El Paso
December 1
2015
"I'll lead Alpha. M'gann will take Beta," Nightwing orders. "Wonderbat, Wondergirl, you two are with me in the Supercycle."
"Where are we going?" Wondergirl asks.
"El Paso," Nightwing says.
And that's why I'm not flying.
And that's why I'm getting air sick.
"Boss, I was pretty psyched you chose me to be on Alpha squad with you, Sphere, and Wonderbat," Wondergirl starts. "Or am I not supposed to admit that?"
"It's not uncool to be enthusiastic, Cass," Nightwing reassures her. "You should have seen me when I started."
"It was endearing," I piped up.
He playfully glares at me.
"I was having so much fun, I couldn't stop laughing," He recalls his infamous 'Robin Cackle'. "Besides, you're clearly the right girl for the gig. Who better than our newest recruit to help me recruit the next guy?"
"Next guy?" Cassie asks.
"He's an interesting one," I smirk before another wave of nausea washes over me.
"So what do we know about this new 'Beetle'?" Cassie asks as we wait for the teens arrival on top of his school building.
"A lot, and not enough," Dick says leaning over the side. "He's had contact with Peacemaker, Captain Atom, and Green Lantern-"
"Which one?" Cassie interrupts.
"Gardner. And they all seem to think he's a decent kid," Nightwing reports.
"Gardner? He doesn't like anyone!" Cassie says in surprise.
"Well, begrudgingly, he likes this Jaime Reyes," Nightwing sighs.
"And what's Reyes's connection to the previous Blue Beetle?" Cassie asks.
"None really. Reyes was just in the right place at the wrong time," Dick begins. "And he stumbled onto Ted Kord's greatest invention on the night he was murdered. Since then, Reyes has tried to do the 'Hero Thing'. But he has no mentor, no training. Mostly he uses Kord's Beetle Armor to fly around town."
"Yet he still manages to be late for class," I add.
We see something large and blue streak across the sky.
"There's beetle," Dick points out, as Reyes lands, and the armor retracts as soon as his feet hit the ground. "And there's Reyes. Go say 'hello'."
"Me?" Cassie asks in surprise.
"Well certainly not me or Nightwing. We're too intimidating," I admit.
"With that in mind, who has the best chance of not triggering fight or flight?" Nightwing asks.
Cassie nods, the jumps down from the building, and lands right behind him at the bottom of the stairs.
They begin to talk, and she just…
"It's about Blue Beetle!"
I mentally face palm, and physically jump down beside Nightwing as Reyes bumps into him while walking backwards away from Cassie.
"'We'? Who's 'We'?" He asks.
"'We' might just be your new best friends," Dick says with a smirk.
"I urge you to recollect yourself, Jaime Reyes," I advise, making my presence known. "We are here to talk. Not to fight."
"Who are you guys?" he asks.
"It's a long story," I say. "If you are willing to listen, we will tell you all about us, and what we can do for you."
I hear Dick's communicator beep in his ear as he goes to answer it.
"Then there's no time to lose. Miss.M, you and L.B are now Gamma Squad. Take the Bio-ship and head for the moon."
"Did he just send someone to the moon?" Jaime asks.
"Yep," I answer. "Just wait. If you decide to join us, it'll be much more interesting."
"B.G, you take command of Beta. Noor Harjavti still needs the Team's protection, but that doesn't mean we abandon one of our own," Nightwing orders.
"Wait, so, Wonder Woman and Superboy were taken, but not me?" Cassie asks.
"Are you saying you want to be captured by enemy forces?" I ask, folding my arm over my chest.
"No… it's just…" She huffs.
'They don't see her as a threat.'
"So...I'm heading to school now, so.. See you-" Jaime tries to leave, but Dick ninja-ed his way to the top of the stairs.
"Look, Jaime, I'm sorry we were interrupted, but we do need to talk," He says. "We're out of uniform, but I'm Nightwing, and that's Wondergirl, and you may recognize Wonderbat from the T.V."
"Never heard of you," Jaime says.
"Good. But have you heard of Blue Beetle?" Dick asks, bringing up a holo-image of the hero on his watch. "Justice Leaguer? Hasn't been seen in months? Well, he was my friend. And I think he would have wanted us to help you."
"Think about it this way, Jaime," I begin. "You already tried to help out, but you have no experience. You have the guns to get the job done, but it's no use if you don't know how to use them."
"We offer advice, training, experience, camaraderie, and the backing of the Justice League," Nightwing lists.
"Be all that I can be? Right…" Jaime brushes off.
"He is right! I only joined the team a couple months ago! I had powers, and I wanted to be a hero, but I didn't know how! Nightwing, Wonderbat and the others taught me! Well, they're working on it, anyway…" Cassie just blurts out.
"Wondergirl, I think he was being sarcastic," I say, placing my hand on her shoulder.
"Look, maybe I should talk to Peacemaker, Green Lantern, or Captain Atom about this-" Jaime says.
"And there's nothing wrong with that," I assure.
"But, Peacemaker's not a fan, all Lantern's are currently off world, and we think Cap may be on the moon…" Nightwing admits, running a hand through his hair.
If we could hear inside the boy's head, we would hear an alien voice attempting to navigate Jaime in the conversation.
"The Nightwing makes excuses, Jaime Reyes. Do not trust him. And do not trust the Wondergirl, or Wonderbat. They trigger bio-chemical changes to your system."
"There's an emergency. We have to leave," Nightwing informs us. He turns to Jaime Reyes. "Why don't you come along?"
Whelp... th-th-that's all folks!
Be on the Look out for W.B:Invasion coming out either on Friday or Saturday!
-Gargoyle77, out with the Gladiator.
