The lockers made for a decent haul, only made better by framing Evan for the break in. He thought to use his power against me, but he only managed to trap himself. So confused he was, too, he just didn't get it.
"But why would you want to rip me off?"
"For kicks man. For the challenge. Look, when you live as fast as I do, there aren't enough things to occupy my time. I gotta entertain myself. And you thought you could stop me well, NYEH! Wrong again!"
I heard sirens coming, and then I bailed on him.
He was caught red handed.
*^*^*^*^*
Being a criminal caught in the act doesn't look good on a school record, so he was expelled about two minutes after the coach kicked him off the team.
Good riddance!
Or so I thought.
I guess that somewhere along the line, I kinda started to like having him around because he gave me competition. No one except Evan was a good rival; everyone else was too slow on the court or too slow-witted in conversation.
Basketball games kept me occupied, but a couple of months after I had framed Evan, the schedule got kind of weird. Instead of playing the next school on the play list, our principal called an emergency game with Bayville High, even though it was two school districts over.
'Emergency Basketball Game'? What is that? I've never heard of any emergency basketball games, and even if there were something like that, it wouldn't have been with a school that far away.
Something weird was going on here.
That's what the rest of the guys on our team thought, and I agreed. The trip was kinda long (read: boring!), but when the school came into view, I was actually impressed. It looked nice and new...a school for rich kids. Where there are rich kids, there's always money.
I made a mental note to do a locker sweep at half time.
Besides, rent was due. It wasn't as if I was hurting anyone, not really. Like any of these kids would even miss $20? No way, their rich daddies would just refill their pockets the next day.
I expected to find some nice watches, cash, maybe some jewelry I could pawn off or just sell on the street... but I certainly hadn't been expecting to find Evan there in the parking lot.
He almost looked like he was waiting for me, probably gunning for revenge or whatever. He wasn't alone. He made friends with some upperclassmen; did he think that scared me?
Forget the game, forget the lockers, it was time for some real action! Evan had gained better control of his spikes, but even going at top speed on that skateboard he didn't even come close to me.
I had given him just a taste of my power at the school, now he would see what I could really do!
Instantly, I was in my costume. I had made it on the day I framed him, only took me a quarter of a second, and it didn't look half bad. Light blue and white, with some lightweight armor on the chest and shoulders just in case I ever got careless and someone got lucky with a bullet or something.
My father, who called himself Magneto, had a similar costume. Different colors and his came with a matching helmet and cape. Not on mine, they would have slowed me down by .00000000001 of a second! I didn't even really need a costume, I could go just as fast in my normal clothes...but if father had one...
Anyway, I ran down the street at only half speed, and I was still blowing cars away! Evan was trying to chase me, but he could never catch up; I was even teasing him and his friends, who had all somehow gotten into coordinated costumes. Weird, but I wasn't too worried. Not even when I saw that they had powers too. It would certainly make this night more interesting. In fact, I teased them.
"Come on Shades! You can't hit me! I'm to fast. You can hit me, can ya?!"
Father had been telling me the truth all along: there were more mutants in the world than we knew about, and here was the proof.
The girl had lifted me off the ground; obviously I can't run if I have nothing to run on. However, over the years I had found that my mutation for being able to go super fast was not just restricted to my running. At school I could think twice as fast as the other kids, I also talk faster than most of my friends. And of course, there was always...
"Hold onto this, baby! It's Twister Time!"
I started twisting as fast as possible, until I built up enough force and she had to let me go. For a few moments, I was free.
The twister trick is kinda hard to pull off, but I had stayed up in the air for longer than usual.
Then I saw a bright red light and the next thing I know, I was spiked to a brick wall! I was surprised, and a little nervous now. I don't like to be made helpless like that, I'm sure that no one does.
"I can't get loose! I can't get loose!"
Yep, for all my speed, I wasn't strong enough to get free. It really sucked.
Evan and his friends had a fun time watching me squirm.
"Yeah, what good's it do you, Daniels? You still can't prove I had anything to do with gettin' ya in trouble, can ya?" I mocked, thinking nothing of consequences for what I had said earlier.
Then...
"No, but you just did. I've got it right here on tape."
Aw, man!
*^*^*^*
Double Damn!
Evan and his friends left me to the cops, who shoved me into their car. Next thing I know, I'm in jail. Like I said, I hate being confined.
"Hey. Hey! Hey, let me go! Hey! Hey! You gotta let me outta here! I want outta here!"
There was a cop working at his desk down the hall. He was, of course, ignoring me. While he was in the office area, drinking coffee and watching TV, here I was going nuts in a prison cell. It wasn't fair! I'm faster and more destructive than Evan, I'm smarter too. Man, if it was just me and him-none of his friends around- I would have wiped the floor with him!
But no, he just had to go and spill his guts to the whole mutant population at his new school, and they triple time attacked me!
What a loser!
I mean, I might have been the one in jail, but at least I could handle my own fights.
I heard the cop's TV turn off, and then I felt a shadow.
"Wha-you?"
The moving shadow stepped forward, and came into the light.
It was my father!
"It is good to see you again Pietro. Even under such distressing circumstances."
His voice sounded about the same: calm, in control, not worried about a thing. He looked just like his picture, too. The costume, the cape, the helmet, everything! I don't like to admit stuff, but I was actually glad to see him. I had run away when I was just a stupid little kid, and then I couldn't find my way back. I had missed him a lot when I was put in the foster homes.
But now, he was right there, in person for the first time in over six years! My child's heart called out to him, "Dad, please take me home!"
But it came out as, "Yeah, well, you could make them a lot less distressing you know. Come on, hustle it up!"
Probably not the best way to greet your estranged father who was offering to bust you out of jail, but he didn't seem to mind. He actually smiled a little as he bent the prison bars for me.
I took his hand, and then things began to change.
I wish that I could say that it was all for the better.
"But why would you want to rip me off?"
"For kicks man. For the challenge. Look, when you live as fast as I do, there aren't enough things to occupy my time. I gotta entertain myself. And you thought you could stop me well, NYEH! Wrong again!"
I heard sirens coming, and then I bailed on him.
He was caught red handed.
*^*^*^*^*
Being a criminal caught in the act doesn't look good on a school record, so he was expelled about two minutes after the coach kicked him off the team.
Good riddance!
Or so I thought.
I guess that somewhere along the line, I kinda started to like having him around because he gave me competition. No one except Evan was a good rival; everyone else was too slow on the court or too slow-witted in conversation.
Basketball games kept me occupied, but a couple of months after I had framed Evan, the schedule got kind of weird. Instead of playing the next school on the play list, our principal called an emergency game with Bayville High, even though it was two school districts over.
'Emergency Basketball Game'? What is that? I've never heard of any emergency basketball games, and even if there were something like that, it wouldn't have been with a school that far away.
Something weird was going on here.
That's what the rest of the guys on our team thought, and I agreed. The trip was kinda long (read: boring!), but when the school came into view, I was actually impressed. It looked nice and new...a school for rich kids. Where there are rich kids, there's always money.
I made a mental note to do a locker sweep at half time.
Besides, rent was due. It wasn't as if I was hurting anyone, not really. Like any of these kids would even miss $20? No way, their rich daddies would just refill their pockets the next day.
I expected to find some nice watches, cash, maybe some jewelry I could pawn off or just sell on the street... but I certainly hadn't been expecting to find Evan there in the parking lot.
He almost looked like he was waiting for me, probably gunning for revenge or whatever. He wasn't alone. He made friends with some upperclassmen; did he think that scared me?
Forget the game, forget the lockers, it was time for some real action! Evan had gained better control of his spikes, but even going at top speed on that skateboard he didn't even come close to me.
I had given him just a taste of my power at the school, now he would see what I could really do!
Instantly, I was in my costume. I had made it on the day I framed him, only took me a quarter of a second, and it didn't look half bad. Light blue and white, with some lightweight armor on the chest and shoulders just in case I ever got careless and someone got lucky with a bullet or something.
My father, who called himself Magneto, had a similar costume. Different colors and his came with a matching helmet and cape. Not on mine, they would have slowed me down by .00000000001 of a second! I didn't even really need a costume, I could go just as fast in my normal clothes...but if father had one...
Anyway, I ran down the street at only half speed, and I was still blowing cars away! Evan was trying to chase me, but he could never catch up; I was even teasing him and his friends, who had all somehow gotten into coordinated costumes. Weird, but I wasn't too worried. Not even when I saw that they had powers too. It would certainly make this night more interesting. In fact, I teased them.
"Come on Shades! You can't hit me! I'm to fast. You can hit me, can ya?!"
Father had been telling me the truth all along: there were more mutants in the world than we knew about, and here was the proof.
The girl had lifted me off the ground; obviously I can't run if I have nothing to run on. However, over the years I had found that my mutation for being able to go super fast was not just restricted to my running. At school I could think twice as fast as the other kids, I also talk faster than most of my friends. And of course, there was always...
"Hold onto this, baby! It's Twister Time!"
I started twisting as fast as possible, until I built up enough force and she had to let me go. For a few moments, I was free.
The twister trick is kinda hard to pull off, but I had stayed up in the air for longer than usual.
Then I saw a bright red light and the next thing I know, I was spiked to a brick wall! I was surprised, and a little nervous now. I don't like to be made helpless like that, I'm sure that no one does.
"I can't get loose! I can't get loose!"
Yep, for all my speed, I wasn't strong enough to get free. It really sucked.
Evan and his friends had a fun time watching me squirm.
"Yeah, what good's it do you, Daniels? You still can't prove I had anything to do with gettin' ya in trouble, can ya?" I mocked, thinking nothing of consequences for what I had said earlier.
Then...
"No, but you just did. I've got it right here on tape."
Aw, man!
*^*^*^*
Double Damn!
Evan and his friends left me to the cops, who shoved me into their car. Next thing I know, I'm in jail. Like I said, I hate being confined.
"Hey. Hey! Hey, let me go! Hey! Hey! You gotta let me outta here! I want outta here!"
There was a cop working at his desk down the hall. He was, of course, ignoring me. While he was in the office area, drinking coffee and watching TV, here I was going nuts in a prison cell. It wasn't fair! I'm faster and more destructive than Evan, I'm smarter too. Man, if it was just me and him-none of his friends around- I would have wiped the floor with him!
But no, he just had to go and spill his guts to the whole mutant population at his new school, and they triple time attacked me!
What a loser!
I mean, I might have been the one in jail, but at least I could handle my own fights.
I heard the cop's TV turn off, and then I felt a shadow.
"Wha-you?"
The moving shadow stepped forward, and came into the light.
It was my father!
"It is good to see you again Pietro. Even under such distressing circumstances."
His voice sounded about the same: calm, in control, not worried about a thing. He looked just like his picture, too. The costume, the cape, the helmet, everything! I don't like to admit stuff, but I was actually glad to see him. I had run away when I was just a stupid little kid, and then I couldn't find my way back. I had missed him a lot when I was put in the foster homes.
But now, he was right there, in person for the first time in over six years! My child's heart called out to him, "Dad, please take me home!"
But it came out as, "Yeah, well, you could make them a lot less distressing you know. Come on, hustle it up!"
Probably not the best way to greet your estranged father who was offering to bust you out of jail, but he didn't seem to mind. He actually smiled a little as he bent the prison bars for me.
I took his hand, and then things began to change.
I wish that I could say that it was all for the better.
