raisetheearth | Action + Video

My name is Jason East, and I am the fastest man alive....

It's a peaceful late afternoon in whatever city you might choose, people are milling about, going about their business. A group of people are standing around a television watching a news broadcast discussing an odd phenomenon in the Western US dubbed the "Los Angeles Lightning Bolt". The tone is about the same you'd hear people talking about the Loch Ness Monster, though there's a mention that the local military is asking anybody to come forward with any information. They flinch as a sudden gust of wind rushes past and look around for the source to find nothing.

A long time ago, the world changed forever and my life was never the same.

A young woman lets out a cry of dismay as the dog she's walking slips loose of her grip and rushes out into the street, into the path of an oncoming car. A sudden flash of light and the animal is safely back in her arms.

All of a sudden, I could move faster and do anything in the blink of an eye.

A group of kids messing around in the park, climbing trees, doing kid stuff. A boy loses his grip and falls... and that flash of light rushes by, depositing him safely to the ground several yards away.

Now, I use my powers to help people and protect the world. I am...

Finally, his path takes him to his final destination. He comes to an abrupt halt at the waiting door, reaches out...

... actually getting way ahead of myself. That's not actually how it all started.

... rings the doorbell.

Let's back up a little to the beginning.

As the door opens up, Jason greets the person on the other side with a smile and holds up the pizza box to his customer.

"One large with extra cheese in thirty minutes or less."

Or A Network Option If You're Not Into Pizza
[The video comes up on a road in the middle of the unending wastelands of the Western USA. Off in the distance is a military vehicle, probably a checkpoint. The video holds on this image for a little while before somebody speaks from offscreen.]

Okay, see that? I just passed by there and found one of General Miller's Finest sleeping on the job so I'm gonna do my civic duty and wake him the hell up. Watch this.

[The device recording is set down and fiddled with, leaning against something, a rock or whatever, and then the grass around it is ruffled by a gust of wind breaking the still air. Several seconds tick by, holding on the parked vehicle.... and then suddenly a bolt of yellow lightning tears by it at an incredible speed and the car is visibly jostled by the force of its passing. The driver's side door opens up and a soldier immediately stumbles out, tripping all over himself and coughing in the dust cloud.

There's now a yellow lightning bolt spraypainted on the side of his truck.]

Holy crap! [The voice is back, almost at the same time as anybody watching can register that the camera's been picked up and is moving... just stupidly fast if the blur of the background is any indication. The young man holding it looks back over his shoulder before turning to the screen laughing.] Oh, man, that guy looks pissed!

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[Well now. Dima wasn't expecting to see something so familiar show up on the network from someone else.]

That was rather fast. Was that you running, or using some sort of fast-moving machine?

[Yeah, he's texting while running. There's no law against that, no matter what the speed you're going at. He checked.]

That was me. On foot the whole time.

Cool, right?

The thing about working late nights? Was that you ended up missing a great deal many meals. And even scientists like Edwin Weller tired of eating instant noodles. As such, pizza was the order for the evening.

An added source of income outside of what went into his company certainly made that more attractive.

He opened the door, looking at the money for the order in his hand and not at the deliveryman just yet. "Ah yes," he said. "That was very punctual. It's 25.80, yes...?"

Edited 2015-10-31 23:53 (UTC)

Certainly not something anybody can be blamed for. Instant noodles were great and all but nothing beat a good pizza for a long night of work.

"Uhh, yeah." He looks down, glancing at the bill stapled to the pizza box, the brim of his delivery man hat covering his face. "25.80. Plus tip."

He was quick to add that last part before looking up and... his eyes suddenly went wide, mouth dropping open a little.

"Hey, hey wait a second. Aren't you...." He brought up his free hand, snapping his fingers to jog his memory before recognition hits. "You're Edwin Weller, aren't you?"

Cool. And familiar.

How long have you been able to do that?

...That was actually pretty cool. Seven out of ten.

[She doesn't say things like this very often.

It's mainly because of the vandalism.]

[This voice is one that sounds exhausted. It's been a particular terrible birthday for Lazarus because of the events of the previous night and the burned and beaten Shepherd's Haven that is still reeling from the attack.]

You might be able to do things that people who can't access this Network can't, but that just means that the blame for that kind of prank will be pinned very readily to all of us in general. Please exercise some restraint in future.

[The blonde woman in her early 30s looks impressed at the stunt.]

Pretty confident you won't get caught, aren't you?

About six or seven months now?

What do you mean familiar?

Only seven?

[He frowns at her a bit, but there's a laugh in there.]

Come on, that was at least an eight and a half.

[Oh, man, who let the buzzkill in?]

Aw, they already hate me down here. At this point, spraypainting the side of a hummer won't make things much worse.

[Well, he is pretty cool. What in the world is there to not be impressed by.

Whatever, he's on the move right now. As evidenced by the blur in the background behind him and the sparks of yellow lightning crackling around him on the video.]

Pretty confident. I mean, you see how fast I'm running, right?

[This boyish, cocky grin should spell his confidence out pretty well.]

Familiar because I was able to do the same thing for six, almost seven months now too.

Sorry to say, but it was so fast I had some trouble catching it.

You don't do everything that fast now, do you?

It's not a laughing matter, and it's not just about you. The threat of backlash is very real to all of us.

I think seven is more than enough for a glorified alarm clock.

[Alexandra's attitude is in full effect it seems... but she might find a bit of a curveball here as the guy she's talking to raises his eyebrows at her comment and laughs.]

Oh, okay. So that's how we're starting out here.

[Her attitude is always in full effect. It doesn't matter how impressed she is by someone's antics.

She is a little surprised by how well he took the comment though, most people on the network would be throwing a fit at her after that.]

Seems like. And here I thought I was being generous with that score.

Seriously? You got superspeed too?

Oh. Well, I mean when you put it that way I guess I'll just give it all up and let Miller and his thugs keep treating this place like their own little sandbox then.

[He snorts, and it's clear that he's not all that impressed or convinced.]

Wouldn't want to risk the rest of you guys getting a bad image. You might miss out on the next invite to a big, fancy party.

[... Well, hello to you too, pretty blonde lady. He grins a little, raising an eyebrow.]

Well, not everything. I could slow it down a little for you next time. Make sure you get a better look.

Not everything? That's good to hear.

[A little smirk. Nothing like a recent boost in career confidence to get a girl her mojo back.]

I'd like it nice and slow, if you think you could manage it.

"Already? That's the fastest delivery I've had since..." The man opening the door laughs. "Well, since ever, I do believe. How much do we owe you?"

He turns to call back to someone else inside the house. "Ronald! Your pizza's here!"

[Just.

Laughing his ass off.]

Not everyone has powers that can protect them or get them out of a tight spot. I've buried friends before for no other reason than they made convenient scapegoats for frustrated cowards.

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