The Warped Life of a Hero

A man in a prison uniform was currently laying in his bed inside his jail cell, passing time by reading a book. The man wore the usual orange jumpsuit, had black hair, a black mustache, and a patch of black hair beneath his lower lip.

He turned the page and continued to read when a two prison guards came by and unlocked his cell door, then opening it. "Cell inspection." One of the guards said.

'Same thing every other week.' The prisoner thought as he placed the book down and got up. One of the guards handcuffed him and had him wait outside his cell with other guard, in order to make sure that he wouldn't try anything. "Is this going to take long? I have just reached the climactic battle and I'd prefer to finish it before noon."

"You know the routine. This'll only take a minute." The guard said as he continued to search the cell for anything.

The prisoner sighed in annoyance, as this was done almost all the time. He would have voiced more of his annoyance, but he then felt a pinch on the side of his neck. He grunted in pain and turned towards the guard behind. His eyes widened in shock as he saw the guard was holding a syringe.

The prisoner would have made a cry for help, but his vision started to blur and his head began to spin. He legs wobbled for a second before finally collapsing. He continued to glare at the guard as he could now see both of them smirking at his downed form.

One of the guards picked up his walkie and spoke through it. "Tell transport he's prepped and ready to be shipped out."

Then the prisoner couldn't hang on to consciousness and passed out.

It wasn't until a few hours later where he finally started to regain consciousness. It didn't feel like much of an improvement as he found himself cuffed to a chair by metal braces on his wrists and he was in a dark room. The room was soon lit as a large television screen turned on and all that can be seen was an individual, who's form remained in the shadows.

"Mr. LaSalle, a pleasure to make your acquaintance, yet again." The figure said in a distorted voice.

"Not again." The prisoner, now named LaSalle, groaned in annoyance. "What do you want with me this time?"

"You're still under contract with us, LaSalle, and we still have some unfinished business." The figure said as the screen then changed to a news feed of Manhattan with two anchors talking.

What really surprised LaSalle was that they were talking while a video of Blue Beetle was playing of him taking down a couple of jewel thieves.

"That's right, folks, Blue Beetle is back! Although he may not be the one we all used to remember, this rising star has already started his hero career with a promising future. Already people have started to praise him these last couple of days for his heroics." The first news anchor said.

"How do we know that this is a new Blue Beetle? This could just be the same one, who has returned with some fancy new suit." The other anchor asked.

"He sounds too you to be the same on, but either way, he certainly has made an impact. Whether he's here to stay this time, only time will tell." The first anchor finished.

"You gotta be kidding me? I thought Blue Beetle was dead." LaSalle said in confusion.

"He is, I can assure you, but we need you to fulfill your contract and bring us this new Beetle." The figure said.

"Did you forget that you sending me after the last Blue Beetle is what sent me to prison in the first place? Give me one good reason why I should risk going back just go after this new guy?" LaSalle asked while glaring at the figure.

"I can give you two reasons." The figure said.

A light shined down next to LaSalle as he could now see and opened briefcase filled to the brink with money.

"That briefcase is filled with one million dollars in cash." The figure said.

"That is a very compelling reason." LaSalle said as he eyed the money.

"The second reason...is closure." The figure said.

"Closure?" LaSalle questioned.

"You failed in you're last chance to take out the previous Blue Beetle. I thought you would jump at the chance to settle your debt, even if this isn't the same Beetle from before." The figure tempted, and although LaSalle couldn't see his face, he could just tell that he was smirking.

LaSalle thought about it for a moment, then he smirked. "Well, it's hard to argue with that logic."

"Now remember, you'll receive double the payment if you bring him in alive." The figure noted.

"Doesn't matter to me, I'm sure this new Beetle hasn't met anything like me before, but I'm going to need my gear." LaSalle said.

"Already taken care of." The figure said as the bounds on the chair released LaSalle.

LaSalle stood up and heard a hissing sound behind him. He turned around and saw a door opening up and inside it was an golden armored suit.

"Well, looks like Christmas has come early for me." LaSalle said with a smirk.

/

Police sirens sounded the streets of Manhattan as three police vehicles drove down the streets chasing after a car. Vehicles and people not part of the chase quickly swerved out of the way as to not get run over or crashed into.

One of the police vehicles was red and was being driven by none other than Elisa Maza.

One of the crooks from the car popped out halfway throughout open window and pulled out a machine gun then started firing. One of the bullets hit one of the police cars wheels, causing it to swerve and crash into a street light.

Elisa sighed as she pulled out her radio. "This is Detective Maza, I need someone to intercept these guys up on 3rd Street ASAP!" She exclaimed.

Up above, where the criminals and police couldn't see him, Blue Beetle flew while keeping an eye on that chase.

"Luckily nobody got hurt in that crash." Blue Beetle said. "I better finish this now before that changes."

"Might I suggest a photon cannon that will incinerate them."

"No! Man, what is it with you and incinerating people? We already agreed we wouldn't do that!" Beetle exclaimed.

"We did agree that I wouldn't force it, but that doesn't mean that I will not suggest it."

Danny sighed at that. Having the mechanical bug attached to his spine was not what he was looking for in a roommate, and it was not that easy either. He would constantly talk in his head, mostly to criticize him about how he should be using more lethal force, to make sure that those criminals wouldn't cause any trouble permanently.

Blue Beetle flew down in order to make his move. He flew down to street level and past the police cars. He flew past Elisa who looked on in surprise as this is the first time she has seen the hero.

"Whoa." Elisa said in a whisper.

The crooks even saw Blue Beetle as he closed in on them. The one with the gun stuck out the window and began firing at the hero, but Blue Beetle managed to swerve out of the way. He managed to fly in front of the car and pressed his hands on the front of it while digging his feet into the asphalt.

Blue Beetle gritted his teeth as he used the enhanced strength to hold the car back as it started to slow down. When it came to a complete stop, all four doors opened and four crooks stepped out, each one holding a gun on him.

"Waste him!" The one who drove exclaimed as they all fired at him, but the bullets bounced off his armor.

"Guys, seriously, if it doesn't work the first time, you should just stop." Blue Beetle says simply.

The crooks, seeing that he was right and their guns weren't hurting him, tossed their weapons away and one tried to punch him. The hero moved out of the way and punched him in return, causing him to fly back and crash into a parked car. The second crook came in swinging, but Blue Beetle just moved his head and kicked the guy in the stomach, sending crashing into their car's hood.

The next two crooks came at him at once, but Blue deployed his sonic cannon and sent out a pulse that hit the third crook and sent him crashing into the fourth guy, knocking them out.

"That wasn't so bad." Blue Beetle said as he deployed his wings and was about to take off, but a voice stopped him.

"Hold it, Blue Beetle." The hero looked behind him and silently gasped in surprise as Elisa Maza approached him. "We need to talk."

"Um...is there a problem, officer?" Blue Beetle said as he tried to hide his surprise of seeing her, as to not give anything away.

"Yeah..." Elisa said as he stared hard at him, causing him to get even more nervous, but then she smiled at him. "Just wanted to say thanks for the assist."

That definitely surprised Blue Beetle. "Wait...aren't you going to, you know, arrest me for getting in your way?"

"What do you think this is, a comic book?" Elisa asked sarcastically as she continued to smile at the hero. "Look, I may be a dedicated officer, but I'm not so callous that I'd be ungrateful to your help. The last Blue Beetle helped this city, and I'm glad someone's taken the mantel." Elisa finished before thinking to herself. 'Plus, I owe it to the last Blue Beetle who saved my dad.'

"Well, thank you. Keep up the good work, officer." Blue Beetle said gratefully as he took off into the air.

Elisa watched him fly off as police officer Morgan came up to stand next to her. "So that's the new Blue Beetle, huh?" Morgan said in slight awe. "The old one definitely couldn't fly."

"You knew the last one, Morgan?" Elisa asked.

"Not personally. I was only a rookie when he died, but seeing someone carry on his legacy is quite sight." Morgan said.

"Yeah, it sure is." Elisa said as she stared to where Blue Beetle flew.

/

Night soon came as Blue Beetle continued to fly over the city,keeping watch in case there was any more trouble.

"I have a question, Daniel Kord?"

"What is it?" Danny asked the Scarab.

"Why did you not tell the Elisa Maza of your identity?"

Danny had to wince at that. "Elisa can be a bit overprotective. There's no telling what she'll do to me if she finds out I fly around beating up bd guys. She freaked out when I did stuff like this without you attached to my back."

"And yet you called her the concept known as family? Why would she do you harm if you are family?"

"She wouldn't hurt me, she'd just be really angry and she would worry about me constantly." Danny said with a groan. "I know she means well, but this is something I have to do."

"Very well, but are we going to constantly fly around and just do nothing until something happens?"

"Not much we can do. I don't have a police scanner or anything to keep an ear out for trouble." Danny said with sigh.

"I am picking up a silent alarm at a nearby jewelry store."

That surprised Danny. "Wait, how do you know there's a silent alarm." Danny asked.

"I am picking up the signal. You can as well, as the armor can help you create the device that you need."

"Oh, right?" Danny said as he held up his arm and a screen appeared on it, to show an address on where the alarm was coming from.

Blue Beetle activated his rocket boosters on his pack as flew straight towards the jewelry store being robbed. When he got there, he landed in front of the door and expected to see the place ransacked, but he was confused by what he saw. The door was busted open, but when he walked inside, the place was completely intact. The glass cases were still there and every single diamond earring, necklace, ring, and bracelets were still on their displays.

"What kind of person breaks into a jewelry store and leaves all the jewels?" Blue Beetle questioned out loud.

"The kind that of person who leaves a trap for an inexperienced hero."

Blue Beetle looked behind him and was surprised on who he saw. He didn't recognize the guy, as he wore a strange golden armor and helmet over a black body suit.

"Who are you?" Blue Beetle asked.

"Your predecessor never mentioned me?" The man said in fake hurtful tone. "Now that is just insulting."

"So how about you don't keep me in suspense and just tell me." Blue Beetle said as he narrowed his eyes at the man.

"Very well, you may call me Warp." The man, now named Warp, said.

"And you can call this your one-way ticket to jail." Beetle said as he fired his sonic cannon at him. He expected the attack to hit, but Warp just stepped to the side as soon as a portal appeared next to him and stepped through it, avoiding the attack. "What the?!"

A portal opened up behind him, and Warp stepped out. "You really must not know who I am if you didn't know I could do that." Blue Beetle was surprised by his sudden appearance he took a few steep back, as Warp continued to smirk. "Which means you don't know anything about the previous Blue Beetle, such as his many secrets."

"Secrets?" Blue Beetle questioned.

"Secrets that I, and some very powerful people have tried to crack out of him for years." Warp said cryptically. "It doesn't matter if you don't know anything, I'm being payed very handsomely to take you down."

"Don't thinks so, pal!" Beetle exclaimed as he made to punch the villain.

Warp raised his hand and opened a portal in front of him, causing Beetle to run right through it, and the moment he did it closed. Warp pointed his hand in a different direction, causing the portal to reappear in front of a wall. Blue Beetle exited the portal, still in mid swing of his punch, and crashed into the wall.

"Ow..." Beetle said with a groan as he got back up. "How does he do that?"

"The Warp's armor appears to manipulate Space, allowing him to open portals wherever he wants."

Blue Beetle turned to face his opponent, who was still smirking at him. "Guess that fancy armor your wearing isn't just for show."

"How kind of you to notice." Warp said condescendingly. "My armor allows me to bend Space to my will, allowing me access to anywhere I choose."

"Yeah, how about you save us both the trouble and have it send you to prison!" Blue Beetle exclaimed as he fired his sonic cannon.

Warp still didn't look deterred as the blast went through another portal that appeared in front of him. A second portal appeared next to the villain, which the sonic attack came out of, causing it to hit Blue Beetle in the chest, and sent him flying out the store and crash into a wall outside.

Warp stepped out of the building as he just clicked his tongue in disappointment. "Honestly, can't you do any better? The last Blue Beetle was able to put up a much better fight."

"Yeah, well can the last Blue Beetle do this?" Beetle said as his rocket boosters flared up as he charged right at Warp at great speeds he didn't have time to react, and was then uppercutted by the hero. He then deployed his wings and flew up into the air and hovered there with a smirk. "Well, can he?"

"No, he cannot, but still, anything you can do..." The souls on Warp's boots began to heat up as he rockets appeared there as well and he flew up to be at the same level as the hero. "...I can do better."

"Oh great, you can fly?" Beetle said in aggravation. Warp raised his fist as a cannon popped out of his gauntlet and he fired a laser blast, which Blue Beetle just narrowly managed to avoid. "And lasers?! Seriously?!"

"I've had some time to think of some upgrades while in prison." Warp said as he charged right at the hero.

Blue Beetle took off into the air, with Warp hot on his tail. The two of them flew at great speeds above street level, with onlookers on the sidewalks closing their eyes due to their flight speed causing some wind to blow in their fired a few laser blasts, but Blue Beetle managed to avoid them. Not wanting any civilians to get hurt by a stray blast, Beetle rose up higher into the air, which Warp thankfully followed, until they were high above the buildings. Not wanting to run anymore, Blue Beetle turned around to face him.

"Now?"

"Okay, fine, photon cannon, but no disintegration!" Beetle exclaimed. His right arm then morphed into a cannon and he fired his own laser blast. Warp saw it coming and managed to avoid it.

"Finally, you show some spirit!" Warp exclaimed as he fired back at the hero, who avoided the attack as well.

It soon became a dog fight with both hero and villain firing their own laser blasts, and both of them dodging the attacks. Warp fired another laser blast, which Blue Beetle retaliated with one of his own, and the two attacks collided. Both beams of power struggled for dominance until the collision point exploded, causing both of them to tumble back before stabilizing and resume the fight.

Down at ground level, civilians gathered around as they could see the laser fight going on up in the sky. A couple of police vehicles came by and the officers came to try and enforce crowd control, making sure the people stayed safe. One red car stopped by and Elisa walked out of it, walking up to a fellow cop.

"So what's the situation?" Elisa asked the officer, who was watching the fight in the sky with a pair of binoculars.

"It's hard to put into words, maybe you should see for yourself." The officer said as he passed her his binoculars.

Elisa looked through it and gasped in shock. "Now there's something you don't see everyday."

Blue Beetle continued to try and shoot his adversary, but he kept moving out of the way. Warp fired his own laser blast, but he too wasn't faring any better than the hero.

Thinking of a new strategy, Warp opened two portals on his left and right side. He activated another gauntlet cannon and fired two laser blasts, one on each portal. Two portals than appeared right behind Blue Beetle, and the two laser blasts came out of them, then hit him right into his back.

Beetle screamed in pain as the two blasts sent him crashing down, until he crashed right into the street, creating a large dust cloud. All the onlookers kept their distance, but still gasped in shock when the dust settled and they could see Blue Beetle kneeling down and groaning in pain. They became frightened when Warp dropped down and landed in front of the hero and had a disappointed frown on his face.

"And here I thought I could finally gain some closure, but I was wrong." Warp proceeded to kick Blue Beetle on the head, sending him into the ground. "You're no Blue Beetle, you're just a punk in a Halloween costume."

Warp pointed his laser gauntlet at him, wanting to end this. He wasn't planning on killing him, he's got too much money riding on bringing him in alive.

"Hold it right there!" Warp turned his head to see a Elisa pointing her gun right at him. "Drop it, or I'll shoot!" Elisa threatened.

"Really? You're going to shoot me?" Warp asked sarcastically as he then turned his blaster on her and charged it up.

"Drop it, or I drop you!" Elisa threatened as her gun pointed straight at the villain.

"My dear, braver police than you have tried." Warp said with a sinister look as his laser gauntlet completely charged upped and fired.

Danny saw this as his eyes started to regain focus. He saw that Elisa, the closest thing he had to a sister, was about to be shot at by this guy. He didn't have time to think of a plan, he just acted, wanting to protect someone he considered family.

"NO!" Blue Beetle exclaimed as he quickly got up in front of the laser blast and crossed his arms. What happened next surprised him as a large shield that covered the entire front of his body, which also in the shape of the scarab on his back, instantly appeared from both his arms and protected himself and Elisa from the blast.

"What?" Warp said in surprise. The shield retreated back into the suit as Blue Beetle looked at his hands in surprise, same with Elisa.

"Whoa." Blue Beetle and Elisa said in surprise.

"Well then, it appears you still have some fight left in you. That's good." Warp said as a portal appeared on his side and he sent his fist through it. A portal appeared right next to Blue Beetle, and the Warp's fist came out of it and punched the hero in the jaw, before retreating back into the portal and back to Warp. "It means that this is starting to get interesting."

Warp continued sending his fists through various portals around him, with more portals appearing around the hero, and the villains fists popping out randomly to punch him all over his body. Blue Beetle tried to retaliate, the punches appeared so quickly and so random that he couldn't even begin to think of way to counter it. Well, if he can't, maybe someone else can.

'Scarab! Isn't there anything you can do?!' Danny thought frantically as another punch hit him in the jaw.

"The Warp believes that his attacks are random, but even random movements have to follow a law or pattern. I will attempt to calculate that pattern."

'Calculate fast!' Danny exclaimed in his mind.

"Calculation complete."

Blue Beetle's eyes began to glow yellow just as soon as a second fist came out of another portal beside him. He raised his hand and instantly caught the fist before it could react.

"What?" Warp said in surprise.

"Gotcha!" Blue Beetle exclaimed as he pulled on the fist, dragging Warp right through the portal at his side, causing him to exit out of the portal beside the hero. "Take this!"

Beetle proceeded to punch Warp repeatedly and sent him crash into a parked car and bounce off its side. Thinking to add a little extra damage, Blue Beetle had his right arm transform into a mace, and delivered an epic uppercut that sent Warp flying. The hit even managed to knock Warp's helmet right off of him. When Warp landed on the ground he was still breathing, but he was knocked unconscious.

Blue Beetle panted a bit before he looked at his maces hand before it transformed back to normal. "Seriously, is there anything this armor can't make?"

"Any weapon you desire, be they within reason, is at your command to create."

"That is just too cool." Blue Beetle said as he looked and saw the cops handcuff Warp, though not before removing his gauntlets and rocket boots.

Elisa walked up to him in concern. "You alright, that looked like quite a beating?"

"Yeah, the armor took the brunt of it. I'll be fine." Blue Beetle assured.

"That's good, and don't worry, we'll make sure this guy gets put in a deep dark hole." Elisa said as she eyed the villain getting escorted into the car as he was read his rights. Elisa turned back to Blue a Beetle and smiled at him. "Well then, you helped me this morning and I helped you tonight. I'd say we're even."

"Now, hold on." Beetle said with a smirk. "I just saved your life with that shield, so you still owe me one."

"Okay, fair enough." Elisa said with a good-natured chuckle.

"Seriously though, I'm glad you're okay." Beetle said with sincerity, which Elisa seemed to have caught.

Something about the way he said that, like that tone he used was something someone very close to her has used on her before. And was it just her, or did that voice sound familiar?

"Well then, you take care of yourself, detective." Blue Beetle said finally before his rocket pack flared up and he took to the sky, leaving Elisa there to stare at his retreating form with an inquisitive look.

'That voice...why did it sound so...familiar...it couldn't be...'

/

"So, Warp has failed?"

A man wearing a black business suit was sitting in his chair drinking some wine as he sat in what looked like a large office. He was currently on the phone with his partner as he stared at his computer, showing images of the fight Blue Beetle had with Warp.

"Sad, by true." The man said impassively.

"He failed us last time, so why send him again?" His partner asked.

"Revenge, in any shape or form, is good motivator. It was much more convenient to send him after this new Blue Beetle rather than hire someone new." The man said before he smirked. "Besides, Warp's battle confirmed what I suspected."

"And what was it that you suspected?"

The man smirked after taking a swig of his drink. "This new Blue Beetle has the Scarab."

His partner didn't speak up for a few seconds before he could hear their voice. "...Are you certain of this?"

"Absolutely." The man said with conviction.

"Then we should send another agent to engage him immediately."

"No, let's let this new Beetle enjoy his victory. Sending out agents consecutively may alert him to our presence. Best to play our hand slowly and lure him into a false sense of security." The man said calmly.

"Very well then, we will do it your way...Maxwell Lord."

Lord hanged up the phone as he continued watching the images of Blue Beetle. He started intently at the image before he typed on the computer. The image zoomed in on Beetle's pack and he looked long and hard at it.

"I've finally found you." Maxwell Lord whispered to himself as he smiled.

/

Hey everybody, here's the next chapter!

I think I've finally got the fundamentals for the beginning arc down. Blue Beetle finally went up against his first super villain, and we have a tease at one of the most diabolical individuals in DC comics history, Maxwell Lord.

For those of you who don't know, I based Warp's look off of his appearance in the Teen Titans cartoon show from season 2 episode 1. However, instead of opening wormholes to travel through time, he opens portals to different places. I hope you liked the fight scene as I'm not all that great at writing them with such detail.

Now, as for Elisa, my original idea was for her was to be like the cop that didn't want to take Blue Beetle out, but still tried to take him down for doing the police's job. But then I realized, that wouldn't fit into her character. She was pretty chill about the Gargoyles fighting crime, so with someone carrying on the mantel of the superhero everyone loved, she wouldn't want to take him down, she would be pretty supportive.

The next chapter will finally begin the Gargoyles story and I cannot wait to get started on that. I have big plans for the Gargoyles and I hope you guys love what I have planned. That's pretty much all I have to say, for now.

So everyone, take care, and stay safe, and I'll see you all next time!