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#5
SEP 12 |
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“Adonis Rising”
Bart woke up early and decided to go out and clear his head. There was a lot to think about lately and thinking in coherent thoughts always managed to seem to give him a headache when he did it for too long. He loved Cody, but at the same time he was realizing that his life as a superhero was putting him into danger, especially now that everyone had seen them together. There had to be a way to fix this, Impulse just had to find a solution.
“I just need to find a place that'll stimulate my brain,” Impulse said to himself as he found an Ernest film festival. “That'll do.”
A photo appeared on the TV screen of Impulse racing out of the dorm room carrying Cody. “I warned you!” Jack Ryder said from his seat in the ‘You Are Wrong’ studio. “How long before this teenage deviant is breaking into your house and stealing your children?”
Ryder walked up to a large black woman in the studio audience. “Jack, I just want to say that that Impulse is no good and he should be ashamed of himself,” said the woman as she snapped her fingers. The audience wildly applauded as she sat back down.
Up came video of Antoine Dodson saying, “He’s sneakin’ in your windows, snatchin’ your people up! Anyone could be next, especially YOU!”
“That’s true,” Ryder said as he crossed the studio. “Guard your children, lock up your pets and hide your valuables. This sicko is out on our streets now and I find it disgusting. Protect yourselves…if you can. Good night.”
As Ryder walked off the set, his stage manager rushed to catch up to him. “Great show, Jack! Your ratings have doubled ever since you started doing shows about Impulse!” said the man.
“Yeah, but it's not enough. I need something to keep those suckers watching,” replied Ryder as he thought. “I need a bigger scandal involving that brat…something that'll really rock everyone's world.”
After a few Ernest movies to help get his brain running, Impulse was running down the streets of Los Angeles when he heard a scream. He veered toward it and came to a stop. A man was bent over a woman lying on the ground. “Hold it!” Impulse said as he charged forward.
The man turned and Impulse saw he was wearing an expressionless white mask. The man threw a bloody knife toward Impulse. Impulse turned his head to catch the knife and by the time he turned back the man was gone. He skidded to a stop beside the woman. “You’re going to be–” he started to say. He backed away when he saw that the woman’s throat had been slit and the man had sliced her face off.
Feeling sick, Impulse rushed to the nearest trash can and threw up. “Hey, I don't remember eating that.”
Cody yawned as he stretched. No surprise that Bart was already up and out. He smiled but the smile was short-lived. The sunlight streaming in through the window felt like a poker drilling into his skull. Cody screwed his eyes shut and closed the venetian blinds.
“What’s happening to me?” he asked as he stumbled back toward the bed. Falling back against his pillow, he started having more flashes of things from another life, with people he used to know. Then he remembered dying.
And then he knew. Stumbling toward the bathroom, Cody looked at himself in the mirror. This wasn't his face. This wasn't his life. But he knew what he had to do.
Impulse stood beside the investigating detective. The alley had been blocked by police tape and officers were sweeping the area for evidence.
“Wonderful,” the detective said as he looked down at the victim, who was being prepared for transport by the coroner. “Adonis. That’s what I was afraid of.”
“I'm afraid of drunken clowns. What’s an Adonis?” Impulse asked.
The detective walked to his car and pulled out a manila folder. He handed it to Impulse as he returned to the scene. Impulse quickly scanned the file. He read the file of the villain who the police knew nearly nothing about. All that was included was the fact that he killed people and skinned their faces. There were plenty of guesses – maybe he was a male model, maybe he was a stalker…but nothing concrete.
“So what’s his name?” Impulse asked as he handed the folder back. “He looks like a Dirk. I'm going to call him Dirk.”
“No idea,” the detective said. “We’ve pieced that much together from what we’ve seen of his victims. He’s also left – here it is.” The detective motioned and a photographer began snapping pictures of a poster. The poster had a male model on a catwalk but the man’s face had been obliterated.
“Can you trace that down?” Impulse asked.
“Doesn’t matter,” the detective said. “They’re random pictures from a magazine you could buy on any newsstand. When he started hitting, we’d tried. The models were white, black, Asian, Latino...no ties. They don’t all work for the same agency and they had never spoken to each other except in passing if at all. The pictures are also from a variety of magazines.” The detective turned and walked back to the mouth of the alley. “I can’t say anything officially,” the detective said, “but unofficially, the department would welcome any help you can give us. This guy’s got to be stopped and I don’t care what that blowhard Jack Ryder’s saying about you.”
“No problem,” Impulse said. “I’m on the case!” He sped off and had barely gone a block before another question popped into his head. “Who’s Jack Ryder?” he asked no one.
At that moment Jack Ryder sat in his office at his computer. Although he’d ordered his staff to conduct searches of Impulse’s past, he’d decided to begin running a few of his own. “All right, hero,” he muttered, “I know you’ve got something you’re trying to hide. And I’m going to find it.” He smiled. “You’re my next book.”
It was then that he found what he was looking for. It was in the old stories about Young Justice as Ryder smirked to himself. “Jackpot.”
Impulse began crisscrossing the city, urgently searching for Adonis. Every time he heard a woman scream he stopped and his pulse accelerated, anticipating another encounter. Instead he found himself stopping mugging after mugging.
“Where are you?” Impulse muttered as he resumed his search. “Finding Waldo would be easier than this. And finding Waldo is hard…sneaky little bastard, always hiding in crowded public places. How many lives has Waldo taken without being caught?”
Back at the dorm, Cody had made it to his feet. He walked into the small kitchen area and carefully checked the drawers. He moved a few items around. Although the overall appearance of the room didn’t seem to change, Cody smiled. Everything had to be perfect for when Bart returned home.
As he headed back to the bedroom, he found a picture of Cody and Bart at their senior prom. Since both knew they wouldn't be accepted, Bart had whisked Cody off to Europe for a dance in Paris. Deep down he still had feelings for Bart, but they were quickly fading. He had a job to do.
Dropping the picture into the trash, Cody went to make sure the rest of his plan was set up before Bart returned home.
Impulse slowed to a stop when he heard another woman’s scream. He looked into an alley and saw the man in the white mask again. “Finally,” Impulse said as he zipped forward and grabbed the knife. After rushing the woman to safety, Impulse stood in front of Adonis. “Alright, Dirk, I think we need to have a talk.”
Adonis tilted his head, pulled out another knife and charged Impulse. He was faster than he looked and Impulse felt the knife dig into his thigh. Impulse clutched at his leg and fell to the ground.
Adonis pulled the knife free and gently pulled Impulse’s mask down. He studied Bart’s face as Impulse fought back tears. Adonis gently turned Impulse’s head and inspected his face before raising the knife once again.
Impulse kicked upward with his uninjured leg and Adonis crumpled. Impulse grabbed the knife and limped to the side of the alley. Despite his accelerated healing, the wound was just beginning to close. “Now you and me can wait for the police,” Impulse said as he grabbed some rope from the side of the alley and tied Adonis’s arms at his sides.
Adonis glared at Impulse as he pulled his mask back on. “Believe it or not, I’m pretty good with models,” Impulse said as he gently placed weight on his leg. He limped over and took hold of Adonis’s mask. “Since you wanted to check my face out, I think it’s fair that you return the favor. Let’s see who you are under there.”
Impulse pulled the mask free and gasped in horror. He stumbled backward and his bad leg buckled, sending his head into the side of a dumpster.
Adonis simply looked back with the dead woman’s face covering his own. He quickly escaped the ropes and picked up his knife. He was bending over Impulse when he heard sirens. He sliced Impulse’s mask free, slipped it into his pocket and quickly retreated down the alley. He lifted a manhole and dropped into a sewer.
Impulse was just beginning to stir when the police arrived. By the time they ran into the alley, Impulse was gone. After another hour of trying to find Adonis, he finally gave up and headed home, but not before heading back to catch the rest of the Ernest film festival.
Cody was sitting on the couch when he heard the door open. “Bad day?” he asked when he saw the look on Bart’s face.
“The worst,” Bart said as he flopped down onto the couch. “Thought I’d caught a murderer, but he got the better of me and escaped. He even stole my mask and those things aren't cheap to replace.”
“Did you save the victim?” Cody asked. Bart nodded. “Then that’s something.” Cody smiled. “I know how to make you feel better.” He pulled Bart to his feet. “Know what we’ve been talking about but never done?”
“You mean – oh,” Bart said as his eyes went wide. “You mean, we're finally going to do...it.”
“That’s right,” Cody said. “I think I’m ready. I'm finally ready to take that plunge, just you and me. I've got the supplies ready, and the video camera's ready to go. All we have to do is just let go and let nature do the rest.”
“I can't believe it,” said Bart with a smile. “We've talked about doing it ever since we started dating. And now here we are, ready to go bungee jumping.”
“That's right, baby. Just look into my eyes and tell me that you love me,” said Cody as he leaned in close to Bart.
“I lov–” Bart started as something weird started happening to Cody’s eyes. They seemed to be going black.
Contact.
Bart couldn’t move as Cody vanished and took possession of his body. Cody laughed as he looked into a mirror.
“This should work,” Jericho said. “This should work perfectly.”
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Next Issue: In Impulse #6: Jericho’s plan is revealed, but can Bart possibly stop it?
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