Mount Justice
28/02/2016, 10:07 EST
Nightwing was decrypting the Krolotean intel they had stolen from Malina Island. Robin and Beast Boy appraoched from the other side, watching him.
"Decryption completed. Translation completed," announced the computer.
"Is that the Krolotean intel?" asked Robin.
Beast Boy looked up at Robin, confused. "What Krolotean intel?"
"The data files M'gann and J'onn recovered on Malina Island before it was destroyed," replied Nightwing.
"Ah, noted." Beast Boy did not look like he understood.
"Apparently, the Kroloteans were snatching humans to use as guinea pigs. They were hoping to find something. Something inside us," Nightwing said, almost as if speaking to himself, but he obviously wasn't. Instead, he was making sure to not let Storm know the reason or to not meet anymore Kroloteans.
"What?" Robin asked, drawing Nightwing out of his thoughts.
"There's no English word for it. The nearest translation is Meta-Gene." Nightwing turned to Robin as he answered.
"What's a Meta-Gene?"
Beast Boy lightly ebowed Robin's back with a grin. "Never meta Gene I didn't like."
And that was when Computer spoke. "Warning: unknown energy impulse detected."
Behind Nightwing was a large ball of electricity, crackling. The three heroes in the room were all in a ready stance.
The lightning stopped crackling and a dark grey machine appeared. It dropped to the ground with a dull thud, smoking. Some areas of the machine were glowing a light blue colour.
"Stand ready," Nightwing warned, pulling out his escrima sticks. Robin had his staff ready and Beast Boy was prepared to transform.
The hatch for the machine opened and a lot of smoke poured out. In the smoke, a vague outline of a human body was there. A red gloved hand came into focus first since it was reaching out.
The two hands held the sides of the open hatch and out jumped a...boy?
He landed in a crouch position.
He was in a beige coloured suit with red gloves and the middle of the suit was red. He had on red goggles with yellow protective glass. His shoes were red as well.
He had green eyes and a mop of brown hair combed pretty neatly.
The boy stood straight, spread his arms out, and grinned brightly.
"Ta-da!"
Nightwing narrowed his eyes.
"Intruder alert. Intruder alert."
"Computer, lock down Cave," Nightwing ordered.
Beast Boy went from shocked to serious very fast. "Well, I think we found our unknown energy impulse."
The kid was clearly excitable, very excitable. "Impulse? That's so crash! Catchy. Dramatic. One word." And then he started running like a red blur. "Like Nightwing. And Robin. And Beast Boy, except that's two words. Blue Beetle's two words. Hey, is he here too?" And the he ran to the tunnel that led to other areas of the Cave. "Never mind. Impulse can find that out for himself." He laughed a little crazily, then disappeared.
Nightwing watched him, annoyed. "You two, take him down. Now."
Beast Boy transformed into a cheetah, already ahead of Robin, who followed while his cape flowed behind him.
"We're crash?" Nightwing asked himself.
------
Storm had just dealt with two robberies, a mugging, three monsters, and found a random kid stuck in a tree. Yeah, Gotham had somehow become more active during the day.
That was when she got an alert on her watch. There was an intruder in the Cave.
She sighed. Nightwing was on duty today, but some feeling told her this would be imortant and she wouldn't want to miss it.
Storm gathered her energy and then evaporated. She obviously hadn't done it in the middle of a park, don't worry.
When she appeared there, she barely had time to sense the red blur before she grabbed the back of its collar and held it up like a cat would hold it's kitten, by the scruff of its neck.
"Ow! Who the hell are... OH MY GODS!"
"Holy Hera, the thing speaks?" she asked Nightwing who was staring at her in either relief or confusion. "Got an alert."
He nodded, thankful for the clarification/explanation on how she arrived. "By the way, I had him," he said, pointing to the kid in her hands.
"Now I have him," she replied, you could practically hear the smirk, though there was probably none actually there.
"Well, thank you," Nightwing replied, then turned to look at the boy. He was still staring at Storm in awe.
"Oh my gods, oh my gods, oh my fricking gods! You... You... You're Storm! You are literally iconic! You said...and you did...and..."
Storm shook her head as Nightwing approached with handcuffs. He cuffed the boy's wrists and then his legs, obviously so he couldn't run.
"Thanks, Princess."
"Anytime, Richie."
Wing groaned, but he couldn't be bothered to be angry with her.
He pulled the boy out of Storm's grasp and looked at him. "Now that was crash."
The boy groaned. "For you, maybe. Me, I'm feeling the mode."
They set him down on a bench in the centre of the Cave and all four stared down at the boy. After a brief explanation of where "Impulse" was from, Nightwing had left right after the explanation while the other three stood and looked at Impulse skeptically.
"You're a tourist...from the future?" Robin clarified.
"Why so surprised?" chuckled Impulse. "Half the meat at Comic-Con are from my era."
Beast Boy looked at Robin as he stared at Impulse, thinking deeply.
"Look, look, guys, we should all be friends. I'm really one of you. Part of the heroic legacy, right? My name's Bart Allen. You know, grandson of Barry Allen. The Flash."
"Noted. Not believed. But noted," replied Beast Boy.
Storm brushed past the other two and bent down to be level with Impulse. She studied him with her piercing eyes that Impulse was terrified she was about to pulverize him, which he would not have been shocked about.
Except she didn't She stood up and walked back to the other three. "He has some of Barry's DNA, I sensed it."
Beast Boy had no idea what was going on now, but Robin looked at her carefully. She nodded in response.
"Right, the Bat-language. Nods, grunts, handsignals, and looks," Impulse observed. The two Bats turned to stare at him harshly, as if thinking of ways to make him disappear. "You guys are terrifying. No wonder the Batfam are the most feared vigilantes."
"Also has Barry's talkativeness and fast speaking shit going on," Storm murmured.
Impulse latched onto Storm's statement. "See! I am the Flash's grandson. I've clearly got Flash's speed, his amazing good looks. Frankly, I can't wait to meet him. Uh, you know, back when he was in his prime."
"Flash does not look good. Decent, sure, but good looks, you're dreaming child," Storm said. Impulse gaped like he was shocked by her audacity.
"Well, Bart, coming all the way from the future, you must have worked up quite the thirst," Nightwing said as he entered. He brought the glass to Bart.
"Thanks," Bart replied, drinking from the glass as Nightwing tipped it for easier drinking access.
Then Bart stopped. He pulled back and smirked. "Oh, ah. You're trying to get a DNA sample. You need my spit." He spat in the glass. "Ha. That's such a Dick Grayson thing to do."
Now the Bats were exchanging glances while Beast Boy once again returned to his state of immense confusion.
"How did...?" Robin started.
"See? I know stuff only a future boy would know. Dick Grayson. Tim Drake. Garfield Logan." He looked at each of them as he said there names, but stopped before Storm's.
She raised her eyebrow in challenge. "Well, future boy?" she prompted.
"Percy Jackson."
If Garfield was shocked before, he was now openly gaping. See, Percy Jackson was a sort of legend to kids these days. After her fame as Bruce Wayne's honourary niece, and then her known terroist to attempted kidnapping story, she had been on a Buzzfeed Unsolved episode just uner two years ago when she was somehow seen with Piper McLean (daughter of famous actor, Tristan McLean) even though she was assumed dead. Percy Jackson was what parents told their kids not to be, a troublemaker. She was a legend in the normal world, and even the heroes sometimes found themselves wondering about her.
AN: Unecessary explanation, but who else feels it is hilarious that Percy is famous in the mortal and demigod world for two very unrelated things? I feel as though the Justice League even got confused with this child.
Garfield stared at all three of them. "Your name's Tim, yours is Dick? And you are the Percy Jackson from that Buzzfeed Unsolved episode?"
"Oops, spoilers. This secret identity thing is so retro. I mean, you can call me Impulse or Bart or Bart Allen or Bart "Impulse" Allen. It's all crash."
"I'm going to call you problematic with all the words spewing out your mouth at four hundred miles an hour," Storm murmured, picked up by everyone.
Impulse once again looked at her as if questioning her audacity. Wait, she did actually swear at the gods of Olympus, so of course she has the audacity.
Beast Boy walked towards Impulse as if on a mission. "Tell us something we don't know yet. When do I become leader of the Team? When do I join the Justice League? When do I get my own reality series?"
"Sorry, BB. Never was the best history student. Besides, we can't risk altering the time stream," Impulse replied, not sounding sorry at all. "Do that, we're all feeling the mode."
"I agree with Problematic."
"Wait! You're actually calling me that?!"
"Hmmm, you're right. I should just call you Problem, it's so much simpler," Storm shot back, her eyes sparkling with more light then it had in years.
"Recognised: Malcolm Duncan, A10," Computer announced.
"Ooh. Sound like a door opening somewhere. And that's my cue." Impulse's hands and legs vibrated to the point where you couldn't see them and the cuffs dropped to the floor uselessly. "Bye-bye!"
Beast Boy tried to grab him, but Impulse was too fast.
"Awesome meeting you, Percy!" Impulse shot over his shoulder. For some reason, Storm felt her lips quirk upward and they didn't drop immediately.
"Don't worry. The Peregrine Falcon is the world's fastest bird. He won't get away," Beast Boy assured unecessarily. Then transformed and flew after Bart.
"Doesn't stand a chance, does he?" Robin said.
"Nope. Impulse is too fast," Nightwing replied.
Storm stood there and shrugged. "Well, that was refreshing. He reminds me of Leo, too fast and impulsive, but also fun. Anyway, I'm going to go and get a coffee." She pulled down her mask, not even realising she had this soft smile on her face, and quickly put on a spare domino mask from her belt.
Nightwing and Robin noticed, both shocked then smiling to themlseves.
"Princess, you're smiling," Wing said.
Storm raised her hand to her lips and the smile widened. "Guess I am. Anyway, give me updates on the tracker and if Wally will help, I'm gonna go and get a coffee from Starbucks."
As soon as she was gone, Robin elbowed Nightwing. "You're down bad."
"No I'm not!"
"Yeah, sure. Just make sure I'm best man."
AN: Sibling teasing
------
Storm really just wanted a drink. She had put on a domino mask, lowered her hood, and was literally smiling. She arrived at the nearest Starbucks, earning loads of looks about her just turning up in hero gear (who cares?), when she got an alert.
"Ah, shit," she murmured. "Another disaster in Central City."
She walked past the others and got out the shop, pocketing her Lotus Casino Card that has survived 7 years and not ran out of money. Crazy!
Storm was of course going to vapour travel and, once out of sight, she evaporated into green mist. She appeared behind a police car and looked to see St. Louis Arch and red waves emitting from someone below the arch. They had rebuilt it a while ago, but still, memories of jumping off the arch were fresh.
Storm briefly wondered with her ADHD brain how she had managed to reach the water from there when the distance was so far, but who knows. All she knows is that she jumped and the scene cut to her in the water with no explanation as to how she arrived in the water from several hundred feet away. Woops, fourth wall, she thought. She shook her head and focused on the conversation between the police officer and Flash while KF and Problem stood around.
"-keep the citizens at a distance," Flash was saying.
Storm stepped forward. "Which is why the speedsters will deal with this and I will help with evacuation," she announced.
Kid Flash, Flash, and even the Captain jumped. Impulse just stared at her in awe. "Did you use your power?"
"Not now, Problem. Save the city, talk later." She smiled at Kid Flash, making him think that the world was ending. "Anyway, we can talk later KF, it's been a while."
And that was when Flash and Impulse went into hyper-talk. The three others that had either enhanced, normal, or speed (but not Flash speed) were staring.
"You getting any of this?" the Captain asked.
"About every fifth word."
"Probably every fifteenth word for me," said Storm. The two exchanged glances of exhaustion, Flash and Impulse truly were relatives.
"Flash! Yo, Flash!" Kid Flash stopped the two.
"Sorry, got sidetracked. Anyway, you in?"
"With what? I heard something about funnel cake?" KF replied, confused of course. So was Storm. She heard funnel and wave, no cake.
"Just follow our lead, Kid," Impulse said as he and Flash ran off.
KF followed.
The last two non-speedsters exchanged glances. "Well, I'll get civillian to safety, you set up a perimetre, Captain." Storm disappeared in a burst of mist.
"Since when could Bats do that?" the Captain asked no one.
------
In the end, Neutron was defeated by a funnel made of speedsters and then exploded the area. Storm had barely managed to vapour travel out of the blast zone before the arch was destroyed again.
Oh, you poor arch, she thought sadly. It's always when I'm around, isn't it?
She stood and waited, the speedsters arriving beside her.
As soon as the blast dissipated, Storm decided she was not dealing with this today. Unfortunately, her moral compass decided to force her to stay.
Impulse was about to run towards Neutron when Flash stopped him.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"I just wanted a closer look. What harm could it do? Neutron felt the mode. He's gone."
Kid Flash stepped forward, leveling with the other two. "Who's Neutron?"
"The bad guy," the relatives answered in sync.
"Okay, fine." KF activated his goggle and zooms in on Neutron's form in the smoke. "Except, he's not so much feeling modes, as putting his body back together from scratch!" His voice rose as the sentence progressed.
Storm walked to beside him and stood next to KF, staring in worry too. "What the Hades?"
The four got closer. Well, Flash pulled Storm along and Impulse pulled KF along to make sure they got closer, faster.
"Switching to infrared," KF said, tapping a button on his goggles. The entire area around Neutron was red and pulsing. "I think that get-up he was wearing before was some kind of containment suit. Without it, he's even less stable. Looks to me like he's gonna blow again. Maybe bigger than before!"
"Kid, let me see those," Flash said, putting out his hand. KF put his goggles in Flash's hand, who put them on his face and looked at Neutron. "There are fluctuations now between his energy waves."
"I didn't see that," commented KF.
"You don't have the Allen family eyes," Impulse replied with a mischievous smirk.
"Don't make me hurt you."
"Problem, stop being a problem," Storm added.
"Each fluctuation only lasts a microsecond. But at near-light speed... I can race in, grab Neutron and haul him to the desert to minimize damage," Flash said, ignoring the people behind him.
"That sounds kind of-" Impulse tried to say.
Flash interrupted, "You three stay put." He hand KF his goggle back. "I'll be back in a Flash."
"How many times?" Storm asked.
"Second one today, so far," replied Kid Flash.
Impulse shot off a second after Flash.
Storm sighed, "I suppose you have to..."
"Me and Kid Flash both," said a man behind her and she didn't bother questioning why he was there because the other two speedsters ran after the relatives.
Storm disappeared as well, reappearing where she sensed the four were, only to find three.
"What happened to Problem?"
And that's how they found Impulse with a kid, probably around 17–18 years old.
Storm arrived last because she had refused to be hauled there by any speedsters.
"-ran out of juice," Impulse was saying.
The adolesscent looked lost, scared, and confused. "Who's Neutron?"
------
Mount Justice
28/02/2016, 20:07 EST
"Impulse's DNA matches up with both Iris and you, Barry," Nightwing said.
I literally said that, Storm thought.
"And this thing is giving off both Zeta and Chronotron radiation," Nightwing continued, not knowing what Storm was thinking.
"Which is, based on pure theory, what you'd expect to find radiating off a time machine," Kid Flash added.
Flash put his hand on Impulse's shoulder and smiled down. "Which means you're exactly who you say you are."
"Ha! Told ya! Anyway, it's been crash. But the future awaits. I gotta run," and he laughed at his terrible pun.
"Fuck, he even inherited Barry's terrible puns," Storm said. Barry turned to her with a look of sheer offence, as did Impulse, while she just took a long drink out of her cup of coffee. Yes, she did finally get her coffee.
"Bart, thanks for coming," Barry said, smirking at the kid. "I look forward to meeting you again for the first time and watching you grow up."
"That would be so crash." Bart hugged Barry, who reciprocated it a second after.
"So long," Bart said and got in his time machine. The hatch closed and the machine did not fizzle into nonexistence.
Barry looked at Nightwing and Storm, confused. The two also looked around, just as befuddled.
"Maybe he's travelling forward one second at a time," Beast Boy speculated.
The hatch slammed open and Bart exited, then kicked the machine. "It's not working. The whole thing's fried."
"Can you fix it?" Barry asked.
"I'm a tourist, not a chronal expert."
"You know, tourists don't usually save the city," Storm murmured to Nightwing as an afterthought. Nightwing turned to her with the most deadpanned expression he could muster. Trust Storm to say something like that.
She turned to him and this time, she sent him her crooked smile. It was her smile that promised mischief or chaos, both sometimes. And it was the smile that made Nightwing's heart race. He quickly turned away.
Then Storm turned back to the subject at hand. "So, kid's stuck here? Who's housing him because I volunteer."
Everyone stared at her. "What? He knows my identity and I bet he wants to meet Blackjack."
Impulse's eyes lit up. "Yes, I do! That is so crash!"
Extra:
"Look, kid, if you're here to stay, then there is something very important," Wally said, glaring down at Impulse. "Somehow, through some sort of sorcery, you have made Storm smile even after we haven't been able to. If you somehow hurt her, I will find a way to make you feel pain even after death. Since you know who she is, you probably know Percy has been through a lot, so don't you dare hurt her, clear?"
Bart gulped. "Is she like...your sister?"
"Yes, she fucking is. Now, am I clear?"
"Crystal."
AN: Does anyone else feel like Wally and Percy would cause way too much chaos together in their younger years? Also, Wally would threaten anyone because he is a protective older brother figure
No updates for a few weeks as I have exams, wish me luck on my mocks as well