Peter's alarm went off at four thirty and he arose with a shout that probably woke up the entire mansion. Not really caring who he woke up, Peter raced outside to the running track, much too excited to sleep any longer and not really needing to, anyway. How was he supposed to? In only . . . !five minutes! he was going to train with his father. Maybe today, he could tell him. Maybe he could finally tell Erik the truth. Maybe the time had finally come. He vaguely wondered how Erik would react. Would it be surprise? Joy? Complete disbelief?
Peter's head shot up as the mansion door opened and out walked Erik in grey sweats. Erik glanced over to where Peter stood, not even seeming surprised to see that Peter was already there and waiting for him. Peter was next to Erik in an instant, and he rested an elbow on Erik's shoulder.
"So, Magnet, what are we going to do for training?" Peter asked. "You can't actually tell me that we're going to race, right? I could beat you with two broken legs. You and I both know that."
Erik didn't say anything. Instead, he faced east. "You like sunrises, Peter?"
Peter blinked. "Uh, sure. I guess." What did that have to do with anything?
"Good. Because when that sun rises"—Erik pointed to the eastern trees in the distance—"I want you to start running."
Peter frowned. "All right."
Erik turned to Peter. "You're going to try outrunning the sun."
Peter blinked several times, barely understanding. Sure, he could run fast, really fast, but sunlight, heck, light itself, moved one hundred eighty six thousand miles a second. That was insane. He raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"
Erik looked at Peter again. "Can't you do it, Quicksilver?"
Peter frowned, then smirked over at Erik. "I would say watch, but you won't see me. When do you want me to go?"
Erik made a mark on the running track using the sole of his shoe. "When the light passes this point, start running."
"You got it." Peter took a runner's starting position as he waited for the sun's rays to hit the point specified. "So, Magnet, what'd you do after you left here last month? Where'd you live? What did you do? Why'd you come back?"
Erik watched the sun's rays peak over the tops of the trees. "I stayed a bit in Poland. I improved my abilities to wield metal. That's none of your business. Get ready now, the sun's starting to rise."
Peter was quite aware that Erik hadn't answered his third question. It didn't matter much, though. He'd already gotten that information some four weeks' previously. It was all right. Besides, he'd earn his father's trust eventually.
Maybe after he told him that he was his son . . .
"Go."
Peter blinked and took off, forgetting his thoughts and focusing all his concentration on his task. He had to do this; had to show Erik what the name Quicksilver really meant. But was it even possible for him to outrun the sun? For a moment, Peter hoped that it was. Then Peter saw the sun start to creep past him at faster and faster intervals, almost mocking him with its speed.
He hadn't run this fast ever, and as the sun fluidly raced ahead of him, Peter held back a groan of frustration. Could he really beat something that traveled seven times faster than himself? Was it possible? No, it had to be! He had to do this! There was no going back or giving up! He needed to prove to Erik that this was something he could do!
He had to try!
Peter threw himself entirely into his running, wanting nothing else than to prove Erik . . . wrong? Right? He was the Quicksilver; that, Peter knew. Now it was all or nothing. There was no in-between. Peter stretched his body to the limit, feeling as though he were dying. But then, way off in the distance like a beacon, Peter saw the edge of the sunlight. He was actually catching it! He was doing it!
Right at the point that the sunlight seemed to freeze, something in Peter's body gave out. His speed stopped abruptly, and Peter collapsed to the ground, nearly passing out from exhaustion. He'd never been this tired. Ever in his life. Not even when he'd seen how many times he could run around the world in ten seconds. Nope, that didn't even come close.
Sitting back and still catching his breath, Peter was quite glad that his body had given out on actual ground and not the Pacific Ocean. Man, was he thirsty . . .
Maybe this was what normal people felt like. Walking and staggering around from exhaustion. It was foreign to Peter. Being tired from running. But he must've done something incredible, because his body was punishing him at that moment. What were these sore, twitching muscles? What was this pain in his chest? What was this heaving breath?
He had to get back to the mansion. Peter oriented himself using the sun and took off toward the mansion, but it still took him a full sixty seconds to make it back to New York. Man, how tired was he?
Barely had he made it to the mansion's steps before Peter sat down, still catching his breath. He looked up as Erik walked over to him and handed him a water bottle. Peter, nodding, took the bottle and downed the entire thing in a second, thankful for water. Water was the best.
"Did you outrun the sun?" Erik asked.
"Yeah, I actually did it," Peter panted, coughing around his water bottle. "Just for a millisecond, I saw the sunlight freeze."
Erik nodded, and he clapped Peter on the back. "Good job."
Peter grinned through his tiredness, and Erik actually went back into the mansion and got Peter two more bottles of water.
"Thanks," Peter said, opening a fourth bottle. "You sure you don't want some?"
"You need it more than I do, Peter."
Peter drank it in a second, then stood up and stretched. "Well, that was the hardest thing I've ever done."
Erik nodded. "Charles did the same thing to me. He had me move that satellite."
Peter glanced over to where Erik was pointing, his mouth dropping open in shock. "You moved that thing?"
"And you outran the sun," Erik said. "Looks like we've both accomplished something we thought we couldn't do."
"And now you're lifting submarines and pulling metal from the ground," Peter said.
"Soon you might be able to outrun the sun without even breaking a sweat," Erik said.
"But for now I'll just nearly die doing it," Peter said, now fully recovered from his feat.
Erik pulled a handgun out of his pocket and tossed it to Peter. "My turn to train. Shoot me."
Peter, having seen firsthand how adept his father was at bending metal back when they were up against Apocalypse, didn't even pause before he lifted the gun and began shooting rapid-fire at his father. Erik, his eyes widening briefly, shot up his hand to stop each bullet that came near him. "You didn't go easy on me," Peter said, zipping behind Erik and shooting at him again. "So I won't on you."
In less than a second, the clip was emptied, and Peter raced into the mansion to get more ammunition. Then he was back and again shooting the handgun he held. Erik stopped every single bullet that came near him, and after a few more seconds, Peter realized that this wasn't a challenge for Erik and threw the gun down on the ground.
"What's up, Peter?" Erik asked.
"This is too easy for you, Magnet," Peter said. "You can lift a submarine! You think a couple dozen bullets going a few hundred feet per second will actually be a challenge?"
"It was certainly startling," Erik said.
"You need a harder challenge." Suddenly, an idea came to Peter. He zipped back into the mansion and found a bulletproof vest in the danger room. Placing it onto his body, Peter returned to stand in front of Erik. "All right, Magnet. Now I've got a challenge for you."
Erik folded his arms and raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
"Pull me toward you."
Erik's eyes sparked in interest, then he lifted both hands and began pulling Peter toward him. Peter, feeling the bulletproof vest he wore dragging him toward Erik, started to use his own mutant powers to back up. Peter held himself in place, smirking over at Erik. "You didn't think I would go easy on you, did you, Magnet?"
"I assumed you would be a better training partner than Charles," Erik said, his voice strained as he continued trying pull Peter forward. "It's also good that you're not a cripple."
Peter laughed briefly. "Yup, this is the hardest game of tug-of-war in the world," he said, still remaining stationary. "Come on, Magnet. Win."
The pull on Peter's body intensified, and he was surprised to see his feet sliding forward a bit. Turning around, Peter faced himself away from Erik and began to run properly, surprised that he'd been forced into actually running. Maybe Erik was stronger than he thought.
Suddenly, the pull on his body tripled, and Peter had to begin running at full speed to prevent himself from sliding backwards. How could Erik actually put up that much of a fight? Peter felt his feet beginning to slide backwards, and he was astonished when Erik's powers finally won out against his own.
As Peter was pulled backward and tumbled to the ground, he blamed his loss on his exhaustion over outrunning the sun. Yeah, that had to be it. Glancing up at Erik, Peter gave his father a thumbs-up. "Hey, Lehn, awesome. You did it!"
