The Flight of the Blue Beetle 16
He had made up his mind to not look for Booster Gold again. The guy had his own agenda, and if he was truly from the future, he felt it would be better to leave him alone. He didn't want to mess with time anymore. Just one trip to the past had left him with enough on his plate for a lifetime. However, Booster seemed to have other plans. He didn't know what it was with time travelers and complete disregard for secret identities.
"Get inside maniac!" he pulled the golden and blue dressed hero into the house, and after checking no one had seen him, slammed the door shut.
"Nice place, humble but nice," Booster said as he paced the living room.
"I will ignore that for now. What do you want?" Jaime said crossing his arms.
"Hey there little one, do you know who I am?" But of course Booster ignored him entirely to go talk to his little sister who was watching cartoons.
"The guy my brother kicked his butt," Milagro said as she kept watching her cartoons.
"No little one, I am Booster Gold. Aren't kids just precious?" he said ruffling her hair before she tried to bite him, but just missed him by an inch.
"Get your backpack Milagro, is time to go to school," he said shaking his head in disbelief; powers or not, she was still a kid.
"Awww!" she whined before hurrying to her bedroom to get her backpack.
"Unless your fancy suit can make you look normal, then you better start speaking," he told Booster.
"Yeaaaah," he said before pressing some button on his goblet. His high-tech suit changed to a business suit, "this is going to need some time."
And why didn't he do that when he showed up at his door? He resisted the urge to shove him out the door.
Jaime rushed to get his backpack and car keys cursing under his breath. One of the perks he got from his new car was driving his little sister back and forth from school. Lucky him.
"Call shotgun!" Booster said getting on the other seat. Milagro glared at Booster, probably planning his demise, before getting on the back.
"What is so important that couldn't wait today, but not last night?" he asked starting the car.
"What is it that your little friend says? That would have not been crush?" Booster said making a terrible imitation of Kid Flash.
"Crash, it wouldn't be crash," Jaime sighed, "get to the point."
"It was written in the archives about our fight, so that was important too. Sorry for being so mean, but I needed you to actually believe it. You caught wind of it at the end, right?" Booster said for once looking a little serious.
"Sort of," Jaime said keeping his eyes on the road.
"But what I have to tell you today is more important," Booster said looking ahead, his eyes lost in the blue skies, "Ted left you something for when you turned eighteen."
The car came to a screeching stop.
"I am telling mom!" Milagro cried out as her forehead hit the front seat.
"And I will tell her you didn't put your seatbelt on," he said to her fast before turning to Booster Gold, "that is impossible. We never met."
"Time traveler, remember?" Booster laughed, "you have met and will meet, but enough of that. A lawyer is going to show up to your door in a few days, not this weekend, I know you are busy. He is going to talk to you about your shares and some legal stuff."
"Shares?" Jaime said starting to drive again.
"For Kord Enterprises," Booster told him, "old Ted wanted to give them to you sooner, but I knew it would only distract you of the other stuff you needed to do. Your eighteen birthday seemed the right time to bring it up."
"Your stop Milagro," Jaime said stopping in front of her school. She started to complain, but he gave her one of his rare looks that said he wouldn't hear buts from her. She puffed her cheeks before getting out of the car, but not without slamming the door.
"You have to teach me how to do that," Booster said looking at the retreating Milagro with something that seemed apprehension. Before Jaime could ask him, he went on "so yeah, Ted left you about sixty percent of his share holds to you."
"You are kidding, right?" he asked having difficulty starting the car again.
"Not at all," Booster said.
"I can't accept it," Jaime said starting the car again with a deep frown, "wouldn't it be better if his family got it?"
"He had none, just the knowledge that there would be another Blue Beetle after him. Since he also knew he wouldn't be able to train you himself, he left the best thing after. He left you resources. Besides the shares, he left you all his inventions and hideouts through the country. "He laughed then, "he used to call the Beetle-Caves. The Ts could make use to them if you want."
"The Ts?" Jaime asked.
"Forget I said that," Booster laughed again and Jaime had the urge the slam on the break and make him bang his head on the headboard.
"So you told him when he would die," though he didn't know Ted, he felt terrible for the guy for having Booster as a friend.
"Not entirely," Booster said still smiling, but the smile didn't reach fully. "I told him of his successor and that sadly he would be gone when he emerged. Believe it or not, old Ted had more guts than most of those guys in the League. He only nodded and asked me to say as much as I could about who you would become. After getting things set, he went on to his days as usual until that night."
"I see," Jaime said parking in front of his school. He turned to the blond man and said, "Either way, I know nothing of running a company. I even haven't left for college yet."
"No one said you were going to run it," Booster told him calmly, "you will be mostly a silent partner. Ted left people in charge of operations that he trusted. If you want to be more involved later on, that is your choice. For now, you can use the resources the company gives you. The team you are part of now could sure make use of those resources."
"The Ts?" he asked wondering what type of name that was.
"Close," Booster said getting out of the car.
Jaime followed and went around the car, "but is it really right for me to get his life's work just like that? I have done nothing to deserve it." He knew Ted Kord had built that company himself from the ground up.
"You are completely right," Booster said without a flinch. "But the thing is kid, Ted knew you would not use his resources for your own satisfaction, but to continue the good fight, right?"
"Yeah, but… it doesn't feel right," Jaime said looking at his car, the only real possession he had until then.
"Look, you don't have to touch it if you don't want to for now," Booster told him placing a hand on his shoulder. "Just remember that is there if you do need it. Which reminds me," he said digging into his pocket until he found a memory drive, "Ted also left you this. I recommend you to check it out whenever you can."
"What is it?" he asked.
"No idea," Booster said starting to walk away, "see you later kid."
Jaime watched the place he had left until the bell rang. He put the memory in his pocket before rushing to class. The day went so slowly, he wondered if it was because of the time traveler. After Khaji-Da had confirmed to him, it was but his strange human imagination, he dropped the notion. He found Milagro waiting out of school for him and didn't waste a moment to seat on the copilot's seat, and this time made sure to buckle up.
"Where is Busted Up?" she asked as he drove.
"Probably went back home," he told her with a smirk, "why? Do you miss him?"
"He is strange," she said with a little frown, "I don't like it and grandma told me to always trust those feelings."
"He is a time traveler," Jaime told her, "he has very little to do with magic."
"Grandma said everything has to do with magic," Milagro said, "and he just doesn't feel right. Is like, is like he doesn't belong here or anywhere."
"Again, he is a time traveler," Jaime told her with a laugh. He couldn't believe he was defending Booster Gold.
"Whatever," she muttered as he kept driving the rest of the way home.
When he arrived, he saw his mother waiting for them in the front of the house. She was wringing her hands together in worry and she seemed surprised when she spotted him. He got off the car immediately and hurried to her.
"Is there something wrong?" he asked her.
"No!" she said in surprise, "I mean, yes… I don't know."
She said very at loss and that didn't set well with him at all. His mother had not even been this shaken when she found out about his other activities after school.
"Jaime, get in here!" his father shouted from the kitchen before he went into the house followed by mother and sister. The only time he had heard him so upset was when he skipped school back in the fifth grade. A little shaken, though Khaji-Da assured that his father could do nothing to harm him, he entered the kitchen. He found his dad sitting across from Booster Gold on the dining room table. When this guy meant later, he actually meant later.
"Hey kid," Booster said waving at him and dressed once again in his hero suit.
He froze at the sight. That morning his parents gave him a lecture about looking for trouble when his fight with Booster Gold from the previous night made it to the news. At top of that, even though his parents knew they could do little to nothing when it came to the guys he fought, they would not lose the chance to rip Booster a new one for attacking their only son. However, things had not escalated to that point, yet.
"What's going on?" he asked looking from Booster to his father who sat with his arms crossed and the same look he gave him when he asked to skip his little sister's birthday times ten.
"Mr. Carter tells us you are graduating early and moving to California to study mechanical engineering," his father said with narrowed eyes.
"What?" he couldn't help asking, "I haven't even decided which college I want to attend to."
"Oh, but you are going to do this in the next few days and in a year or two take an internship at STAR Labs where you will meet with your old friend Virgil Hawkins. This is also where you will date-"
"Stop!" Jaime shouted as he stomped towards Booster, "you don't get to tell me what is going to be of my life like you did with Kord! Get out of my house!"
"Will do in a minute," Booster said not the least bit shaken, "what? Do you think you are the first one to tell me to mind my own business? Not at all. Batman broke my nose once when I tried to tell him of the kid that would take his place in about fifty years from now. Kid will have a better sense of humor than him."
"Why are you doing this?" Jaime asked exhausted.
"Because it's my job," Booster said with his winning smile, "make sure the good things go on uninterrupted and help as much as I can with the damage of the bad. And one good thing is you moving out of home early and studying in California where your friend Tim is setting the start of your home base. Now, I get you want to think about it. You are still young, but at least think of what Ted would do. That's what I do when I have trouble deciding the right thing to do."
"How would be moving to California be of any good?" if it were for the sake of others…
"Jaime, you aren't –" his father started to protest.
"He is an adult now," Booster said to Jaime's father, "he can make his own choices."
"Booster, leave now," he knew his parents didn't like him using the armor inside the house, but he was sure they wouldn't mind this time. When the armor covered him completely, Booster only gave him a curious look but didn't move from his seat. Jaime clenched his teeth before grabbing him by the neck of his suit.
Then he heard ringing, and was at a loss of what it was for a moment until he realized it was his the phone Tim had given him so they would stay in contact.
"You should answer that," Booster said and Jaime was tempted to just let the call go to voicemail, but his serious tone made him decide against it. He released the man before getting to his backpack and took the phone out before answering. It was Bart, and he was speaking so fast he could barely make sense of what he was saying.
"What?" he asked again.
"Get your ass here!" Bart had shouted before the line went dead.
"What's going on?" he asked Booster Gold, who was walking towards the back of the house.
"We have to help your friend," he told him calmly, "c'mon, it's going to be fun."
He gave his parents apologizing looks knowing this man had left him with a lot of questions. He hurried to the back before leaving towards Central City. He and Booster Gold flew to the gem city where they soon spotted the source of the panic. In the center of the city, something like a portal had opened and from it giant gorillas were coming through some sort of portal and trashing everything that was in their path. The area had already been evacuated, and the only one that seemed to be trying to fight them off was Kid Flash.
"Where is the Flash or the League?" he asked as he landed on a roof where Bart met him.
"They are out of range," Kid Flash said giving Booster Gold a skeptical look. He too had watched the morning news. "Grodd jammed their signal, so I can't even get hold of Flash."
"Then let's get to work kiddies," Booster said cracking his knuckles, "I have a photoshoot this afternoon and I don't want to be late." He said before jumping off the building and flying towards the gorillas. They watched wide-eyed as his gauntlets generated energy blasts that knocked quite a few of the gorillas unconscious.
"You heard him," Kid Flash said before they started fighting back.
888
That night when he got home his parents were waiting for him in the kitchen. He was thankful he had finally parted ways with Booster after the fight. It was almost a fact that the man always complicated things more than necessary. He wondered how Ted Kord handled it.
"Sorry for being so late," he said looking exhausted.
"We heard what happened in Central City," his father said as his mother placed a plate with warm food before him, "are you okay?"
"It was a bunch of gorillas," he said glad the suit had guarded him against some of the worst.
"Son, about what that man said," his father stated in a much calmer tone than before.
"I am not doing that just because he said so," he told his parents.
"Is not that son," his mother said placing a hand on his shoulder. He knew this wasn't good. She usually did this when the next piece of news would make him upset, "your father and I talked, and agreed that he was somewhat right. You are an adult now, and if you do decide to leave home we have no right to be upset."
"But I am not leaving," he told them, at least not until he chose on his own which college he wanted to assist. If it was engineering what he wanted, there were great schools in Texas for that.
"We also know that you carry a bigger responsibility than either both of us could ever understand," his father said giving Jaime that soothing look that said he wasn't looking for a fight. "We also know that you will make sacrifices for the well-being of others. When those moments come to pass, don't think we will oppose you or even resent you. We trust in your judgement, as much as we believe that tomorrow the sun will rise again."
"You are siding with him," Jaime didn't care how they put it. His parents were siding with Booster Gold. They wanted him to follow that madman's advice and graduate early, and then move to California.
"Not at all," his mother said with a sad smile, "we just want you to know that if you do decide to do that, we will not stand in your way. We will support your decision," even if it broke her heart to see him go earlier than she wanted.
And then he found himself considering. He did send an application to a few colleges in California but hadn't received an answer yet. Then, he gave his parents a better look. There were a few strands of gray in his mother's hair, and his father had his cane leaning against his chair.
"I will make my own choice when I am ready," he told them before starting to eat. His father ruffled his hair as he left the kitchen. Jaime listened to the small sound his cane made as he went to the living room. Though the incident had been months away, his father's leg would never be the same. He didn't want to leave Houston if possible as these ideas ran through his mind. What if next time the bullet didn't go through his leg, but his chest instead? What if he was light years or even centuries away from them to be of any help? What was the point of the suit if he couldn't even protect his own family?
888
When he finally went to his room and collapsed on his bed, he released a breath of exhaustion. He didn't care what Booster Gold believed he would do. He was not abandoning his family. He felt something in his pocket and then pulled it out. It was the flash drive Booster had given him. It was the same tone of blue as his suit. Though exhausted he turned on his computer and plugged the flash. He didn't know how big the memory was, but he guessed this was no ordinary memory. There was an endless list of files, but he started with the one that said 'Introduction.'
There were a couple of videos numbered. He decided to start with the beginning.
There was a lab with machines here and there. It was a mess, but it was also very organized in a crazy sort of way. The camera shook as whoever was handling it was trying to get it to focus correctly. Finally someone picked with a worried frown before he smiled.
"There we go," Ted Kord said with his cowl down though still dressed in his uniform. 'Hello there Jaime Reyes, or should I say Blue Beetle?' his smile was friendly as he went to stand in full view of the camera. "Sorry, if this got to you a bit late. For what Booster was able to tell me a few years will pass before you get to see this. But you know or will know soon enough time traveling is a complication in the life of anyone who gets involved with it. As I was not able to present myself to you properly when you became the Blue Beetle, I decided to do the next best thing."
Jaime paused the video for a moment. He was tired, so he wasn't sure he understood this correctly. This man smiling on the screen knew he was going to die sometime soon, and yet he took the time to record this video to just say hi to him. He removed the flash and turned his computer off. The video was far from over, but he needed to be well rested to understand what would be said next. Besides, the next day he and the rest would go looking for the Red Hood and the Outlaws. He didn't want to be caught off-guard by them.