Thevshi Posted December 14, 2007 Posted December 14, 2007 A yellow streak zipped down the roads of Kingston, a breeze marking its passage through the upper middle class neighborhood. Cheerleading practice had ended an hour ago, and Megan had finished her homework for the next two days and done a few chores, leaving her with nothing to do for the rest of the afternoon. So, she had decided to head out as Velocity for a bit, and see what sort of good she might be able to do. Kingston was a pretty safe part of town, but she figured it never hurt to make a quick run through, you never knew when trouble might pop up. Turning a corner down a main street in one of the commercial areas in Kingston, she saw a teenage boy wearing the blue and white letterman jacket of Kingston Heights High School starting across the crosswalk a couple hundred feet ahead of her just as the light was changing for him to walk. A truck that was almost at the intersection began to accelerate, trying to make it through the light that was turning red, apparently not seeing the boy stepping into the crosswalk. Speeding up, she closed the distance as the boy turned and spotted the oncoming truck, freezing as he saw it. The driver saw the boy, and started slamming on his breaks, but he had too much speed to stop in time. A blur of yellow, Velocity crossed in front of the truck, grabbing a hold of the boy as she passed him, pulling him back towards the sidewalk. Turning as she pulled, and coming to a stop back up on the sidewalk, the boy tripped on the edge of the sidewalk and tumbled into her as she tried to catch him. While she was able to keep him from falling down, he was quite a bit heavier than her, as his Varsity football letterman jacket attested to, and she ended up landing on her ass on the sidewalk. "Ow." She muttered as Steve Anderson, the quarterback of the Kingston Heights Panthers, found himself half lying on the yellow costumed speedster. "Oh, wow!" He managed to get out. "Yeah, well, wait till the light fully changes next time okay?" She said, as he got back to his feet and she was standing back up in the blink of an eye. "And you need to slow down!" She yelled over at the driver of the truck who was still sitting in his now stopped car, a look of panic and shock on his face. Looking back over a Steve, she gave him a smile. "Anyway, glad I was in the area to help. Hope to see you around sometime." She gave him a wink and then was off again to see what else might be going on today.
Mr. Fantastic Posted December 14, 2007 Posted December 14, 2007 The bell rang at school. It was a sound Johnny loathed. This meant that he would be harassed again as soon as he left the building by the Roughnecks, a bunch of sadistic bullies who refused to leave him alone. Buck was the worst of them, he was kind of like their leader. Johnny only recently discovered some of his powers, and it made him feel like a freak. All he wanted was to be normal, to be liked, and not to be picked on. Johnny didn't want anyone to know he was different, and now he was REALLY different. He never used his powers at school, or where people would look at him and possibly call him a freak and make fun of him... He thought maybe if he waited until all the other kids left the school the bullies might think he already left and leave. So he hid in the boys room for a good fifteen to twenty minutes after the bell. Home was not far away from school, even without super-speed, it only was a 10 minute walk. Johnny had plenty of time before he had to be home and driven to his weekly gymnastics class with his little sister. "sigh... gymnastics..." Time to see if the bullies were nearby... Johnny headed to the outside doors, and creaked one of them open a little to see if the bullies were outside waiting for him. *SLAM!* One of them kicked the door Johnny was peeking through. Johnny squeaked as he slid backward across the floor. *HAHAHAHA* The laughter of one of the bullies could be heard from the other side of the door. "FREAK!" one of them yelled. Johnny got up, ran down the hallway and around the corner. He could already hear the bullies coming into the school, probably to give him another "swirlie" in the boys room where he hid last time. Many were laughing and some were throwing verbal barbs at him, but Johnny wasn't paying attention, he was just trying to find a place to hide. Johnny could hear them coming. They were getting closer. He looked at the window by his hiding spot. He frowned, "window barred..." The only place he could find to hide on such short notice was his classroom under the teacher's desk. The door creaked open... He saw the feet of someone approaching. Sweat started dripping down his forehead and he thought he would be sick. Suddenly a hand dropped down and grabbed him. Johnny screamed for help, but the anxiety was too much! He moved faster than he ever moved before. So fast in fact he created a sonic boom from right under the teacher's desk, blowing it apart. The desks in the classroom flew through the air. Some impaled into the walls, one went through the wall, and others were blown apart. God only knows what happened to the person who grabbed him. Johnny didn't know who grabbed him and didn't care. All he cared about was getting safe. He just picked a direction and ran. When he finally felt safe he stopped to take a look at where he was. Kingston? Johnny found himself standing by a mailbox, when he saw Steve Anderson, the quarterback of the Kingston Heights Panthers, the big brother of one of the Roughnecks (Buck). Worried, he ducked behind the mailbox as Steve crossed the street towards him. BAM! In a split second he saw a yellow streak attack Steve, knocking him to the ground. It felt good to see the bully's brother (who used to be a terrible bully when he was younger - probably where Buck learned how to be bad) get slammed onto the sidewalk. This girl moved like Johnny. Fast. Real Fast. He began to think this girl could explain what was going on with him. He suddenly didn't feel alone any more. There was someone just like him. After waving her finger at Steve she began to run off. Johnny followed as fast as he could, desperate not to lose her...
Thevshi Posted December 14, 2007 Author Posted December 14, 2007 Velocity continued on through the area at a leisurely pace, for her anyway, her mind wondering back to having just saved Steve. He was kind of cute, too bad he played for Kingston Heights. Suddenly she skidded to a halt along a block liked with old trees. At the base of one was an elderly woman, calling up into the tree. Zipping over to the woman's side, Velocity looked up the tree to spot a small white cat up on one of the branches. "He stuck up there?" The teen asked, causing the elderly woman to start slightly. "Oh my." She said, then nodded. "Yes, I was just about to call the fire department." "No need to do that, I've got this all under control." Velocity said, as she ran over to the tree trunk, zipping right up and grabbing onto the branch, gracefully flipping over to land on it. She grabbed the cat before it could move away, and then was back down the tree in a flash. "Here you are ma'am." She said, though just as she was holding out the cat she felt its claws dig into her forearm. "Owww." She muttered as she gritted her teeth. "Thank you dear. He just gets a bit nervous sometimes." The elderly woman said as she gently took the cat as Velocity managed to pry its claws out of her arm. "No problem ma'm." The teen heroine replied, and then muttered to herself, "he also needs his claws trimmed. I think he drew blood."
Mr. Fantastic Posted December 14, 2007 Posted December 14, 2007 Johnny followed the yellow streak trying not to get too close, but close enough that he would not lose her. She was really fast! It took a lot of effort just to keep up. She stopped to assist an old woman to get a cat out of a tree. Johnny peeked from behind a car attempting not to get noticed. Johnny patiently waited for her to run off again, ready to follow, trying to find the courage to approach her.
Thevshi Posted December 15, 2007 Author Posted December 15, 2007 Focused as she was on whether or not the elderly lady's cat had caused massive bleeding or not, Velocity did not notice the boy that was hiding behind a nearby car watching her. As the cat's claws had mainly just been painful, she was soon speeding away once more at the leisurely pace of 250 mph. Figuring she had done enough good in Kingston for the afternoon, she started towards Hanover, to see if anything might be going on there before planning to cross over to the North End and maybe work her way towards Midtown or the City Center.
Mr. Fantastic Posted December 15, 2007 Posted December 15, 2007 Johnny followed the yellow streak to what looked like Hanover... He checked his watch and noticed he was running out of time. His parents would be home soon, and he would be dragged to his gymnastics class with his little sister. Overcoming his shyness, he decided to make a move. Johnny sped up right beside the yellow streak, and yelled, "Excuse me Miss!"
Thevshi Posted December 15, 2007 Author Posted December 15, 2007 Velocity was focused on moving around things in her path when suddenly a kid ran up along side her, matching her speed and called out to her. Quote "Excuse me Miss!" The teenage speedster skidded to a halt, a bit surprised that such a young kid could move that fast. "Yes?" She asked, not sure what he might want.
Mr. Fantastic Posted December 15, 2007 Posted December 15, 2007 Johnny stopped and paused for a moment and questions flooded his head. "You are like me. We are freaks. What is happening to us?" A tear started to form in one of his eyes.
Thevshi Posted December 16, 2007 Author Posted December 16, 2007 Velocity just looked at Johnny a moment, her mouth opening slightly in shock. "Excuse me?" She paused only a moment before continuing, "Umm, if you want to go calling yourself a freak, go right a head, but I'll have you know I'm one of the most popular girls in my school! Getting a date has never been something I've had much trouble with." "I mean, like, I'm a superhero! Don't you watch the news or anything?" She asked, holding out her hands as if to emphasize her yellow costume with checkered flag racing stripes down the side. "What do you mean what's happening to us? How long have you been able to run a couple hundred miles an hour?"
Mr. Fantastic Posted December 16, 2007 Posted December 16, 2007 "Ummm about a week ago... The bullies from school were chasing me home, and I got so scared I ran as hard as I could. I blinked only for a second and the next thing I knew I was far away from the city limits. I don't really know how or why it happened. So far it seems I am able to run fast when I get really scared. I get picked on at school a whole lot by the Roughnecks, and their leader Buck. I saw you tackle Buck's big brother not too long ago while he was crossing the street. I was scared he was going to see me and let Buck know where I was." Johnny rambled on, sweating and nervous. He looked at her feet as he spoke, not daring to look her in the eyes. He was wringing his hands as he spoke. Every once in a while he would look around scared one of the bullies might see him talking to her. "I don't understand what is happening to me... I am scared." :cry:
Thevshi Posted December 16, 2007 Author Posted December 16, 2007 Mr. Fantastic said: "Ummm about a week ago... The bullies from school were chasing me home, and I got so scared I ran as hard as I could. I blinked only for a second and the next thing I knew I was far away from the city limits. I don't really know how or why it happened. So far it seems I am able to run fast when I get really scared. I get picked on at school a whole lot by the Roughnecks, and their leader Buck. I saw you tackle Buck's big brother not too long ago while he was crossing the street. I was scared he was going to see me and let Buck know where I was." Velocity gave the boy a bit of a sympathetic smile as he started talking about the first appearance of his powers and being picked on. "Steve Anderson?" She then asked, remembering the Kingston Heights' quarterback who's life she had likely saved. "I wouldn't worry, his attention was pretty well focused on my..." She then stopped herself, noting how young the boy in front of her was. "He was pretty much in shock and focused on me." Mr. Fantastic said: "I don't understand what is happening to me... I am scared." "Awww, its okay." She said, leaning down slightly to try to look at Johnny in the eyes. "It can be really disorienting I know, it took me awhile to get the hang of things when I first got my powers, though I was a bit older, but you will figure it out, and might even find you like being able to move superfast."
Mr. Fantastic Posted December 16, 2007 Posted December 16, 2007 A guilty look came over Johnny. "I think I hurt someone by accident." He looked down at his feet as he continued, "The Roughnecks were trying to hunt me down after school today, and I hid under my teacher's desk. I heard footsteps and saw someone walking to me, I saw their shoes. They reached down and grabbed me. I panicked and ran as fast as I could. I heard an explosion behind me. I...I...I don't know. I may have hurt someone. I didn't mean to!" Johnny began to cry. "The Roughnecks are right! I am a freak!"
Thevshi Posted December 16, 2007 Author Posted December 16, 2007 "Oh." Velocity replied as the kid mentioned possibly hurting someone. She wondered if the explosion he was talking about was like the sonic boom she was capable of causing that could create quite a bit of damage in a good sized area. Then she put her hand under his chin, lifting his face up so she could look into his eyes. "Your powers do not make you a freak, do those bullies even know that you have them?" "As for the accident, well, that's what it was, an accident. Hopefully whomever it was is not seriously hurt. You just need to learn to be more in control, so it doesn't happen again."
Mr. Fantastic Posted December 16, 2007 Posted December 16, 2007 "How do I do that? No one knows I can run fast... Today was the first time I ever made something explode. I don't know what other accidents I might cause. Maybe I will start to breathe fire or maybe I will just explode one day!" Oh the imagination of children... "I don't even know if I have school tomorrow... I think my classroom is gone..."
Thevshi Posted December 17, 2007 Author Posted December 17, 2007 "Umm, I doubt that will happen."Velocity commented as the boy started worrying about all the things that could potentially happen to him to cause more destruction. "The first thing you need to do, is to not panic." She then said. "That is when you're sure to lose control. But what will help the most is to practice, get the hang of what you can do, or even just find out what all that might be. The best bet for that is to probably find some place where no one is around and try things out. It's not always easy, but it helps."
Mr. Fantastic Posted December 17, 2007 Posted December 17, 2007 All of a sudden the look of shock and horror filled his eyes... :shock:
Thevshi Posted December 18, 2007 Author Posted December 18, 2007 Velocity stops as she sees the look that comes into the kid's eyes. "What?" She asked.
Mr. Fantastic Posted December 18, 2007 Posted December 18, 2007 "Oh my God! I am late for gymnastics practice. My mom is gonna kill me!" :shock: "I gotta go now." Johnny sped off home as fast as he could. There was nothing scarier than his mom in a bad mood...
Thevshi Posted December 19, 2007 Author Posted December 19, 2007 Velocity watched as the kid suddenly went off about being late for gymnastics and how he need to get home. "Yeah, like not panicking like that." She muttered to herself as she watched him take off.
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