While I continue to contemplate re-inventing Lor-Zod, here's something to at least get me a foot in the game. I'm normally not a Flash fan, and I can't hope to hold a candle to Byrd's Flash, but here's my attempt at a foray into the Flash Family. [b]| Identity |[/b] Bartholomew Allen Thawne [[i]Impulse[/i]] [b]| Origin & Backstory |[/b] A descendent of Flash ally Johnny Quick and villain Professor Zoom, Bart was born in the 30th Century the second of identical twins (the other being his ‘older’ brother Thaddeus). As infants, both children displayed a natural connection to the Speed Force. This also contributed to a lifelong rivalry between the two, in order to determine which was the real ‘fastest boy alive.’ As they grew older, the two adopted ‘hero names’ for this competition, with Bart naming Thad ‘Inertia’ for his propensity to run into things and Thad naming Bart ‘Impulse’ for his tendency to just run head-first without looking at where he was going. When they were ten, the two boys came to the attention of the Legion of Super-Villains in the 30th Century, who wanted to use the boys in a trap set for the Legion of Super-Heroes. Luckily, Bart and Thad were rescued in time by Cosmic Boy and Bouncing Boy, allowing the heroes to prevail over the Legion of Super-Villains plans. Bart and Thad, as Impulse and Inertia, sometimes hung out in New Metropolis with the Legion of Super-Heroes in order to better train their abilities after that near disaster, but only when they finished their homework. On one such occasion, about two years later, Bart challenged Thad to a race as the pair were departing their school for the start of a winter break. First to New Metropolis would claim the title of ‘world’s fastest kid.’ As the two were neck-in-neck upon arrival to Metropolis, both boys kept going. As they crossed the northern magnetic pole of the Earth however, something went wrong. A fissure formed within the aura of the Speed Force, creating an explosion that separated the two boys. Bart fell into shadow, losing unconsciousness as he realized that he was moving away from Thad. When he awoke, he discovered himself on a world that was as foreign as it was familiar. Mount Rushmore, the Statue of Liberty, and the Grand Canyon were all there... but he wasn’t in New Metropolis anymore. [b]| Character Notes |[/b] UDC Year 3 will be ‘Year 1’ for this character, as his backstory and history occur outside of the UDC continuity. I’m also not precluding the idea that Bart’s future is a parallel one (think Rachel Summers). [b]| Powers & Abilities |[/b] Bart is a natural born speedster whose genetic make-up is ‘hard-wired’ to the Speed Force. This does not preclude him from ever being cut off from the Speed Force, but gives him access to the powers and abilities of a Speed Force Conduit for as long as he remains connected to it. This includes the ability to ‘phase’ by vibrating the molecules of his body (intangibility), physical movement at the speed of light (Speed Force Aura), heightened sensory perception, supercharged brain activity (accelerated rate of thought), and accelerated healing. As Bart’s use of the Speed Force taps into his own body metabolism, he is constantly taking in calories to fuel his superhuman speed. [b]| How is this character different? |[/b] Oh, where to begin? I’ve melded together the histories of the DCnU Bart Allen and Thaddeus Thawne, making them identical twins rather than having one be the clone of the other (in purest ‘Reverse Impulse’ fashion). I’ve also taken Barry Allen out of the equation, in order to not restrict future Flash players in any regard (there’s no need for Barry Allen to have ever been the Flash), using instead the Golden Age character of Johnny Quick and maximizing upon Bart’s canon relationship to the Thawne family. I’ve also kicked the Cosmic Treadmill to the curb and explained his time travel as a Speed Conduit accident instead, which seems to work better for storytelling purposes. [b]| What is your goal with this character? |[/b] Tacos, harassment of Kara, tacos, blatant oogling of Wonder Boobs... er, [i]Woman![/i] Wonder Woman, that’s what I meant, yeah. What was I saying again? Did I mention tacos? They have Taco Bells in this century, don’t they? Oh, and if there’s some Young Justice/Teen Titans stuff going down, there ought to be a Bart. And, in general, this place just seems like it could use some more Bart. [b]| Sample Post |[/b] [center][img] http://baku-panda.org/images/UDC_impulse.png[/img][/center] The Statue of Liberty. The Eiffel Tower. The Taj Mahal. As the young, brown haired boy stood in the shadow of the Great Wall of China, slurping a steaming batch of fresh noodles from off a street vendor cart in Kowloon, he was left in awe and confusion over everything that suggested where he was. This was China, he’d passed through India and France, and started out in the United States. But, if that were true, why was everything so... A Chinese tourist walked by wearing what looked like some kind of wired earphones. Wired, like actual cables connecting a device! And there were these... things. Vehicles? They moved on the ground, like they were restricted to moving on four wheels. Or two wheels, some of them had two wheels... But they were burning something, as smoke came out of a pipe on the back. Where were the sky cabs? Where were the hover boards? For that matter, what were these people wearing? As if to reinforce the last point, a couple walked by staring hard at the youth with his large, yellow lens goggles atop his head. A short jacket was worn over a unitard-like, quilted, coverall kind of design. But, it wasn’t like he was wearing Metro Kids. This was from Interlac! All the cool kids wore this, from Tameran to Titan. Heck, The John had worn something like this is Twilight IX! That was another thing, where were the holovid theaters? Slurping up the rest of the noodles, the youth ditched the take-out box into a trash can halfway between Beijing and New Metropolis. Or... [i]not so new[/i] Metropolis, as the speeding blur arrived at what should have been Centennial Park, only it looked like something out of a holo at the Smithsonian. That was probably his biggest problem with everything he saw. Everything looked [b]old[/b]. Popping open the bag of chips he’d snatched up on the run through Las Angeles, Bart tossed a handful of starch and transfat into his mouth before elevating the goggles from around his eyes and propping them atop his head once again. Continuing to survey the area around him, still surprised that he hadn’t found Thad, the youth strode toward what should have been the MegaPlex 9000 HoloTheater. Instead it some dumb hole in the wall called the Wired City Movie Theater. What the heck was a [b]movie[/b]? Wait, wasn’t that... two dimensional? Did that kind of ancient tech every actually exist? Like cavemen and stuff, reading materials on printed... As he turned his head, Bart observed a man handing what looked like metal coin currency to a vendor and receiving a pulp paper printed news media. And, on that note, he was officially guest starring in the History Channel. If this was a dream, why couldn’t there be more women? And not like Miss Garren, the history teacher, but like the Olivia’s Secret Succubi women?