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#6
DEC 12 |
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“Possessed”
Then
“Hi, I'm Cody,” said the young man as he found Bart sitting on the front porch, looking at a picture of himself and Preston, who'd recently died. “I saw you just moved in. Are you all right?”
“Yeah,” replied Bart sadly. “No, I mean...it's a long story.”
Cody saw the picture and sat down next to Bart. “That your friend?”
“Yeah, he died recently,” replied Bart as he looked at Cody. “He was actually more than a friend.”
The two started talking and realized that they had a lot in common. Over the next few months they got closer and soon saw that there was something more there. By the time the two started college over a year later, they had started a relationship.
Now
Bart Allen fought against himself but he was being held immobile after Cody had effortlessly vanished and possessed him. After being held captive by Murmer, Cody had started to regain long lost memories of who he really was. And who he really was wasn't exactly a nice person.
Cody, now in possession of Bart’s body, walked Bart over to a mirror and looked into it. “That’s better,” Cody said, using Bart’s voice. “Let me introduce myself properly. My name is Joseph Wilson, although you might have heard of me as Jericho.” Jericho forced Bart’s face into a sick grimace. “And now let’s test your healing powers.” Jericho pulled Bart’s head back and slammed his head through the mirror.
Jericho picked up a shard of mirror and watched as the slashes on Bart’s face closed, leaving only bloody streaks behind. “Interesting,” Jericho said as he ran a finger along one of the streaks. “Very interesting.” Jericho took the shard and stabbed it through Bart’s left hand. Bart, being trapped inside of his own body with no control over his own actions, felt the pain of the glass in his hand, but couldn’t even scream.
Jericho dropped the glass and watched as the hole closed. “Why are you doing this?” Bart forced the words out.
Jericho smiled. “So you can still talk,” he said. “I suppose that your efforts should be rewarded.” Jericho sat down on a couch and faced a silver platter he’d set up as another reflector so he could see Bart’s reflection. “I was a Teen Titan before you ever dreamed of appearing on the scene. And do you know what I saw? Death. Terra died. Danny Wilson died. Golden Eagle died. Kole died. And finally I died at the hands of my own father, who’d also been responsible for my brother’s death.”
Jericho leaned back on the couch. “Of course, I can’t blame my father for everything; this isn’t Jerry Springer or anything. Without my father going through genetic experiments, I never would have had these gifts.”
Jericho smiled a sinister smile into the platter. “And these gifts are going to be what saves some of your little friends.”
Jack Ryder slammed a fist into his desk. “Nothing!” he yelled. He threw a folder across his office, scattering papers as it went as he fumed. He’d run every search he could think of into Impulse’s past and could find nothing.
Ryder scowled as he looked down. His gaze fell on a news photo of Impulse with Wonder Girl, Robin, Superboy and Arrowette. His eyes widened and he smiled as a new idea bloomed in his mind. Maybe he’d simply been looking for the wrong trail.
Jack pulled a notepad and wrote two words on it. Young Justice. Maybe this would give him the ammunition he needed.
Months Earlier (Teen Titans Vol. 1, #13)
“If you do this, make no mistake...I WILL kill you,” Deathstroke promised as he moved for his gun, which was quickly knocked out of his hand as Inertia zipped back to the portal.
“Maybe you're right,” Inertia realized with a sigh. “Maybe I should just give you your pay and let you go. I still have plenty of other people to torment.”
Deathstroke got up as Inertia grinned evilly. “But then again, I always hated Jericho's mutton chops. Maybe with luck the poor bastard's soul will end up in the 70's.”
Before Deathstroke could react, Inertia tossed the canister into the vortex. It closed before he could get to it as Inertia zipped around him, landing several punches.
The canister flew through the vortex, going backwards, landing 19 years earlier in an E/R, where a woman was giving birth. The canister shattered open as Jericho's soul flew out.
Just as the baby was born, Jericho's soul flew into the stillborn child, giving it new life as the baby started crying, much to the amazement of Cody Wyatt's parents.
Now
“I suppose you want me to explain my diabolical plan to you,” Jericho said with a chuckle as he talked to Bart’s reflection. “Fine, I’ll indulge you. It’s not like you can stop me anyway.”
Jericho stood and walked into the kitchen. “You see, Bart, it’s too dangerous out there for teenagers to play super-hero. Times have changed since Nightwing first dressed up like Robin or Wally West put on a Kid Flash costume. People die.”
Jericho picked up a glass and filled it with water. He downed the water and smashed the glass against Bart’s forehead. He returned to the couch as the last of the cuts closed. “Fascinating,” he said. “I wonder what would happen if you suffered a more severe injury. Could your spinal cord regenerate if it was snapped?”
Jericho shook Bart’s head. “But I’m getting distracted…back to the evil master plan.” Jericho chuckled. “Your powers are perfect for me. With your speed I’ll convince the others to give up their costumed lives or I’ll kill them.” Jericho burst out into laughter. “If there are enough deaths, they’ll all give it up. I wonder if Wally will try to stop you from putting your costume on.”
“Cody, why?” Bart forced out.
“I’m not Cody!” Jericho yelled. “There never was a Cody. After I died, somehow your pal Inertia was able to pull my spirit back from death itself. After my father helped Robin escape from Inertia, my soul was sent into the time stream. I needed a new body and I found a set of parents who were giving birth to a stillborn child. It was easy enough for me to possess that child and I was alive again. With no soul in the body, I was able to bond with it, powers and all. Cody’s body was mine”
What Jericho hadn’t told Bart was that the experience caused him to lose his memory. He grew up believing he was Cody until Murmur awoke his true personality. But he wouldn’t tell Bart that, it was too much fun tormenting him into believing their love was all an act.
“After that it was simplicity itself. While I’d been kept by Inertia, I was able to learn the details of your life to that point. All I had to do was wait for Preston to get killed and then make sure I was in position to comfort you. You fell for it like the idiot that you are.”
Jericho glanced into the platter and ran his thumb along Bart’s teeth. “I wonder if these would grow back if I started knocking them out.” Jericho sneered at the reflection. “You know,” he said with a chuckle, “you make me sick. Every time I touched you I wanted to throw up. But it was worth it now. All I have to do is decide which of your friends dies first.”
Bart’s mind was racing. Before he knew it he was looking at himself. Bart smiled as he looked down and saw his hands glowing yellow. “Guess what, Joey?” he asked. “Meet a scout!” Bart charged toward Jericho and threw a punch that sent him flying.
Years earlier, Bart had been involved in a scientific accident with one of Max Mercury’s enemies that granted him the power to replicate himself in energy form, beings he called ‘Scouts’. They had all of Bart’s powers and memories with the added bonus of being able to time travel. He hadn’t used them in years, not since one had been destroyed, something Bart had felt as it happened. It was a pain he never wanted to experience again, but now he had no choice. Now with Jericho possessing his body, Bart’s soul was now in Scout form, something that had never happened before. His body was now pure energy, something that felt pretty good to him.
Jericho smirked. “You’re forgetting something, Bart,” he said. “Anything you can do I can do better.” Bart’s eyes went wide as he saw scouts begin appearing. “Kill him,” Jericho said. “I don’t need him if I’ve got this body.”
“Can’t we talk about this?” Bart asked before running and taking off down the side of the building with the scouts in fast pursuit. Jericho laughed as he watched.
Bart raced around campus with his scouts closing in on him. “Sorry about this,” one of them said with remorse in its voice.
“Yeah,” another chimed in. “It’s just something we’ve got to do.”
“Too bad you can’t just pull us back in,” a third one said.
Bart skidded to a stop and smiled. “Let’s do this, then,” he said. He raced forward with his arms extended and clotheslined two scouts who vanished. Bart’s smile grew wider as he felt more powerful after absorbing them. “Who’s next?” he asked.
Then
“Bart, are you serious?” asked Cody as he sat with Bart in the park. “You want us to... go out?”
“I like you, Cody,” replied Bart as he ran a hand through his hair. “I haven't liked anyone like this since...”
“Preston?”
“Look, Cody, I want us to be together, but there's something you have to know if you say yes,”
“What is that...Impulse?”
“You knew!?” asked Bart in shock.
“I knew,” replied Cody, “and I don't care. It's not Impulse that I'm falling for. It's you.”
The two leaned in to kiss as Bart pulled back. “Wait...what's your answer?”
“Shut up and kiss me,” ordered Cody.
Now
Jericho was waiting in the dorm room when Bart reappeared, lightning crackling around him. “And now I want my body back,” Bart said. He charged forward and slammed into his body, sending Jericho flying backward.
Jericho/Cody wiped blood from his nose and looked up from the floor. “You actually managed to kick me out,” he said. He smiled. “But as soon as I look you in the eye you’re mine again.”
Bart changed into his costume and closed his eyes. “Not going to happen,” he said. A split second later he was back with his goggles painted black.
Jericho’s smile grew as he stood. “Then all you’ve done is cripple yourself,” he said as he delivered a kick that doubled Impulse over. An elbow strike sent him to the ground. “If you can’t see, you can’t run. I know that if you ran into something there’d be nothing left but Bart-flavored goo.” Jericho gently picked Impulse’s head up. “So if you won’t help me, I guess we’re almost done here.”
Jericho walked into the kitchen and picked up a knife. He returned to the living area and crept behind Impulse. “Time to finish my experiment,” he said. “Let’s see you heal from this.”
“One question,” Impulse said. “Do you know that bats have horrible vision? They fly through a primitive kind of sonar.”
“So what?” Jericho asked.
Impulse grinned. “Guess what I learned to do a while back?” With his eyes closed behind the goggles, Impulse started snapping his fingers. He listened carefully and compared the sounds to his memory’s map of the room. He charged Jericho and knocked him down. Jericho reached up and started trying to pull Impulse’s goggles off.
“You’ll never stop me,” Jericho said as Impulse drew back his fist.
“I’m sorry, Cody,” Impulse whispered as his fist slammed into Jericho’s jaw, knocking him out.
Then
“You're gay?” asked Robin as he saw Impulse after over a year of no contact.
“I'm still into girls, but I'm also in love with Cody,” replied Impulse as the two were watching a warehouse as Robin waited for a robbery to happen. “There has to be word for this, but I have no idea what it is.”
“Bi-sexual?”
“But I just got here,” Impulse told him as Robin rubbed the bridge of his nose with two fingers. “You're the only one I've told because...I trust you.”
“Your secret's safe with me,” replied Robin. “So, do I get to meet this guy and give my approval?”
“Soon,” promised Impulse.
“I think my guys are making their move,” said Robin as he saw a truck pulling up. “Want to help?”
Impulse was already halfway across the street as Robin sighed. When would he ever learn?
Now
Impulse watched as the DEO agents secured a mask over Jericho’s eyes to negate his powers. They hauled him to his feet and he began to speak. “What’s going on?” he asked. “Bart, what are they doing to me?” Cody’s voice grew more frantic. “Bart, what’s happening? Don’t let them take me! Bart!” Tears were flowing from under the mask as Cody screamed Bart’s name.
Impulse could take no more and started running.
As the DEO locked him into the transport van, Jericho began laughing. His plan had worked – to an extent. Bart would never know whether Cody was ever real or not. After all, that was Jericho’s secret.
And if his parents had taught him anything, it was how to keep a secret. But still, a part of him had loved Bart, a part that he was going to have to work to bury deep inside of himself, just as he had when he was with the Teen Titans in his original body. Jericho wouldn’t be gay, he wouldn’t allow himself to be.
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Next Issue: In Impulse #7: Trying to recover, Impulse finds himself in the one place where he can forget what he’s been through. But there’s a new Rogue waiting to make his debut…
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