Darknesss united

Chapter 23: Shell Shocked

Impulse

The heroes rejected me again. I walk dejectedly back to my apartment. They said that what I expected to be paid was unreasonable for a hero so terrible for publicity. It's just what I get at my current job.

The Admin flies overhead, pausing as he looks down at me. I try not to let myself shake before remembering that I can defend myself. The sky is my playground. He lands before me, the ground shaking at his steps. His visor raises, revealing scars I recognise.

"X?"

"Hi Impulse!" Xisuma replies.

I back away slowly. "What do you want?"

"I'm not here to hurt you."

The skies darken, electricity crackling between the clouds. "Like hell I'd let you."

X laughs, a familiar chuckle I try to ignore. "I'm here to invite you to the villain league. Maybe I can help you with some of what it means to be an immortal."

I noticed a pistol in his hand. "With a loaded gun?"

He puts his gun back in its holster. "I'm not going to hurt you."

I think over his words again. Wait, immortal? I thought that was only for exceptional heroes and villains? I tell him so.

Xisuma smiles. "What do you think you are? Immortals aren't as rare as people think."

I pause. He's invited me to his villain league. Plus, he's my friend. "What's in it for me?"

"I like how you think. You will get a ton of pay, a room in our headquarters, ready healthcare, and a found family." X starts listing off benefits, pride filling his eyes at the last one. 

I consider his words for a moment. "What about my best friend?"

"I won't ruin his big reveal, but you'll find he belongs with us too." Xisuma laughs.

I hesitate, my thoughts spinning out of control. What would my best friend be hiding from me?

"So, can I bring you home?" X holds out his hand.

"Can I ask a question first?" I say, curious. "What are you?"

Xisuma smiles, almost a smirk. "That's the only thing I can't answer, because I don't know."

I shake his hand. "Well, one day we'll find out."

The world fades around me. I'm suddenly sitting on a plush purple couch, Skizz in front of me.

Skizz smiles. "Homey buddy! You accepted the deal. I can finally tell you."

"W-what?" I stutter. "How did you even get here? What are you doing in this place?"

"I was their weapon supplier."

I freeze. "What?"

Skizz brushes the back of his suit, motioning to the large patch on his back. It's a set of angel wings beneath a halo.

"I run a Mafia. You ever heard of the Angels of Death?" Skizz asks.

How did that happen?!" I nearly yell in shock.

"Someone took a war too far. The scars across my arms are old bullet wounds. Easy enough to say, I won."

I deny it. "No. Nope. Absolutely not."

I'm interrupted by gunfire. Skizz fires two rounds into a target I didn't see around the corner. Two bullseyes. He holds my eyes, raising a single eyebrow.

"Is that what happened when you disappeared?" I try to calm down.

Skizz has an embarrassed, goofy smile on. "Yeah."

X makes a small, subtle hand motion. A shining halo flickers above Skizz's head, igniting his hair in a bright light. scars he's refused to tell me the origin of glow slightly, a dark silver. A pair of feathered silvery blue wings tear the back of his jacket. I wince, recognizing the pain. It's all pain.

 I would know.

"What did you do to him?" I demand as I turn to X, wings flaring behind me. I stand, electricity crackling over my wings. I'm still not fully used to it, but I pretend I am.

Xisuma stutters. "I-I..."

Skizz interrupts him, putting a hand on the suit shoulder. "It wasn't X, I promise. It was being shot."

"You were SHOT?"

"Do you have powers?" I ask, confused and curious.

Skizz makes a variety of hand gestures, and while I hold my breath, he laughs. "Not yet, homey buddy. Might get some if I throw myself off the roof, though!"

I try to stop him as he races up the stairs and jumps, bearing witness to my best friend falling to his death

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Skizz says, swooping back up onto the roof, a single feather drifting down.

"Hopefully I'll be an immortal too."

Jealousy fills me until I can't take it any more. I manage to keep my rage under control, but I can't help muttering "if you kill people, then why am I the monster?" Guilt spikes through me. I can't wish this on my best friend. But I'd forgotten I'm going to live forever. I don't want to. The unfairness of it all. "I can't lose you"

"I'll be here as long as I can." Skizz grabs hold of my hands, staring into space.

A deep silver glow radiates from his hands as he holds onto me. I notice a ring around the edge of his bright blue eyes the same color. A small scratch on my arm seals up.

"I guess we just found out..." Oh, the irony. Of course the killer can heal. I shake off the last of my bitter thoughts, blaming them on the species rivalry that I will make our friendship persist through.

X smiles. "I've helped you before and I'll be here again. We'll discover what we are, okay?"

"And we'll rediscover who we are." I add.

"Together." Skizz finishes.

***

It's been fourteen years since I died. That's what I've decided, since I don't actually have to breathe. I'm still at the office, but I'm just as much a villain. There's still a million things I don't know about my powers, but I'm learning.

I guess work is the calm before the storm. I've sort of forgotten what it means to be human. I mean, there's so much I just can't remember. Not that I can't remember most of the human experience, but so much is beyond me remembering. Food seems pointless beyond pleasure now, and I can't believe how inconvenient things were without wings.

It's incredibly ironic that this happened to me, especially with my name. I mean, what are the chances? It's something I've begun to wonder on the daily.

Whatever these powers are, they're far from a curse. It turned my world upside down for sure. It broke every possible angle of my life. It turned me inside out, tore out everything and built me back up again from the scraps. It literally killed me.

But it makes me feel alive. It's what I've become. That's who I am. I'm more than human. I'm more than me. These powers create someone who's more than working an office. It's not the Impulse anyone knew, but it's the Impulse that feels right.

This is me.