Episode 6: Bloodlines
Takes place on February 28
A teenage speedster named Impulse arrives on Mount Justice from the future in a Time Machine, supposedly just to visit, and ends up confusing a lot of people. Impulse escapes Mount Justice and heads to Central City hoping to meet Barry Allen. Nightwing is able to contact both Barry Allen and Wally West about the imminent arrival of Impulse, but before Dick can finish, Impulse rushes in on Barry and his wife Iris West celebrating Jay and Joan Garrick's 70th wedding anniversary.
Impulse reveals that he is the future grandson of Barry and Iris, and that Iris is pregnant with his Aunt Dawn and father. Iris West receives a call from her boss that a supervillain is attacking Central City. Mysterious beings manipulate this supervillain named Neutron into wrecking havoc in Central City. Both versions of The Flash (Jay and Barry), Kid Flash, and Impulse work together to stop Neutron. Impulse rushes in, and while the others aren't present, uses a device to cure Neutron.
Elsewhere, Red Arrow and Cheshire, along with their daughter Lian, travel to a a Tibetan monastery in their search for the original Roy Harper. After fighting off an army of monastery guardians they finally locate Speedy and release him from stasis.
Having visited Barry, his original stated goal, Impulse climbs back into his time machine to return to the future. Nothing happens and it seems Impulse is now stuck in the present due to the machine's breakdown. We then flash-forward once again to the future Impulse came from, where it's implied originally Barry died that day and in time Neutron and others like him devastated the entire planet. Neutron himself was the one who built the capsule device that cured the villain in the past, and together with Impulse had planned to use the time machine to change the future for the better. Bart knew from the start that he would never be able to return home. Unfortunately, though Bart's actions save Neutron from 40 years of crime and destruction, the rest of the future is still in ruins.
Tropes:
- Appropriated Appellation: Bart takes his codename from Nightwing commenting about a "random energy impulse"
- Bad Future: Forty years from now, the Earth is a ruin, and Mount Justice has been destroyed. Bart built a time machine to try and undo this, but whatever he does only cures Neutron's powers. Everything else remains the same.
- Beneath the Mask: Some, but not all, of Bart's goofball behavior is an act.
- Dork Knight: Barry Allen, the Flash, the Fastest Man Alive, founding member of the Justice League. Loves cracking terrible, terrible puns about his powers incessantly.
- Foreshadowing: Wally has difficulty keeping up with Barry and Bart. That'll be important later.
- Future Slang: "Mode" and "crash" for Bart.
- Letting the Air out of the Band: As the time machine materializes, tense Terminator-esque music builds up, and then Bart pops out. The music stops dead.
- Motormouth: Barry and Bart, helped by their superspeed. At one point they converse, with their voices getting higher and faster until it cuts to a baffled Wally looking on as the two talk too fast to be understood.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Bart pretends to trip as he and Barry are approaching a critical Neutron, though after he picks himself up Barry realizes if he'd gotten any closer he would've been killed.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Roy and Cheshire are surrounded by an army of angry, angry ninja. The next time we see them, they're mopping the floor with the last ones.
- Retired Badass: Jay Garrick was supposed to be retired to reassure his wife, but briefly steps back in to help deal with Neutron.
- Ripple Effect Indicator: In the final scene, Future Neutron's scars disappear immediately after Bart leaves, but everything else remains the same.
- Saying Too Much: Bart accidentally lets slip to Barry that he's about to be a dad a little ahead of schedule, and also reveals to Iris, who already knew she was pregnant, that she's expecting twins. These might not be accidental slip-ups, but he does confirm he never really knew his grandfather at one point.
- Shared Family Quirks: Bart borrows Barry's enthusiasm for garbage puns.
- So Much for Stealth: Roy and Cheshire deal with a few ninja guards silently. Then Lian's cooing echoes through the entire monastery, drawing the attention of every other ninja.
- Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Roy finds it deeply concerning Lian enjoys watching her parents beat up ninjas. Cheshire figures it's just genetic.
