock. Training, practice, and discipline over superpowers. I take a step back from my own opinions, though, and look at them from an outsider's perspective.

Sherlock knows what he's doing. He's standing in a classic fighter's stance, but with a twist on it that looks like it'll give him an element of speed and agility that you don't normally see. He's clearly spent a lot of time working on honing these skills. He stands in a loose, casual way, which is undoubtedly the best way to fight. Looking closer, I can see what wasn't so obvious before. There's a lot of tightly packed muscle in his frame. It's not as obvious as mine, but it's definitely there. I'd put him at about as strong as I am. I also think he has a fighter's spirit. He won't hesitate to take and push the advantage. He seems like he'd kick someone when they were down.

Then there's Cisco. He's too nice. He'd hesitate a fraction of a second too long to hurt someone who was down. He's too happy-go-lucky to ever really be a fighter—which is a good thing for him every time except this one. He looks awkward and uncomfortable in his stance. It's too forced to have been well-practiced. He's also not that strong. I know from experience. But he's got superpowers. Those he knows how to use and has a pretty strong harness on. They also hurt to get hit with—again, I speak from experience. He's also mad, so he might be mean enough to target Sherlock's weak points—his hand and leg.

I'm pulled out of my thoughts when the two fighters start to move.