#27 - "Impact Player"

"Oh, do you remember this one?" Stephanie Sculley held up the picture to allow her brother a closer examination. It showed a much younger Jim and Stephanie, along with their baby brother and parents.

"Our trip to the Grand Canyon, I think. Right before I started junior high."

"That sounds about right. I haven't seen all these old pictures in years. They bring back lots of memories."

"That they do, sis. Lots of happy memories."

It was Sunday evening at Jim's house out in Van Nuys. With the recent death of his father, the property had been passed on to his son. Not that there was any conflict with his other siblings. Stephanie lived in Seattle and had no interest in the house. Likewise, Bryan lived at a fraternity near the USC campus.

The siblings were taking the opportunity to sort out their father's belongings. Much of his old clothing was far beyond repair and had to be discarded. Some stuff Jim would drop off at the Salvation Army later on. Now they were going through boxes that had been stored in a closet. Boxes found to contain numerous family photos.

Stephanie stopped at another picture and held it up for closer scrutiny. "Who is this with you?" The photo showed a much younger James Sculley with an attractive redhead.

Jim eyed the photo, trying to recall the girl in it. The picture was at least ten years old. "Good question. Could it be Nancy?"

"Julie, maybe?", Stephanie offered.

"No, no, it's Josie--- Josie Sienkevich, Sinkowitz, Simenski or something like that. We dated for a little bit in Junior High but never really hit it off."

"That's right, I remember now. She had a younger sister-- Angela, I believe. I think Bryan took her out a few times when they were in High School."

Jim chuckled at the prospect. "I didn't know that we dated sisters from the same family. It really is a small world after all."

"Not that surprising," Stephanie countered. "You had already moved out and I was a senior at the time. Given the relationship you have with our darling younger brother, it's not likely that you'd know all the girlfriends he ever had. Besides, as I recall Angela was so superficial that it wasn't funny. She was a cheerleader after all."

"Oh, I see." Setting one pile of pictures back into the box, Jim delved into another set. "I'm going to have to sort all these out someday. Before they get lost."

"And get copies made. I want some of these for myself." Stephanie grew reflective as she scanned the photos. "You know, I think this is the way I would rather remember mom and dad." She casually pointed to one of the pictures. It showed Helen and Jordan Sculley arm in arm smiling. "As they really were, not as they ended up."

Jim silently nodded his understanding. "That's the trick about memories. We recall the good times more than we ever recall the bad."

With a sigh, Stephanie set the pictures back into the box. "I'll be at this all night if I don't watch it." It was so easy to get lost in such happy memories. Stephanie was also due at LAX early in the morning for her flight back to Seattle.

"They'll still be here the next time you're in town," Jim reassured his sister. "So, have you given any thought to your new abilities?"

"Other than hoping that they just go away, no, not really. I may have joked about having powers before, but they're not something that I truly ever wanted."

"That may happen. On the other hand, they might be permanent. You know that I'll support you no matter if you have powers or not."

"Even if I do still have them, I have no idea what I can do and how to even activate them," Stephanie lamented. "So I'm just content to not even try and use them."

"That might be a mistake, sis. Even if you don't want to use your powers, you should at least explore them. If only to make sure you don't accidentally activate them at an inopportune time."

That made Stephanie pause. "You've got a point there, big brother. You said that I fired some sort of mind blast?"

"That's what Dad inferred. Something about his 'mind being on fire'. You never actually attacked me, so I don't have any firsthand experience. Then there was this golden shell of armor you generated. I would assume it was for protection, but I can't be sure."

Rising from the couch, Stephanie moved to the center of the room. "Okay, I'll give it a try." She closed her eyes and placed her hands on her temples as if in deep concentration. This lasted for several minutes but produced no visible results. "Nothing." Relief filled the young woman's face.

"Then maybe you've gotten your wish and your powers are gone."

"That would be nice," Stephanie agreed. "I think I'm going to turn in for the night."

"Good night."

Stephanie headed for the stairs when the siblings heard a loud 'THUNK' out on the front lawn. They exchanged puzzled glances. It sounded like something crashed out front.

"What was that?" Jim rushed to the front door to investigate. His doppelganger had broken out the front picture window a few days back, forcing Jim to temporarily cover it up with plywood until it could be properly repaired. Opening the door, Jim spotted his younger brother Bryan pulling himself up to his feet. He stood in a newly created, minor depression on the front lawn! "Bryan! What are you doing here?"

Bryan dusted himself off as he approached the front door. "Hiya there, Jimbo! I was in the neighborhood and thought I would just drop in."

"Literally, from the looks of it," Jim observed.

"Sorry about that, bro. Look, I've kinda got a problem. I didn't know who else to turn to."

"Come on in." Jim stood aside to allow his brother access to the house. Closing the door behind his brother, Jim followed him into the front room. Stephanie was already there greeting Bryan.

"What's the matter, Bryan?"

Brain sighed as he considered his words. "Remember when you said that the doc didn't know if me and Steph's powers would stay or fade away? Well, I think mine are still here. I didn't know who else to talk to about this. You're the only one who could understand, Jimbo."

"You mean you actually flew here?", Jim asked in surprise. Fortunately, it was night out, so he doubted his brother had been seen. Still, how was he going to explain an impact crater on his front lawn? "You could have been seen by someone!"

"I didn't think about it at the time. Guess I messed up."

"I guess you did."

"Knock it off you two," Stephanie interrupted. "Bryan's obviously troubled. I think we should hear what he has to say instead of bickering."

"You're right, of course," Jim answered. "What happened, Bryan?"

"Well, I didn't feel any different at first. Didn't notice anything unusual. Until I hit the weight room that is."

"What happened in the weight room?"

"I've always been in great shape," Bryan continued. It showed on the younger Sculley's chiseled physique. "Exercised, lifted, and tried to eat right. I've been able to bench press over three hundred pounds without much trouble."

"How much can you lift now?", Jim asked, seeing where Bryan's story was going.

"I don't know, Jimbo. I ran out of weights to add to the bar." Bryan still seemed to be in shock from this incident. "I lifted over a thousand pounds."

"One thousand pounds!", Stephanie parroted in astonishment. "That's incredible!"

"It gets better, sis. I did it with one hand."

"You definitely have a problem," Jim nodded in agreement. "Any idea on the upper limits of your strength?"

"Not at all. That's why I came here. I was hoping that maybe you could help me find out. I mean, it wasn't much of an effort to lift the thousand pounds one handed. I haven't accidentally broken anything either. Looks like you're right, Jimbo. My football career is over. There's no way I could pass all the screening now." That prospect seemed to further depress Bryan. With the appearance of superpowers in the world, all sport participants were now required to have testing for superhuman abilities.

"I'm sorry, Bryan," Stephanie offered. She was closer to Bryan than Jim was and hence knew more about his dreams and desires. He always wanted to be a professional football player. Now that dream had been shattered. "I knew how much playing ball meant to you."

"So you came out here for my help," Jim deduced. "I'll do what I can for you. Have you noticed any other powers?"

"No-- Just being able to fly, very poorly I might add, and great strength."

"When Hexmaster controlled you, he used you like a flying battering ram," Jim explained. "I'd have to say that your physical toughness has increased as well. So that you can withstand the force of all these impacts."

"I didn't think of that one," Bryan realized. "I did crash out front and walked away from it without even a scratch."

"I can help you with your flying. As for your other powers, I'll have to do some checking with my friends. I'm going to be gone all day Monday. Are you busy on Tuesday?"

"I can be here first thing in the morning," Bryan offered hopefully.

"Okay, Tuesday morning. We'll work out something from there."

"Thanks, Jimbo. I really appreciate this."

"I never thought I would be bonding with Bryan in this manner," Jim thought as he toweled himself off. Bryan had left less than an hour earlier. Stephanie turned in for the evening shortly thereafter. Jim decided to shower first before calling it a night. "We were always so unlike as kids that we never did anything together. Funny, it took having superpowers to give us some common ground outside of being family."

Instead of entering his bedroom, Jim went into his writing room. Casually he checked through notes that he had left himself. It had been over a week since the last time he even thought about writing. The incidents with the Crimson Claw and his father had taken much of his time.

Since his return as Spectrum, Jim had concentrated full time on his writing career. He had churned out nearly a dozen short stories and finished the first draft on his novel. The extensive editing process now loomed before him. A task made a little bit easier thanks to having Stephanie and Whitney read the work. Both ladies had pointed out things that needed fixing.

The book would have to be edited for proper grammar and spelling. It would also have to be checked for proper word use and excessive word use. Jim had the habit of sometimes thinking faster than his fingers could type. He would sometimes end up with a completely wrong, but correctly spelled, word or have a word completely omitted. Another bad habit of his was using the same word too often when another would serve just as well, if not better.

Not feeling very tired, Jim booted up his computer and started editing with chapter one. It was always good to get away from something you've written for a few days before going back through it. It gave the memory time to forget every single word he had written and approach the work with a fresh prospective. It also gave Jim the chance to liberally sprinkle the text with more adjectives as well.

Monday morning came far too early for Jim's taste. He was the type that would rather stay up late than wake up early. But no, he had responsibilities to attend to this day. Comet of the Superior Seven, a hero Spectrum had met briefly, had been killed last week. (Editor's Note: Say it with me together class, as shown in Young Champions #1)

Morning Star thought it a good idea for several members of X-Factor to travel along with the Guardians to Sanctuary Isle for Comet's enshrinement ceremony. Jim agreed. After seeing Stephanie off, he was meeting Morning Star and Shockwave at the Guardians' base this morning to make the trip to the South Pacific.

Boarding the Stinger, the Guardian's jet, the heroes were soon rocketing their way across the Pacific. Spectrum sat in the rear of the cabin, near his X-Factor teammates. Flying the jet was Hornet himself, assisted by Spinnerette.

"'Star," Spectrum whispered to his lavender clad teammate, leaning closer to her for privacy. "Can I ask you something?"

Morning Star leaned closer to Spectrum to answer. "Of course. What seems to be the problem?"

"It's about my brother. His powers are still with him."

"I see," Morning Star answered, nodding her understanding. "Bryn did say that this was a possibility."

"I know. He came to me for help in learning how to use his new abilities. The only problem is, I'm not really sure how to help him. I mean, I can help when it comes to flying, but the other stuff..."

Morning Star considered for a few moments. "What other powers have appeared so far?"

"Superhuman strength and toughness. He says he lifted a thousand pounds easily with one hand. Not exactly my area of expertise."

"No, I suppose that it's not. Well, there are a couple of options. The simplest thing to do is bring your brother out to my place. I have a weight room set up for someone in my strength class there."

"That's great," Spectrum realized. "At least we can get a better idea of his limits."

"I could also attempt to find out just how tough he really is."

That made Spectrum pause. "Exactly how would you do that?"

"I'd have to hit him a few times."

"Oh. I'm not sure that he'd go for that. But on the other hand, considering what a skirt chaser he is, he'd probably jump at the chance to get beat up by the famous Morning Star."

"I promise to be gentle," 'Star added with a smile. "The other option would be getting your brother to join the Young Champions program on Sanctuary."

"I can't say that I'm familiar with it."

"Basically, they take in untrained superhumans, figure out what powers they do have and help them learn how to use them. It's only been around for a few months now. In fact, the Superior Seven were assisting the Young Champions when Comet met his untimely demise."

"I don't know if he would like that idea much," Spectrum answered. Not knowing his brother very well, Jim could not be sure what Bryan's reaction would be. "But I'll pass it along. For the time being, do you think you could test his strength and toughness?"

"I'd be happy to assist," Morning Star answered. "How does tomorrow sound?"

"That'll be perfect. He's coming over first thing in the morning anyway. Just give me your address and we'll swing on by."

On the whole, the experience on Sanctuary was an interesting one. The ceremony dragged on and everyone was sullen and somber. Given the last few days of his own life, Jim wasn't much better. Afterwards, he had joined several other heroes at the Starstruck lounge on top of the hotel to unwind.

It was shortly after that when things really got interesting. Captain Lightning asked Spectrum, Morning Star, and Shockwave to accompany him. Spinnerette tagged along for the ride. Out at the Superior Seven's team jet, Cap gave X-Factor a gift for their help in preventing the destruction of Dallas: a robotic man-servant designated SIMON. (Editor's Note: Shown in greater detail in X-Factor #9)

Jim really didn't know what to make of SIMON. He barely knew how to work his PC, let alone something as complex as an intelligent robot. Morning Star shared those same concerns. Shockwave seemed quite pleased with SIMON and took him with her.

"We're going to have to get a team headquarters one of these days," Spectrum rationalized to himself. "We've got a butler and no mansion to put him in." Realistically, he didn't see how they could pull it off. It took money to finance a superhero team. Sadly, no one on X-Factor was a millionaire.

The heroes returned to Los Angeles in the wee hours of the morning.

"All right, all right! I'm coming!" Grumbling the entire way, Jim groggily made his way down the stairs. He had no idea what time it was, but it was light outside. All he knew was that he had been rudely roused from his sleep by the pounding on his front door. His eyes were barely open. "Who is it?!"

"It's me, Bryan," came the voice from the other side of the door. "We were supposed to hook up this morning, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah." Jim opened the door to let his brother in. "I just woke up."

"I figured that, Jimbo." Bryan gave Jim a friendly slap on the back as he strolled in. There was a gym bag slung over his shoulder. "Hey, I'd sleep in too if I didn't have-- used to have-- practice first thing in the morning."

Jim made his way to the kitchen. A glass of Pepsi would pick him up. "I take it you've told your coach that you're quitting?"

"I haven't had the courage yet. You actually drink that stuff first thing in the morning?", Bryan added pointing towards the beverage, slightly shocked.

"I don't like coffee. Besides, what's the difference? Food is food. Your stomach doesn't care if you eat breakfast at night or dinner in the morning."

"Coach gave me a week off because of dad's death. I still have a few days to figure out how I'm going to tell him. I'm going to miss college."

Thanks to the infusion of caffeine, Jim started to perk up. He sliced open an english muffin and placed it in the toaster. "You make it sound like you're thinking of quitting school."

"Outside of football, I don't have anything to stay for."

"What about getting your degree?"

"In phys-ed? It was the easiest course they offered. I went there to play football, Jimbo," Bryan explained. "Not to get educated."

"Then what are you going to do with football out of your life?"

"I'm still working on that." He paused for a moment and then changed the subject. "Okay, what did you figure out as far as training goes?"

His muffins having popped, Jim applied butter and grape jelly. "I talked to Morning Star and she's going to help us out."

"The Morning Star?! Wow, she is like SO hot!"

"And if you don't behave yourself, she'll probably clean your clock."

Bryan considered that for a few seconds and smiled. "It might be worth it, Jimbo. She is a babe among babes."

"She is gorgeous," Jim added in agreement. "But that's not why we're going out there, remember?"

"Sure, Jimbo. I'll try to remember that." A pleased smile formed on Bryan's face. Maybe having super powers wasn't going to be so bad after all.

A few minutes later, Jim had consumed his makeshift breakfast and cleaned up. He joined his brother by the front door. "All ready to go?"

"Sure thing, Jimbo. Where are we going?"

"I thought we'd do some flying in the hills before meeting up with Morning Star." Jim opened the front door and seemed puzzled. "Don't you have a car?"

"No," Bryan answered. "I thought you did?"

Jim just slapped his hand to his face and sighed. They were off to an auspicious beginning. "I don't have a car either."

"Guess we'll just have to fly, which is pretty cool if you ask me."

"How are you going to disguise yourself?", Jim countered.

"Way ahead of you, Jimbo. I came up with a temporary outfit for myself. I'll change and then we can leave in style." Bryan disappeared up the stairs towards the spare bedroom to change. Jim sat down on the couch wondering just what his brother had in mind.

"I should have known," Jim muttered to himself. Bryan came down the stairs decked out in football gear. An exact replica of the Los Angeles Rams uniform in fact. Minus the shoulder pads, but with a helmet.

"No one will recognize me in this," Bryan proudly stated. The helmet had a sun visor built into it to further conceal his face. "It's not like you see a Ram fly everyday."

"No, I suppose that you wouldn't. Let's get out of here before the neighbors notice."

"Don't you think you should change too?"

Jim snapped his fingers and his Spectrum costume replaced his regular clothes. "You were saying?"

"Show off."

A short time later, the two brothers were flying over the hills. "This rocks!", was Bryan's response to being airborne.

"You get used to it," Spectrum explained. "I'm getting to the point where I take it for granted. Let's see what kind of speed you've got."

So far, Jim had been taking it easy on his brother while they flew to a more isolated area. Now he would start putting Bryan through his paces. Spectrum surged ahead and continued to gain velocity. Bryan tried to keep up but was unable. Seeing this, Jim slowed down to match his brother's speed.

"I guess I'm more like a tank than a sports car," Bryan rationalized.

"That's not a bad analogy. You're meant to hit things, I'm not. Let's try maneuverability."

Bryan wasn't great in this area, but he wasn't terrible either. What he needed most was practice. Out here, away from prying eyes, they could have it. For the next hour, Jim put his brother through flying drills.

"Make any decisions about your life?", Jim asked. The pair had landed on a hilltop to take a break.

"Nothing definite yet. Might try the hero gig. That'd be pretty cool."

"If you do, you'll need to come up with a code name and a better costume."

Bryan spared a glance at his football uniform. "I guess you're right on that point. As for a name, I'm kind of partial to Impact."

Spectrum ran 'Impact' through his head a few times. "Impact is a good choice. Most appropriate for what you can do. Ready to head out to Morning Star's place?"

"You bet, Jimbo! I'm really looking forward to this!"

Perhaps a bit too much for Spectrum's tastes.

The two brothers flew to the south towards the location Morning Star had given Spectrum. A half an hour later, a racetrack came into view.

"Morning Star is meeting us at a race track?", Bryan wondered out loud.

"That's what she told me." Spectrum flew closer to the track and scoped it out. From the air it appeared to be deserted. Finally, he spotted the familiar garb of the lavender and purple clad heroine waving to attract his attention from the infield. Spectrum flew towards his teammate after alerting his brother.

"Good morning!", Morning Star waved in greeting as the brothers landed a few steps away. She gave Bryan's garb a critical eye. "What an interesting costume you have there."

Undaunted, Bryan rushed up to the heroine and shook her hand. "WOW! It really is Morning Star! It's such an honor to meet you!"

"Of course it's her," Spectrum retorted. "Did you think I was lying to you?"

"No-- Well, it's just hard to believe that I'm up close and personal with the Morning Star herself."

"It's nice to meet you too," Morning Star stated to the starstruck teenager. "Shall we get started?"

Spectrum shrugged. "Sure, if Mr. NFL here is ready."

"Ready and willing!", Bryan answered not having taken his eyes off Morning Star. "What do I have to do?"

"Just stand right there," Morning Star explained as she balled up her right fist. Before Spectrum or Bryan could comprehend what was going on, Morning Star struck! She punched Bryan right between the numbers on his jersey.

The surprised Bryan sailed backwards nearly ten feet. The punch stung a bit, but didn't do any serious harm to Bryan. He quickly got to his feet, dusted himself off, and approached the two members of X-factor. "What the heck was that for?!"

"I was told that you were tougher than a normal," Morning Star explained. "We just proved that."

"You could have warned us, 'Star," Spectrum added, but really didn't mind seeing his brother go flying like that. In fact, he was kind of enjoying this.

"I'd say that your brother can indeed take a great deal of physical punishment. Not that many people can shake off a punch like that without batting an eyelash." As she spoke, a purple glow surrounded Morning Star's fist. "It's just a matter of proving how much he can take."

Unsuspectingly, Bryan walked into another punch from Morning Star. This time the heroine threw everything she had into it. Bryan sailed backwards nearly fifty feet!

"Home run," Spectrum informed his teammate in awe.

"That tears it," Bryan screamed. "No one uses me for a punching bag! Not even Morning Star!" Enraged, Bryan took to the air and circled a few times to generate speed.

"Should I stop him?", Spectrum wondered, a trace of concern in his voice.

"Oh, no. This is all just part of his testing," Morning Star explained. "Most impressive the way he stood up to my powered punch. Your brother can take a great deal of physical punishment. Now I'm going to find out if he can dish it out as well."

Bryan flew away from the track and then circled back around, flying directly at Morning Star. The heroine stood her ground, hands defiantly on her hips.

"Are you sure this is such a good idea?" Not sure just what she was up to Spectrum took a few steps back from his teammate.

"Don't worry. I have everything under control."

Morning Star didn't try to avoid the collision as Bryan plowed into her! The heroine was sent rocketing back from the impact landing over sixty feet away! Bryan flew out of control and crashed to the pavement.

"'Star!" Spectrum flew to his teammate's side. She laid unmoving on the track. Very concerned, Spectrum leaned down on one knee to check on his X-Factor teammate. However, she was already beginning to stir.

"Feels like I got hit by a runaway freight train," the heroine groggily mumbled. "I think that's enough testing for today."

Brain gingerly sat up, his hands on his head. "Wow. That really rung my bell." Looking around, Bryan saw Spectrum assist Morning Star to her feet. "Oh, geez! I'm really sorry about that! I lost my head." Bryan went to assist his brother.

Morning Star raised her hand to silence Bryan's concerns. Spectrum hung on to the other one to steady the heroine. "No need to apologize. We wanted to find out just how tough you really were. Very tough from where I'm standing. I'm impressed. How about we go inside now?"

Inside Morning Star's personal gym they tested Bryan's new strength levels. They started at one thousand pounds and worked up from there. Bryan finally topped out at just a little over three thousand pounds.

"You're definitely far stronger than any other normal person," Morning Star explained. "But you're not in the same league as the truly strong heroes."

"Well, am I as strong as you are?", Bryan asked hopefully. "That would be cool."

"Sorry, but no." To further demonstrate, Morning Star picked up the same weight Bryan had been struggling with and easily tossed it from hand to hand. "See? No problem for me."

"Wow!", was all Bryan could say in response.

"If you want to get more exact about this, you might want to think about having Bryn examine you further," Morning Star added as she set the weight back down. "And there is always the Young Champions program on Sanctuary."

"Sanctuary?", Bryan wondered. "What's that all about?"

"I forgot to mention it," Spectrum added.

Morning Star proceeded to give Bryan a quick rundown on the Young Champions program. Explaining how that they take in raw supers and help them come to terms with their new powers.

"It's a possibility," Bryan finally said. "I'm not sure just what I'm going to do yet. I'll have to think about it. I just wanted to say thanks for helping me out." Bryan shook Morning Star's hand in appreciation. "I've got some stuff to take care off, so I'm going to take off. Seeya later, Jimbo."

"You're very welcome."

"Bye." Spectrum waved as his brother departed the garage that had been converted into Morning Star's private gym. Bryan leaped into the air and was quickly out of sight.

"Any insight on what he will do?", Morning Star wondered as she watched Bryan leave.

Jim sighed and willed his fullface mask away. "I have no idea. My brother and I have rarely seen eye to eye on things."

Morning Star relaxed as well and removed her mask. "How is your sister doing?

"So far she has no signs of her powers still being with her. That's the way she wants it."

"I see."

"So, this is your home?", Spectrum gestured. "A race track?"

"My father founded it and it became mine when he died. We still operate the track and have races every so often It gives me enough of an income to be Morning Star full time. It also gives me some measure of privacy."

Spectrum nodded his understanding. "I forgot you said your dad was a racer. I should have put it together when you mentioned coming out to Long's Race Track. Your last name then?"

"That's correct."

"It's funny in a way. Considering all the stuff that we've been through and I don't even know the names of most of my teammates."

"It's an odd business that we are in," Morning Star commented. "I don't know the last names of Blizzard and Empress either. Everyone else I know their true identities."

"I imagine that you know a whole lot of people's identities."

"That is true. And most of them know mine as well. I have built up a great deal of trust with many people."

An uncomfortable silence filled the garage. "I guess, I should get going too," Spectrum finally announced. "I should get back to my work."

"Me too," Morning Star added with a sigh. "Let me know how everything works out with your brother and sister."

"Will do. Thanks for everything, 'Star." Spectrum waved and flew off, heading back home. He wanted to put a few more hours in, editing his novel before he got together with Whitney. The two had plans to go out this evening for some dinner and dancing. After that, who knew what would come up?

"You're welcome, Jim," Morning Star whispered after Spectrum was out of earshot. It was becoming harder and harder each time the two of them were alone together. The heroine wanted to tell him how she felt about him, but continued to remain silent. It was shaping up to be another long day.