The PulseTeam, Book One: Origins

Chapter Seven: Birth Of A Team, Birth Of A Family

Part One: If You're Serious About This...

Alitia and I have come to a decision. We vow that what happened to me would never happen to anyone else again, so we've decided to test ourselves and see what we can really do. We also agreed that with the power that we have, we should do something with them, something positive. We've decided to form a superhero team. The catch is: The princess doesn't know how to be a superhero. Luckily for her, I do.

Today is Saturday, and I sit down with Alitia and I say, "If you are serious about this, then you will have to know the ins and outs of being a superhero. We will have to train intensely, get our bodies beyond peak physical shape, and create avatars for ourselves. We'll have to design our own costumes, make them, and if we're going to be a team, an organized team, we've got to have a name for it. Understand?"

"Well," she replies, "what should we name our 'avatars'?"

"My avatar should be, 'The Pulse'," I respond.

"And, since I'm your better half, I should be 'Pulsate'."

"Okay, cool. Now, we need to pick a name for this budding team. It should be something unique, something that sums up who we are."

The newly dubbed Pulsate replies, "I think that since you came up with the overall idea, and you know more about this mess than I do, it should be called the 'PulseTeam'. What do you think?"

I think about it for a minute, and the very first thought that enters my brain is, The PulseTeam? Heck no! That's tacky! But then I think about it some more, and I realize that she's better at this than she lets on. I say, "That's not half bad. It's catchy, and it matches our new names. You're better at this than you give yourself credit for."

"Thanks," she says.

"Now, we need some kind of color scheme for these uniforms, but to do that, we need to find out what we can really do."

"Geez, it really is a legitimate process to this superhero gig, isn't it?"

"Unfortunately, yes, it is."

Part Two: Testing Our Limits

Then we go to a secluded area and I say, "You know in the comic books where they shoot lasers out of their hands? Of course you don't. So here's how this is going to work: I have the feeling that we can shoot energy blasts out of our hands, whether they be open or closed. If I am correct, all we have to do is focus our energies into our hands and will them outward."

"Well how are we going to do that?" she asks.

"We concentrate," I reply. "Let me demonstrate."

I tell her to stand back. Then I begin to have my own personal little winter, I close my eyes, and I focus my ki into my hands. I get into a left front stance, open my eyes, I punch, and I freeze a nearby tree. I tell her to try it, and she does.

She mimics me nearly perfectly, but when she punches, nothing happens. And I think I know why.

She looks disappointed. She says, "What happened?"

I say, "I think I know why you can't shoot an energy blast."

She asks me, "Well, why can't I?"

I say, "You're unsure of yourself."

"What?"

"You heard me. You're unsure of yourself. Stay confident. That's always been your alma mater. So utilize your confidence and make it physical."

She tries again, and this time, the resulting energy blast melts the ice off of and ignites the same tree that I froze.

I notice something that will help us make our uniforms. I notice that when I shoot my energy blasts, my-- "IceBolts", if you will-- that they are aqua/electric blue. When Tia shoots her energy blasts-- I'll just call them "HeatBlasts"-- they are a bright fuchsia color. I know how to make our uniforms now.

Part Three: Making The Suits

After we test ourselves, we get to work designing our uniforms. When we get done designing and making our uniforms, this is what mine looks like on me:

And this is what hers looks like on her:

Heels in a battlesuit. So illogical I could just kill myself. But it turns out that neither one of us can actually have bodily harm done to us. We're pretty much indestructible. Sucks, right? That means if we get damaged internally, it will be extremely difficult to get inside of us to rectify the situation. We aren't even able to feel a nice, warm shower! On the other hand, having indestructibility means that nothing can hurt us. That'll be especially useful against criminals and their bullets.

Part Four: The PulseTeam Is Born

I hack into the police radio, and-- HEY! We lucked up! An armed robbery is in progress downtown. Now we can really get a chance to test out our powers.

When we get to the bank, everyone is on the floor and being held at gunpoint. The robbers all have classic ski masks on. I shout, "Attention, criminals! Drop your weapons and surrender, and no one will be harmed."

One of the crooks says, "And just what are a couple of costumed kids going to do if we don't?"

At that very moment, everything and everyone suddenly becomes so much slower, that it looks as though time itself has slowed down. Then I run to the crook who spoke up, and I snatch his rifle from him. I unload the firearm, dismantle it, and lay the pieces neatly on the ground in front of him as fast as I can. I say, "That's what."

Startled, he says to the others, "Don't just stand there, shoot 'em!" And he dives for cover.

They start shooting at us, and their bullets bounce right off. I say, "Stop, stop shooting, or someone else might get hit!"

They don't stop, however, so I turn to Pulsate and point to her and two of the crooks nearest to her, then I point to myself and the rest of them. She nods at me and bumrushes the both of them, knocking them into one another. They're out cold. I slowed down time with my mind again, and I run into the remaining cons with a considerable amount of force. I knock the wind out of them, and and by the time they all hit the ground, they too, are all out cold. (No pun intended.)

The police pull up just as Pulsate and I get finished dragging the remaining criminals out. Then they pull out guns on us and one of them says, "Freeze! Turn around and put your hands on your heads, right now!"

Irritated, I respond, "We just caught them for you! Oh, and by the way, you're welcome!"

The officer says, "We're not gonna say it again: Turn around and put your hands on your heads, or we will open fire!"

I start walking toward them and say, "We are only here to help--"

The officer shouts, "Open fire!" and they shoot at us.

I continue, "--which we cannot do if you continue wasting your bullets on us!" as the bullets bounce off again.

When the officer sees that their guns are doing them no good, he then holds up his hand and shouts, "Hold your fire: HOLD YOUR FIRE!"

He turns to us and says, "You obviously have something you want to say, so spit it out, son."

I say, "I want to speak to Mayor Jackson. Immediately and personally."

He pulls out a radio and says, "Patch me through to the commissioner, please."

The person on the other side says, "What is your emergency?"

He's yells, "It's urgent!!"

The person responds, "Patching you through right now..."

And then I hear his voice, my uncle (once removed) Harold Patterson. Commissioner Patterson says, "What is your emergency, officer?"

"Yes, sir, we've got two, umm, two costumed individuals, one male and the other female, and one of them says he wants to talk to the mayor."

"And?" Uncle Harry asks, unaffected.

"He's bulletproof, sir. No Teflon, no Kevlar, just bulletproof, sir."

"Bring them to me," he says.