DC's Legends of Tomorrow: Blue and Gold
This story is set in between the episodes "Return of the Mack" and "Crisis on Earth-X" for the Legends.
The sun set over Star City, as Theodore Kord, CEO of KORD Industries, looked out at the skyline through his window. He walked back towards his desk and sat down to go over some paperwork that was strewn across it. As he sat down, he looked towards the door to his office, seeing a bearded man, wearing an Old West duster jacket standing mere feet from his desk, who had not been standing there moments earlier. Ted jumped up from his desk.
"How the hell did you get in here?" Ted demanded.
The man calmly put his arms at his sides and took a step forward. Ted grabbed what appeared to be a spotlight off his desk and aimed it at the man.
"Don't take another step if you know what's good for you!" Ted shouted.
"Mr. Kord, I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to ask for your help." the man said in a calm, British accented voice.
He raised his arms up as if to surrender. Ted started to move his other hand towards his intercom.
"You can talk to my secretary if you want a meeting. Now get out of here before I call security." Ted ordered, keeping the spotlight trained on the man.
"I'm afraid that I can't do that. The help I need requires something you keep secret, Mr. Kord. Or should I say… Blue Beetle?" the man asked.
Ted's entire body language changed. He dropped his arms to his sides.
"Who are you?" Ted firmly asked.
"My name is Rip Hunter, I'm a Time Master. My job is to monitor the timeline for threats, and deal with them. And I need your help locating a time-traveling acquaintance of mine, Michael Jon Carter." the man said. "Though, you might know him better as..."
"Booster Gold." Ted sighed and sat down at his desk.
He solemnly looked at Rip, then back at his desk.
"I haven't seen Booster in years, not since I actually was the Beetle," Ted said. "I figured he returned home and just found a new life there."
"That's the problem. His life was supposed to involve remaining here, in this time period for several years, but history has changed. Booster Gold disappeared from the timeline and never returned, and that's a problem." Rip said.
"Because he's got a special place in history?" Ted remarked. "That's usually how it goes when time travel is involved."
"Very perceptive, Mr. Kord," Rip brought his hands together. "And because you were Booster's closest friend in this time period, I wanted to recruit your help in locating him."
"Sorry, but I don't think I'll be much help. I didn't stop being the Beetle just because of Booster's disappearance." Ted tapped his chest. "I stopped because I found out I have a heart condition, can't overexert myself. I had heart attacks I didn't even know I had 'til the doctor told me about them."
"I have the means to ensure that won't be a problem." Rip said.
Ted turned the idea over in his mind a few times. Rip, as if sensing his apprehension, placed a card on the table.
"Come to this address tomorrow afternoon if you're interested." Rip said before he turned and walked out of the room.
Ted picked up the card and read the writing on it before he placed it back down on the desk.
He walked over to the wall, near a setup of framed pictures that depicted Ted at various points of his life, college graduation, a family portrait of him and his father, and an out of place one that didn't feature Ted at all, instead featuring an older man, an archaeologist, standing in front of an Egyptian pyramid, holding something blue, wrapped in cloth. Ted smiled and then frowned as he looked at the photo.
He pulled the frame off the wall, exposing a keypad underneath. He tapped a few buttons and part of the wall slid apart to reveal a secret elevator. Ted stepped into it and the wall shut behind him.
Ted emerged in a darkened laboratory, and flipped a light switch, allowing the room to become illuminated, revealing several yellowed computer terminals, that looked several years out of date. On the far side of the room, a ring of lights turned on, framing a large, beetle-shaped ship.
"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Ted asked the empty room.
He smiled and walked over to a terminal, booting it up, and loading up several files. The files were regarding Booster Gold, and some of the missions they had gone on. An image flashed of the Blue Beetle and Booster fighting a group of multi-colored beatniks, then an image of Booster posing in front of an explosion, then an image of Booster recoiling when the explosion singed the back of his suit. Ted began to smile as he looked over the files. His mind started to flash with memories of those halcyon days of superheroics with Booster.
"I'm coming to find you, buddy."
The next afternoon, Ted Kord walked into an empty parking lot. He looked around the lot, seeing Rip Hunter walk toward him.
"I see you've reconsidered my offer." Rip said.
"Yeah. So, where's your time machine?" Ted asked.
"That's… complicated. At the current time, it's being used by my team… I was hoping that you'd agree to help so I could use your resources to build a time sphere." Rip said.
Ted momentarily thought the idea over in his head, before he snapped his fingers and turned to Rip.
"I've got a better idea…" Ted smirked.
Ted and Rip stood in Ted's laboratory. Rip looked up at the large blue bug shaped ship and put his face in his hands.
"You have got to be kidding me." Rip sighed.
"Hey, it was good enough for Booster and me, back in the day." Ted laughed.
"And it's time traveled before?" Rip asked.
"Yeah, Booster's time sphere was busted up once, so we had to use the Bug to be able to repair it," Ted said. "It's got a Tungsten shell coated with cobalt, so it can withstand the intense conditions. All it needs are the temporal components."
"Very well then…"
Much later, Rip stood near the engine of the Bug and put down a set of tools. Ted climbed into the Bug via the hatch on the bottom of the hull, carrying a box.
"Mr. Kord, glad you're back, I'm just about to get underway." Rip said.
"I keep telling you, Captain Hunter, call me Ted."
"Right, Ted. What's that you're bringing with you? I want to minimize the number of anachronistic items we bring with us into wherever we end up." Rip said. "For the sake of preserving the timeline, of course."
"Just some essentials," Ted said.
"Alright, then let's get going." Rip clapped his hands together and walked towards the cockpit.
The Bug started to lift off, as Rip began to pilot it towards a hatch. Ted tapped a few buttons and the hatch opened. The Beetle emerged over Star City and started flying higher into the sky.
"I've tracked an anachronism, that is, a time-displaced person or object, that I believe may be related to Booster's disappearance. It may even be him, my current theory is that during a recent temporal event, a wave of energy may have disrupted Booster's time sphere during his trip home, stranding him somewhere in time." Rip said as he turned to where Ted was sitting and noticed that Ted was no longer sitting there. "Mr. Kord? ...Ted?"
Rip stood up and turned around, seeing Ted walk forward wearing a blue spandex outfit, with amber lensed goggles adorning his face. The outfit had a design of a beetle printed on the chest. Ted smirked.
"What do you think?" Ted asked.
"You brought your suit?" Rip replied.
"Well yeah, just in case we meet any opposition. It's like a heist movie, one last job." Ted smiled, pulling back the cowl.
"All right then." Rip sat back down and turned back to the controls. "Let's go find Booster Gold!"
The Beetle started to speed up before it disappeared in a flash of light. The Bug emerged in a vortex as Rip started to input coordinates.
"Ah, the Temporal zone," Ted said. "Haven't been here in a while. Not since the time that Booster and I accidentally ended up in Ancient Egypt while trying to unlock the Scarab's powers. That was a weird few weeks..."
"I believe I've tracked Booster to the year 1813, there's a level six anachronism there." Rip said.
"Level six? I hope that's as high as they go, or Booster will be offended." Ted laughed. "Bwa-ha-ha!"
Rip rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Can we try to keep this serious?" Rip asked.
"Sorry," Ted replied. "Booster and I used to joke around a lot."
"I know, but this situation requires seriousness." Rip said.
Rip started to tap buttons on the console and the Bug emerged from the temporal zone, landing in the middle of a large field. Ted and Rip emerged from the Bug, as Rip began to check a small scanner he pulled from one of his pockets.
"Where are we?" Ted asked.
"The year 1813… approximately twenty miles from Ivy Town." Rip replied. "Which reminds me, we're going to have to hide the Bug."
"Already got that covered. It's a little something I've been working on." Ted took out a blue key fob, one that looked like it was designed for a car.
He clicked a button, and a beeping noise started to play as the Bug suddenly disappeared.
"Cloaking technology?" Rip asked. "You must have developed that recently…"
"Well, I figured if I ever did need to use the Bug again, I might need to be conspicuous," Ted replied. "There's a green dude running around with a bow and arrow and a really fast guy in Central City, I've got to think smarter if I want to stay ahead of the hero curve."
As he finished, a loud whooshing sound was heard as a much larger ship emerged in the sky. It was gray with a large glowing orb set into the front of the ship. Rip smiled when he saw it begin to land thirty feet away from them, as Ted began to look at it in awe.
"Ah, right on schedule. I was hoping they'd show up." Rip remarked.
"What's that?" Ted asked.
"That, Ted, is my old ship, the Waverider. And inside is my team, hopefully." Rip replied. "Come on!"
Rip began sprinting towards the Waverider, with Ted following suit, though he struggled to keep up, panting when they finally arrived near the door hatch. The hatch slid open and a man clad in red and blue armor and a darkened helmet emerged from the hatch, stopping in front of the two time travelers. The man was Raymond Palmer, the Atom.
"Rip!" Ray exclaimed. He then scowled. "Rip!"
"Nice to see you as well, Mr. Palmer." Rip said. "I think…"
Ray started to train his gauntlet at Rip. Rip immediately put his hands up in surrender.
"What is the meaning of this, Mr. Palmer?" Rip demanded.
"Palmer..?" Ted questioned.
"How did you escape? I thought you were with the…" Ray started.
Rip immediately cut him off.
"Stop talking, Mr. Palmer! I sense you are about to impart information about my personal future." Rip shouted. "Whatever it is that I have done to you, whatever slight I have made, I cannot know about it."
"This is so weird." Ray started. "I mean, you know me, so obviously this is the you from after you formed the Legends, but is this a you from before the stuff with the JSA, or is this from during the Spear of Destiny? Are the Time Masters still around for you?"
"I'm from after Miss Lance's defeat of Thawne. It's been around five months since I departed the Waverider to go about forming an organization to replace the Time Masters, a Time Agency of some sort." Rip said.
"Or a bureau…" Ray muttered under his breath.
"Time Bureau… that has a rather nice ring to it." Rip said.
Ray suddenly noticed Ted standing off to the side, sizing up the situation and still catching his breath.
"Who's your friend? Nice goggles!" Ray said.
"You don't recognize me, Raymond?" Ted asked.
"You know who I am?" Ray removed his helmet as he tried to place this mysterious, blue-suited man.
"I would hope so. After all, my company is Palmer Tech's main competitor… or at least it was…" Ted said, removing his mask.
Ray stepped back in shock. His eyes widened as he saw who was under the mask.
"Ted Kord?" Ray questioned. "You're…"
"The Blue Beetle." Ted triumphantly stated.
"Who?" Ray asked.
Seriously? I was active during the early 2000s for a bit? Like, right before all these other heroes and meta-humans showed up?" Ted replied. "I was in the news, like, a lot!"
"Yeah… that's actually my fault." Rip said.
"What do you mean?" Ray asked.
"Ted, I explained to you that I guard the timeline, right?" Rip asked.
"Yeah," Ted said.
"Well, one of the threats I guarded the timeline against was a man named Vandal Savage. When we, my team and I, defeated Savage, it altered history. In the original history, Vandal Savage took over the Earth, and a man, Michael Carter, was simply a janitor at a museum. Savage still existed, but the resulting paradoxes shifted some things around, including causing Mr. Carter became a superhero named Booster Gold in the past, using technology stolen from a superhero museum, inadvertently inspiring others, like Mr. Kord… er, Ted here." Rip said.
"And that means that he doesn't know who I am because…" Ted started.
"Because we were directly involved the change, so unless an alteration directly affects our existence, we usually don't perceive it. Sometimes we get memories, but other times we don't. It's weird." Ray said. "Like, I died a few weeks ago, but everyone else still knew me."
"You're dead? Great…" Ted sighed.
"Anyway, Mr. Palmer, I take it you're here tracking the anachronism as well?" Rip asked.
"Yeah, it's a level six. Sara wants to go after it to see if we can handle one of the bigger ones." Ray said. "They wanted me to do recon, whoops, that reminds me, I've got to go do that."
"You go do that, I want to interface my tech with Gideon to verify my data, anyway." Rip said, beginning to walk towards the hatch.
Ray suddenly sprinted backward and blocked Rip's entry into the ship. Rip stepped back.
"I don't think that's such a good idea," Ray said.
"And why not?" Rip asked.
"Remember how I was angry at you? Well, because of something you did in your future, and our past, the rest of the team is also pretty angry at you." Ray replied.
"Wonderful…" Rip sighed.
Suddenly, Ray put his hand to his ear and began to listen to the message coming through the comms.
"Ray! What's going on with the recon? Why haven't you left the ship?" Sara asked.
"Uh… that's complicated." Ray replied.
"Complicated how?" Sara demanded.
"We've got company…" Ray said.
Rip, Ray and Ted stood on the bridge of the Waverider. Ted, with his mask back on his face, stood around, taking in the sights of the ship.
"Wow…" Ted said. "This is miles ahead of what we've got at Kord Omniversal…"
"I know, right?" Ray asked.
Suddenly, the doors on the other side of the bridge opened, revealing Sara Lance, the White Canary, followed by Mick Rory and Zari Tomaz. Through the other doors came Professor Martin Stein, Jax, Amaya Jiwe and Nate Heywood. While everyone else seemed uneasy by their visitors' presence, Nate started smiling the moment he walked through the door.
"What's with Pretty?" Mick asked, in his usual brusque tone.
"What's with me? Guys, this is the Blue Beetle! One of the first heroes in Star City, even before the Arrow!" Nate exclaimed. "Everyone thought you were dead!"
Ted started to grin.
"The reports of my death were greatly exaggerated," Ted said.
No one reacted with surprise, though some of the team reacted with bemusement.
"Seriously? Gotta say, Rip, this trip is doing wonders for my self-esteem." Ted joked.
"Let me guess… this is a temporal zone thing?" Zari asked.
"Indeed." Rip said. "Hello everyone, this is Ted Kord."
Ted removed his mask, and surprise began to be recognizable on some of the team's faces.
"There we go, you're more shocked by my real identity." Ted laughed.
"I definitely did not see that coming," Nate said.
"Anyway, I recognize that in the future, I do something to betray your trust, but I haven't done that yet, from my perspective at least, and I need your help in locating an acquaintance of ours." Rip said.
"I lost my faith in you, Rip. But the trust I had in you before, I can feel it now." Sara started. "Gideon, can you tell when this Rip is from?"
"My scanners indicate no residual traces of time courier technology, indicating that Captain Hunter is indeed from the past, Captain Lance" Gideon stated.
Sara pondered the new Rip for a moment before nodding her head.
"Then the Waverider is at your disposal, Rip," Sara said. "Don't ruin that trust again."
"I will endeavor not to, Captain Lance." Rip said. "Right, Gideon! Pull up the information on Michael Carter."
"Right away, Captain," Gideon stated as the hologram in the middle of the bridge shifted from Gideon's face to several news articles and images, detailing the exploits of a gold-suited superhero in Star City.
"As far as I can tell, Booster Gold was traveling through the temporal zone at the exact moment that our little incident with the Legion of Doom occurred, and the resulting timequake sent him off course." Rip started. "We have to retrieve him, and ensure that he makes it to his original destination."
"And he's this anachronism?" Sara asked.
"Not quite… as the historical records show, the true anachronism is only created later, when Booster Gold's equipment is found by a man named David Clinton in the late 20th century, which, like everyone who ever gains superpowers around here, uses it to become the time-traveling criminal known as Warp." Rip replied.
"But the stuff hasn't been buried yet?" Ted asked.
"Indeed. Captain Lance, if you'll allow me to take a small team, I believe that I can get this done with limited hassle." Rip replied.
"Take anyone you'd like," Sara said.
"Professor, Jax, I think Firestorm might be useful." Rip said.
"Actually, Rip, I think Firestorm should sit this one out… me and the Professor have something we're working on in the lab." Jax said.
"I agree," Stein said. "We'll come if needed, but if we aren't, we'd better get back to it."
"Fine then. Mr. Palmer, Mr. Heywood, and Mr. Rory, if you'd come with us." Rip said. "And Captain Lance, if you wouldn't mind keeping an eye on the timeline for us? I have a sinking feeling that this won't be quite as simple as I intend."
"I was thinking the same thing," Sara remarked. "Keep in contact, team."
Rip, Ted, Mick, Nate, and Ray approached a barn. Rip kept his hand on his pistol and inched towards the window in the side of the barn. He peered inside the window and ducked back down.
"He's in there. I believe that Ted should go first. They are the best acquainted, after all." Rip suggested.
"What are they, married?" Mick asked.
"Depends on what you consider legally binding." Ted joked.
Ted stepped around the others and walked towards the entrance of the barn. He saw a blonde man standing over a large hole in the ground. As he stepped forward, his foot landed on a twig, snapping it.
"Who's there?" the blonde man asked, turning around. "Ted?"
"Why am I always the one sent to clean up your messes?" Ted asked.
Ted ran towards Booster and embraced him in a hug. Booster pushed him back and scrutinized his face.
"You got old." Booster laughed, then sighed. "How long was I gone?"
"On my end? Over a decade." Ted said.
"It's been six months for me. Gave up all hope, no temporal communicator, all my attempts at writing letters to the future went unanswered…" Booster started. "How did you find me?"
"I had help from an… acquaintance of yours?" Ted asked. "He said he knew you…"
As if on cue, Rip entered the barn, flanked by Mick and Nate. Booster's face went from relief to disgust the moment he saw Rip.
"Captain Hunter…" Booster sneered.
"Booster Gold. Glad to see you're okay." Rip said. "Wouldn't want history to lose a great hero, eh?"
"Like you care. What was the effect on the timeline of me being here?" Booster asked.
"Crazy time criminal steals your stuff," Mick stated.
"Thank you, Mr. Rory." Rip sighed. "Listen, I know we've had our differences in the past, but I do ultimately want to help you."
"If you wanted to help me, you'd let me save my sister!" Booster replied.
"I told you, it's a point of solidified time. It cannot be altered, lest it causes aberrations and anachronisms." Rip argued.
"Well, you can dig all your stuff up and we can bring it to the Waverider," Nate said. "We'll be happy to return you to your proper point in history."
"Gladly…" Booster hopped down into the hole. Ted peered down into sit, sitting in it was a half-disassembled time sphere, a blue and gold suit, and half of a small gold robot with a red eye. He called up to the heroes. "Can I get a hand with this stuff?"
"I can help!" a chipper voice shouted from the barn's door.
The group quickly turned around to see Damien Darhk leaning on the frame of the barn's door, holding a time stone.
"Darhk!" Nate shouted as he steeled up.
Mick readied his gun and Booster quickly started to pull on his suit. Ted grabbed his BB gun from his belt and aimed it at Darhk.
"Damien Darhk?" Rip asked. "I thought this was after the Legion of Doom was defeated…"
"Legion of Doom? Please, that's so last season." Darhk smirked. He pushed his hand forward, pushing Rip and Ted backward into bales of hay.
Nate rushed towards Darhk, who leaped into the air and pushed Nate aside. Booster, now clad in his suit, quickly jumped into the fray, putting a forcefield around Darhk, who shrugged it off. Mick fired his heat gun at Darhk, who held back the blast, redirecting it into the side of the barn.
Rip and Ted climbed out of the hay as Booster flew towards Darhk, who raised his hand and started to magically choke the life from Booster's throat.
"Any other sudden moves and he dies a long and painful death. Stay where you are, and I'll make it sudden." Darhk said.
The heroes looked on in horror as Rip held his hand up to stop them from acting.
"Mallus only said I had to make sure your tech goes into that hole. He didn't say that your corpse couldn't still be wearing it!" Darhk grinned.
As Darhk held Booster, Ted started to fiddle with the settings on his pistol. After a few seconds, he aimed the pistol towards Booster and Darhk and pulled the trigger. Darhk smirked as he moved Booster into the firing line. The pistol went off and released a bright flash of light.
Darhk dropped Booster and shielded his eyes as the heroes assembled into a line. Nate rushed into Darhk and knocked him halfway across the barn. Now it was Ted's turn to smirk.
"I have a thing with guys in suits who can use the force... I've never trusted 'em!" Ted smiled.
"Forget this…" Darhk brushed himself off. "We'll meet again, I'm sure."
Darhk took out his time stone and activated it, vanishing in a flash of light.
Later, on the bridge of the Waverider, the Legends watched as Zari stood over the terminal, entering in commands as Ted soldered together pieces of electronics. Booster paced on the other corner of the room as Mick rolled his eyes.
"How is he, Ted?" Booster asked.
"The electronics were fried, but Zari here managed to save the AI, now all I have to do is reload this into the casing…" Ted replied as he snapped a piece of gold metal onto the back of a small drone. "Done!"
Booster rushed over and grabbed the drone from Ted's hands, turning it over. He tapped a button on his suit as the drone slowly hummed to life and began to float.
"Skeets?" Booster asked.
"Ci-ci-ci-citizens of Star City! Behold, Booster Gold! Protecting his past, to ensure your future!" Skeets started to quickly dart around the bridge as triumphant music blared from Skeets' own speakers.
Ted and Booster beamed as Gideon's head appeared over the terminal.
"Will you shut off that racket?" Gideon asked.
The music immediately stopped as Skeets floated to a position behind Booster's shoulder.
"Welcome back, Skeets." Booster smiled.
"Now that your robot is repaired, I think it's about time we all went our separate ways." Rip said.
"Where are you headed off to, Booster?" Nate asked. "Back home?"
"Actually, I think I'll head back to the 21st century for a bit, get my bearings before I go back to the future." Booster replied.
"In that case, you better come home with me, I'm taking the Bug home, where Rip will no doubt remove all temporal tech from it," Ted said.
"Very astute guess, Mr. Kord. And you're right." Rip said.
"Typical Rip... We'll get a headstart. Come on, Skeets!" Booster shouted as he and Ted exited the bridge.
"Coming, sir!" Skeets eagerly replied.
Goodbye, Legends. I hope my eventual betrayal doesn't leave that lasting of a sting and I wholeheartedly apologize for whatever it is I do." Rip waved.
"Goodbye, for now, Rip," Sara replied as Rip walked through the door.
"Where to now?" Jax asked.
"I'm detecting an anachronism in 1183 A.D. England" Gideon stated.
"Looks like that's where!" Sara said. "Prepare for lift-off as soon as our guests depart, Gideon!"
After walking off the bridge, Rip turned to a small panel attached to the wall, tapping a button. A slot opened, which Rip placed a small device into.
"Gideon, give me all the information that you have on something called 'Mallus'." Rip stated.
"I'm sorry, Captain, but that information can potentially alter your timeline," Gideon responded.
"Spaniel Broad Tricycle." Rip said, flatly.
"Transmitting all Mallus information, Captain," Gideon responded.
"Thank you, Gideon." Rip pulled his device out and placed it into his pocket. "Now, to go create my Time Agency… No. Time Bureau. Oh, how I like that name."
The End