A/N: First off, I'd like to send a general shout-out to those of you that have favorited/followed/reviewed: Robin Rani, Squee the magical bunny, Klimmatt, and RedtailHawk 19.
Klimmatt: Thank you for pointing that out. That completely slipped my mind. Because the rest of the story is already written, I'm not going to do anything about it right now, but when/if I ever get around to revising it, I will definitely alter that. Sorry. I hope it doesn't detract from the story too much.
IMPORTANT: Ok, when I had originally written this, I had intended on it being a bit more humorous than the final chapter will be. Therefore, this chapter is somewhat lighthearted and a bit frivolous. And again, I'm not as crazy into YJ as I am the X-Men, so I hope it's not too bad when it comes to them.
"So Quicksilver challenged you to a race?" Evan Daniels asked. "Why am I not surprised?" he groaned. He and the rest of the X-Men along with Wally and his Team were seated around the coffee table in the living room of the mansion. Wally was leaning against the side of a large armchair crunching on a bag of chips as he told the teams of his encounter with Quicksilver earlier that day.
"Yeah! I mean, I'd barely met the guy, and had said like three words to him when he turns all psycho on me!" Wally cried. He tossed another handful of chips in his mouth. "I mean, who is this guy, anyway? How do you guys know him?"
"Pietro Maximoff, a.k.a. Quicksilver," Scott Summers began, "belongs to a group of mutant troublemakers known as the Brotherhood. Usually it's our job to go out there and clean up whatever mess they decide to make." He rolled his eyes behind is ruby quartz glasses.
"So, they're like super villains or something? 'Cause, I mean, that guy was a bit of a jerk and all, but I don't think he's that bad." Wally's face quirked into an expression of confusion with a bit of disbelief thrown into the mix. The rest of his team had been pretty quiet so far, not really saying much.
The X-Men just looked at each other, a few of them shrugged. "I wouldn't necessarily call them 'super villains'," Kurt Wagner said. "Just more like, 'mutants who use their powers to cause trouble'."
Wally nodded.
"So are you going to race him tomorrow, then?" Artemis asked from the armchair Kid Flash was leaning against.
He shrugged. "I don't see why not. It'll be fun! And I'll have a real challenge. Seriously, what's the worst that can happen?" He smiled contentedly and slipped down into the seat beside Artemis.
Evan shook his head. "Those are famous last words." The X-Men sighed and leaned back in their seats, mentally preparing themselves for the disaster that was to come tomorrow at 2:00 pm.
…
"Seriously! I mean it! I will not stand for this sort of mockery!" Pietro fumed as he paced back and forth in the living room of the Brotherhood Boarding house. The rest of the Brotherhood was seated on the couch, bored out of their minds at Pietro's incessant complaining. Lance held the remote out and was trying to change the channel, but with Quicksilver's constant pacing, even being able to see the television at all seemed impossible.
"Ugh! We get it, Pietro!" Wanda shouted. "You're upset that there's another speedster in the neighborhood! Oh well! You didn't really think that you're the only mutant in the whole world with super speed, did you?!" She crossed her arms over her chest and scowled towards her brother.
"It's not just because he's fast, Wanda. It's because this… this mere child is disrupting the balance here!" Pietro's arms were flailing wildly and his voice was getting higher with every word.
"Pietro," Lance began, his hand on his forehead, "you do realize that this guy isn't that much younger than you, right?"
"That's not the point! The point is that this guy is a true threat to my authority in this town, and I need to show him who's boss!" Pietro stomped his foot and put his hands on his hips, sticking his chest out proudly. He then turned on his heel and stomped out of the room.
Lance shook his head and turned to Wanda. "There's no getting through to that guy, is there?"
"I'm afraid not," Wanda sighed, and sank into the couch.
…
[Day of the Race. 1:50 pm]
Kid Flash and his Team stood suited up in the front yard of the X-Mansion, awaiting the arrival of Quicksilver. The X-Men were lazily leaning against the building, most of them clad in their normal clothing, half of them still in pajamas. Some of them hadn't even bothered to brush their hair yet. Kurt was hanging upside down from a tree by his tail, attempting to gain a little more sleep.
"Why isn't the rest of your team suited up?" Robin asked Cyclops, who happened to be one of the few X-Men prepared in his uniform. "I thought you said these guys were trouble makers. Don't you want to be prepared?"
"It's just the Brotherhood." Kitty Pryde said matter-of-factly. "We can handle them without our uniforms on." She was one of the girls still in her pink pajamas and whose hair was all in disarray.
"Ah, yes. But aren't you forgetting the Scarlet Witch?" Kurt mentioned. His eyes were still closed but he had begun swinging back and forth slightly from the bough of the tree.
"Even with Wanda, I think we're tough enough to handle them." Kitty retorted.
Kurt shrugged, then went back to dozing.
Kid Flash had gone off to a corner to stretch, taking every precaution so that he could defeat this Quicksilver guy. According to the X-Men, this guy was fast, so he wanted to be sure he was prepared. "I don't even know why I'm taking this so seriously," he thought to himself. Maybe it was one of those teenage boy pride things.
"Either way, it's still unprofessional to face your opponents in your pajamas." Robin stated, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
Scott, who stood straight and proud, prepared for anything, just shrugged.
Another few minutes passed in an odd silence. Kurt continued absently swinging back and forth from the tree branch as he snoozed. Then his sensitive pointy ears picked up a faint sound up the street, waking him from his catnap. His eyes lazily slid open before he teleported up to the roof of the Institute to get a better view. The sight he saw confirmed his suspicions.
"Hey, guys! They're here!" he shouted.
Instantly the rest of the group jolted awake and gathered near the gate to meet the Brotherhood. Pietro stood front and center, dressed in his Quicksilver costume. Wanda was standing on his left and Lance on his right, both looking equally bored and not wanting to be there. Fred stood behind them with Toad on his shoulder. Aside from Pietro, they were all dressed in their street clothes.
Pietro strode through the gate with an evident swagger, stopping in front of the huddled group of heroes. Wally stood at the front of this group with his chest stuck proudly out and an excited grin plastered across his face. They would never admit it, but both speedsters' hearts were hammering a bit harder and faster in their chests. Pietro struggled not to think about it, seeing as how he was in the presence of telepaths, but he was actually nervous about this race with Kid Flash. What if the unthinkable happened? What…what if he lost? What would happen to his reputation? What would the rest of the Brotherhood think him? What would his father think of him?
…What would he think of himself?
"No," he forced himself to think. He pushed those thoughts away, shoving new ones on his mind. "I can't think that way. I have nothing to fear. This is nothing. This is just simply showing some silly upstart teenager who's boss."
Wally stepped forward, hands resting idly on his hips. He had a kind smile plastered to his face. "So are we ready to get this show on the road?" he asked awkwardly.
Quicksilver, careful to keep up his visage of confidence and haughtiness, looked him up and down judging manner. "So here's how this will work." He held out his hand and Wanda exasperatedly placed a rolled up paper in it. He then snapped his fingers and Lance rolled his eyes before taking the paper and unrolling it, holding it up for the group to see. "The course will start here," Pietro stated, pointing to a picture of the Institute on the paper, which in fact was a map of Bayville. "It will continue out and run the perimeter of the town, then run halfway around it again before cutting in directly through the middle of town, making a straight shot for the X-Geek house." He had traced the entire path over the map with his finger.
"Ok, so what's the catch?" Evan asked.
"No catch, Daniels. Just a simple foot race. First one across the finish line wins. Although, I might recommend a motion activated camera or something, 'cause you're not gonna be able to see me cross that finish line with the naked eye." He pointed to his eye for emphasis.
"No, I know you, Maximoff. There's always a catch." Evan clenched his jaw, clearly not enjoying this conversation. "So spill it now and keep this fair, or you'll regret it later."
"Ooh, is that a threat I hear? Like I said, no catch. That I'm aware of, that is. Is there something you're trying to warn me of, Pin Cushion?"
"Pietro, knock it off," Wanda warned. "Listen, guys, for once, Pietro's not being a sniveling little cheat. He's actually sincere; this is just a simple foot race. None of us are in on any sort of scheme or whatever."
"She's telling the truth," Jean spoke up. She too had opted to wear her X-Men uniform that morning. "I've checked both of them out. There's nothing going on."
Evan shot one last glare at his silvery-haired former rival before stalking off back into the crowd.
After a few more looks were shared and telepathic messages exchanged, both speedsters lined up at the front gate of the Xavier Institute. They set themselves into a stance, ready to run. Jubilee stood in front of them, prepared to be their shotgun start.
"On your mark!" she shouted, her hands beginning to glow. "Get set!" She raised her hands above her head.
"Wait!" Pietro called, rising from his stance.
Beside him, Wally flinched, almost taking off. Luckily, though, he hadn't. He stood and turned toward his competition. "What now, Quicksilver?"
"I almost forgot!" He pulled something from his costume's pocket, ("There are pockets in that thing?" Wally thought absently) and handed the thin, plastic, black and white checkered tape to Robin. "Tie this across the gate so I can break it when I win."
Robin took the tape with a muttered, "Whatever."
"Are you ready now?" Wally asked, impatiently tapping his foot.
"Yes, I am," Pietro said smugly. The boys took their stances again.
Jubilee rolled her eyes. "On your mark!" her hands began glowing again. "Get set!" Again she raised her hands above her head. "GO!" she shouted, shooting her 'fireworks' into the sky for a shotgun start.
The boys took off the instant the words left her lips, leaving nothing but a cloud of smoke behind and sliver and orange streaks in their wake.
A/N: I guess not a whole lot happened, but I felt it was necessary (I don't know if you feel the same way). This was originally just going to be a two-shot, but I wanted to write the race itself fairly long, and that would make this chapter well over to double what it is, so I'll just put it in the next chappie :)
Also: Summart has been changed because is being wierd with the punctuation. (I'm typing it in right, but it's not showing up correct for some reason.)