Impulse: Triple Trouble!
by Shaun Barrow

Episode 1: "3 Way Doom!! Villains, a purse snatcher, and Food Shopping!!!"

"Maaaaaaax!!!" whined Bart Allen, "Why do I have to go?! I am busy!" Bart and his mentor, Max Mercury, were inside their Manchester home, arguing…..as usual. Max wanted Bart to head downtown to run an errand for Helen.

"Because," sighed Max as he ran his fingers through his gray hair, "I have to give a presentation at the Community College on Native American Tribal customs in a few minutes. And Helen would do it herself, but she is on call. So that leaves you." Max then began to fix his tie as Bart started to vibrate around him. It appeared as if there were at least ten Barts in the room.

"But food shopping is so boring!!!" cried Bart. "It's slow and boring and slow and boring and the lines are too long and did I mention it was boring!?"

Max was still fixing his tie. "Mmm, yes." He said. "No one ever said food shopping would be an exhilarating experience. I'm actually frightened to let you go food shopping, let alone let you out of the house. Now, tell me what you have to do."

Bart stopped vibrating around and took out a shopping list. "Well," said the boy speedster, "I have to follow this list exactly, do not spend more than thirty five dollars, blah blah blah."

Max stopped fixing his tie, put on his jacket, and looked Bart in the eye. "Good," said Max, "keep to that list. I'm giving you forty dollars, so if you want buy yourself something to eat you can. I'll be back by six. So, Behave yourself in that store." Max started to walk out the door, as Bart starting sticking his tongue at Max. Max turned around and said "Oh, and Bart….please don't end up on the six o'clock news….again. We're lucky Helen talked the supermarket manager into letting you back in there after that pork and beans fiasco."

A mental picture of a sea of canned pork and beans engulfing people in the store appeared in Bart's head. "Heh heh." Bart laughed, "Aw c'mon Max, they won't remember that, it was like….what two years ago?"

Max sighed and said; "No Bart…more like two days ago. Please be good Bart, I'm counting on you." Bart gave Max an 'Aye Aye Sir' and Max walked out the door. Bart then went upstairs and got dressed, making sure he had with him his "Impulse Ring", which encased his costume. After getting dressed, Bart zoomed off to his friend Carol's house. He figured he needed her to keep him company.

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In a house at the outskirts of Manchester, a bald, middle-aged man was sitting in front of a computer. He was figuring out formulae and other things, when suddenly a young girl with brown hair, around Bart's age, burst into the room. "Hey Pops!!" she exclaimed. "What ya doin!?!" The old man was scared by the girl's sudden entrance that he spilled his coffee on his computer. "Ack!!!!!" he yelled. He started wiping up the spill and said; "Brenda!! How many times have I told you not to do that!!!!"

Brenda smiled and said; "Ha ha, sorry pops! So what ya doin?!"

The man wiped his brow, sighed and said; "Computing formulas that have ramifications upon my lastest experiment."

"Oh!" said the energetic girl. "Are you making more brothers or sisters for us?! I'd really like to have a sister, that would be cool."

The man shut off his computer. "Don't concern yourself with it, Brenda." Said the man. "Where are your brothers?"

"I dunno," she said, "I think Kenny is somewhere exploring downtown, like you asked him to. I have no idea where Bobby is. So when do we get to go to school, Pops? I never been to a school before!!"

"In due time my dear, in due time." Said the man. "It's all according to plan."

"Bart!! No!!!" cried Carol. She looked in fear as her best friend had climbed up an aisle rack.

"Ah c'mon Carol," said Bart, "I've got good balance, besides, this is the last pancake mix of this kind, and Max told me to stick to the list."

Uneasy beads of sweat began to appear on Carol's brow. She knew that Bart was Impulse, and therefore wouldn't hurt himself being up so high on the aisle racks. What she was afraid of is the chaos that could result from it. "Come down Bart!" said Carol. "Let's call a manager or worker to get the mix down."

"Now what fun is that?" said Bart as he stretched to get the box. "I almost got it anywaaaaaay!!!" Bart slipped and his heel hit a bottle of syrup. Which hit another bottle of syrup. Which hit another. And another, and another. Bart had set off a chain reaction, as the Syrup began to fall like dominoes off of a table. Carol hid her eyes and said; "I can't look. This is going to be horrible!" As she hid her eyes, she failed to see Bart using his super speed to stop the bottles of syrup from falling. All she felt was a gust of wind. Bart tapped her on her shoulder and said, "Hey, why are you doing that? I told you everything would be okay."

Carol unhid her eyes and looked at her wild haired friend. He was grinning triumphantly. "See, I didn't mess up." Carol looked around and then asked Bart; "Yea, that's good and all, but where's the pancake mix?" Bart stopped and thought for a moment. After a minute, he had realized what had happened. "Oh yea, the pancake mix, I forgot!" As Bart looked up, the pancake mix dropped off the rack and nailed Bart in the head. "Ow!" the boy yelled, as the box hit him square on top of his bushy head.

Carol picked up the box, smiled at Bart and gently rubbed the top of Bart's head. "Aw," she said, "Bart you know that didn't hurt that much…not with all that hair on your head." Bart stuck his tongue at her, got his shopping cart, and he and Carol moved on.

"What's next on the list?" the young speedster asked.

"Mmm, that's all." Carol said. "Your Uncle Max will be surprised to know we completed shopping with barely any incidents."

Bart smiled. "Yea." He said. "But I think the guy who worked in the free samples area still is mad about when I….." Bart got cut short when he heard a woman yelling outside of the store. Bart felt that it meant trouble, as people started to rush to the window at the front of the store to get a look at what was going on.

"Carol…." Said Bart, "…I think there's.." Carol cut Bart off, "Go ahead Bart! Someone out there might need you, you don't have time to think!"

Bart looked at her, stopped, and said "Heh, Oh yeah! Okay, be back in a flash!!!"

Outside the store, a teenaged boy, maybe around the age of sixteen or seventeen, was ripping purses off of women left and right. The boy was masked and was dressed in a green and dark blue costume. He had just grabbed a woman and started to tear off her purse when a white and red blur rushed in and took the woman and the purse from him.

"Wha!?" said the boy. "Who did that?!?"

"I did!" said Bart, smiling. Bart was in his Impulse guise.

The boy looked at Impulse and shook his head knowingly. "Yes," said the boy, "You are the kid my father told me to be wary of….Impulse."

Impulse was proud that someone told this boy to be wary of him. "Yep!" he exclaimed while smiling, "That's me!! So...uh, who are you, and why are you doing snatching these ladies purses?"

The boy pointed his hand toward Impulse. "Call me Kinetic." He said. "And I am doing this because my father wants money, so I am going to get it for him!"

Impulse looked confused. "So," Impulse said, "that makes you like a super villain, right?"

"Yep, you can say that I guess." Said Kinetic. "And I guess you are a super hero."

"Yup!!" Bart smiled. "I'm going to be the next Flash one day. But anyway, I have to stop you from what you're doing now, okay?"

Kinetic sneered. "Oh, okay." He said. "You can try!!!" With that, Kinetic's outstretched hand started to cackle with energy and he shot an energy blast at Impulse. Impulse vibrated through it and sped toward Kinetic, landing 8 punches at lighting speed. Kinetic fell to the ground, holding his jaw.

"So," Impulse said, "Do ya give up?" Kinetic got up, smiled and said "Nope." He then put his hands to the ground and emitted kinetic energy into the ground, making it partially explode, sending Impulse and the other pedestrians flying. Bart, taking a second to think, realized people were about to get hurt, so he quickly rounded everyone in the near vicinity up and ran them to safety. Then he rushed back at Kinetic, only to get hit by a well timed kinetic blast. Bart reeled to the ground, in pain.

"Ow!" he yelled, "That hurt!!!!"

"Duh." Said Kinetic as he blasted at Bart again. Bart vibrated through the blast and rushed in at Kinetic, knocking him down. Kinetic grabbed Bart by his hair and tried to hit him but Bart vibrated and got away. Suddenly, a bright flash appeared in between the two boys. A young teenage boy decked in a red and dark blue costume and mask appeared.

Impulse looked at the boy and asked, "Who are you?" The boy, silent as ever, picked up a small piece of the concrete, and threw it at Bart. Bart vibrated so the rock would go right through him. The mysterious boy outstretched his hand, and suddenly the rock disappeared. Bart looked around for the rock, and was suddenly struck in the back of the head by the very same rock. Bart fell to the ground, stunned. Kinetic got back up and was about to use his kinetic blasts on Bart, but the silent boy grabbed his hand, whispered something in his ear, and then the two disappeared in a bright flash of light. The police arrived, as Impulse 'slowly' changed into his regular clothing and found Carol, who was watching from inside the store. Bart was in obvious pain.

"Bart!" said Carol. She looked very concerned. "Are you okay, I saw the whole thing!!"

"Yea…ow, I'm okay." Said Bart. "Just a little woozy, but I'm okay." Carol handed Bart one of the shopping bags as the two began to walk away, as more police and people came to the scene. "Who were they Bart?" Carol asked, as she rubbed the back of her friend's head.

"I dunno." Said Bart. "But I got the feeling they'll be causing me a whole bunch of trouble..and soon."

To Be Continued…..

In the next episode of Impulse: Triple Trouble!, Bart and Carol meet Brenda, a new girl at Manchester High. She's nice and good natured, but what secret agenda does she have?? All this and more in Episode 2:  "Mysterious Circumstances! Who is Brenda??!"

[Return to the journal index] [Read Episode 2]