He should not have worn the suit. Not here.
Despite the idyllic setting before him of swaying palm trees and winds scented light with salt, Ted Kord could not relax. He had not been here since that day and he knew he never would return after this visit. He never thought coming here as Blue Beetle could be so unsettling until he stepped off the Bug and felt the sandy grains under his boots. When he took a whiff of air, it all came back to him in shocking detail, almost as if it were being played off a reel somewhere inside his mind.
"Ted, you okay?"
Ted looked over his shoulder and saw Booster looking at him with concern.
"I'm okay." He lied. "I shouldn't have worn the suit coming here. Its in bad taste."
Booster understood what was bothering Ted. His best friend had told him years ago, why this place held such terrible memories. "Ted, you are Blue Beetle now. You've earned the right to wear the colours. Dan would be proud of that."
"I know," he replied softly. "Its hard coming here. Dan was more of a father to me than my real dad ever was. Me, becoming Blue Beetle was for him."
"We can do this some other time." Booster suggested. "We can come back."
"No," Ted shook his head. "I should have done this a long time ago." He stated firmly. "Dan wanted me to have the scarab and its about time I got it instead of leaving it to rot in this place."
"Okay buddy," Booster said giving him a supportive pat on the back.. "Skeets is doing a quick scan of the island. He should be back soon."
"He won't find anything." Ted retorted and let his gaze sweep over the coast line of the island. Pago had not changed much in the years since his last appearance there. On the coast, it appeared as unspoiled as ever. If Kord Industries ever decided to build a hotel on these shores, the pristine beach would be quite a draw card. Just as long as they did not let anyone venture into the jungle. His Uncle Jarvis had intended to conquer the world from this island and concealed in the heart of the island was what remained of that twisted dream. "Jarvis' whole installation was brought down in that last explosion. If any of his robot drones survived, they would not be anything more than scrap."
However, even as those words left his lips, Ted knew that his statement was not entirely true. Others have shifted through the wreckage and found Jarvis' handiwork very much intact. Ask Conrad Carapax, he thought to himself.
The small mechanical robot who had journeyed from the 25th century with Booster, announced his return as he whizzed to a stop before them. Although originally manufactured to be a guidance aid for Booster's previous battle suit, Skeets had been adapted to service Booster's newest model.
"Booster, I have scanned the entire island. There is no one here." Skeets informed them dutifully.
"I told you." Ted sighed, looking at Booster. "Thanks Skeet." He said to the small robot. Although Skeet was in essence, a highly sophisticated portable and flight enabled computer, its programming almost resembled sentient thought and both Booster and now Ted had the tendency to treat him as such.
"You are most welcome." Skeet responded politely.
"Well, we might as well get this over and done with." He replied reluctantly and started back towards the Bug. There was no reason to continue their advance to Jarvis' hideout on foot. He knew from experience how rough the terrain could be and this whole thing was hard enough as it is.
Once again, he reminded himself why he was doing this. For years, he had been underpowered and often the weakest member of the group he was in. In the Justice League, his understated genius was overlooked in light of Batman's incredible intellect. Ted knew he could be just as good but insecurities often got in the way of allowing him to reach his full potential. Instead, he allowed himself to be turned into a joke by the majority of the superhero community. True, his behaviour had been partly to blame for that but lately, Ted had decided to strive for more.
Since the Extreme Justice group had faded away, both Ted and Booster had taken control of their private lives. Booster craved the adventure more than he did and for a while, the CEO of Lightspeed Entertainment left control of the company in Ted's hands. While it was not Kord Industries, Lightspeed Entertainment was a rising star in the interactive gaming industry and under Ted's ministrations soon became one of the leaders in the field. Since then, Ted made few outings as Blue Beetle and concentrated on expanding Lightspeed into new areas, most notably a division specialising in technological innovations. The move had proved successful, especially with his designs on most of the drawing boards in the R and D section of the company. Lightspeed was bigger than it ever was and he and Booster were now certifiable millionaires. Things were good except for one thing. He missed being Blue Beetle.
However, Booster had been right about one thing in Warriors, Doomsday had almost killed him. If the Crusaders were to be apart of his future, Ted needed to power up significantly. The Blue Beetle scarab he was always intended to have, would accomplish this. He would be no Superman of course, but at least he would not be a hindrance to his comrades in a fight. Too many times, he had seen Booster come to his aid against some super villain because he was too weak to fight back. While he did not wish to abandon his intellectual pursuits, the Blue Beetle definitely needed the upgrade.
Prior to the incident where he had fallen into the coma after being brainwashed by the Bialyan leader, Queen Bee, Ted had believed the scarab to be destroyed. This followed a confrontation with Conrad Carapax. Carapax had been, a minor archaeologist who had found one of Uncle Jarvis' robots on the island, quite intact. After his consciousness was forcibly removed and placed inside the automaton, Carapax had become quite insane. The Blue Beetle ended up battling Carapax on the island and when it appeared that he might lose, Carapax used his final trump card. Ted was fed the illusion that the Blue Scarab was an alien that had possessed Dan Garrett who was not dead but merely in hibernation. One of the more painful memories he was forced to experience, was his battle with Dan before the scarab was destroyed. Eventually, Carapax was defeated but the memory remained for a long time. Only when Kent Nelson, the former Doctor Fate helped him out of his coma, did the truth emerge from his mind.
Now, there were no excuses left for Ted. It was time for the Blue Beetle to reclaim his scarab.
**********
The cavern where Uncle Jarvis had made his bid for world domination was now nothing more than a pile of rubble overgrown with vines and foliage. Ted landed the Bug as near to the site as he could, which fortunately was near the mouth of the collapsed cavern. The Bug contained the heavy drilling machinery and sensors he would need to locate the scarab. Even now, the place looked decidedly sinister. The jungle reclaiming this patch of land had done nothing to erase the violence there. As Ted emerged from the Bug and started towards the cavern entrance, he could see the rusted mesh of a fence line moving through the foliage. Much of it had become enveloped by vines and corroded to the point that it was impossible to distinguish metal from vegetation. The only thing that indicated that this was Kord property was a faded sign, dangling precipitously from one decrepit lien of fencing.
"What a mess." Booster commented as they reached the cavern entrance. There were vines hanging over the mouth of the passageway. Its stone walls covered with lichens and small insects. A few feet beyond the entrance, Booster saw the first of the large rocks that had buried the rest of the tunnel.
"No one's been here since Dan died." Ted stated. "As far as Kord Industries is concerned, this is no man's land for them. At the time, it was considered a public relations nightmare and everyone wanted it forgotten."
"Looks like everyone did." Booster retorted before brushing the vines out of his way and proceeding down the passageway. "Stand back." He instructed.
Ted did not need to be told twice. He took a few steps backwards and adjusted his goggled over his eyes as Booster went to work.
"The tunnel goes down at least half a mile." Ted told Skeets. "Unfortunately, this is the quickest way to do it. Once Booster clears the tunnel and I get the drill equipment down there."
"Would it not be difficult to locate the scarab in all the debris? The area of the facility is quite large."
"It won't be hard at all," Ted answered softly. "All we have to do is find Dan's body."
It took almost two hours for Booster to clear out the passageway wide enough for drilling and sensor equipment to enter. After that it was a further six or seven hours of burrowing through the tons of rock and dirt that had filled the large complex after the cave in. Using equipment he had taken from Lightspeed, most of which was experimental and years away from actual sale, Ted was able to make a great deal of progress. Since he had been present when the cave in had actually taken place, he had a general idea where Dan's body was. He had also borrowed some archaeology equipment from Star Labs that enabled him locate certain elements in the rock, which gave him a direction to aim the drilling equipment.
Almost thirteen hours after they had begun, Ted located the skeletonised corpse of Dan Garrett, the original Blue Beetle. It appeared on the sensor screen as nothing more than hairline images pressed up against the rock but there was enough of a difference for Ted to realise what it was. As he and Booster were forced to complete the rest of the digging with chisels and small shovels, it was exhausting work even for super heroes. The two friends who could often see humour in everything were strangely quiet while they worked. Booster could understand Ted's silence because Dan Garrett had been his friend and mentor. The course of his life had been set after meeting the original Blue Beetle who died trying to help him. If it were him, he knew he would be similarly affected.
Despite all the equipment they had used, they had only manage to unearth a passage way from the surface wide enough to fit the machinery. The air was thick with dirt and fine grains of rock that made it almost impossible to breathe. Ted had been forced to pull off the Blue Beetle mask because the subtropical heat of the island had turned the underground cavern into a virtual sauna. The only thing he could stand to wear on his face were his goggles because it would keep the dirt out of his eyes. Alongside him, Booster had done the same although with his super strength, he was capable of getting much more done. Both of them were sweating profusely and although they had not surfaced for some hours now, it was obviously night fall because Skeets was providing them with all the illumination.
"There it is." Ted declared staring at the base of the wall they had been working on the past hour since locating the image of a skeleton on the sensor. At this stage, he did not know if this was Dan's body or Uncle Jarvis. A nub of bone was protruding from the under a large boulder. Judging by the shape of it, Ted guessed it was a femur. As he started clearing the dirt from around the boulder, he saw a shred of faded material.
"What is it?" Booster asked. Since he was the one with the super strength, he was concentrating on moving the boulder from its wedged position.
"Its cloth." Ted answered after making a careful examination. The material was worn and faded but it had once been unmistakably blue. "I think its Dan's uniform."
"Are you okay?" Booster inquired automatically.
Ted fingered the material in his hands for a moment, trying to submerge the sorrow that surfaced at its discovery. "I'm fine," he said after a moment. "Thanks Booster."
"I'm going to move this rock." Booster said examining the boulder that had most likely killed Dan on impact. He did not mention that to Ted however, although his best friend was intelligent enough to have work that out for himself. "Stay close to me. I may have to put up a force field if the ceiling decided to come down. You too Skeets."
The little robot that had been recharging in a corner suddenly came to life at the sound of Booster's voice. Skeets was designed to activate on voice command and it hovered towards them as Booster placed his hand on the large boulder.
"You required me?" Skeets asked.
"We need you to stay close." Ted explained. "The ceiling might come down."
Skeet's sensors quickly moved into action and conducted a quick analysis of the cavern above them. He detected numerous faults and weak points in the pattern of the collapse. It was possible that the removal of the boulder might precipitate another cave in. However, the odds of that were difficult to calculate so he remained silent. He had learnt from experience that Booster disliked being given warnings to the obvious.
"Here goes," Booster warned them as he placed his gloved hands on the boulder and lifted it out of place. Dust began to fall from cracks above them and the sounds of moving earth started filling the air at random intervals. Even with his enhanced strength, Booster had to admit the boulder was hard to remove. It came free suddenly, throwing Booster backwards as its weight propelled them both. Ted jumped out of the way as the boulder slammed into the sensor equipment. The device was crushed on impact, sending shards of glass in all directions as the screen was shattered. Ted shielded himself as a number smaller rocks rained down on him, freed when Booster had removed the boulder.
Amazingly enough however, the displacement did not bring down the rest of the cavern as they feared. While thin strands of dust had started coming down in places, nothing larger than a pebble followed that initial fallout. Still, Ted did not want to spend any more time here than necessary.
"You in one piece Booster?" Ted asked. In truth, he knew Booster's invulnerability and force fields would have protected him from any serious harm. If there was any damage, it would have most likely been to his pride.
"Pretty much." Booster retorted and looked at where the boulder had landed. "Star Labs is going to be pissed at you." The sensor was completely wrecked under its weight.
"They have insurance." Ted responded and crawled at the open gap left by the boulder. "Skeets, come here."
Skeets moved forward obediently, casting light on the gap.
"Oh Dan." He whispered seeing for the first time, the skeletal remains of Dan Garrett.
The remains of the former Blue Beetle was still in uniform. The boulder had crushed large parts of his vertebrae and Ted had some comfort in knowing he had not lingered long. Judging from the damage to the skeleton, Dan had been killed instantly when the boulder crushed him. For a moment, Ted felt like a grave robber. He should have done this long ago. Not now when he needed the scarab. Dan deserved a proper burial because he was a true hero. At least, Ted could get right now.
The scarab was exactly where he guessed it would be. It glimmered in the darkness despite Skeet's best efforts to illuminate the small cavern. Ted reached for Dan's bony hand and removed the ring from his finger. Since the Blue Beetle's power depended on possessing the Blue Scarab, Dan had fashioned it into a ring for convenience.
"Did you find it?" Booster asked crawling next to him.
"Yeah I found it." Ted replied showing the ring he had now placed on his finger. It had slid easily over his gloved finger and Ted made a mental note to wear it under his uniform. Despite the melancholy of the moment, seeing the scarab on his hand felt right somehow. More than ever, he felt as if he had finally fulfilled Dan's legacy to him.
"How does it work?"
"You're supposed to say the words."
"Like Shazam?"
Ted gave him a look. "Very funny." It had been a while since he had to recall Dan's exact retelling of his encounter with Kha-Ef-Re, the original possessor of the scarab and most likely its creator. It had to do with touching the scarab. Until now, Ted had handled the ring without actually touching the scarab mounted on it. Taking a deep breath, he ran a finger across its smooth, iridescent surface. The scarab glittered again.
Then the world disappeared around him.
*************
Awake, chosen one.
The voice was soft. Almost like a wind against his ears. Ted blinked because he was sure the cavern had caved in and he was now buried under a ton of earth as Dan had been. He opened his eyes and he could see nothing before him but a thick mist that often preceded the morning. He reached for his face and noticed that his goggles were gone as was the mass that was hanging around his neck.
Strange since he did not recall taking them off.
He took a step forward in this place that seemed to have no ceiling, no walls or a floor that he could see beyond the thick fog. As he took a step forward, the mist moved apart for him but he could still see nothing ahead. It seemed to add credence to the possibility that he was indeed dead. If so, where the hell was Booster? With his luck, Booster had probably made it.
Chosen One, you worry too much.
This time Ted knew he heard a voice but it seemed to be coming from inside his head. Still, instinct forced him to look around any way, even though he saw no one.
"Hi there," Ted spoke out. "Am I dead or what?"
No, you are very much alive, Chosen One.
"I can hear you but I can't see you." Ted declared impatiently. He was starting to feel the edge of fear sneak up on him. It had begun to dawn on him that this was the scarab's doing but he knew nothing more about it than the scant information Dan had given him. Dan was supposed to have given him all this information but his untimely death had ended that chance.
I am he who is the Keeper of the Blue Scarab.
"The guy whose sarcophagus Dan found the scarab at?" The voice seemed amused by the description, Ted sensed.
He is here too. Tell me, how is it that you have taken the mantle of the Chosen without the blue scarab?
He must be telepathic. It was a fair question, Ted decided. Even in this realm, Kha-Ef-Re had a right to know what happened to Dan. "Dan Garrett was the last Blue Beetle and he was my friend. He helped me when I needed it, no matter what it cost him, even if the cost was his life. Dan stood for justice and bravery and I was not willing to him die for nothing. I did the best I could without the scarab because that was what Dan always did."
Ted let out a heavy sigh and added. "Unfortunately, I have made the Blue Beetle a joke. A court jester for the rest of the superhero community. I haven't honoured Dan's name, I've ruined it. I came looking for the scarab to change all that. To try and give his memory some dignity."
The voice inside his head remained silent for a long while and Ted wondered if it chose to depart in disgust. Ted could not blame Kha-Ef-Re if he did, after all, he probably saw every shameful even in Ted Kord's life before Ted had even spoken.
Suddenly the mists swirled apart before him but instead of the ancient Kha-Ef-Re standing before him, was someone else entirely. For a moment, Ted could only stare into the man's face. There were a thousand things he wanted to say. Things, he replayed in his mind over and over again but knew he would never have a chance to say to the one person it was intended for.
"Dan?" Ted gasped. "It is you isn't it?"
"Hello Ted."
Dan Garrett was still in his Blue Beetle uniform, looking as youthful as ever, without a mark on him. This was the Blue Beetle that had inspired Ted Kord's dreams. This was the man he had always wanted to be.
"How?" He managed to say. Nothing else would be coherent.
"I am the Keeper of the Scarab until the Chosen One comes." Dan explained with a proud smile. "I always hoped it would be you."
"God Dan," Ted whispered, almost too filled with emotion to speak. "Its so good to see you."
"Its good to see you." Dan smiled. "Now I can move on."
"Move on?"
"Yes." Dan replied, sweeping the mist away to reveal a new place that had been previously obscured by the fog. A dark river flowed through the valley. Through the mist covered sky, Ted could see the faint shape of the pyramids and the Sphinx in the distance. There was something about it that unreal and yet Ted knew it existed somewhere. The Sphinx and the pyramids looked as immaculate as the day last mortar brick was set in place. Yet, the land around it was not desert but green and full of life. Ted realised then what it was Dan was showing him. Across that dark river was the Land of the Dead, written about so eloquently by everyone who ever understood the age of the Pharoahs.
"Its the task of everyone who possess the Blue scarab to pass it on to his heir." Dan explained.
"I'm sorry Dan, I should have been able to help you." Ted finally spoke. "I should not have left you."
"I was dead, Ted and you were alive. It was far more important to me that you lived, not waste yourself trying to save or be me for that matter. You've made me proud Ted, just being who you are."
"I'm a joke Dan." He said painfully. "I always have been."
"Poor Ted," Dan shook his head like a father does to an erring child. "You're always so hard on yourself. Can't you believe that you're as good anyone else? Maybe better because you can feel more than most people?"
Ted wanted to believe him, needed to believe him but he just could not, not yet. There was still much he had to prove to himself and right now at this moment, Ted Kord realised something else too. It dawned on him with such speed that he was surprised by its potency.
He did not need the scarab. He never did.
"I knew you could do it." Dan said with a smile. "I knew you'd figure it out. You were always smart Ted."
Ted looked up at him with understanding and what he learned warmed the inside of him as nothing had in too long. "I'll miss you Dan."
"I miss you too." The older Blue Beetle replied with a hint of sadness creeping into his voice. "We never got to say goodbye properly, so we shouldn't waste the chance." He met Beetle's gaze. "Goodbye Ted." With that, he turned around slowly and started to walk away.
He did not realise that there were tears in his eyes until they rolled down his cheek. Ted wiped them away and said softly. "Goodbye Dan. I'll never forget you."
"Ted?" Dan stopped and looked over his shoulder. "One last thing."
"What?" Ted asked, still unable to stifle the sorrow at seeing his friend leave.
"The words Ted, the words for the Chosen. Say it once and you'll understand."
"The words?"
"Kaji-Da". Dan whispered with a faint smile as he started to disappear into the mists.
"Kaji-Da?" Ted shouted, running after Dan. "That's all it is? Kaji-Da?"
He had taken no more than a few steps forward when suddenly, the mist opened up the ground beneath him and he was falling in mid air.
"Dan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Ted screamed before he plunged downward.
************
"For gods sakes Ted!" He heard Booster shouting in his ear.
Booster's voice was strange, as if he was trying to speak through a great wind.
Ted opened his eyes and saw sky all around him. The wind was rushing up against his body. He could feel the air currents moving around him and as he stared down in rising astonishment, Ted realised that he was about ten feet above the ground. Booster was behind him trying to catch up. It took an instant to realise what was happening to him. He was flying! He was really flying! He was soaring through the air like a bird! He could see a tree coming right at him. A tree coming right at him....
"TED! WATCH OUT FOR THAT TREE!" Booster shouted behind him.
Oh, this was going to hurt.