Lightspeed

Origin

Lightspeed also known by her human name Melanie Arnold has a tragic story behind the manifestation of her super powers. Some time ago, Doctor Noxious, a Fear Scientist weaponized and generated a tornado directing it towards San Francisco. This was not an ordinary tornado though, it had been charged with exotic sub atomic particles. A young single pregnant woman was unfortunately caught in its trail of destruction and was killed as a result. Somehow miraculously who unborn daughter survived - Melanie Arnold. In her youth Melanie would start to manifest incredible abilities and powers. It appeared she could phase shift in tandem with the very same particles as the ones she experienced within her mothers accident. This allowed her to move at hyper massive speeds. She would use her powers for good, becoming a superhero dubbing herself Lightspeed.

Lightspeed is affiliated with the Protectors of the Earth and her reoccurring villains are Doctor Noxious, Senator Vile and the Cannon.

Creation

Lightspeed is a Boom! Studios published character that first appears in the 2012 series Deathmatch, appearing in its debut issue Deathmatch #5. Lightspeed is designed and created by writer Paul Jenkins and artists Carlos Magno and Michael Garland, writers and artists of the series. Lightspeed could be seen as a pastiche of super fast characters such as The Flash and Quicksilver.

Character Evolution

Lightspeed is a minor supporting character in the Boom! Studios Deathmatch series. The character is used sparsely and is one of the characters that doesn't actually participate in a death match. The character doesn't get much in way of character development or face time, much of what made the character distinguishable ultimately being her powers, and with her origin being detailed in one of the handy back up profiles.

Major Story Arcs

Deathmatch

Lightspeed is one of many and numerous superheroes, supervillains and neutrals abducted under mysterious circumstance and imprisoned in a supermassive enclosed structure, with no immediate reason. Thirty two in total, and featuring some of the greatest heroes, Meridian, Sable, Dragonfly, Mink, Manchurian, the Rat and the Mutate and some of the greatest villains in Mister Chuckles, Melody Toon, Cube, Hieronymus Higgens. They have no memories of how they got to this location, who put them there, or who is affecting their powers and memories. The assorted group are being forced to fight systematically in a series of one on one death matches in which only one can survive before moving on. Mysterious and powerful guards composed of light also keep order and hostilities to a minimum between the diverse group, neutralizing any that might start physical fights that take place outside the death matches. Lightspeed's first death match round was to be against the mysterious and bizarre Glyph, however after Hieronymus Higgens short circuits the enclosures power, her Meridian and Omni-Engine face off against the Anti Meridian and Lightspeed is killed.

Powers and Abilities

Lightspeed possesses the ability of super speed, able to move at near light speeds, however her powers are more nuanced than that. According to many theories by theoretical physicists, Lightspeed despite appearing as moving near light speeds, hat she may not move at all, rather her abilities have the universe move around her, imitating her moving at such absurd speeds. An incredible consequence of this theory would be that when utilizing her powers Melanie Arnold becomes the center of the universe. Another aspect of Lightspeed's powers is that the more she learns about sub atomic powers the more power and powers she can exhibit. Her powers are said to be derived from her phasing with similar subatomic particles like those in the accident that took her mothers life. Theories also suggest she leeches between dimensions and that she can generate a vibration field.