Tommy and David were walking down a street in New York, enjoying the summer weather, just as an alarm at the jewellery store they were passing went off. The thieves had instantly been tied up, and the stolen goods had been placed on the counter before anyone knew what happened. David looked at the store, then back at Tommy and said, "You did that. Right?" Tommy smiled, not saying anything as the two of them kept walking.
The two made their way to central park, buying slices of pizza and sitting on a bench to eat, David had asked Tommy something that's been on his mind since the two first met. "I've always wondered what it's like to have super speed. What's it like anyway?" Smiling at his boyfriend Tommy replied "Some days, it's the greatest feeling in the world, just being able to run, nobody testing me, or telling me were I need to go, not being confined to a small cell like when I was at juvie."
Tommy didn't like talking much about the time he'd spent in the detention facility; too claustrophobic was how he'd put it. "Some days, I wish I didn't have any of my powers." This slightly confused David as Tommy continued, "Last time I checked, my top speed was 761 miles per hour. There are a lot of drawbacks to moving at this speed; there are only a few people who can keep up with me, let alone pass me. My accelerated metabolism means that, on the bright side, drugs and alcohol are not a problem. Add to that, it's not the kind of power you can just turn on and off at will. I need to focus on what people are saying and occasionally slow down my speech for others to understand me."
"I'm sorry, Tommy. I didn't realise what it was like for you." David said, resting a hand on Tommy's shoulder. "It's okay; if anything, most of what I have to do is think about my situation, like, what surface am I on, the direction I'm going, wind speed, current weather, am I carrying anything, what's between me and my destination, and I could go on. It's just something you have to experience to fully understand." The two leant in close, kissing before going back to eating and beginning to talk about some band they both liked. They acted like two normal people without powers.
Back on Krakoa, David was lying around in his room, looking up at the ceiling, thinking about things Tommy had mentioned, like how at times he wished he didn't have his powers and how super speed is one of the things that needs to be experienced to fully understand. David thought about asking Northstar or Quicksilver what Tommy meant, but figured that they would say the same thing about fully understanding their speed. He picked up his phone, strolling through his contacts. He called Billy, thinking that after a small mishap that caused the brothers to switch powers, Billy would probably be the best person to ask. "What was it like with Tommy's powers? Torture, exhausting, and very bright." Billy replied. "Tommy said it took a while to adjust to his speed." They had never really questioned his abilities or potential.
The next morning, Billy, Teddy, and David met up at a coffee shop. Billy and David had decided to see what Tommy's speed was like. Billy would use his magic to make the three of them as fast as Tommy. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Teddy asked. "You said it yourself; when you were moving at that speed, you almost exploded." The other two looked at each other. "We'll be careful, and we can ask any of the speedsters we know for advice." David pointed it out. "Yeah, and I can always use my magic to stop us from exploding and to slow us down." Billy added, and Teddy rolled his eyes. He knew the two of them had talked about this at length, agreeing to the plan that his husband and friend came up with.
Billy closed his eyes, repeating the phrase "MakeusasfastasTommy,MakeusasfastasTommy" over and over again. Around them, everything seemed to slow down. When Billy opened his eyes, he looked around to see everyone except the three of them frozen. They walked around the city, saying, "This is what Tommy sees." Billy said this as he was walking around, looking at the people frozen in place. David replied, "I see what you meant when you said it's very bright." "Okay, so now that we have super speed, what are we going to do?" Teddy asked.
In truth, David and Billy were not sure what to do, as neither of them had fully considered what they would do with the kind of speed Tommy has; they were not as impulsive as him, nor did they have the same mischievous side. "Maybe we should go talk to him and see what he does at this speed." David suggested, "Yeah, I'll teleport us there." Billy replied, closing his eyes and repeating the phase. "TakeustoTommy,TakeustoTommy." only for nothing to happen. Confused, Billy tries another spell to make them fly, only this time it fills differently than normal, almost like they were in space with no gravity, unable to get a grip on anything. Billy cancelled the spell, and Teddy just uses his wings to fly them to Tommy's place.
Tommy quickly answered the door when he heard someone knocking on the front door rapidly. Expecting to see another speedster, he was shocked to see his reincarnated brother, brother-in-law, and boyfriend all standing at his door, moving at his pace. Thinking there was an emergency that somehow left them moving as fast as they were, he asked them to explain, and they told him their idea. "I appreciate the gesture, but I think you didn't need to go this far to understand my powers." Tommy said, smiling and holding back his laughter. "What do you do at this speed anyway?" Teddy asked, looking at the nearly frozen Master Pandemonium.
The four went up to Tommy's room, continuing their conversation. Tommy told them, "I try to keep busy, between the whole superhero thing, a couple of jobs, anything really, but mostly just trying to stay focused on conversations with people." The three new speedsters were confused as to what Tommy meant and why staying focused on conversations was important to him. To help them understand, he just put on some random movie he had on a streaming service on his TV. The scene shows a couple in a bar talking to each other.
"HHHHeeeeeyyyyy, aaaarrrreeee yyyyoooouuuu aaaaalllllllrrrrrriiiiiggggghhhhhhtttttt oooovvvveeeerrrr ttttthhhheeeeerrrrreeee?" asked the man in the suit, asking the woman across from him, "YYYYeeeeaaaahhhh, jjjjjuuuusssstttt tttthhhhiiiinnnnkkkkiiiinnnngggg aaaabbbboooouuuutttt wwwwhhhhaaaattttt hhhhaaaappppppppeeeennnneeeeddddd." The woman looked around slowly, making sure no one was listening, before continuing, "AAAArrrreeee yyyyoooouuuu ssssuuuuurrrrreeee nnnnoooobbbbooooddddyyyy ccccaaaannnn lllliiiinnnnkkkk uuuussss ttttoooo tttthhhheeee ccccrrrriiiimmmmeeee?"
The three looked at each other, then at Tommy, then at the TV, and then back at Tommy. Billy broke the silence by asking, "What was that? Why do you have it set to slow?" "It's not slow; you're speedsters, remember," Tommy pointed out. "This is set at the speed you guys would normally have it on. It just feels longer." He continued, saying, "That must be annoying." David mentioned, "It's not as annoying, at least compared to the times people talk to me like that, thinking I don't understand them." he said before leaving the room and coming back with four extra-large pizzas, handing one to each of them. Normally one or two would be enough for the whole team (minus Tommy), but they didn't realise how hungry they were until they started eating.
"Can you guys go back to your normal speed now? I'm not going to lie; I love talking to other people like this, but you're burning more energy and calories than you would be doing regularly, and when I first got my powers, I accidentally blew up my school. I don't know what problems you guys created before coming over here." Tommy said, and David replied, "I feel completely normal." Teddy and Billy agreed. Tommy just smiled while laughing, saying, "You think you're fine now, but wait until you're back to your regular speed, then tell me you all feel fine." "Okay," Billy said, closing his eyes, raising his hands, and repeating, "Let'sgobacktoourregularspeed." over and over again. Eventually, the world around them started to speed up, at least to them; in reality, they were just slowing down. The three of them felt different but mostly tired—so very, very tired that they ended up passing out right on the floor.
Tommy found the situation humorous yet annoying. He checked their pulses, took some photos to show them later, and left a note before going out to see any damage they may have done. He couldn't find much damage beyond a few dents in cars that vaguely looked like shoe prints. He met up with a few other speedsters in front of the statue of liberty, some faster than him, some slower than him, but they've all had at least one person in their lives curious what it's like to have super speed, even if they already have powers. The group consisted of Quicksilver, Slingshot, Northstar, Aurora, LightSpeed, and Makkari. Tommy told them what his friends did; they, like Tommy, found it funny, but they knew that the three of them had only gotten a glimpse of their power and what they were capable of, as well as their burdens.
They didn't keep these meetings secret or anything; they just found talking to another speedster about their problems easier. They've talked about just about everything, whether it was loss, heartache, or just ways to deal with the constant boredom. They've heard all the good news, the bad news, and stuff that made them laugh (even when they shouldn't). Some days they just ran, not saying anything; other days they'd just find some quiet part of the world to talk; and other times they would just watch people as time passed.
Julie Power, sitting on the stairs, looked at the others, questioning, "How many things have we prevented without people noticing anything was wrong?" They all smiled, with Jeanne-Marie adding to the question, "What about all the people we save without them realising they were in danger?" "I don't know, but probably millions." Quicksilver mentioned, Jean-Paul suggested "More than that if you count everyone they save. Doctors, nurses, paramedics, police officers, firefighters, and good samaritans, I could go on." "This is just the world we live in, whether people realise it or not." Makkari said. As the group think back on the times they've saved someone with their powers.