Disclaimer: DC owns the DCU. Impulse created by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo.

Reset! - Chapter Ten: Before the Storm

Wally peered at the sleeping Thaddeus Thawne from the kitchen doorway and frowned. He turned back to Helen and Bart. "I don't like this. More clones? One of you is more than enough, Bart."

"Ha ha, funny," Bart remarked sourly.

Helen walked past them and approached Thaddeus. Shaking his shoulder, she spoke, "Hey, are you hungry?"

He stirred and opened sleepy yellow eyes. Seeing Helen, he grinned, "Yeah." He sat up and looked around the living room, somewhat confused. When he saw Wally and Bart standing near the kitchen doorway, his eyes widened and he stiffened as if he was splashed with icy water. He ran his hand through his hair and strode towards the kitchen. Stopping when Wally didn't move out of the way, he glared up at the Flash. "What are you looking at?"

"A killer," Wally replied, "You're not going anywhere alone with Bart."

"I did what needed to be done," Thaddeus retorted, "And you don't make decisions for Bart. We're going to save Max and we're going to end Thawne's pet project."

Wally crossed his arms. "And after you're done with Bart?"

"We go our separate ways. I have no intention of staying in this backwards, primitive time." He met the green-eyed glare and crossed his own arms to mirror Wally's posture.

"You're still not going anywhere alone with Bart," Wally insisted.

Thaddeus rolled his eyes. "Give me some credit. If I truly wanted Bart dead, I could have killed him a few times over by now. What would be the point of stringing him along, when I could have my redemption in the Thawne legacy so easily? Think about it."

Bart spoke up, "He's right, Wally. He could have killed me and Max a long time ago, but he didn't, and he could have killed me right after he killed the fake, but he didn't. I don't like that he killed the fake, either, but..." He shrugged and shifted on his feet, "I don't know what to do about it."

With a snort, Thaddeus chortled, "There's nothing to do about it! What's done is done. If I left him alive, then he would be targeting you in a last-ditch, desperate effort to complete his mission. I can assure you that his conditioning was an improvement over mine and he wouldn't stop short like I did. On top of that, I know he had no qualms about collateral damage. Helen, or Carol, for instance."

Now Helen shooed the speedsters into the kitchen. "We can continue this at the table."

They obliged and evacuated the doorway. Wally accepted a cup of coffee from Helen and sat down at the table. "Thanks." Then he looked to Thaddeus, "Still, killing isn't the answer."

"There's just no explaining this to you, is there?" he scowled as he waited for Bart to finish filling a plate. "Fine, whatever. What are you going to do with me? Try me, convict me, throw me in jail? I have no records here and neither did the other clone. We don't belong in the time and we don't even have recognition as people in our own time. And even if you did somehow manage to get your flawed legal system to prosecute me, what facilities do you have that can hold me?"

Sitting down with at the table with her plate, Helen interjected, "If you're not people, what are you?"

"Science projects," Thaddeus bitterly replied as he piled food onto his own plate. "There are robots with more legal standing that I do. Here's the question: Can a dog be charged with murder? Answer: No, it just gets put down."

Around a mouthful of egg and sausage, Bart mused, "So, what does that make a robot dog?" Thoughts of an intelligent Robo-Dox played through his mind. Reminded of his own dog begging by his chair, Bart dropped a piece of sausage on the floor for Dox.

Raising an eyebrow, Thaddeus eyed Bart. "I have to wonder if I was lied to about being a clone. Moments like that would be better explained if I was the original and you were the copy. So much could be excused by a bad splice."

Bart frowned, "What? What'd I do?"

"And to think that there's an project with an entire phase dedicated to wiping you out," Thad sighed as he sat down at the table. "If President Thawne even knew half of the things I do about you, he wouldn't even bother. Really, I don't see the threat."

Wally finally got his chance to help himself to some breakfast. "Maybe it's not about what Bart is now, but what he's going to become. Maybe Thawne knows a piece of history that you don't."

Thad glanced between Wally and Bart. "Maybe, but I doubt it."

Wally's phone barely had enough time to begin ringing before he silenced it and looked at the message. "Oh, come on." He scarfed his meal and stood. "I need to go spank a giant monkey. Don't go anywhere. I mean it, Bart. I'll be back later." He darted out the house.

Helen pulled her gaze away from the suddenly empty chair and looked at Thaddeus. "Are you really going to help save Max?"

"Yes! How many times will I have to say it?" He tensed his jaw and drew in a breath. "I suppose that question won't go away until I prove it." Looking to Bart across the table, he asked, "You said you had a time and location to find Max?"

"Keystone City, sometime after June 26, 1932," Bart answered. He chewed on the last bite of sausage thoughtfully. "Why would Rival go there?"

"Good question, but I don't have the information to answer that."

Helen sipped from her coffee cup and furrowed her brow. "How are you going to free Max from Rival once you find him?"

Bart brightened and sat up. "Empress said that if we brought Max to her, she would get Rival out!"

Helen's expression lifted with hope. "Really? That's wonderful!"

Thad picked up the empty plates and took them to the sink. "There's a catch to that. I doubt we can get Rival to come back to this time willingly. Not without hurting Max in the process. This Empress will have to come with us." He started washing the dishes, making short work of the job. "I suppose that Wally will get his condition met, after all. You won't be alone with me on this mission." He yawned, looking somewhat surprised about it afterwards. "I going to crash on the couch for a little while." He left the kitchen and stretched out on the couch.

Bart got up and looked at the calendar on the wall. "It's Sunday," he stated to himself, "Everyone's gonna be at church until this afternoon. That's gonna be forever." His shoulders slumped for a second, and then he straightened. "Kon's not!"

"Bart," Helen warned, "You're not supposed to go anywhere."

"Oh, yeah. That sucks!" He tapped his foot for lack of running. "I can't go save Max yet, I can't go out, my friends here are busy, and there's nothing to do!" He threw his arms up into the air in exasperation.

"What is that on your arm?" Helen asked.

Bart looked at the already frayed temporary tattoo on his forearm. "Oh, this? Wondergirl and Arrowette put this on me last night, so they could tell me apart from the fake Impulse if there was a mix-up." He shrugged, "I guess that's not a problem now, unless Inertia tries to pass as me again."

"I doubt he'll try that again," she remarked, "Besides, Carol and I know what to look for now." She picked up a notepad and pen from the counter and began writing down a list. "When Wally comes back, I'll run out and get some groceries. It's hard enough to feed one growing speedster, but two... My pantry will be cleaned out in no time."

Bart wandered back to his bedroom and picked up his phone. He called Superboy, hoping that he would have someone else to talk to for a little while. To his relief, Kon answered the phone in a sleepy tone of voice. "Hello?"

"Hi, Kon, it's Bart."

"Bart? What's up? Where are you?"

"I'm at home. The fake's dead."

There was a pause before Kon spoke again. "What? How?"

"Inertia killed him." When Kon didn't reply immediately, Bart added, "My clone. He posed as me for a while, remember?"

"Oh, him... Right. Wait, he did what?"

"He killed the fake, who was another clone. He's here now, 'cause he's gonna help me and Empress save Max. So, now I have to stay at home with him, 'cause the Flash-"

"What? He's with you? Wait... Do Cassie and Rob know about this?"

"I already called Cassie."

"And you're just chillin' with your evil clone who tried to kill you a while back? Bart... Just hang on; I'll be there in about an hour. Don't go anywhere!"

"Everyone keeps telling me that." After hanging up, he stepped out of his room.

Bart looked down the hall to the door of Max's bedroom. What would Max do about this whole situation? The door was closed, so if Bart hadn't known that Max was gone, he just would have assumed that Max was doing his freaky, lightning-eyes meditation thing again. He opened the door and stepped into the room. Daylight filtered through the blinds, but the room was cool and smelled slightly musty. No one had been in here for a while. Bart looked around, noticing that everything was exactly as Max left it. He sat down on the floor and drew his knees up to his chin.

Closing his eyes, he replayed that last time he and Max had encountered Inertia together. Max had told Bart later that he had offered to let Inertia stay with them. "What would you think of that, Bart?"

"I dunno. He's evil and stuff, right? Why would we let him stay here?"

Max raised a white eyebrow and looked at his ward over the rim of his coffee cup. "He was only the way he was because of his environment, not because of any choice that he made. While he was posing as you, he did a very good job as a hero. He has a lot of potential." Max set down the cup and leaned back in his chair. "How can I explain this? Do you remember those stunted trees along the coast that grew bent and slanted?"

"Yeah, they look weird."

"Well, those trees only grew like that because the wind was always blowing hard on them. But if you took those same trees when they were young and replanted them somewhere calmer, they would grow up tall and straight like normal trees." Seeing that Bart still didn't quite understand, he added, "You and Inertia are like those young trees. You were taken away sooner, so you aren't nearly as bent and twisted. But think of what would have happened to you if your Grandma Iris didn't take you away."

"I would have died," Bart answered bluntly.

"Well, let's say that the scientists had figured out a way to stop that," Max hypothesized, "What would have happened to you then? If you stayed with them?"

Bart frowned at that. This was more of that whole thinking thing and he didn't much like that. "I dunno."

Max's expression flattened. "You're not even trying on that one." He sighed, and then said, "According to your mother, your grandfather would have put you through a great deal of conditioning to make you into his pet weapon. In other words, Bart, you would have turned out much like Inertia did."

"Nuh-uh! I'm good!" he protested.

"Only because you were brought to a place where you were given the chance to be good. If Inertia was given the same opportunity, he could be good, too. Do you get it now?"

Bart shrugged, "Sorta."

Yellow eyes opened to the abandoned room. Dox stood in the doorway, wagging his tail. "Maybe Max was right," Bart told him. Dox perked up his ears and ventured further into the room. The boy rubbed his dog's head and smiled. "Wouldn't he be proud if we both rescued him?"

Popping his head into the living room again, he found that Thad was still asleep on the couch. How long was he going to lie there? Bart eyed his videogame console. He wanted to play, just to stay occupied with something for a while. Besides, he still had a boss battle to get to. He turned on the television and turned down the volume until it was barely audible. Looking to Thad, he saw that the other boy was still sleeping.

A few quests and a boss battle later, Dox perked up and a knock sounded from the door. Bart paused his game and opened the door to let Kon in. Dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, Kon was dressed to blend in on the streets of Manchester. His black hair was messy and it was obvious that he hadn't shaved that morning.

"I landed a mile out and walked in," Kon remarked as he stepped into the house. He spotted the blond haired head resting on the couch. "Is that him?"

"Yup."

Helen stepped into the room and noticed the newest visitor. "Oh, you're... Kon, right?"

He nodded and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Thought I'd drop by and help keep an eye on things. I know a few things about clones and evil doppelgangers."

Thad's voice drifted up from the couch. "And you're also noisy. You coming here to protect Bart from me is pointless. There's nothing you could do to stop me if I wanted to hurt him."

Kon sidled up next to the couch and put his hand on the cushioned arm. "Really?"

Thaddeus tried to sit up, but an invisible force held him down. Kon grinned broadly. "Tactile telekinesis."

Yellow eyes glared and a snarl twisted on Thaddeus's face. "You-!" Then he calmed and his eyes shifted to one side. "Actually, this could be useful."

Kon and Bart glanced to each other. Bart shrugged. Without letting go, Kon spoke, "Okay, that's not the usual answer I get. Normally, there's some yelling, a little verbal abuse, maybe even a bit of profanity to spice things up."

"Could you do this to a speedster at full run?" Thad asked.

Confused, Kon still didn't let Thaddeus go. "Why are you asking?"

"Because I don't think that a superspeed poltergeist is going to sit still while the Empress exorcises him," Thad explained. "Now, do you mind?"

Bart tapped Kon's arm and he obliged, taking his hand off of the couch. Thaddeus stood up and pointed to Kon. "You're coming with us."

Kon raised an eyebrow at that. "And where are you going?"

It was Bart who answered, "We're gonna go into the past and save Max! Empress is gonna help us, 'cause she knows about possessions." Bart looked up at Kon hopefully. "You're gonna come, right?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure."

Bart clenched his fists in a cheer. "Awesome!"

Thad found a pair of Bart's shoes and put them on. "I'm going to do some research on the time period. In the meanwhile, try stopping Bart at a full run with your telekinesis. If you can snare a speedster, this operation will be a lot easier." With that, Thad darted out of the house.

Kon looked to Bart and rubbed the back of his neck. "I think I'm going to need a more in-depth recap, because I have no idea what I just walked into."

With the sun higher in the sky and her house quieter, Helen pulled the black and green costume out of the dryer. It seemed to have survived the cleaning process intact. She examined it closely for any damage that her machine may have done to it, but the wear on the suit seemed to be from use. The stains on it were gone, as far as she could tell. A breeze and footsteps heralded Wally's return.

"Where is Bart?" he asked, "I thought I told him to stay here."

"You did," Helen replied, "And I did. Superboy came by and now they're at the old testing grounds to try out a new move. There wasn't much I could do to stop them. I think they'll actually do it, Wally. They're all going to save Max."

"I hope so. I just wish they would hold up long enough for someone more experienced to guide them, instead of running into this at full tilt." Wally oriented towards the abandoned testing grounds. "I'm going to go check up on them."

Sure enough, he found the boys at the grounds. Superboy was kneeling along the side of the old access road and Impulse was priming himself for a run at one end of it. Wally stood back a distance to observe them.

Impulse's voice called out, "Ready?"

"Just go!" Kon answered.

A white and red streak blurred down the path, passing Superboy, and skidded to a stop. "Should I go slower?"

"Yeah, let's try that. I can work my way up from there." Kon wiped the sweat from his brow before touching the ground again. "I'm ready!"

Again, Impulse dashed down the weedy road, kicking dust up from his treads. This time, he was noticeably far slower. As he passed Kon, he jerked to a stop and nearly fell over. His arms windmilled wildly as he struggled to regain his balance. Both oversized feet were firmly stuck to the ground. Impulse struggled against the unseen grip, but could not free himself. "Hey, you got it this time!"

Kon let Bart go and sat down on the grass. "Finally! This is about as hard as catching arrows."

Bart stood next to him and braced his hands against his knees. "Wanna try again? Faster?"

"Just give me a second. I'm not sure I'm ready to try it above granny speed yet."

The Flash strode towards them. "I thought I told you to stay home, Bart."

"We can't do this in the house," Impulse replied, "And this is gonna help us catch Rival."

Kon muttered, "If I can get the timing down."

Wally raised an eyebrow under his mask. "Are you trying to grab just him in an instant?" When Kon nodded, he shook his head, "Good luck with that. Instead, can you grab a larger area all at once and hold it for a while? Like turning a piece of this road into flypaper? I can tell you from personal experience, that's really annoying to a speedster. Once he's slowed down enough that you can get a bead on him, then grab him."

Kon thought this over. "It's worth a shot. Bart, get back into place and I'll give you the signal when I'm ready. When you run, go at almost Mach."

Impulse nodded and zipped back to his starting position. Kneeling alongside the access road, Kon put his hands to the ground and concentrated. "Ready!"

A streak of white and red rocketed towards him. Suddenly, Impulse's steps faltered and slowed. Kon pounced on his chance and held the red boots firm to the ground. Impulse gave a token struggle until Kon let him go. Flopping back on the grass, Kon closed his eyes. "I am awesome."

The Flash crossed his arms and grinned. "That's something Superman can't do."

"I figure it's a fair trade," Kon mused, "I don't have supersenses, heat vision, or x-ray vision." He lifted his hands into the air and waggled his fingers, "But my tactile telekinesis doesn't let me down."

Impulse leaned over him. "Is that why you're always reminding us about it?"

"I could glue you to the ground again."

"Wanna try it at full speed?" Impulse taunted.

"You're on." Kon sat up and put his hands to the ground again. After a few seconds, he told Impulse, "Go."

The young speedster dashed away fast enough that the air popped when it rushed in to fill the vacancy he left behind. The white and red blur crackled across the grounds. He turned in the distance and raced towards Superboy's telekinetic trap. The boom of Impulse shattering the sound barrier followed him. He tore through the trap, steps faltering and slowing, but not enough for Kon to grab. Kon didn't let up on his trap and tried move it along the road to follow Impulse, hoping to slow him down enough to get another chance. Regardless, Impulse broke free and raced away.

Kon rubbed at his head and closed his eyes. "So close. I needed a stronger pull."

Impulse skidded to a stop next to him. "Wanna try again?"

His hand drifted down to his stubbled chin. "Maybe later. I need to take a break."

The Flash suddenly jerked as if startled. Green eyes focused away from the grounds for a few seconds. "Man, I haven't had a break yet this weekend. Call from the JLA. I'll be back later." He sprinted away, leaving the boys alone next to the old access road.

Impulse listened to his stomach grumble and crouched down beside Kon. "Want me to give you a tow back to my house? It'll be faster."

"A tow? Sure." Superboy free-floated into the air and took Impulse's hand. Using his telekinesis to reinforce his grip, he braced for the sudden acceleration. With a hard jerk, the landscape blurred by and the air roared around him. Tendrils of golden speed lightning trailed off of the metal parts of Impulse's suit. In the next instant, they were inside the garage of Helen's house. Bart quick-changed into his civilian clothing and they walked into the house proper.