Don't Blink. (IC)

[Quinn]

February 4th, 2012

City Centre, Outside Stan's Super Heroes.

12:00 Noon.

Sneakers pounded the pavement as Zeke rounded a corner, grasping a pole in one hand as he turned just for the heck of it. The whole city seemed to be moving at a crawl around him, heartbeat pounding in his ears; the last spar had really pumped his blood up if he was moving this quick. Standing rule from Master Li was, when he was moving too fast for the other students to see, take a quick jog around town and try to ease up on the adrenaline - at regular speeds the other students'd usually beat his head in (after two years, even...hoy), but amped up he'd basically be cheating. And Ezekiel Irons had a lot of respect for the rules of martial arts Li had whacked into him.

Besides, seeing the city like this was fun. Watching cars move by at a crawl, taking a top-speed sprint down a road to build up enough sheer momentum to go right up a wall (thank God the adrenaline also built up his resilience, he'd put more than a few Overclock-shaped imprints in walls before he'd figured out how to properly pull of that trick...still hurt like crazy, though), making funny faces at serious-looking people in suits, doing Road-Runner impressions, double-taking at walking cheetahs...

Wait, what?

A pair of sneaker heels screeched on the ground as he stopped running, staring at the sight in front of him. The world was still moving at a crawl around them, but right ahead of him, big as life and twice as furry, was a walking cheetah. A walking cheetah, in a cargo vest. A few moments were spent in slack-jawed astonishment, before Ezekiel did the only thing he could do. He pinched himself.

"Ow!"

[Cubist]

On patrol. City Center. All very standard, perhaps even habitual, for the fastest feline alive…

Okay, that wasn't standard: A moving person. Not just moving at a perceptible pace, but actually running. While Jube was upshifted.

The man was smiling (Jube could get behind that; "runner's high" took on a whole new meaning for cheetahs), and wearing civilian clothes. Dubya-tee-eff? Doesn't look like a badguy, but what is his game?

Both superspeedsters stopped and regarded each other. The human goggled at the feline… then pinched himself. "Ow!"

"Careful about that," Jubatus said. "Relative velocities can be a [bg=black]xixxx[/bg] and a half, particularly if you're not used to the speed thing. My name's Jubatus; who are you?"

[Quinn]

...The cat was talking. Talking cat. The cat was talking to him.

The Fastest Fighter Alive spent a moment processing that information in his head, while his mouth walked three steps ahead of himself.

"Ez...I mean Over...ah...Smith! Smith, right."

Smith?! That's the best I can come up with? Seriously? Oh, for the love of all that's...good grief. Also, owwwwww...yeah, relative velocities, owowowow.

He shook out his arm, grimacing slightly, and reminded himself of precisely where he was - Freedom City. More weird stuff happened here before breakfast than any other metropolis on earth. And he was a superhero. He'd have to get used to this kind of thing, right? Okay, so follow the chain of logic, like in the movies. You're a superhero. Walking around in a place famous for heroes. By that logic, this cat in front of you is either a hero or a villain. Judging by the fact that he's being kinda nice and not trying to zap you with some...super freaky disintewhatever ray, he's probably a hero. Okay. I can deal with that. Cool! I've met another hero! The thoughts were comforting, actually. Unfortunately his mouth was once again three steps ahead.

"Uh...how are you doing that?"

[Cubist]

Jubatus gave 'Smith' a bemused look. "Nice to meet you, Mr. 'Ez-Over-Smith'!" No, bad idea. "Or if you want, call me 'Jay Xavier'. No secret identity here—kind of impractical for someone who looks like me, hrrm?"

'Smith' was clearly discombobulated, and the odds that it wasn't because of Jube were too trivial to bother with; that didn't bode well for any hero-type activity 'Smith' might want to get into… Okay, take it slow, ha-ha. Let him make the next move when he's ready.

"Uh...how are you doing that?"

"If 'that' means 'moving as fast as you', I'm making my personal 'clock' run faster than normal." And if he thinks he's gonna get any details beyond that outta me, he's got another think coming… Dude seems to mean well, but he's gonna friggin' kill himself if he's not careful. Needs guidance, and maybe a collar and short leash… "You, hrrm, got any kind of mentor?"

[Quinn]

Oddly enough, the conversation had a somewhat calming effect on Ezekiel, though the adrenaline rush was still keeping him hopping (and the world slowed down). He tilted his head to look at Jubatus...Jay Xavier? Huh.

"Huh? Well, yeah. Can't get into the buisness without learning...the...ropes...uh...ah, damnit, sorry. You're the first...person? Person I've met who isn't moving like molasses. Kinda threw me for a loop, dude."

He shook his head, put his hands on his hips, and looked at the cheetah, pondering. Another speedster. That was a first. Surprising he hadn't run into him before on a flat-out patrol; but then FC was a big place. And he moved pretty damn quick...hm. Said his personal 'clock' was running faster than normal - was the cat amping up his adrenaline like he did? Either way, now that the initial surprise was over, though, natural curiosity took over. Along with natural competitiveness. Overclock flashed a grin at the cat, crossing his arms.

"Surprised the hell outta me seeing you just saunterin' there, man. You cover the whole city too? What's your record?"

[Cubist]

"Surprised the hell outta me seeing you just saunterin' there, man."

'Sauntering'? I see that the Snark is with this one…

"You cover the whole city too? What's your record?"

"Yep. Can't really do the whole map in one day, so I got a rotation going on my patrols."

"What's your record?"

"If you're talking personal best velocity, I top out in the supersonic range. Maybe a little on the slow side, as speedsters go, but I'm okay with that. I kinda like the idea that there's people who can outrun me if I ever go berserk, y' know?"

[Quinn]

At supersonic, Zeke whistled, his confidence deflating. He'd tried for years to break that barrier, and he'd only done it all of once. And that time, he had literally been on a jolt of liquid adrenaline. Not to mention outside of city limits (stupid sonic booms). And he'd been yet to get into a fight which cranked his levels up to where he could do that again...color the musician impressed; he was fast, but this cat knew his stuff real well indeed. 'sides, Lee had more than once beat into him that speed wasn't quite everything; half the time it was inertia which got him (and made little Overclock-shaped dents in buildings when he couldn't turn in time).

"Damn, dude...supersonic? Cracked that once, haven't managed it since - and can't hit the real top end without putting me-shaped dents in walls. Inertia's a foul-tempered witch, amirite?"

He leaned on a nearby bench and rubbed the back of his head in a somewhat awkward manner, smiling sheepishly.

"So, you're a genuine hero too, yeah? Uh...don't suppose you can forget you saw me like this? Don't normally take a dash in civvies, but just had a sparring match and needed to wind down."

[Cubist]

"Damn, dude...supersonic? Cracked that once, haven't managed it since - and can't hit the real top end without putting me-shaped dents in walls. Inertia's a foul-tempered witch, amirite?"

Hearing these worlds, Jubatus' brain executed a perfect Internal Facepalm. Savitar preserve us, this idiot is going to get himself killed! And then an immediate second I.F., this one directed at himself: I—I can't… I'm not a mentor-type. I don't do 'caring'. Haven't got the patience to help a clueless moron grow out of his moronitude.

But if not me… then who..?

"So, you're a genuine hero too, yeah? Uh...don't suppose you can forget you saw me like this?

I'm doomed. So very doomed. I just hope I do the kid more good than harm… "Not a problem, 'Smith'."

"Don't normally take a dash in civvies, but just had a sparring match and needed to wind down."

Jubatus nodded. "Sure, winding down is good." Gesturing at the Stan's Super Heroes sign, he said, "Hey, how about we go inside and talk over a sandwich or five? I'll cover it," he concluded, in order to forestall one obvious objection.

[Quinn]

Ezekiel nodded, looking a mite abashed, as well as grateful. Actually, a sandwich sounded right nice there too...maybe several. Though he wasn't exactly sure about letting the big cat pay; ever since he'd found the Woosh, his food intake (and subsequent bills) had nearly tripled.

"Thanks, mate. Owe you one. But, ah...nah, can't let you cover me eating half the restaraunt, that'd be a bit unfair. Split the bill, fifty-fifty?"

He looked down at his feet, then at the door, and winced slightly.

"Ah...and you mind waiting a minu-...a seco-..." Ezekiel pondered for a moment, and corrected himself. "Relatively speaking, you cool with waiting a bit? Bit hard walkin' slow 'till the rush wears off."

[Cubist]

"Thanks, mate. Owe you one. But, ah...nah, can't let you cover me eating half the restaraunt, that'd be a bit unfair. Split the bill, fifty-fifty?"

"Hey, I cover me eating half the restaurant," Jubatus said with a smile that was only mildly snarky. "Familiar ground here. That said, it's your call, so okay, 50-50." The feline considered his offer to still be on the table; if it turned out that Overclock didn't quite have funds enough to pay his half of the bill, Jubatus would take care of it without any fuss.

"Ah...and you mind waiting a minu-...a seco-..." [pause] "Relatively speaking, you cool with waiting a bit? Bit hard walkin' slow 'till the rush wears off."

In other words, "I can't always turn it off when I want to." Whoever convinced this kid to play hero is clearly guilty of child abuse. "Alright. 'Rush', huh? So your speed works something like an adrenaline rush or sugar rush?"

It didn't take that long (not even subjectively) for 'Smith' to slow down to normal; Jubatus matched his tempo all throughout this period of deceleration. "Okay, food now," the feline declared. "Just one thing: I kinda stand out in a crowd, y' know? So don't be surprised if some of the customers maybe act a little weird around me." Since it's lunchtime, there's gonna be a lot of customers, meaning a lot of people who may have weird reactions to me… and some of these reactions may even not be about my appearance. "Shall we enter?"