2013.10.03 - Electro-Zappers

It's mid-afternoon this surprisingly warm September day. The sun shines high in the sky, puffy clouds floating around but not really blocking anything out. In a certain field on the outskirts of New York City, there's someone who's quite busy. The training field is often used by a certain pair of gods and their friends for training but right now it's the adopted son there. Eddie Thorson is dressed in workout pants and a Flash-logo t-shirt today. Bright red bands are wrapped around each wrist and ankle and he's hard at work practicing with his staff. Anyone that zips into the area might want to watch out because they might get accidentally smacked with the Eternal-forged weapon as Eddie goes through moves with his usual mix of training, clumsiness, and determination. "Gotta...gotta get better! Keep going!" he tells himself. Of course under the largest tree in the field there's a bike leaning against it as well as a backpack and a cooler with food and drinks. Must have more than training planned.

Impulse blurs past at superspeed, but as he notices Eddie training, he of course becomes curious. Zipping back around (and managing to avoid being clobbered by the staff), he gives a wave and calls over, "Hey! What are you training for? You look pretty serious! If it's for when the zombies come, you probably want something better than a stick!" Given his cheery demeanor, it's hard to tell whether he's serious or joking.

Eddie lets out a comical squeak when Impulse calls out to him, startled. Off balance, the move he'd been going for shifts. The end of the staff catches the ground, tips Eddie further off balance, and...THUD. "What? Z-zombies? Where?" he asks when he pushes off the ground, unaware of the dirt and grass sticking to his face and hair.

Impulse zwips over, offering Eddie a hand up and reaching with his free hand to help pluck some of that grass away. "Oh, not here NOW! I just mean whenever they DO come! Anyway, you probably want something stronger than a stick." He pauses, tapping his chin. "Maybe if you added some kind of ELECTRO-ZAPPERS to the ends!"

Eddie blinks several times and then blushes. Pouting slightly, he accepts the hand up. "Doesn't it d-d-depend on the kind of zombie? There are a bunch, right?" he asks. Looking at his staff, Eddie collapses it down to it's compact state. "Electro-zappers?"

Laughing, Impulse nods, rocking back and forth a bit on his heels with his hands tucked behind his head. "Sure! But the more punch you pack the better! Zombies are tricky since they aren't always the SLOW and DUMB kind anymore!" To explain the electro-zappers, he brings his hands around front, punching one fist into the opposite palm. "Y'know--wham! Like lightning!"

"I know. A few of the other Young Allies had m-me watch a bunch of zombie movies," Eddie sighs slightly. He's half convinced they did it just to watch him squeak and jump. "I know lightning. I j-j-just have no idea how it'd do it. I m-m-mean my staff's just metal. Metal m-m-made by a cosmic lady."

Rubbing his chin, Impulse speculates, "You don't know any enchanters do you? If you could get like a +5 lightning damage bonus, that would REALLY help! But I guess if it's cosmic metal that's better than nothing." He grins and adds, "Anyway, how're DOING? We haven't hung out in like FOREVER! Did I tell you I might join the Legion of Superheroes?"

"Billy m-might be able to do it. Maybe I'll ask him," Eddie says, looking his staff over. "How would I c-c-control the lightning though?" he asks, The lightning would be helpful and thematically sound considering who his adopted father is. "I'm d-d-doing okay. I was just training. No, you haven't told me. I didn't know you knew those g-guys too!" he says, grinning. "Want something t-to eat?" he asks.

"Well," Impulse says thoughtfully, "it'd work so when you smacked something with the end of your staff, it got zapped!" He shows the fist-to-palm motion again as if that explains everything, and then (at the mention of food) he zips over to stand beside the picnic items. "Sure! Whatcha got?! And yeah, I guess they know me in the future or something. So I guess I'll just join up NOW and save the trouble!"

"So impact b-based," Eddie blinks. "That c-c-could work," he smiles. And then Bart's zipped away and Eddie has to look around. Smiling wider, Eddie walks over to join him. "Um, I j-just made a bunch of sandwiches from the leftovers in my fridge," he admits. There's a wide selection in the cooler with many different sodas as well. "M-maybe you joining now is why they know you in the future."

"Yeah, exactly!" Impulse agrees, and at being invited to take a sandwich, he crouches down, rummages for a second, and then picks a roast beef sandwich and takes a bit bite. Chewing and swallowing, he declares, "It's good!" So he sits down right there, cross-legged, and nibbles at the sandwich, peering up at Eddie. "So did you know you'd be running into friends, or did you just want to have lots of sandwiches in case?"

Slipping his staff into his backpack, Eddie sits down across from Impulse. First he takes the bands off his wrists and ankles, each one making a dull THUD as it hits the ground. Yes, he's been wearing weights. Grabbing a sandwich for himself, the power booster shrugs. "Well, Billy thinks it's a w-w-weird power of mine but I tend to just run into people. And sometimes Thor and Sif use this field t-t-too so I had extras."

"Cool power!" Impulse declares with a big grin, then munching some more of his sandwich. "Yeah, it's good to always have friends around! I usually FIND people instead of them finding me, though." He looks thoughtful about that for a second, then shrugs. "Probably 'cause I move around a lot." Finishing the sandwich in just a couple more bites, he brushes his hands together and says. "So, whatcha gonna do now?"

"I d-don't think it's a real power," Eddie chuckles. "You're r-right though. I always like having friends around. I'm glad you c-came by too," he says, grinning. "You are r-r-really fast," he says. He starts eating his sandwich and looks thoughtful. "I don't know. I've been out here for a c-c-couple hours," he says.

Impulse snags a soda, popping it open, and says, "Well, if you're done here, you could always borrow some of my speed and we could go for a quick run together!" He grins, taking a swig of the fizzy drink. "Unless you've got a better idea, anyway."

Eddie blinks a few times at the suggestion around a bite of sandwich. Once he swallows, he grins again. "That sounds like a g-great idea! Let me finish this and pack stuff up and we can g-go."

Impulse finishes off the soda, tossing the can into a nearby recycling bin, and he straightens up, stretching out a bit in preparation for the run. "Cool! We can go up to Canada to see some snow, then make our way out to California and then maybe Hawaii!" Of course, for Bart that's just a light run.

Eddie knew it was a good idea to drag a recycling bin and a garbage can out here for that exact reason. While Bart stretches, Eddie finishes eating. He disposes of wrappers and cans and then quickly starts packing up his stuff. "That all s-s-sounds great. Just remember to not g-get too far ahead," he chuckles. Once everything is packed up, Eddie stands. "Get ready," he makes sure Impulse is ready before applying his boosting powers to the speedster. Seconds later he mimics him as well and the outfit becomes a combo of his workout gear and Impulse's costume. "Woo! I'm ready to go!" he says speedily, feeling a lot more energized.

Impulse gives Eddie a quick high-five, and then he zooms away to the north as planned. The two will blur away, vanishing across the horizon in the blink of an eye as they take "just a quick" run at many times the speed of sound.