It is a warm summer evening in Staten Island, a young man closing up a comic book shop for the night ponders going for a late night run to shake the doldrums of a slow Tuesday. As the door is locked, a streak of red and black flashes behind the man in the windows. He turns and looks around, seeing nothing. As if by premonition, he looks up. His eyes are greeted at the rooftop across the street, a large figure looms, long crimson locks blowing in the wind, offset by the equally red glowing eyes.
"Who are you? What do you want?" The young man yells, the empty streets echoing his question. He feels as if this strange being is looking through him. The hairs on his neck stand on end, but stands steadfast. The strange figure begins to radiate a crimson aura outlining his ebon form. The glowing form falls from the rooftop, accelerating faster than gravity. The young man tries to move in anticipation to catch the falling form, and a faint emerald glow seems to follow his footfalls. As the young man races out to the street, the crimson figure rushes along the building, then on the street to him, an evil grin glints from the darkened face. A pair of glowing fingers extend, tapping the young man on the shoulder. As the dark and crimson form turns to run northward, a single word escapes his lips, fading from the Doppler effect...
"Tag!"
The young man is surprised as he's pushed back three steps from the jab, but a smile forms on his face. As he looks around, he sees no one in the area. He begins to accelerate after the strange being, his emerald aura extending as he runs faster than the human eye can see. As he hovers between heartbeats, he changes from his normal garb to a green outfit, flashes of blue and silver burst forth as he dons his polarized goggles. Stashing his clothes in his backpack, the young man disappears in a flash of light and speed. Nitro-G races into the night.
After flying above the city's buildings to get a better view, Nitro sees the crimson blur at street level, zig-zagging in his path, almost as if to be more visible on purpose, heading toward the river. The adrenalized adventurer flies overhead to intercept, believing his flight can beat this strange being. As he lands 200 feet in the path before the speedster, his hands arc with emerald electricity. Nitro-G races toward the glowing man, hand outstretched to tag him.
"Now you're it pal", he exclaims as he tries to touch the living rocket, only to have his touch dodged with surprising agility. As the mysterious figure flips over him, he is tagged on the top of the head. The speedster laughs.
"You're grounded!" The dark stranger cackles, as he continues to run towards the river. Nitro-G follows after, wondering as to the motives of this being. Something about him seems familiar, but be can't put his finger on it. As the stranger leaps a guard rail, he rockets upon the water, running on top of it! Nitro begins flying after the being, following in his wake, but notices he doesn't appear to be as fast as this racer while flying. He approaches the water, and begins to run on top of it as his opponent does. It's a stunt he's never tried before now, but always wanted to. With his excitement as his experiment seems to work with his momentum, he continues his pursuit of the speedster. His course, the heart of Manhattan.
Block after block they run, green and red blurs barely visible to the naked eye, until the crimson opponent reaches the Empire State Building, and runs up the side of it. Nitro-G follows suit on an adjacent part of the wall. Their race comes to an end atop the building, the dark racer's glow faded except for his eyes. Nitro approaches the stranger.
"Okay, you won the race up here. Now who are you? What are you doing in my city?"
The stranger sneers a cheshire grin, as the light in his eyes fades, and the pallor lightens to a more human hue. "To have a race, you must start as equals. We never did that. But as to who I am? Don't you recognize me from Orlando?" He steps forward into the light. His face revealing his long hair and goatee, his dark uniform offset by a symbol of intertwining lightning bolts forming an X on his chest.
"Dave! Dude! It's good to see you bro!" Nitro's glow fades as he shakes hands with the stranger, both reciprocating pats on the backs. "So you've got powers too? Awesome!"
"Thanks man, it's good to see you too. I knew you were in the neighborhood, I had to stop by and see my super buddy. And I'm glad no one else is up here to hear. I have a super identity as well. I am ReFusion."
"ReFusion eh? Cool! I like it! So, what are your powers? How'd you get 'em? I thought you had another idea for the show you were telling me about."
"That's true, I did. But something else happened to me. It's a long origin story, short version is I found a mystic object,. I say a magic word, it empowers me with the powers of...some legendary beings and heroes."
"Oh, like Captain Marvel and Shazam?"
"Kind of a mix between that and Kid Eternity. Like I said, more to it, but I can get into that later. I was in town on a little sightseeing trip, and I thought I'd look you up. Didn't wanna bug you at work, so I waited."
"Dude, you can hang out in the shop any time. How long you here for?"
"Not sure yet, there's something I have to look into about a possible recording job, other than that, I have a few days to kill. In the meantime, I was wondering if you'd like to help me test the upward limits of my powers, and in doing so, yours as well?"
"Well, sure, if I can. But you know, my powers only work on my adrenaline level. I can only help for so long."
ReFusion smiled. "I know, that's why I spooked you first. I figured if I gave you the Martian Manhunter appearance, you'd be up for a little run. Besides, I have a present for ya. Here." ReFusion pulled out a six-pack of Red Bull and handed Nitro a bottle of pills. The label read 'Raw Adrenal'.
"What the!? Adrenaline pills?" Nitro laughed.
"Not exactly, it's raw adrenal gland extract from bovines and such. It's concentrated in pill form to help give an extra boost. I took it years ago, the stuff works to get your energy up, but after a while I seemed to build up a tolerance to it. I figured if you kept them on you, you'd have an extra boost of energy when you needed. Just take one at a time though, you don't want to overload on it, or make your body dependant on an outside source of adrenaline. I think one of those, a Red Bull and looking at how high up we are would give you enough adrenaline for a real race. What do you say?"
"Wow. Sure! Are you sure you want me to have one of these before we run for a fair race? I dunno, I might be juiced up enough for a good run as it is. Where'd you want to run to anyway?"
"Don't worry, all I need is the Red Bull, I have enough adrenaline I think it'll make us even enough. How's this sound: We start here at the top of the building, run south until we hit the water, run one lap around the island, then straight on until we get to the torch of the Statue of Liberty. Sound good?"
Nitro looked at the pills and pondered. "How about three laps?" he asked as he smiled.
"Well if you're feeling froggy enough, how about five laps then? I'm usually a good sprinter, but that was before my powers kicked in. It'll be part speed, part endurance then. And if we see any bad guys or major threats to people, we stop, deal with it, and if we're up to it, we continue the race. Sound fair?"
Nitro paused, then smiled. "Make it four, and you've got a deal! I've gotta admit though, that was the first time I ever tried running on water. I always wanted to try, but since I can fly, I never thought I'd need to."
"I had a feeling if I could build up the momentum to run on water and stay stable, you could as well. Besides, you could use your flight to fall back on. And you didn't wanna be outdone by an over sugared super kid from the Incredibles, right?" Both speedsters laughed. The next few minutes were filled with sharing drinks, enjoying the view, comparing the first times they both used their powers. Comradery and friendship only one superhuman to another can know. With their powers so apparently similar, one can easily relate to the other. A bond is intensified, enhanced just as their abilities are, so too is the connection felt. An unspoken relation as fellow fans of stories involving super powered friends, racing, working together as only they can.
After ten minutes of catching their breaths, drinking energy drinks and Nitro-G deciding to trust his fellow speedster, he downs a raw adrenal pill. He feels his body energize within a few more moments. "All right, let's do this. The Fantastic Four Laps!" Nitro says.
"If only the lady waiting at the end really was the Invisible Woman. Jessica Alba...MMMMmmmm. Don't get me started!" ReFusion chuckles, as both speedsters look over the ledge, seeing the sprawling city outstretched below and around them. Both racers take their positions at the south wall, taking a four point stance as sprinters would. "Your city buddy, you count it down to go." With smiles on both their lips, Nitro readjusts his goggles. ReFusion's skin darkens slightly as his muscles tense.
"All right. On your mark....get set...," Nitro says, both racers poised to launch, their bodies engulfed by swirling auras. The world below seems to go into slow motion as their powers and speed begin to build. "...GO!!!!" The speedsters erupt in light, leaping from the peak as if launched from a cannon. Two glowing meteors in human form touch their feet to the walls of the Empire State Building, then burst down faster than gravity could carry them. Rocketing downward, their feet hit the pavement within seconds and without missing a step, the blurs of red and green hurtle southward, weaving in and out of traffic, running along the walls of buildings, twin living lightning bolts reveling in their race. Onlookers can barely see except for the blurs and gusts of wind in their wake.
Once hitting the waters, two large wakes form both behind and in the path of the speedsters. Nitro tries to keep his footing, hovering and traveling with the momentum, stamping his feet to run, but unable at first to change direction to turn. Running straight on water is one thing, but trying to make a sharp turn was a challenge. Looking up, he sees ReFusion leaning into the turn hard into the forward wake. As he begins slowing, he begins pumping his legs from side to side, mimicking a speed skater. With this high speed footing allowing enough surface tension, he begins to rocket left upon the water. Nitro seeing this, uses his momentum in flight to alter his path, then running to catch up. Just as he gains ground, ReFusion returns to running on the water's surface, pulling ahead. Looking back, his glowing eyes and cheshire grin flash at Nitro as he utters, "C'mon slowpoke!" ReFusion turns his attention forward, and both explode forward on the water.
