A New Hero Rises

Danny groaned as he got up out of bed. His head was killing him for some reason and he did not need that to start off his day. He went to the bathroom and started brushing his teeth. His thoughts then returned back to last night as he started to remember.

"Wait..." Danny said slowly as he was now fully awake. "Last night...was that a dream?"

"It was not a dream, Daniel Kord."

Danny jumped in surprise as he looked around the room and couldn't find anyone there with him.

"Have you forgotten? We have symbiotically bonded last night."

Danny lifted up the back of his shirt and peered over his shoulder in the mirror to see the scarab attached to his back. "So, it wasn't a dream last night." Danny said with a sigh.

"Correct, Daniel Kord."

"Wait a second, how do you know my name?" Danny asked in confusion. "I don't remember giving it to you, last night."

"We are now symbiotically merged. Our thought processes have now become one, meaning that our minds are linked."

"So you've been reading my mind?" Danny asked.

"Correct."

"We'll stop that, it's freaking me out." Danny said with a light glare.

"Negative. We are linked now, so all you're thoughts are being monitored by me."

"Well, isn't that just great." Danny said sarcastically. His phone started to ring and he began to answer it. "Hello?"

"Hey, Danny, it's me." Elisa said on the other line.

"Hey, Elisa, what's up?" Danny asked.

"Who is this, Elisa?"

"Be quiet." Danny whispered harshly.

"What? I didn't say anything yet." Elisa said in confusion.

Danny stuttered as he tried to correct himself. "Uh...no, I was just talking to the...birds outside my window."

"Well, stop talking to birds and listen, my family's coming over for dinner and I was wondering if you wanted to come?" Elisa asked.

"Sure thing, you know I would never miss out on Diane's cooking." Danny said with a smile.

"Perfect. Beth is on break from college so she'll be there as well, and so will dad and Derek." Elisa said.

"A real Maza family reunion." Danny commented.

"It wouldn't be a reunion without you in it. You're like a part of the family." Elisa said and Danny could tell she was smiling on the other line.

"Thanks Elisa, I'll be there." Danny said as he hanged up the phone.

"This concept you said known as 'family,' I noticed your brainwave patterns seemed to display the emotion of happiness and sadness."

"Well, family is a group of people who are related to one another. Although, in my case, the Maza's became my adopted family when my dad died." Danny said with a hint of sadness.

"This 'dad' you speak of, this is where the source of your sadness comes from."

"Yeah, well, you'd be sad to if someone you cared about died." Danny said as he went back into his room and picked up the picture of him and his dad.

"This image...I know this man."

"Wait, what?" Danny said, shocked by that information.

"My memory banks are damaged...but I remember faint images of this man looking down at me, experimenting on me, then locking me away."

Danny was shocked by this news as he continued to stare at the image. 'Dad...just what were you doing?'

/

Later that night, Danny made to Elisa's apartment where the rest of the Maza family had already arrived.

Peter, Elisa's father, was sitting at the table talking to Beth and Derek, Elisa's younger siblings, while her mother, Diane, was cooking in the kitchen.

"Hey, there he his." Derek said as they all smiled at Danny as soon as he entered.

"These are the individuals you call family?"

'Yeah, I need you to be quiet. I can't have a mechanical bug talking in my head during this.' Danny thought before smiling at the Maza's. "Hey guys." Danny said as he gave Beth a hug when she got up.

"Man, look how tall you've gotten." Beth said as he looked Danny over.

"You've only been in college for about a year. I haven't changed that much since you last saw me." Danny said with a chuckle.

"Hey, that's still a year too long of not seeing my little brother." Beth said.

"How you've been, Danny." Derek asked as the two shook hands and hugged.

"Been okay, how about you? How's life been in the skies?" Danny asked, referring to Derek's job flying the Police Chopper.

"It's alright, I guess." Derek said with a shrug. "Next time I'll take you up so you can get a taste of the skies."

"That's okay." Danny said with a chuckle. 'There's no need since I can fly now.'

Peter and Diane walked up to him and they each gave him a hug.

"Look at you, it's been too long." Diane said with a smile.

"It's good to see you kiddo." Peter said.

"It's great to see you guys too. It's been awhile since we all got together." Danny said as he smiled at each of them.

"Well, dinner's almost ready. So why don't you sit down and tell us what you been up to." Peter said as they all sat down together at the table.

When dinner came, everyone started digging in. To Danny, Diane always made the best food, with her cuisine that was a mix of traditional American food with ingredients of her ancestral home of Nigeria. It was different, but it was still really delicious.

"So, Danny, you're starting college pretty soon, right?" Beth asked.

"Yeah, my semester starts in about a few months." Danny answered.

"Any idea what you'll be majoring in." Derek asked.

"No idea, but I'm sure I'll think of something." Danny as were as he thought about it, before looking at the Maza patriarch. "Hey, Peter, any idea what my dad majored in?"

"Well, I remember him telling me he majored technological studies and robotics." Peter answered.

"Oh." Danny said before looking down in deep thought.

Elisa saw this and was worried about him. "Everything alright, Danny?"

"Yeah, guess I've just got a lot on my mind." Danny answered.

"Is it because of what happened to you yesterday?" Peter asked with narrowed eyes.

"What?" Danny questioned in shock.

"Elisa told me what happened to you yesterday. About you winding up in the hospital." Peter said.

"What?" The rest of the Maza family asked in shock.

"You told him?" Danny questioned as he looked at Elisa.

"I'm sorry, but I thought he might help into not taking risks like that stunt you pulled." Elisa said as she did feel sorry for telling her dad, but felt like he had a right to know.

"What stunt?" Diane asked. Seeing everyone looked at him, Danny sighed as he explained what happened with the two thugs and how he got cut on the arm. Hearing this, Diane gave him a good scolding. "That was dangerous and irresponsible thing to do. Did you ever consider that you might get hurt, or worse?"

"Look, I'm sorry, I just wanted to help." Danny said, though he didn't regret his actions.

"If you want to help, you can sign up for the academy, become a police officer." Derek suggested.

"Yeah, we could have another family member take the uniform." Beth said.

"I appreciate the suggestion, but being a police officer just isn't what I want to be." Danny said. "I really want to help people, but I just don't know how I can do that."

Peter looked at him for a bit before speaking. "You're father was the same way. He always said his main calling was to help those who couldn't help themselves. He spent his whole life dedicating himself to become something this city could count on."

"Yeah, well, he's not here to give me that advice." Danny said sadly as he looked down, Elisa placing a hand on his shoulder.

"This city sure hasn't been the same." Peter said with a sigh. "Not ever since we lost Blue Beetle." The mention of the late hero got everyone's attention as Peter almost never talked about him. The fact that he even mentioned him was a surprise.

"You worked with him, dad, back when you were a cop. What was he like?" Beth asked.

Peter collected his thoughts on what he wanted to say before speaking. "I'll be honest, I honored the badge I earned, and I took being a cop very serious. I followed protocols, I honored the systems, and I did my best to bring down punks as by the book as I could."

"So when this guy dressed up in a costume and called himself Blue Beetle showed up and started rounding up crooks, I wasn't happy. At first, I thought he was just some maniac in a costume thinking he could do the police's job. So as you can imagine, I spent quite a bit of time trying to take him down." Peter explained.

"What changed?" Derek asked.

"Your father had his pride damaged." Diane said with a smirk.

Peter gave her a light glare before continuing the story. "I was working undercover into a small time local gang, who was suspected to be dealing with a crime boss from another city. Turns out, it was one of the deadliest crime lords from Gotham City, Rupert Thorne. He wanted to spread the word on this new drug he was endorsing, and figured that Manhattan was the best spot to get the word out, rather than in his home turf."

"Things got bad when I got found out by some tough guy in Thorne's gang that pushed me and knocked my badge out. They all had their guns on me, and that was when he came bursting through the windows. Blue Beetle drew some kind of gun that shot out some kind of sonic blast, I've never seen anything like it before." Peter said as he recalled that time.

"Well, the lone wolf cop needed help in then end." Beth teased, earning a shush from her siblings as they wanted to hear what happened next.

"When all of the crooks were collared, except for Thorne who got away, I finally confronted him and asked him why he saved me, when I was one of the cops who worked the hardest to bring him down?" Peter said. "He saved me so I believed he earned the right to explain his actions.

"What did he say?" Danny asked.

"He said, 'I saved you because you're a true hero. I do this to protect the city from danger, the same as you, so I just wanted to live up to that standard.'" Peter said as he started to smile. "I could see that all he wanted was to help people, and he hasn't done otherwise, so it was then I started supporting him, and helped him in protecting this city. It was the right thing to do."

"The right thing..." Danny whispered as he looked in deep thought.

"Well, enough about that, we better finish eating before this gets cold." Peter said as they all resumed eating.

While they were eating, Danny couldn't help but think back to that story Peter said. Hearing him talk about Blue Beetle in his glory days was just so exciting, that he couldn't help but get lost in it. Something within him just felt connected to it, like he could imagine himself doing it.

'Maybe...' Danny thought to himself.

/

Danny walked along one of the paths of Central Park, thinking about dinner. It was now night and he just needed some time to himself before heading home. He had a lot of thinking to do.

"The name that the human known as Peter mentioned, the Blue Beetle, that name seems to resonate with me."

"Well, yeah, I mean you practically look like a blue beetle." Danny said.

"Your statement is crude, but accurate."

Danny soon stopped in his step when he came upon the memorial statue of said hero himself. Danny looked up at the statue and just couldn't help but be drawn to it.

"Is this the Blue Beetle?"

"Yeah, he mysteriously died back when I was a kid. They put this statue up in order to honor his bravery and sacrifice to keep this city safe." Danny said.

"Well then, it is a shame that he is no longer functioning to protect this establishment you call Manhattan."

"Yeah, it's a shame." Danny said as he was about to walk off. He paused in his step as he looked back at the statue. "But that doesn't mean it has to end."

"Please explain."

"He died protecting this city, and now things have gone crazy with crime running rampant. The first Blue Beetle may be gone, but that doesn't mean someone else can't continue his legacy." Danny said with determination as he run off.

'Sorry, Elisa, I'm about to do something reckless again.' Danny thought before a smile came to his face. 'But this time, I'm prepared.'

/

"Alright, put the money in that bag!"

Two guys in masks held up their guns at the cashier of a confident store. The cashier was shaking in fear as he started putting the cash in the bag as instructed.

"Come on, we got the loot, so let's get out of here!" The second crook said as he peered outside.

"Fine." The other crook said as he grabbed the bag full of money. He glared at the cashier and pointed the gun in his face. "Now don't you start calling the cops on us, or this store is going to need a new employee."

"Y-yes, sir." The cashier stuttered.

The two crooks raced out of the store and made their way into an alley, before stopping to catch their breath.

"What'd I tell ya? An easy score." One of the crooks said as he looked into the bag.

"We keep doing this, and we could become millionaires." The other crook said with excitement.

"Excuse me."

The two crooks turned around and saw someone wearing some kind of blue, bug-themed armor standing before them.

"What the..." One of the crooks said in confusion.

"I'm gonna have to ask you to return that money. It'll good for you, while you're still standing." Danny said as he crossed his arms.

"Look at this guy, thinks he's some kind of hero." One of the crooks said with a smirk, thinking this to be some kind of joke.

"This won't take long." The other crook said as he pointed his pistol at Danny. "Just walk away, while you still breath."

"This human is attempting lethal force. Commencing retaliation."

All of a sudden, Danny's right arm morphed into a cannon with an antenna on it, much to his and the crook's surprise.

"Whoa, what is that?!" Danny exclaimed in shock.

"It is a Sonic Vibrational Cannon. With the right frequency it will terminate our adversary, liquefying their insides to insure complete annihilation."

"WHAT?!" Danny exclaimed in shock as he tried to lower his arm, but finding it pretty difficult. "I'm not going to liquefy anyone!"

"He is attempting to use lethal force; it is only fitting that we return the favor. How else are we to defeat him?"

"We can stop them without killing them!" Danny exclaimed as he finally pointed the the cannon down.

Meanwhile, both of the crooks just looked at each other in confusion as they watched this costumed weirdo seemed to be having an argument with...himself?

"Um, who's he talking to?" One of the crooks asked his partner.

"And I thought the crazy ones only lived in Gotham." The second muttered before pointing his gun and firing at him twice. The bullets connected, but the outcome was not something anybody was expecting. The bullets seemed to bounce right off of Danny's armor. "What the heck?!"

"Whoa..." Danny whispered in amazement as he looked spots where the bullets connected, not seeing a scratch on him. "I'm...I'm bullet proof?"

"It'll take more than those mediocre weapons to penetrate this armor. As you are opposed to the termination of your adversaries, I recommend a lower sonic frequency."

"Finally, we agree on something." Danny said as he fired the cannon, shooting a sonic blast that blasted the armed crook, sending him crashing into the wall, and knocking him unconscious. "Okay, that is awesome!" Danny exclaimed with glee.

"What the hell are you?!" The second crook exclaimed as he brought out a crowbar.

The crook ran forward and attempted to swing his weapon at him. As he was in mid-swing, for some reason, Danny could see the actual physics of the swing. He could monitor the angle of the swing, the amount of power on the downward strike. It was like his eyes were seeing science before his eyes. Danny dodged out of the way, and managed to avoid each of the strikes that came after.

"Wow, never had reflexes like this before." Danny said as he continued to dodge each attack.

"I am calculating our opponent's attack patterns. His movements are very predictable that it doesn't require much effort."

Wanting to end this, Danny dodged another swing and punched the guy in the face. The force of the hit was strong enough that it sent him flying and had him crash into a dumpster.

"Well, looks like that tasks care of that." Danny said with smile as he grabbed both of the knocked put crooks by the scruff of their shirts in one hand, while he grabbed the bag of money with his other hand. He brought out his wings and flew straight up and back towards the store they robbed.

The cashier ran outside and looked in awe as the hero dropped the unconscious robbers in front of him, then landed down and gave the bag of money back to him.

"If you haven't called the cops already, you may want to do so. They'll be out for awhile." Danny said as he walked off and was about to take off.

"Wait!" The cashier called out, halting his movements. "Thank you, but...who are you?"

Danny looked at him for a brief moment, unsure of how to answer at first. He thought about it, and finally decided to answer. "I'm Blue Beetle."

With that said, Blue Beetle brought his wings and rocket boosters and shot straight up into the air, astonishing the cashiers and the passing bystanders.

/

It was the following morning, and Danny was walking down the sidewalk and making his way to the store to pick up some snacks.

"Mind telling me what the heck that was yesterday?" Danny asked in a slight aggravated tone.

"Two humans, attempting to rob a store of its currency, were apprehended and-"

"Not that. What that whole 'termination' thing you were spouting back there." Danny reminded.

"I thought it logical to terminate them in order to prevent them from terminating us."

Danny sighed at that. "Okay, we're going to have to set up some ground rules."

"Explain."

"I don't mind becoming your host, seeing as how we can do some great things and protect a lot of people, but you cannot just go around killing anyone who you deem to be a threat." Danny said firmly.

"I cannot?"

"No, you cannot." Danny said firmly. "Listen, yes, there are some bad people out there, and we'll likely come face to face with them soon, but there has to be boundaries on how we deal with them. So, you will not kill, maim, crush, liquefy, slice, dice, and, in case it wasn't clear, kill those bd people. If we're going to be a hero, then we've going to take them down the right way."

"You are the host, so very well. But know this, Daniel Kord, our survival is determined by your survival. And I will do everything within my power to make sure you stay alive."

"I guess that's a start." Danny said with a sigh.

"HELP!"

Danny looked to the side and saw a man running away from a woma, and it seemed he has stolen her purse.

"Help! That man just stole my purse!" The lady screamed as some people in the distance were already dialing 911.

"Bad guy?"

"Yep." Danny said as he ran into an alley and donned his armor. He then flew out of the alley to get ahead of the thief.

The purse snatcher kept running, thinking he was going to get away with it, but then stopped when he saw someone actually flying in front of him in the air, blocking his path.

"Who...who are you?" The thief asked in shock.

"Haven't you heard? There's a new Blue Beetle in town." Blue Beetle said with a smile as he deployed his sonic cannon and fired.

/

Xanatos leaned back into his chair on his private jet flying back to Manhattan, feeling relaxed as he knows that his task has been complete. He had just purchased all of Castle Wyvern, every piece of brick and architect within. All of the pieces were being shipped back to Manhattan where they will finally be put to use and placed on top of his tower.

"Everything is proceeding as planned, Mr. Xanatos." Owen, his loyal and faithful assistant, said as he walked forward.

"Excellent. How long until the castle is reconstructed?" Xanatos asked.

"Apologies, sir, but even with our best efforts it will take a month or two to complete." Owen said looking over clipboard with data.

"Well, our soon to be new friends have waited over a thousand years to wake up. I'm sure they can wait a month or two." Xanatos said nonchalantly.

"There's also some other news, sir." Owen said as he brought out a laptop and opened it, turning it on.

On the screen was the headline of a newspaper, showing yesterday's news. On it was a picture of a man wearing a blue armor holding up a man in the air, with a woman standing beneath him holding her purse and looking quite grateful.

The headline was title 'Blue Beetle Returns!'

This doesn't happen often, but Xanatos was quite surprised by what he saw. It wasn't long, however, when his smile returned. "Well now, isn't this an interesting development."

"You believe this may be a problem in the future?" Owen asked.

"On the contrary, Owen, I think we can turn this into our favor." Xanatos said as he looked at the image of Blue Beetle.

/

Hey everyone, a new chapter for you all!

A little Easter eggs here and there in this chapter, and we see Danny cementing himself as the new Blue Beetle of Manhattan, ready to defend it. On the next chapter we'll see Danny face off against his first super villain and I'm excited to be writing that.

After the next chapter, I'll start getting into the Gargoyles cannon and I can't wait for our resident superhero to meet the gargoyles.

I should probably let you know that there are some episodes of gargoyles that I am going to skip or alter. I will also be doing a lot of OC chapters so I can do some world building and introduce some other DC characters, which is ironic considering how I think Gargoyles became part of a Marvel comic book after it was taken off the air.

Anyway, that's all I have to say, so I'll see you guys soon!