New York - Central Park

        The splendor of Central Park lies like a green jewel in the midst
of Manhattan. Surrounded by swanky buildings with doormen, the Hayden
Planetarium, and the Museum of American History, it provides a repast for
those yearning to forget the bustling city life they must face each day to
survive. The Great Lawn has been home to memorable outdoor concerts and
events. Sunbathers rest throughout the park, bike trails and jogging
trails, walk bridges, lakes and ponds, the Park is a massive area. At
night, few people walk here, for that is when the less desirable aspects
of society come out to prowl, yet for all that it is in the heart of the
city, this is often a place of peace.

Sitting at the feet of a beeg statue in the middle of the park, our young
speedster idly stuffs his face with a giant-sized hot dog and looks
thoughtful. Occasionally a look of worry crosses his face, but it leaves
each time he spots something more interesting than worrying about Stryfe.
Yes - it happens! Mmm hot dog.

Idly wandering throughout Central Park, Alex Elder is looking for
something (or maybe even someone). Having recently been killed in this
area, he's extremely cautious wherever he goes, even if he's only going
near a hot-dog stand that's conveniently near Impulse.

And suddenly, there's someone practically breathing down Alex's neck,
looking over his shoulder. "Hi!" says that someone happily. He continues
on with something unintelligible but clearly questioning. Two guesses as
to who it is.

Alex Elder jumps in suprise, "Agh!!!!!!!!!" He hops around to see who it
is. Still panting, he looks at Impulse with a confused look. A few seconds
with 'the look' on his face go by, and Alex opens his mouth to say
something. "Uh...hi back...Bart."

Impulse points to the hot dog stand, eyebrows up. Then he points to his
hot dog, and lightly kicks your foot. "You eat?" He's clearly entertained.
After all, vampires don't eat...do they? They only drink blood, right?

Alex Elder blinks. "Of course I eat..." He looks down at his
previously-kicked foot, and then back towards you. Grinning, "I eat almost
anything, actually."

Impulse blinks, and looks worried. "An-y-thing?" He backs away a step.

Alex Elder grimaces. "Well, not /anything/...but...well, you know what I
mean." He pauses. "No wait, you don't." He smiles awkwardly.

Impulse looks relieved at the grimace, then at the sort of embarrassed
smile. He hmms, finishes off his hot dog, then looks questioning.
"You...um..." He holds his hands out next to his head, like big wings or
something, and says, "Stryfe!" Heh -- the stupid helmet. "You know what I
mean?"

Alex Elder raises an eyebrow. "Stryfe...Stryfe...Stryfe." He gets an
inquisitive look on his face. "Whos this Stryfe guy?"

Impulse sighs, disappointed. He shrugs, then grins, and tugs at your arm.
He mimes playing an arcade game, then looks crafty. "Play?"

Alex Elder looks around for a moment, and then his attention's grabbed by
you tugging at his arm. "Oh, err, yeah. I guess...but what?"

Impulse gestures vaguely toward midtown. "Play!" He shoots pretend aliens.
"Ka-pow, ka-pow! Zap!" He wants to drag you to an arcade, see? Aww yeah.

Alex Elder ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhs! "Okay-okay...I get it. I can do it...oh yes."
He motions towards Midtown, the same as you did. "Lead on Commander Bart."

Impulse cheers! and grabs Alex's wrists and takes off. Almost instantly,
you're in front of an arcade-slash-laser-tag place, and Bart is letting
go. And you -don't- want to know where he got that quarter. Narrator says
sidewalk. He gestures to the entrance and grins, "After you."

Alex Elder yeeeeeeeeeeeeeee's from the sudden super-speediness. He almost
crashes to the floor when you stop. Catching himself, and regaining some
composure, he carefully walks into the supah-arcade. "Niiiiiiiiiiiice."

Following Alex in, Bart looks around for a second, then zips over to the
most interesting-looking game he can see: one that it's better if Alex
names, since Your Humble Narrator is blanking.

Can it be...no...wait...it is! Alex gasps, "Super Deadly Fighters Part
12!!!" He runs over to it, fumbling in his pockets for change. "Quarter
quarter, gotta have a quarter." Ah-ha! A quarter! He pops it in the
machine, the blinking-goodness of the video game starting up.

Impulse steps back, grinning, waiting until Alex loses - he will,
eventually - before he puts his own quarter in. Playing -against- him
would just be /unfair/. Every once in awhile, he glances over to the desk
where you sign up for laser tag, hoping they don't object to speedsters
here.

Alex Elder executes his Beautiful Spinning Flower move against
Ryo-Tasko-No-Hidra, but is defeated by RTNH's Supah Omega Flare Combo. The
'Game Over' screen flashes on the screen, and Alex backs away from the
dastardly machine with a defeated look on his face. "I...I...lost."

Impulse patpats Alex, still grinning. He holds up his quarter -- you
should feel priveleged, you're about to see a mmaster at work! In goes the
$0.25, on go the gloved hands to the controls, and he's off! "I not lost,"
he chuckles, his hands moving almost blindingly quickly. Megakick! Flight
of the Golden Wasps! Cosmic Overtoss Shinto Warrior Manuver!

If his jaw was about...say...thirty feet longer, his lower lip would be
out in the street because his jaw /drops/. To a Buddhist, this experience
would be 'enlightening'. To Alex, it's 'Wow'. Finally, he musters a few
words to express the combination of awe and disbelief: "Wow.
That's...pretty good moves there." How insightful.

And hey, he'd never played it before this very moment! And -- holy crap,
is he up to the 10th lev- the 22nd level?! How many are there -left-? The
young Zen Guru of Vidgames continues to play, quickly and silently kicking
the crap of anything in his way, on one quarter. The sound effects from
the machine have begun to attract a bit of a crowd. Low Kick Magic Pepper!
Plastic Pants Tiger Swing! Absolute Destiny Apocalypse!

Alex Elder blushes, slowly backing away from the machine to give The Man
some room. Apart from watching and trying to gleen a few moves from The
Man, Alex manages to start some commentary on the match. "Looks like
a...Supah Spin Twist Light Flash Kick! And they're in the secret 'Pit'
Level...who /will/ get knocked into the Pit first." He pauses, "It looks
like The Man has one again! And...again! Yes! Two in a row in the
Tag-Fest-Tournament Round!!"

And it's not even fair -- there -should- be more rounds; videogames don't
last nearly long enough. It looks like Bart's /finished/ the game -- and
now he's going back to get all the hidden treasures he skipped over to get
to the end. He starts to whistle nonchalantly as he plays. Show-off!

Alex Elder has ran out of words that can describe the awe he feels.
Looking around at the increasingly disconcerted crowd, he jabs Impulse in
the side. "Hurry up and finish...errr...stop playing...something. I think
some of the people are getting a bit antsy to play..."

"Done!" says Bart cheerfully, stepping back to display the 'Champion!'
flashing across the screen, then nodding and following Alex. "Not monkey,"
he says, elbowing the young vampire in the ribs with a grin.

Alex Elder walks towards the...Snack Bar (dum-dum-daaaaaah!!). He plops
down on one of the stools, since this snack bar really is a bar that you
sit at to eat your snacks. Glancing behind his shoulder, he can't stop
looking at Bart. Whether it's Bart's knack (laugh) at video games, or the
bizarre and cosmically coincidental fact that the two look like each
other, something is keeping Alex's attention focused on Bart.

Oh yeah, back to that - Bart perches crosslegged on the next stool over
and looks longingly at the food, then reaches over and pokes Alex.
"You...Alex /Allen/?" He looks hopeful.

If he was drinking a drink, he would of just spit out a mouthfull in
suprise. "Nonono...Me Alex...I mean, I'm Alex /Elder/, not Allen. I'm
beginning to wonder though..." He trails off, glancing around until he
settles his gaze on the food. "Food? As in, you want some?"

"Alex Elder...oh. Food!" Wow, it doesn't take a lot to make Bart's
expression change dramatically from 'totally disappointed' to 'totally
enthused'. He nods! "Food." ^_^

Alex Elder fishes around in his pockets for some more funds. A nickel, a
stick of pre-chewed chewing gum (ewwwwwwwwwwww), keys for a house that he
can't feasibly live in anymore...ah-ha! Funds. He takes out a crumbled
pile of bills, and slams them on the table. "Barkeep-" He uses his head to
motion towards the rather gangly snackfood guy (who couldn't be much older
than him or Bart) "-Sodas for me and him *points to Bart*, and...five
chili dogs." He glances at Bart, "Anything else?"

Impulse shakes his head, grinning. Oh, he looks ludicrously cheerful. He
adds - where the heck can he have picked this up? - "Consume mass
quantities!" Then, eyeing the stuff that Alex had pulled out of his
pockets, he wrinkles his nose at the gum, then pokes at the keys and looks
curious.

Alex Elder glances at the keys, and looks away as if the keys were made of
road-kill. He tosses 'em to Impulse. "Keep 'em." Back to the 'Barkeep'. "I
guess that's it." The 'Barkeep' rings up the total, and Alex slides them
his direction.

Ooo, shiny. Bart jingles them for a second, then puts them in...his boot
pocket. Yeah. Hey! Food! Immediately attacking it, two of the chili dogs
disappear before it occurs to Bart that they might not all be for him. He
pauses and looks at Alex, to see if he's gonna reach for some of the food.

Alex Elder glares at Bart before /quickly/ snatching up a chili dog in
each hand. He grabs them just a bit faster than a human should feasibly be
able to. His tongue sticks a corner of his mouth as he prepares to chow
down. "Mmmmm...Nirvana on a bun."

Impulse hees. "Sor-ree..." Politely, he leaves the last chili dog sitting
there, and drinks some soda. " You still..." starts the kid, then pauses,
frustrated. He blurs and disappears, and is gone for a good...wow, a good
five seconds. An eternity. Suddenly he's there again, grinning. "You still
think I'm a monkey, Alex?"

Alex Elder talks with half a 'dog still in his mouth. "Wehh.....somefihes.
Buh theh agaih. Ou, eee, Hoh huh Janitoh. Ieeeeeck *chew* duhcent maffeh."
He grins, swallowing the remainder of the 'dog. ^_^

Impulse stares at Alex, then does a take to the camera. "<I pick up a
little English from a see-and-say, and what's he do? Go speak Durlan or
something>!" Eyeing Alex again, he shakes his head and shrugs. "What?"

Alex Elder clears his throat, wiping away a few loose bun-crumbs from his
face. "I said: "Well...sometimes. But then again we all do. You, me, Bob
the Janitor. It doesn't matter."" He glances around warily, sipping from
his sodie pop.

Impulse ohs! And catches the wary look, glances around, doesn't see
anything. Huh. "I *am* from the past," he notes. Then pauses.
"No...future. Far away! Must find Flash. You help?"

Alex Elder mmmmms, taking a big gulp of his pop. "Oh yeah...future. Is
that why you dress like you're patrolling the streets each time I've seen
you?" He smiles, since he really was honestly asking a question and not
being a jerk... "But yeah, I'll help you. Dunno /how/ I'll help you, but
I'll do my best."

Impulse looks down. "Patrolling?" o.O; He looks a little chagrined, then
shrugs. "No house, no clothes." Then Alex says he'll help -- and suddenly
the black-haired Ramosite has a very happy kid attached to him! Hug! "Yay!
Thank you!"

Alex Elder acks! There's a strange boy attached to him! He scrambles to
(nicely) pull Impulse there. "Calm down there 'lil buddy.../calmness/." He
takes a moment to compose himself. "Anyway...I'm kinda in the same deal.
No house, with only the clothes on my back...better than dirty old stinky
grimey Priest's robes..." He starts mumbling towards the end, before
talking cohesively. "So, why are you looking for this Flash character
anyway?"

Impulse dowhs! and blushes. "Sorry," he says again, and settles down.
"Gramma said Flash can fix me," he says earnestly. Fix him? What's wrong
with him? Well, for one thing...wait, he *does* look a little older than
he did last time you saw him. He looked -really- young before...uh,
really. Maybe eleven. Now he looks, ehn, fourteen. (Please don't kick me,
continuity gods.)

Alex Elder makes a really horrible looking face, "Fix you? Are you a
robot? Broke?" He looks you up and down from head to toe. "Maybe you are
broken...probably no more broken than me..." There he goes again, pitying
himself. "Well, as I said...I'll do my best...but in order to get
/anything/ done you need to be more inconspicous."

"Inconspicuous?" asks Bart, puzzled. Then he waves his hands around a
little, frustrated. "Show me!" He finishes his soda, and the last chili
dog (for good measure) disappears, and then he pushes at you lightly.
Door-ward. "Where?"

Alex Elder hmmms, setting a hand to his chin as he taps his foot
impatiently on the ground. "I guess the library...gotta do some
edu-ma-cation." He anxiously grins, waiting for the inevitable 'Warp 9 to
Library' to occur.

Uh-oh. Sure, warp 9 -- but, well...the whirlwind tour of New York ends
somewhere in the Bronx, with Bart staggering back and flopping against the
wall of a building. He lifts his hands, grimacing, then drops them, palms
up: "_Where_? I don't know Library here!"

Alex Elder hrms. "You don't know where the /lib-...oh yeah, the future,
ect. ect." He grabs your arm, getting into a racing position. He lifts one
foot...sets it in front of the other...and starts whizzing towards the
library. Ducking in between buildings, he gets there faster than most
people can in cars. It's still probably a long time for a speedster
though...

"Ahahaha!" laughs Bart, reeling when Alex lets him go. "Wow!" he grins,
steadying himself on a stone lion. Or something. He reaches over and pokes
Alex again, "You -sure- you not family?"

Alex Elder stares at Bart for a good dozen seconds. "Positive.
Although..." He grins 'n laughs, "Nahhhhhh." He looks around, grandly
gesturing. "This...is the Library. You...uh...read books here. I'm gonna
go inside and grab a few books...'hope my card still works..." And with
that, he vanishes into the darkened and closed library.

Impulse stares. How'd -he- get in? No matter - Bart's gonna go
thro...okay, he's gone -through- the doors. Yeah. And, ai, that's a very
dark library. Following Alex around, Bart picks up a book here and there,
until he's got quite a stack. Not sure what to do with them, though.

Alex Elder got into through a window, since the front door...well, that
just wouldn't be very fun. Not to mention the possibility of alarms...but
anyway, Alex is rushing around trying to find visual English dictionary's
and some of those clever 'Eyewitness' books where they explain such fun
topics as 'Arms 'n Armor' and 'Skeleton's. Finding a rather nice
children's section just full of nice books, Alex yells out to Bart.
"BaaaaAAaaaaaAArt...??"

...and there he is, with a stack of books that goes up over his head,
right behind you. "AaaaaaAAaaaallllleeeexxxxxx!" yells Bart back, then
laughs. He puts the books down on a nearby table - god only knows what
they're about - and tugs his mask off. "Now what?"

Alex Elder cackles. He looks around at the...overwhelming number of books.
"Okay Bart...read all these books and you'll be good to go." He
grins...and is being utterly serious.

Impulse errs, looking around. "Read?" he says, a trifle helplessly. He
picks up a book, stares at it a second, turns it over a couple of times,
then holds it out to Alex. "No buttons...?"

*blink*blink*blink* "You don't know how to read it...I take it?" He looks
really worried for a moment, before the metaphorical lightbulb appears
over his head. "Ah-ha!" His shoulders sag, "Oh-no...oh wait...oh no..." He
looks around for soemthing that'll read to him, or something, but to no
avail. Until he spots a Macintosh! He jumps over to it, and boots it up.
Soon, he's scanning in the pronunciation guide in from a dictionary and
trying to get OCR to work.

Impulse blinks! and shakes his head, and zips over to poke at Alex again.
He holds out the book. "Show me! I can learn," he offers -- and it's true.
He learns sickeningly quickly. And actually, having to scan in and convert
all that...oy. That'd be a lot slower than just showing him how to use a
-book-. He /can/ read Interlac, after all -- but no one uses paper in the
30th century.

Alex Elder wouldn't think of teaching the boy how to use a book...no
no...he's going to do it the hard way (yet somewhat more interesting
way...) "Okay Bart. Just listen to what the computer says...and all will
be well." He clicks the 'Read' button in SimpleText, and the bizarre
Stephen Hawking-esque voice begins to drone on about how to recognize,
read, and speak the 'ah' and 'aeh' sounds.

Impulse sighs, and does another one of his famous 'takes to camera'. What
camera? Where?! But - yeah. Okay, sure, he can listen and figure at the
same time. As he listens, he pokes at the book, trying to make it *do*
something, and inadvertently opens it. "<Oh nass I broke it! And it's an
/antique/ and...oh. Heh>! Alex? Alex!" he points at the book. "Broken?"

Alex Elder gasps! "Oh...my God...you broke it! You...broke...it!!" He
pauses, eyeballing you to see if you're 'getting the joke'.

Impulse grimaces, hands on the sides of his head! "Oh no!" Haha, no, he
doesn't get it. Err.

Alex Elder eeks...he must not get it. Thinking quickly, Alex glances from
the book to Bart and back. "Err...sorry...it's not broken...I'm just
foolin' ya..."

Impulse gahs. Looks really frustrated. He glances at the computer, leans
over, and shuts off the sound, then turns it back on. Looking briefly at
the screen, he rubs his chin, then starts clicking on stuff seemingly
randomly. What is he...oh. Hey, he's looking at the web, and - he stops,
giving the Mac the evil eye. "Slow!" Finally he turns back to the book and
stares at it. "...!" /Finally/, he starts flipping pages. Awww, yeah.

Alex Elder quirks a brow. Dang's he's quick, Alex thinks. Hrming, he leans
back in his awfully uncomfortable plastic chair. He props his feet up on
the desk. Suddenly, something enters his mind. "Oh yeah...that's a book,
the little white sheets are pages, and the little black squiggly things
are words...in case you didn't know." All in all, he looks awfully
bored...just sitting there while Bart catches-up (or down...or whatever).
^_^

Pausing on the last book on his pile, Bart glances up at Alex and notes
wryly, "I gathered." Then he blurs and disappears. Where...?

Alex Elder leaps up out of his chair, his head craning around. "Bart?
Baaaaaaaart!?" He creeeeeeeeeps veeeeeeeeeery slowwwwwwwwly away from his
chair. "BAaAaaAArt??"

And there comes a resoundingly loud "SHHHHHHH!!" from somewhere in the
library. Then a stage whisper, "It's a LIBRARY!" from somewhere else.

Alex Elder takes in a biiiiiiiiiiiig breath (not that he needs to
breath...) before hollering, "OKAY!!!!!" at the top of his lungs.
Immediatly, he falls into a fit of laughter. At a normal tone, "I've
wanted to do that for a /long/ time..."

Impulse facepalms where he is, pausing during reading again. Almost
done...almost...almost! Aaaaand...suddenly the speedster's standing over
you, looking down with a grin. "All set. You're right...I need to be
wearing something else, huh?"

Alex Elder lurches his head back in suprise...he /speaks/. And pretty
well. "Ah...yes. Unless you want the skin-tight superhero look...dunno if
chicks dig that or not." He looks around, walking out of the Children's
section and towards the front door. "Lemme think of a good place..."

Impulse catches his reflection in a display case on the way out. "Alex...I
need to find the Flash /soon/. The time travel slowed me down a little, I
think, but most people don't age a year every day...where does the Justice
Society hang out?" Oops, missed that one.

Alex Elder contorts his face for a moment before shrugging. "Well...check
the Justice Whatmacallit...Justice League. Maybe they know. Don't they
have an emergency 'Help! A super-villain is attacking the planet and we
need Mr. Amazing to help us??' line?"

Impulse shrugs, "None of the books said. I don't know. And...wait...yeah.
Justice League." He backpedals through the door, and when you get back
outside he's sitting on one of the lions. "Or maybe if I go to the Flash
Museum...I dunno! There're a lot of speedsters, I think. Someone should be
able to figure this out."

Alex Elder hmmms, brushing past the doors and plopping down on the cold
cement stairs. "You think that a Flash would be living at the Flash
Museum? Wouldn't that kinda be like a Jefferson living at the Thomas
Jefferson Musuem...?"

Impulse hees, "No...but one is bound to show up there eventually, right?
Or maybe someone there can tell me where to look. I think it's in a town
where a Flash works...donno which though. Didn't one die in that Crisis
thingy? Or not? I don't know. I'm hungry." He blurs again, and is once
more sitting on a Lion - but this time with a couple of pretzels. Nice big
soft hot ones. "Want one?"

Alex Elder mmmmmms and licks his lips. "Yup." He grins, pausing for a
moment to think. "It would be easier just to call the Justice League and
say it's an emergency...it /is/ an emergency after all." He pauses again,
"I dunno much about the Flash's myself...just what I saw on the TV. And
what's this Crisis thingy...?"

Impulse tosses a pretzel over, then takes a bite of his. "I dunno...this
big thing. Except it can't have been so big, or people would still be
talking about it, right? So...how do you call the Justice League?"

Alex Elder catches the pretzel and proceeds to nibble (yes...he /nibbles/.
Not bites, not gnaws, but /nibbles/) on it. "I have no idea how to call
'em...maybe a phone would work? You got a phone book handy?" He grins, his
mouth full of pretzel.

Impulse makes a face. "I can -get- a phone book, but I haven't got a
phone. Man...this place needs a better comm system. Crazy! What I wouldn't
give for a <this bit is in Interlac>." He leans back, so he's leaning
against the lion's mane with his legs dangling over its back. And his
pretzels are gone. "How 'bout I just yell? -Someone's- gotta have
super-hearing." He takes a deep breath and bellows,
"J-L-AAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Alex Elder raises an eyebrow at Impulse. "That...just might work." He
grins, "I heard Mr. Amazing...or is it Superman...Mr. Amazing just sounds
better...anyway, I heard he can hear and see for miles. So, maybe /he'll/
respond if you yell loud enough, and he's bound to help you." He whews,
"So...yell louder!!!"

"Ah, hi!" How's *that* for a fancy superhero greeting? Well, perhaps when
this superhero learns all the tricks of the trade he'll know to announce
himself more formally. And you'd *think* that someone who has eons of
practice at being a Messenger of God would know how to make an entrance.
But, the voice comes from behind you, in a high sing-songy melody, one
filled with a pleased happiness as, well, he's just a creature of that
kind of thing. But there, if you turn and look is, well, ah, if you
believe in such things.... an angel. Arms over his chest, scarf lowered,
wings back, legs crosses and leaning againsta pillar or something.
"Superman is in Metropolis actually, or he should be, or was. Oh, yu know
what I mean. And Mr. Amazing... I haven't heard of him, well, not like in
detail or anything, so I'll have to try and meet him as well... but the
Justice League, I mean, I don't know where theya re though I do know
someone on it..."

Impulse spins quickly - unfortunately he's sitting kinda up high on one of
those big stone lions, so he falls off as a result. And *thuds*. And
consequently *owwwww*s...rubbing his shoulder, wincing, he looks dubiously
up at Zauriel. Then at Alex. Then at Zauriel again. "Oh...coooOOOoool. You
look like an angel! Which JLAer do you know? Do you know the Flash? I'm
looking for the Flash. I need to find him, my grandma said he'd know how
to help me. My name's Bart, and this is my friend Alex! He drinks blood
but he's not a vampire. Do you know Stryfe? He's weird, and mean too. He
put me upside down because he thought I was playing games, but I don't
want to be a Dark Rider." *gasp* Woo...forgot to breathe.

Non-chalantly at first, Alex speaks. "So it's Superman and not Mr.
Amazing. Hmmm...that's kinda a bummer..." He pauses, blinking multiple
times as he sloooooooooooowly turns around to look at Zauriel. "Oh...God.
A-a-a-an...Angel?!" His eyes go wide and he jumps up from his seat on the
stone steps. He points at Bart, and then at Zauriel. "Bart...it's an
angel!!" He gets a goofy-little grin on his face, like he think's he's
dreaming or something.

Smiling more than a little, Zauriel unleans from his pillar to take a step
forward, his wings russling behind him as he moves. he can't help it, and
it's not meant to be a freaky-cool pose effect as he has wings and all and
you don't, just they russle when he moves as they're on his back and not
all tucked up and stuff. No worries! No worries at all with Zauriel,
really, who seems to take all of this in stride... also literally, as he
is striding over now to the self-downed Bart. Why? Well to offer him a
hand up, finger extended out in that gesture as he winks, "Remind you of
anything?" So, he may be a bazillion years old bu that doesn't mean he
can't have a sense of humor, right? He hopes. "Martian Manhunter. Yes, but
not personally. No, but there have been rumors about him. Yes, I am one."
There, he thinks he got all of the questions answered, as he waits to help
Bart up. And before he speaks more, Zauriel tilts his head tot he side and
observes Alex *intensely* with his own crimson eyes, staring intot he boy,
searching, looking... it might be a bit creepy and all, as the angel
suddenly stops and just *stares* at the young man but then... Zauriel is
all smiles, quite a bit actually. "My name is Zauriel. I suppose you can
call me that, or Z or... well, whatever you want, I guess. But that's my
name. Now Bart, you're also Impulse, correct?" Zauriel will move a hand to
his chin here, comtemplating something, while taking a glance or two to
Alex once more. "I may be able to help you find the Flash. Which one are
you looking for? But, I can try... helping people is what I do!"

Staring at the outstretched hand for a second, Bart's mind goes into
overdrive. Remind him of something...? Well, he just read the whole darn
library, and...a picture. His brain goes 3-D, taking a sort of snapshot of
the gesture and turning it around and around in his head until it matches
the picture he saw, and -- he laughs. "Michaelangelo. Now I want
marshmallow chocolate chip pineapple pizza! Dude," says our speedster,
taking the hand and getting pulled up. His voice rises slightly in pitch
as he starts talking faster - then way faster. "Oh, Manhunter. When I saw
him I thought he was Coluan but his caption said Martian so I guess I was
wrong but that's still pretty cool but Martians aren't green as far as I
know they look human, but I guess that's the colonists. Rumors about the
Flash? Which Flash? I guess whichever Flash is active. My grandma sent me
to find Wally West her nephew but I don't think he's active I haven't seen
any recent pictures of him but there is a Flash but I thought my grandpa
was dead because that's what my grandma thought and holy nass what a good
codename Impulse is! I'm Impulse /now/ I guess, Zauriel!" He slows down a
little bit near the end, and zips over and pokes Alex. "He gave me a
codename!"

Alex Elder gawks at Zauriel, shoulders drooping as his jaw hangs. An
angel...by the library. Not many times that happens. Even rarer when one
/stares/ at you. He quickly shakes his head to escape the reverie he was
momentarily trapped in, and looks towards Bart. "Hey, lay off with the
vampire thing...it's not nice to call people names." Back to Zauriel. He
actually /doesn't/ smile while talking for once. "Uhh...hi Zauriel. Why is
an angel staring at me over-and-over again? You're not gonna stake 'n bake
me...are you?" He looks genuinely concerned at being stake 'n baked by the
angel. After all, aren't vampires minions of Lucifer and Angels
are...well...angels?

"Oh, I thought you were Impulse before Bart." Frowning, Zauriel looks
disappointed with himself, as he tries to explain. "See, they see it all
up there, watch downa nd all of that stuff, right? Well, now that I'm not
exactly a part of that, well, I only hear bits and pieces. Now I tried to
keep up on all of the heroes,a s it was just a habit thing really, but
then when i left you were justs howing up, so really I only have a scant
few reports. I remember something about impulse this, impulse that... so I
though... well, not that it matters! You like it so, excellent! Everything
does happen for a reason after all, so maybe that was the reaon."
Grinning, Zauriel seems pleased at that, in helping to achieve that small
touch of purpose. "Wally... Wally West. Well, I don't know where he is
right *now*, but I can look at my Aerie, and see what I can find. or what
I can find, or which actually. We'll find the active one for you. But, you
said to help you? It's not... I mean, is there something I... hrm." But
now Zauriel turns to look at Alex, intently once more, and then... he lets
that fade. "I'm sorry, Alex Elder. I didn't mean to... yes, you are a
vampire and I am an angel. But... please, don't worry, okay? I'm certainly
not going to hurt you, by any stretch f the imagination." And he won't go
into the whys and such. it's not his place to right now. Alex has lessons
to learn on his own first. But this angel won't be hunting you. On orders
from above? His own choice? Or something else? "You worry far too much.
Relax, like your friend here. Ah... would ice cream help? That's what
helps people to feel better, right?" Well,t hat's what television seems to
say. But again the angel is smiling. All smiles! Call him Happy or
something.

Alex Elder doubletakes. The angel knew his name...bee-zarre. "Ugh...ice
cream would be nice, but I'm /stuffed/." He's not really stuffed, he just
has an especially strong craving for 'that substance' right now, and ice
cream isn't a good subsitute. Anyway, he turns towards Bart. "I bet he
could use some though..." He manages a laugh, despite feeling
mind-numbingly awkward and just plain 'weird' in general. Back to Zauriel,
"Hey...how did you know my name? Did God tell you or something? Or am I
wearing a nametag?" He checks the front of his shirt for a nametag...nope,
no nametag.

"A-ha!" says Bart, smirking at Alex. "You are too! But don't worry, I'll
protect you. Or I would if someone wanted to do something bad. I'll beat
'em up!" Then he nods at Zauriel, then blinks and tugs his mask back on.
"Ooo, almost forgot. If I have a codename I have to wear a mask. But yeah,
he has to help me. Or maybe you can! Someone has to fix it...something
inside me's going too fast still, that's why grandma sent me back. I think
the time travel mighta fixed it partways, but I'm still...I dunno, it
needs to be fixed or I'll get old too fast." There's a pause. "Ice cream
is good. Lots of food is very good." He glances at Alex. Hm. Hm, hm, hm.
"You're stuffed, huh?"

He can't lie. He just can't. No need for a Lasso of Truth here, as this
angel is a singing pigeon, or whatever. See, it would be morally wrong to
lie, so he can't. "I was told your name, Alex. We all were. In a sense, He
did, yes, but not quite... it's complicated. PLease, don't worry about it?
It will make sense in time, but yes. KInda'. Sorta?" Zauriel furrows his
brow as he doesn't want to say too much, but then again he can't not say
if he's asked. "We all wear what and who we are, plain for everyone to
see. You just have to look. We all have 'name tags'. Not that this
normally means we have the letters for our names written out there, but I
think you get the idea?" Frowning a bit more, Zauriel considers, and looks
to Bart now. "I don't know if I cam fix it, but I can try. At least I
might be able to hit 'pause', until I can get you to who can help. Will
that work? And there, where I can take you, I can get you ice cream and...
other things... to help with... ah, hunger." The idea makes him, well,
squimish. But it *is* the right thing to do. Zauriel knows he could talk
to a blood bank and get a 'donation'. "But this place is in Los
Angeles...? I could bring you back, of course. Or just take you to The
Flash, once we find him. Or well, you could do it faster..."

"Wow, so you know all kindsa secret identities, huh? I bet some of those
super-secret guys like Batman get kinda worried, huh?" Cheerfully taking
Zauriel's hand, Bart seems willing to go wherever the angel says would be
good. He's a lot nicer than Stryfe, anyways. "And if you can stop it, that
would be great. I don't wanna turn 40 before I turn 3. And there's ice
cream there, too? And blood? Oh yeah, that's right, I forgot! Oh,
donation. Oh...um..." The kid is blushing. After all...yeah, those,
um...those books...what he did was kinda against the law, wasn't it. Well.

Alex Elder laughs a little, "I won't press you for info...I wouldn't
everything spelled out to...besides 'ol Apeface told me enough to keep me
from wanting to know anything more." He shrugs, looking towards Bart. "Hey
waitaminute...you're just gonna up and go to LA? That's
cross-country...you might get lost there, or on the way. Lotsa bad people
in LA, even more than in NY." Overall, Alex doesn't look too thrilled
about the prospect of Bart or him (or both of 'em) going to LA.

"It might be a way to help Bart. I thin it might work, or well, it should.
I don't see why not, but honestly, I won't know until we try. You don't
have to come, of course." Smiling a little more, the angel takes a step
back as he is *not* going to force this on the two of you. He was sent to
aid you all, help and watch over you. A part of your gloriousgift was Free
Will, and he won't stand int he way of that. "It is a long way but I bet
Bart could get there and back quickly, right? Carrying you? You two
wouldn't be apart." And again Zauriel finds himself looking to Alex, not
this time to study, worry or attempt to figure out the lad but... he looks
a little apologetic. Heaven may not be after him, and with cause, but as Z
thinks about it... the other side may be, for just that reason. Maybe it
was his purpose in meeting Alex to find the vampire boy,t ow atch over
him, to make sure that harm doesn't befall the boy before it is time that
this happens? Perhaps he should pro-... shaking his head a moment, Zauriel
blurts out, "Ah, even Heaven doens't know Batman's identity."

"I can't get any more lost there than I can get anywhere else, Alex -- I'm
not from around here, 'member? Come with me - he's an Angel! If anyone can
help figure out how to solve -both- our problems, it would be him! I don't
think we should do what we did before, again. And I don't mind if you, you
know...I dunno, I don't think you want to. But he said he could get
donations, and that's good, right? And besides, he has ice cream," reasons
Bart. All solid logic, that. And he does -not- let go Zauriel's hand. In
fact, he tugs at him. "Let's go! Come on, Alex, please?"

Alex Elder looks at Z, and then at Bart, and then at Z again, and then at
Bart. Settling on Bart, "Okay okay...I'll go. It's worth a shot. Need to
get out of town for a while anyway...let the 'Missing Persons' posters get
taken down and such." He walks over to Zauriel and grabs an arm.
"Besides...it's /ice cream/, after all." He chuckles, closing his eyes.
"Anchors away Skipper."

"Excellent! Well, if you two want to race on ahead, explore... the place
will be rather, well, visable." He waves his other hand up and before ou
both. "You'll see it when you get there, and it's unlocked. But, you may
not be able to reach it. But I can get you there, once I get there. Unless
you want to take me as well? I doubt you can and well, I should pick up
some things on the way home any way...." He smiles. Like blood and ice
cream. He'll be sure to not to mix the two. "I'll be right behind you."
You guys may make a straight line there, but he can go up, out of the
atmosphere and then back down again, and so he can make the trip quick as
well. "Just make yourselves at home and... we'll find the answers guys.
But... thank you! My first sleep over!" And then witht hat Zauriel himself
is in motion, off and away in a ruffle of finds and a scattering of wind.

Impulse acks! as the angel leaves. "Hm. I guess that means we get to LA
under our own...steam." He frowns and complains, "That doesn't make any
sense at all! Steam. Whatever," he grumbles, then turns around. "Piggyback
to Los Angeles? And see? He can't have anything devious in mind if he
wants to have a -sleepover-. I hope he lets us watch scary movies!"

"Hopefully nothing with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt as two European
vampire...now /thats/ scary." Alex glances at Bart...who's shorter and
scrawnier than he is. "You expect to carry me to Los Angeles...okay then."
He hops on Impulse's back. "Giddyup 'lil dowgee!!"

Sure, he's shorter and scrawnier, but...this aging thing is still going
on. Actually, at this point, build for build he and Alex are almost
identical. Scary, neh? And besides, they've already been to Hawaii once.
And besides besides, it's not that long of a trip -- only the other side
of the continent. And besides besides besides, once they're underway,
carrying someone's really not that big a deal. PS - they're there!