ArchivedLogs:Skateboards and Secret Islands

Skateboards and Secret Islands
I feel the need for speed
Dramatis Personae Pietro, Zach
In Absentia	2013-07-13 The speedster meets the speed thief, and talk ensues
Location Skate park followed by Speak Easy
The skatepark isn't huge but it's a good size for an urban sprawl of this degree. Fixtures for bikes, boards and blades littered across the acre of property nestled away behind warehouses and packing plants. Gentle laughter, the subtle sounds of shhhhKKT, skid, shhhKt were going off around the echo inducing space. Less than ten or fifteen skaters and their cohorts are scattered around the space at this early hour... the warm afternoon wasn't conducive to much activity in the more lethargic members of the community. A blackish blur round the park once, leaving a gentle breeze in the still heat of the afternoon. It's welcome even in it's ominously sudden appearance. So fast he was as yet unseen Pietro lingers in the shadows along a far brick wall, watching- barefoot with a pair of roller blades around his neck. Off the vert ramp, a young man in a white ribbed tank top and cut off denim jeans comes down at a breakneck speed. Unlike some of the others, Zach seems to forego the safety equipment that is recommended, if for no other reason than he doesn't like it. As his speed takes him up the other side of the shaped half-pipe, he gains air to pull off the trick, a three sixty flip being pulled off beautifully, except theres no possible way for the man to land it right as he's coming down a couple feet from the wooden wall. Yet as he's falling down, there's a shift in the angle of motion, and he's back up to breakneck speed moving for the other wall before the board touches the ground with almost no force. Pietro is putting his roller blades on now, he looks up from the activity with a sort of glare, watching the kids drifting lazily across the skatepark... the annoyance is apparent on his face. Then Zach catches air, and attention, Pietro pauses in the tying of his second roller blade. His black brows lifts as silver eyes follow the guy's arc through the air, a pompous wince begins as the man comes down and then apparent disappointment as Zach makes the trick. Shock follows and Pietro is beside Zach, or at least within a few yards, "Nice move." He hails with suspicious praise. Zach's head is already whipping to where Pietro ends up, though his mind is a few seconds later in making connections. Like for example, don't take your eyes off the wall in front of you when you're moving that fast and he falls backwards, kicking the board up skywards as he hits the incline unprepared. "Whoa crap. Ughh." Shaking his head and looking up at the fellow from his spot on the ground, he blinks again. "Thanks, sorry, you were abit unexpected there." The board does however kindly land beside him with a crack thud instead of on him at least. "I have that effect on people." Pietro mutters with dismissive indifference to Zach's reaction. The speedster is on sleek metal roller blades with high velocity wheels made of some superior polymer. Otherwise they would simply disintegrate at his top speeds. There is a round pool nearby and Pietro smirks at Zach as he falls over the rim smoothly, rolling idly the bowl, he intones, "Can't land 'em all cowboy!" The Cheshire chuckle that follows adopts a Doppler effect as he slowly picks up speed, not yet super human in velocity, Pietro is circling the pool with his hands clasped behind his back... Grabbing his board and checking it for damage, Zach's gaze continually clips back in the direction of Pietro, with a slight squinting. "Hrm." Stepping off over the ledge with his own board, he goes sliding down it picking up speed. What is odd to Pietro perhaps, is that he is losing some speed, and Zach is quickly up to pace beside the circling blader. "So got any moves? Or just speed there?" With a wink, the slightly bruised boarder pops up to the pool lip and goes grinding along the edge of it. Pietro is watching sidelong with a smirk that quickly falters as the other man begins to match pace with him. "I've got a little bit of go..." He promises as he starts to pick up the pace. He is quickly gaining speed, not yet maxing out, but cresting into the realm of super human. Close to eighty miles an hour now around and around- Pietro isn't even close to dizzy as the winds start to pick up around them howling just from his continuous movement he was watching the other guy this whole time. The boarder just grins wider as the other fellow goes faster, and tipping back off the lip of the pool, Zach latches onto the speedster's power. Where the winds had been picking up, its suddenly as if he were going at children's speed and the skateboarder goes flying forward. "Hahahaha!" Zach goes maniacally laughing as he whips past and launches up the pool wall as he goes into a ten-eighty with the height he's managed to grab, though he does manage to have enough time to correct and whip down the edge of the concrete wall. "Whoa- what the shit." Pietro cries as he slows down and the other guy launches forward... Pietro was capable of thinking at those speeds though and he already guessed what was happening. "Yea, you think that's funny." Pietro says, standing still for a moment. He watches the guy execute his move with stolen speed and points into the air at him as he cried, "That's just a taste buddy. I could launch your ass into space if you're not careful." It's as much business offer as it is threat. Pietro is staring silently at the other man, still after that display. Skidding the board to a stop, Zach is chuckling at the major adrenaline rush he was experiencing. "Ah that was great. I haven't gotten those speeds since back home near the salt flats." Wiping a little sweat from his brow at the July heat on the concrete, he wipes off his other hand and offers it. "I'm Zach, and I can't say I'd complain if you can kick me up to that speed. You've got a better gift than I do if you can just do it on your own." His smile is still wide, the man obviously in a good mood now. Pietro returns the shake, moving his hand so quickly that the action becomes an exaggerated blur that passes between the two of them. "Pietro." He remarks, as he stares across at the man in silence for a long moment. He has the fringes of a smirk on his lips as he examines the tattoo skater with a serious expression. "We might be able to work something out, I've never seen someone pick up where I left off... that's some impressive shit..." Pietro watches him, seeming to debate a moment longer. "Here, grab this- be careful" he warns. Then he shoots off and he is going stupid fast- like close to the speed of sound as he makes a few rounds of the park waiting for Zach to grab the speed. He can maintain this speed for about 15 mins. "Sure, lets go for it," Zach says as the other man zips off. There's a concentrating look on his face as if he's waiting for something, and when Pietro passes close enough he reaches for it. Granted, he knows he can't handle actually moving through the park at that speed, so he decides to startle the birds, and is shot skywards thankfully without breaking the sound barrier. "OHSHIIIIT" dopplers out as he gets a nice view of the cityscape up on high, glancing out over the warehouses and the rest of the city from on high. Of course this lasts for just a few moments as gravity takes effect and he falls back towards the ground. At least the man has some skydiving experience from the looks of it, and he has his arms and legs outstretched to catch more air as he falls. Of course he's about a foot from splatter on the ground, and a small shiny object in his hand whips skyward as he halts midair for a second before he lands gently on the ground. Pietro stops abruptly as he feels the effect of his speed being leeched away; it doesn't really sit well with him but he is far too distracted by what happens next. Brows lift again and he watches the gravity dance being performed before his eyes. "Ha-HA! How's that taste?" He calls out to the speed leech as the man was drifting back to earth. "That's nothing, I'm zero to blur in an second.... Plenty to share." This last part is muttered softly under his breath from where he stood afar. Zach is laughing hard enough to come to tears, wiping them away with a grin on his lips. "Ah, that was good. Whew." Blinking to readjust back to normal, he runs a hand through his hair. "That was good. Haven't gone that fast outside of a car before really. Gotta say I'm glad I didn't hit a pidgeon up there, woulda hurt like hell." He nods a bit looking around, seeing most of the other skaters having vanished at the blatant displays of mutantdom. "Guess we scared off the yokels though. Probably end up with damn pigs showing up soon. Asshats." "Yea, probably." Pietro shrugs to all of the above, before he zips off and returns a few moments later with black sneakers on inplace of the blades. Those are hung over his neck again. He fishes a half finished bag of trail mix from his back pocket and digs in to pulls out a handful of seeds. Tossing back the snack he chews thoughtfully. "I don't give a fuck though, I outrun the pigs in my sleep..." Thoughtways chewing proceeds, "I could use a drink though, it's hot as hell out here..." He mutters and there is the slightest sheen of sweat on his forehead. "Yeah well, the bastards ambushed me before. Kidnapped me and put me into some fight club bullshit." Zach let out a sigh and shook his head. "A drink sounds good though. What do you have in mind? Though at your speed, you could probably pick up a coffee in Seattle and be home in time for it to be cool enough to drink." He smirks at the other man, and grabs his board, putting it over his shoulder. "Or is it more Vodka with you? Pietro is Russian right?" "I hate Seattle, it smells like hippies and grunge rock." He says with his usual curmudgeonly confidence; he /is/ well traveled. "I was born in Transia, it's a small country in eastern europe." Pietro explains, his odd olive complexion and white hair looked like it's own unique heritage. "I don't do coffee unless I'm beat but I'm always down for a dry martini." He agrees and glances around at the now empty skatepark. Another handful of trail mix disappears before he tucks the bag away again. "Can you keep up without actually stopping me?" He wonders, adjusting his hands on his blades to stabilize them over his shoulders before he took off... "Gets complicated. Faster you are trying to go, the faster I can go. I don't have to hundred percent it," Zach says as he makes a hand wave gesture. "Seems to be even keel though. So you try and hit eighty, I can probably take half and we'd both be going forty ish?" He offers a shrug though at the explanation. "But I can pick up extra from any traffic that's nearby too, course that also means more people gawking and staring. Where you thinking of going?" He glances at the other man's shoes a moment, curious if they were set up special like the blades had been. The shoes are simple black athletic high tops, sturdy, (and maybe special made) but he still went through a pair a week so they weren't magic. "I forget everyone in this city is constantly trying to hide; if I wanted to live in a sewer I would live in a fuckin' sewer. Who gives a shit, they can't stop you if you're with me. I wish I was here a few weeks earlier I would have tore that fight club apart..." Pietro is preaching. Bragging. "So you telling me you wanna walk?" Pietro counters, a mischievous smirk. "With all that speed, you wanna walk?" The light teasing chuckle curtails a shrug as he walks off... slowly in mock theatrical invitation that he be followed. "Most of us don't want to deal with being public enemy number one. But the cops are corrupt asswipes, and if they start shooting at me, well bullets are just another thing that breaks the sound barrier." Walking up alongside the other man, he gives him a push at the shoulder. "Walking sucks," Zach grins at that. "Fuck the police, you get moving fast and I'll draft you. Anybody starts chasing us, well then they'll just make the both of us faster in the process." He gestures ahead, though his eyes are locked on the other man so he wont get left behind. Pietro nods, he accepts the shoulder shove in passing and smirks along as Zach lowers his defenses. He saves the smarm for a moment and simply glances off down the street. "Fuck the police." He echos softly with a pleased nod. "I'll start slow." Pietro says over his shoulder and he steps off, suddenly going thirty or forty miles an hour down the road. They'd be at a bar in about ten minutes if they get lucky and don't pass anyone intent on stopping them. There's a little learning curve for Zach drafting off a runner, but after about a block he gets the hang of it, having been taking too much or too little at first until they were about equal. "Cars are easier, speed dials and all that. I never met a person who can just run this fast." He doesn't seem to be even really winded by the speeds, mainly because he isn't using his own muscles too much in comparison. "Glad I met you though, this is awesome." He gives the other man a grin, avoiding the poles and trash at the normal enough speeds. Pietro is going so slow he is almost strolling at 20mph; in comparison to his normal biology. It's still a trip to think what this Zach-guy was capable of... no one kept up with Pietro. No one. "It's a first for me too, bro." The speedster promises and he keeps things in check, watching with ease the way Zach was handling the curbs and obstacles. Walking was a chore, but this was a comfortable pace for Quicksilver. They arrive at an out of the way red door in a brick alleyway, it's a quiet speak easy style lounge.. not pro mutant but definitely hipster minded enough that the crowd was open minded. Pietro walks past the door and lifts ancient looking phone from a nearby phone booth. "Two, please." He speaks into the phone and then a bouncer opens the red door and lets them in. "This is Please Don't Tell." Pietro explains as they are led into a cozy 1920s style speakeasy lounge with a smattering of guest sipping cocktails from teacups. Zach nods at Pietro's words, and was smart enough to keep his mouth shut as they went into the amusing looking speak easy. "I think I've seen a place like this in those old black and white movies. I feel like I should have a pinstripe suit on." He does however avoid looking too touristy by looking more to the other man than to their surroundings. "Still, a cool name for the place. I wouldn't have known it was here." Yep, keeping it cool, playing the part. At least his heavy tattooing probably adds more to the look of age than anything. Yea, it's probably a left over from the era of zoot suits and prohibition." Pietro agrees as they walk into the bar and he grabs a seat at the bar gesturing the one beside himself for Zach to take. They don't really seem to know Pietro but no one stops them as they enter either so... maybe they did? "Dry grey goose martini." He orders from the bar tender it was pretty quiet before happy hour started to kick off across the city now. "So why are you in New York Zach, trying to live in fast lane or something?" Pietro leans comfortable style on his high backed bar chair. "Yeah, I'll have what he's having," Zach says to the bartender as well. He didn't know much more about alcohol than the basic booze groups of beer and engine degreaser after all. "The plan had been to find myself one of those big time agents, get myself signed. Sponsors, etc. Be the next X games hot shot." He gives a slightly diminished smile and shakes his head. "Didn't quite work out that way. I work for a mechanic, and get my kicks on whatever I can ride and avoid getting put behind a set of steel bars." He drums his fingers on the bartop, keeping his voice lower so it wont carry too far. Pietro nods along to the tale and waits for the drinks, letting the silence hang for another moment. That was basically vodka straight up. It was a sipper. "If I didn't have my dad's secret island compound to keep me busy I'd probably be doing the same sort shit." He agrees conversationally. "We've got bigger problems than trying to get signed but at least we also have more freedom out there than anywhere else." There is a pause. "And no mechanics, ironically enough." He was musing as his drink arrived he pays for them both and raises his glass. "Cheers, to new levels of power." He says, looking across at the man with a dangerous smirk. "Secret island compound? Sheesh, you must be loaded." Zach gives the man a new look with a raised brow, and after raising his drink in toast to the other man, sips from his own drink, the general wincing of having your first drink of the martini. "What kinda bigger problems would you have on a private island? I mean hell, you can just probably buy your way out of everything." He thinks a bit more, then shrugs. "Still, right, I should probably toast something too. Hrm, a toast to meeting people with similar interests." He gives a grin, and eying the heavy vodka, he shrugs and takes another drink. "Something like that, it's amazing what you can trade for power when you accept the truth about the enemy." He sips his own drink with relish, not making any sort of face from the taste. "And we don't really have any problems out there, it's more about the problems we are trying to fix everywhere else." Pietro is loud to the point of disregard normally but at the moment he is speaking in a conspirator's hushed whisper. "Those things you can't buy with money need to be taken." He was leaning forward a little speaking quickly. Pietro leans back now, taking another sip before saying, "I've always had my eyes on a bigger island." Opening both silver eyes wide over his glass as he sipped. "More room to run." He added like an afterthought. Looking occasionally around to make sure the things he was saying weren't bringing about anyone against them, Zach looked back to the fellow, brow raised a little at the actual topics spoken of. "Well, I can't say as I know how big your current island is, but can never have too much land I guess. Though I'm not as much a runner honestly. Wheels tend to be my preferred thing, though if its got an engine I'm content to sit at the controls. You should see me on a dirt bike, though I go through em like candy. Sometimes I've got nothing to bail on cept the bike, so the bike takes the bullet for me if you will. Gravity is a bitch." Pietro was nodding along, having a few drinks and picking the brain of the younger man. It was of course better to woo someone who could stop you /dead/ than piss them off so he takes his time chatting this kid up in the controlled casual setting. They compare notes on speed and wheels. Pietro keeps it light from there on out, dancing around any actual mention of the Brotherhood with ease.