Memories
Super-Speed Dating
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Curt grinned as he gripped Speed's shoulders.
"Now, just relax. Seriously, Noriko's epic. Just be calm and try not to act too like your normal obnoxious self. I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"
"Why am I taking dating advice from the guy who dates a vampire?"
"Because you totally, epically failed when trying to go out with Kate. Try not to mess this one up."
"Thanks, Curt. You are so good at calming my nerves. Not. Also, who wants to slow down and go on a date?"
Curt smirked.
"Funny thing you should say that…"
Suddenly two streaks shot across the park. They skidded to a halt and resolved into two girls. Jubilee grinned.
"Speed, Surge. Surge, Speed. Tommy, Noriko. Noriko, Tommy. Great, everyone knows each other and since the only one here without super-speed is Curt, last one to the fast food joint at the other end of the park pays."
The vampire and the two mutants with super-speed powers shot off. Only to find Curt leaning against the wall outside, smirking.
"Okay, how did you do that?"
Curt laughed.
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Come on! That's impossible. Tommy can run halfway around the world in a minute and a half. Surge and I got from Utopia to here in ten minutes. Explain."
Curt smirked.
"I walked."
And then he grinned.
"Jubes, you're paying."
She shook her head.
"No I'm not. First one there pays."
"That wasn't the deal!"
Speed grinned.
"It was. We had a super-speed conference, didn't we, Noriko?"
Surge grinned at him.
"Totally. Also, Curt's parents are loaded, and my allowance was stopped by the X-Men for accidentally-on-purpose overloading Cyclops' shaving socket. Whilst he was shaving. It was epic. Apparently, Magneto ended up lending him a razor."
Speed raised a hand for a high five.
"That is so cool! You actually got Cyclops?"
"Yeah. But Ms Frost caught me thinking about it. So they stopped my allowance."
Curt grinned.
"Okay. I'll pay for Jubilee 'cause she's my girlfriend and for Noriko because she pranked Cyclops. Go on, Tommy. Impress me."
Speed grinned, vanished then came back.
"In two minutes, a box of fireworks will go off under Tony Stark's bed in Avengers Tower."
Curt let out a quick bark of laughter.
"Okay, food's on me."
They were sitting eating, laughing a lot. Jubilee refused to buy anything and simply resorted to stealing food from Curt and biting tomato sauce sachets. Surge grinned when Jubilee slurped her way through her third.
"Bet you're wishing they were blood pouches, aren't you?"
Jubilee nodded.
"Yeah. I mean, everything tastes better when you're a vampire but nothing tastes like blood. Do you know how much self-control I'm having to exert here? Crowds are the worst. So many people… So much blood… But it's okay. I've got a handle on it and if it comes to it, I always carry a small syringe of Logan's blood around. If it gets too bad, I inject myself and that's like a huge boost. The healing factor keeps it alive, see? It's like I'm getting it right from the neck."
Curt stopped twirling his straw.
"Do you ever want your powers back? You know, to be able to paff people again?"
Jubilee dropped her head.
"Yeah. I miss it. I mean, you know what it's like. And Speed, imagine what it'd be like if you couldn't run anymore. If everything was slow."
"Sounds dreadful."
"It was. To begin with. It's better now. Not so terribly empty. But Curt and I are lucky. We got another set of powers, even if they come at a price."
"What price?"
Jubilee smiled sadly.
"I have to shove this little voice down all the time that tries to make me see you all as walking bloodbanks. I'll always have to be careful about going out in the sun, just in case Tora's blocks fail. I'll never be able to hide in places of worship. And Curt needs an active source of phenethylamine or the symbiote will start to eat his brain. It won't even mean to. It'll just consume it."
Curt lowered his head.
"I got repowered."
Jubilee dropped her tomato sauce sachet and Tommy took the opportunity to steal some of Curt's fries.
"What?! When?! Why didn't you tell us?!"
"I only just found out. I've been repowered for a while… Ever since Iron Lad took me through the time stream. Jubes, I'm chronokinetic."
Surge let out a little "Ahh" of understanding. Speed wrinkled his nose.
"What's 'chronokinetic'?"
"You know what kinetic means?"
"Yeah. Like controlling stuff. Like telekinesis or electrokinesis or geokinesis or thermokinesis…"
Surge nodded.
"I'm electrokinetic."
Curt gulped.
"Chrono comes from the Greek Titan Cronus. The god of Time."
"You control time! That is so cool! Listen, can we go back in time a week and stop me from walking in on Billy and Teddy making out! That was just awkward!"
Curt shook his head.
"I'm still learning to control it. Although I am at liberty to divulge that time is doughnut-shaped."
There was a moments silence then all four teenagers started giggling uncontrollably. Jubilee suddenly stopped.
"You mean that? You could repower me?"
"Yeah. I think I could. I'll just have to twitch the doughnut back or forward until you get your powers back. Forward is probably better. You're a vampire so you shouldn't age. I hope…"
"When can we do this?!"
She sounded eager and excited. Curt shrugged.
"Later. I don't really want to do it in a public place. It could go terribly wrong. If it does, I apologise in advance but you're a vampire, so almost impossible to kill."
They sat in silence for a moment then Surge slurped her drink nosily and everyone started snickering. They continued eating and chatting. And then there was a huge squeal. They whipped around to see three girls who looked like they were about to explode with excitement.
"Are you Speed? That is so cool!"
Tommy leant back looking smug.
"Yeah."
"And that's Jubilee! Oh you are so cool! I used to pretend I was you all the time! You are so lucky! You've been a superhero since you were –what, thirteen! I'd do anything to do that!"
Jubilee shook her head.
"It's not all it's cracked up to be."
"And you're Surge, aren't you! The Young X-Man!"
"It's the blue hair, isn't it? And the gloves. That always gives it away."
Curt sat there waiting for the girls to notice him. They didn't. Curse of a full-face mask. They were gabbling happily but he noticed the forced smile on Surge's face and Jubilee mouthing 'Not food, not food' over and over again.
"Hey, Dad's given me permission to invite you lot around to our place. Seriously, you should check out the training rooms. And I can show you how I got here before you lot. I mean, I won't be able to run across water like you can but I can make you all look super-slow, even when you're running as fast as you can. And there's a kid at the school who has the latest Shi'ar games console. It's telepathic VR."
The girls turned to him and stared for a long moment, not looking at all impressed.
"And who are you?"
Curt grinned.
"Curt Logan. Poison. Wolverine's kid. Xixy still calls me Xixswaldraster, Bond-Prince of the K'Meeri Empire, which I use to taunt Kid Gladiator."
And then he sauntered off to pay, looking incredibly smug. Speed made a dissatisfied noise.
"And he calls me big-headed…"
Phoenix raised an eyebrow.
"So that's what he spent his teenage years doing? Matchmaking his friends?"
"Admit it. He was at least better at spotting a potential match than you were."
"We agreed never to talk about me trying to set you up with Luke Cage."
"You said it, not me."
"I officially hate you."