how many speedsters does it take

[quicktothepoint]

WHO: Speed | quicktothepoint, Quicksilver | oncemercurial (and Kid Flash | thronor if he wants to jump into a separate thread!).
WHERE: In the City, then around the world!
WHEN: Backdated to before disastah hit the cities.
WARNINGS: ask me again in a few tags
SUMMARY: Speedsters go for a race. Tommy meets his uncle and attempts to be sneaky about it.
FORMAT: Starting off as para,

Comments

[oncemercurial]

Having already been at the Empire State Building when he'd proposed that for their meeting spot was probably slightly unfair somehow. In another situation, Pietro might have been smug over the opportunity to watch his opponent arrive, and he was at first. However, any smugness turned to confusion rather quickly, even for him. The suspiciously silver haired and green eyed kid's head was darting around, clearly looking for him. For a few seconds, Pietro just observed, reminding himself that no matter how odd this might seem, it was probably nothing more than a coincidence. An unfortunate consequence of intersecting realities.

"Over here." He called, somewhat tenuously stepping forward from the wall against which he'd been leaning. This was shameful, even with the eerie similarities. Pietro hardened his expression, twisting it into a confident smirk. After all, no child, doppelganger or not, would best Quicksilver in a race. "May I ask who I'm about to defeat?"

[quicktothepoint]

His head turned just as soon as he heard the voice. Tommy couldn't help but stare at Pietro - as wary as he'd been of his arrival, seeing him in person was something else entirely. It was like seeing an older version of himself, something he wasn't sure he'd consider in a positive manner. He'd just stick to curiosity for now.

Strangely enough (or not), the man's smugness was the ice breaker for the younger speedster. What had been parted lips and a slight daze quickly changed into a smirk in his own form. "Ask again when he arrives." He tilted his head, stretching a lopsided grin, sliding his goggles down. "Name's Speed. Quicksilver, right?"

[oncemercurial]

Pietro nodded, scoffing slightly. The monosyllabic name was fitting of the person he'd met on the network who displayed an utter disregard of English grammar.

"We shall see." The smirk lessened, and Pietro's eyebrows quirked though the statement was inherently noncommittal. "Are we actually waiting for someone, or should we get on with it?"

[quicktothepoint]

"Not unless you wanna hang around and tell me your life story." The tone was obvious, but it also held a self-contained irony. Tommy imagined earning a sharp look from Billy if he had been there to hear it.

He kept his eyes on Pietro, catching little quirks, noticing the slight accent, wondering if there was anything he could relate to the Scarlet Witch. This was definitely an odd position to be in. Tommy wondered if Quicksilver had questioned himself about the similarities between them. "So. Around the world, right?"

[oncemercurial]

Tommy earned himself a dismissive frown and arch of the eyebrow from Pietro, despite Billy's absence.

"That is what we agreed upon." He'd taken note of boy's impatience, hand gestures that probably appeared wild and unpredictable to the average person. Pietro knew they were probably about as controlled as Speed felt he stand to be at any given time. Such was the reality of moving at superhuman speeds.

"Whenever you're ready." With that, he stepped out into the thankfully deserted street with another smirk, letting the subtle challenge hang above them.

[quicktothepoint]

"See you when you get here." He threw out, challenging Pietro without necessarily being rude about it. Tommy knew perfectly well it'd be one huge miracle if he managed to beat The Quicksilver Himself, but there was no way he'd be showing any humility. Not when he felt he had something to prove.

There was no count down - he hated those. The boy simply announced "Go!" and took off.

[oncemercurial]

Unintentional though it may have been, ended up giving Tommy a second or so's head start. Quickly enough, though, the city vanished into a blur of street lamps. Sooner still, the fading streaks of light disappeared into trees and then he was at the water.

By Pietro's calculations, and from what he could remember from the last several times he'd made this trip, a run around the world at top speed would take him slightly under eight minutes. Having never seen Speed in action, he vaguely wondered if the kid could live up to his name and attitude. It didn't truly matter, though. Since regaining his powers, Pietro had become faster than ever. He very much doubted any teenager could measure up. Eerie similarities and parallel dimensions or no.

[quicktothepoint]

The brief moments when Tommy was on the lead were both nerve-wrecking and exhilarating. Mostly nerve-wrecking--which was a remarkable feat for the superhero known for running before thinking.

Needless to say that it was short-lived. Even if both of them were running at the top of their speed, Quicksilver still managed to shift into a blur every other fraction of a second, leaving a somewhat staggered Speed behind.

Somehow, that didn't hurt his pride as much as it brought him to grin. Family or not--it was getting easy to forget that was supposed to be his uncle--he was watching Quicksilver doing what he did best. How many people could say that?

Tommy looked onwards, frowned, and pushed himself to try and run just a little faster. He did have a claim to live up to, after all.

[oncemercurial]

Pietro's favorite part of the trip around the world was quite possibly the sections that forced him to run across great expanses of water. Nothing could ever come close to feeling his paces break the (albeit limited) placidity of the ocean's surface, and then knowing that by the time the spray was kicked up to his level, he'd be gone.

It was the little things, really.

To his surprise, and somewhat dubious delight, Speed was keeping up fairly well. Ever so often, when Pietro came up on new terrain, the boy would manage to catch up for a split second before he lost sight of him again. No small accomplishment to be sure. A few times, Pietro thought of commenting on his abilities before he remembered that traveling as fast as they did made verbal communication very much impossible. Plus there would be plenty of time to talk when they arrived back in New York. His thoughts would keep.

[quicktothepoint]

On the other hand, Tommy was much too focused on the race itself to appreciate the details. All he knew was that those brief moments he managed to come close to catching up with Quicksilver were as encouraging at they were frustrating. His mind was already set on a sure loss, but that didn't deter him. It didn't stop him from wanting to push himself even further.

As much as Tommy claimed he didn't care about impressing this or that person, this was the speedster. It was his mother's brother. Somehow, whatever plan he had to get to know either of them involved scoring some points on Pietro's good list.

By the time his feet set on the City again, he finally realized how tiring it had been. Not enough to leave him breathless, but close. It'd be no surprise if he got there and found the older speedster waiting.

[oncemercurial]

In fact, Pietro was already waiting in virtually the same spot he'd started from. At Tommy's arrival, he cracked a more than slightly smug grin.

"Congratulations. You stayed visible, more or less." It was a compliment and a comment on the boy's skills, despite the taunting tone in Pietro's voice.

[quicktothepoint]

"So did you." It was an ironic retort, despite Tommy's lack of expression to indicate so. He was mostly trying to regain a bit of his energy--he definitely wasn't used to pushing himself so much. Regardless, he'd still compare his speed to Quicksilver's next time anyone asked.

"Never really raced anyone like that before."

[oncemercurial]

One delicate eyebrow rose at Tommy's retort, or lack thereof, but Pietro gave little other reply. He did, however deign to reply to the younger speedster's comment on their race. "That doesn't surprise me in the least."

[quicktothepoint]

Tommy's response was an eyebrow arch of his own - perhaps a little too similar to Pietro's. "What, did you?"

[oncemercurial]

Pietro nods nonchalantly, but the similarity again doesn't escape him. "Once, a very long time ago. I didn't win."

Glancing off further down the street at, well, nothing really, his hand almost twitches in grim irritation. "Who... Who are you?"

[quicktothepoint]

Tommy finally stands up straight, mostly recuperated. He's slightly alarmed by Pietro's tone, but keeps a subtle confusion on his expression in hopes that it will hide the rest. "Didn't I tell you already? I'm Speed."