The Flight of the Blue Beetle 21 (The Rise of Thorax)
888
"I'm Paco and I am going to hit you with this stick until you get the ~&%$ off my planet."
8888
There were always places where people got into trouble. Sometimes it surprised him how some people would miss them. This was especially true when it came to Jaime. He had the tendency to take shortcuts that no one else would take, such as the back of the gym after P.E.
"Leave him alone ese!" lucky him he was around to save him. He barreled straight into the other kid.
"This is none of your business Paco," the other kid said with a sneer.
"What if I make it my business," he said taking a step forwards reminding him who was the bigger of the two. He would take advantage of his size; he didn't care if he got called a bully.
"Whatever," the other kid said before running off.
"What an ass," Tye said giving Jaime a hand to help him back up.
"You okay?" Brenda asked when she noted Jaime's hands were scraped.
"I had it!" he pulled his hand back and glared at Paco. He knew the kid wanted to be tuff in front of Brenda, but he just wasn't big enough, at least not yet.
"Sure you did, but if you kicked his ass his friends were going to be waiting for you after school," Paco knew they would be waiting for him instead, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.
"I guess," Jaime said scrunching his nose. Leave it to the kid to always see reason. That's what he liked best about his friend; he could be hot headed and smart at the same time. Most of the time, he was just hot headed.
"Hey, Francisco Testas! Go back to the high school before I call your mother," the P.E. teacher also knew this was the place to get into trouble.
"I am going Ms. Martinez," Paco said scratching the back of his head. How pathetic that he preferred to hang out with kids in middle school than high school.
"You shouldn't skip class so much," Brenda told him as they walked towards the gate that separated the schools.
"Right, like the teachers really care that I am there," from the moment he entered the classroom and they saw him they already had his whole life planned out. It varied sometimes but when he saw their eyes he knew none ended well. When varying from being shot, end up in jail, or leaving a girl pregnant were the choices he made the choice not to care for them anymore.
"Paco, you aren't joining a gang, right?" Jaime asked as they got to the gate. All three kids looked at him expectantly.
"Are you crazy? I couldn't trust the two of you to look after Ma if something happened to me. Maybe Brenda, but not you two," he ruffled the girl's red hair before she tried to bite him. He pulled his hand back just in time and gave her a nervous smile.
"Dumbass," Jaime said before running away.
"Wait Jaime!" he called out, what was wrong with that kid? "What's wrong with him?"
"You remember Alex Salvado?" Tye said with a faraway look.
"Yeah?" he already had an idea of what he was going to say. The way Brenda seemed to become small and distant said it all.
"He died last night in a shootout; he was with the Escorpiones," Tye said looking at him straight in the eye. It was just like the kid to not voice what he wanted, but he got the message loud and clear. He wished to tell them they had nothing to worry about, but every day there were more and more guys asking him to join them. When they saw how big he was they immediately saw a target. Just how long would he be able to tell them he would think about it until they came after him?
888
They sat at his kitchen table. His mother was working another double shift just to keep them afloat. As soon as he turned sixteen he made up his mind to get a job. He knew he could get one right then, but his mother wouldn't forgive him if he did. Up until that day she had raised him all on her own and she took pride in that. Yeah, he wasn't the smartest kid around, but he was a good kid.
"You know, is kind of sad when a high schooler asks two middle schoolers to help him with his homework," Tye said as they tried to make sense of his homework.
"Shut up man, and remember what I told you," he said to the smirking kid.
"Don't tell Brenda or she will make fun of you until you graduate?" Jaime asked.
"Don't pay any attention to Judith Balbuena because she does it with everyone?" Tye said with a snicker.
"No, you pea-sized brains, I said I would take you to the park when we were done, but also remember those things," he muttered in the end.
"If we are pea-sized brains, what does that make him?" Jaime had asked before Tye started laughing.
"It makes me bigger and stronger than you two," he said bumping their heads together.
888
This was ridiculous. No. It was crazy. So crazy that maybe he had imagined it all. The throbbing in his arm reminded him he was not so lucky. He knocked on the door like many times before. He took a deep breath to prepare himself and the door opened by the last person he wanted to see him from that house.
"Paco! What happened?" Jaime jumped back wide-eyed when he saw him. His clothes were torn and he had so many bruises it was a miracle he could see where he was going.
"Nothing, just got into a fight with some idiots," he told his friend. He wished he could tell him he should see the other guy, or wolf or whatever it was. It had turned to dust before his eyes.
"Mom!" Jaime rushed to his mother who was coming out of the kitchen.
"Paco!" Mrs. Reyes pushed whatever she was holding to her son's hands and rushed to him.
"I am sorry Mrs. Reyes, but could you please-," not tell his mom because she would be so disappointed? Take him to the hospital because La Dama might have someone there waiting for him? Not look at him as if he was lost case because he wasn't?
"Sit down Paco, and don't move. Jaime, don't let him move," she said before rushing to the bathroom where she kept the medical kit.
"What are you doing Paco?" Jaime said standing in front of him with a scowl. The thirteen-year-old looked like he wanted to punch him, but he knew Jaime. He would never hurt a friend.
"Getting medical treatment," he said staring up at the wall.
"Stop acting like an idiot when you aren't," he was the only one that believed that. Sweet kid, "how long is it going to be before you come in with bullet wounds?"
"Stop talking about what you don't understand," he snapped his head to him and glared before he started to get up. The kid could believe he was smart but didn't believe he didn't a gang? Figures.
"Don't," Jaime said pushing him to sit again, "mom will be back soon."
He sat next to him until Mrs. Reyes returned, only then did he leave.
888
"… ashes to ashes, dust to dust…"
"You know watching your own funeral is very creepy," Damper said as they watched from a distance, his powers allowing him to watch without being seen.
"Shut up ese," he said as he watched his mother cry. By then she already knew it wasn't really him in that casket, but it didn't make it any easier. He might still end up dead in the end.
"Fine," Damper said crossing his arms.
He watched as the padre finished and then everyone started to leave. Half an hour passed and two people remained. He got closer and listened.
"You are such a dumbass. Your mom is now alone. She said she is moving with her family in Cali, but you know she has none over there. She is going to be alone and neither Tye nor I am going to be able to help her. Brenda is moving away too and is your entire fault. How could you do something so stupid?" Jaime said rubbing the tears away from his eyes as they came out. Poor kid, he was probably blaming himself. Last time he had seen him was when he had gone to his house hurt.
"Jaime," Tye said placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. It was getting late and their families were waiting for them not far off.
"Fuck Paco, you didn't need anyone else to care but us; your friends and family. The rest can just go to hell," Jaime said tangling his fingers in his hair. "How could you?"
He wanted to go to them right then and tell them the entire truth, but then his cover would be blown, their families placed in danger, and more than like would end up dead. So, he saved his sorry for when he could tell them, which he hoped wouldn't be long.
888
He had been so stupid to run in like that, but the moment he saw Brenda's hand shine with that unholy light he knew it was bad. He jumped right in front of the armored hero better known as the Blue Beetle, better known to him like Jaime. He didn't feel it as much as he heard it. His chest plate cracked and his heart made this pitiful sound as it was crushed. He fell back into his friend's arms and watched as his face filled with despair.
Brenda was there too looking at him shocked, frightened and heartbroken all at once. This was no way for her to learn he was still alive, for as long as that was.
He saw Jaime's mask pull back. Just like in his funeral, he was more furious than sad. He shouted at Brenda and he knew he would never forgive her for this. He wanted to tell him then that it was fine. He had done what he believed right. The world needed the Blue Beetle more than it needed Paco.
"Please Khaji Da, there has to be something," he heard Jaime say as the fight started again all around them.
"No!" Tye's face came into view filled with tears. Finally, this was a sight he could go to. He remembered when he first met them; Jaime too shy, Tye too lonely, Brenda too unapproachable. Then Brenda was pulled back screaming, and Tye shouted in outrage as he attacked.
"Please don't die," Jaime said sheltering his almost dead body.
"Get your shit together!" he heard someone shout at Jaime, and he wished to do the same but his voice was drowned in his own blood, "now!"
Jaime had looked up as if realizing all that was going around them.
"Dammit, people sometimes die Jaime," he spotted the owner of the voice, it was Kid Flash, "it just happens."
But they already knew this; even before Alex Salvado got killed in that shootout. Jaime knew this, and he had already lived it once because of him. But though there was reason behind Kid Flash's words he saw the stubbornness that Jaime hid so well. He wasn't giving up.
"I don't care! Just do it!" Jaime shouted and a moment later he covered his chest with his hand.
It started as a warm sensation, which only kept on growing until he felt as if his insides were burning. Was this hell? He asked as he gasped for air and all went dark.
8888
He was in an undisclosed location used by the League. It looked more like a research facility than a place people healed, but he knew he couldn't be in better hands. A man they called Dr. Midnighter checked on him and his new heart every few hours, and he was never without visitors. Most of the time, they were told by the people working there to keep it quiet. Most of the time, his friends would laugh and then talk quietly before someone said something stupid again.
He wished this situation was the same, but as Jaime explained to him what his new heart was he knew there would be very little chance of that.
"It's called the T.A.U. It stands for Transbiotic Antitrauma Unit. It is meant to be used by the host of the armor," Jaime said sitting at the side of his bed.
"Meaning you," he said scratching the scar tissue of his chest. It was so itchy but also cool; like an explosion had gone off on his chest, which wasn't far from the truth.
"Yeah, for extreme cases only," Jaime emphasized on the word extreme.
"This seemed very extreme to me," he said pointing at his chest.
"Yeah," Jaime said running a hand through his hair, "it's supposed to do what it just did with you, save the life of the host, but it has another use, one that is untested."
"Okay?" he asked with a frown. He felt as fine as anyone could with a new heart made out of alien materials.
"If Khaji Da was ever destroyed or became corrupted it was supposed to become into a Khaji," Jaime said with worry covering his features, this was not a look he wasn't used to seeing on his friend.
"English, or at least Spanglish please," he said trying to remain calm for both their sakes.
"My armor is a Khaji," Jaime said pointing to the back of his neck, where the alien escarabajo was attached to him.
"So, this thing," he pointed to his chest.
"It can also become an armor; one with the original programming of the Reach," Oh, so that was what worried him.
"If it does that, I know you will stop me and bring me back," he said with a tired smile. Though the beat was a little odd, he was still thankful for this new chance.
"How can you be okay with this?" Jaime gasped at him. For a guy who had shaken hands with the likes of Batman and Superman, it was interesting what things could still impress him.
"I am okay with it because I am alive," he couldn't help laughing, "because I am going to be able to see my mother and friends again whenever I want. I am going to get my life back Jaime."
"Dammit Paco," Jaime said with a laugh though he still looked shaken. What reaction did the kid expect from him? "I wish you had been there when I first got the armor. I could have actually used your help."
"My help? Ha! A brain like you doesn't need me. I in the other hand I am going to need a lot of your help if that does happen."
888
It was Sunday morning and he was done studying for the GED. He had finally made up his mind to take the exam the following week. As to what he would do afterward, well he wasn't so sure. He wanted to continue helping the Posse, but he knew he couldn't make a living out of that unless he joined an organization such as DOMA (Department of Metahuman Affairs) or A.R.G.U.S. (Advanced Research Group Uniting Super-Humans) but it all seemed so over his head. Though he was sure they would look at his record with the Posse, he didn't feel like he would fit in.
As he sat to watch TV in the living room the Posse headquarters (their house) he wondered if he should just get an ordinary day job. Kid Flash, in one of the few times they got to talk, told him most capes had daylight jobs. The League didn't pay for their living expenses, which he thought was ridiculous since the guys were usually out there risking their necks. Well, at least they had sort of health insurance having experienced the facilities a few months ago.
Breaking News!
Superboy, Kid Flash, Blue Beetle, and other two unknown vigilantes disband in one night.
First he got into a fight with another hero. Then he joined forces with him and Kid Flash defeating an army of gorillas, and now he was disbanding drug cartels in one night? He remembered when he used to be the cool guy, he thought with a smirk, and Jaime was the one following him around. A lot had changed in four years. The news showed shots of his friend flying through San Francisco alongside Superboy as they got involved in a car chase. He recognized the guy as the one that approached the Posse months ago to join forces with him. Who would have thought? For a while there he had forgotten his friend had once helped kick the Reach out of their world.
Emergency backup protocol initiated. Transbiotic Antitrauma Unit second function initiated.
"What?" he stood up from the couch looking for whoever had spoken.
Scarab Khaji Da: to be relieved from duty. Defective scarabs must be eliminated for missions to continue.
"Shit."
888
He knew this was bad; his heart was turning against him. The moment he tried to reach out to Jaime or anyone for that matter the darn thing would hurt. It was not yet ready to take completely over him and was attempting to buy as much time as possible by making him lock himself in his room. His friends took a little while to notice something was wrong, but sure enough they did. He watched through the window as Jaime arrived in the back yard looking worried. He knew something was off, but he was sure he could fix it.
See you stupid bug! He is my friend! He will help me!
Resistance is futile Francisco Testas. You will be assimilated.
"Shut up!" he had told the thing to call him Paco a hundred times by now, "I am not turning into a damn puppet!"
If his emotions were strong enough, he could break through the bug's control.
"Paco, I am coming in," he heard the door's hinges be ripped out. Really? Couldn't he just pick the lock?
"Step one: Locate and Destroy scarab Khaji Da," the moment Jaime came in his hand shook and pointed at him. Something was trying to ooze out of his skin.
"Everyone stay back," Jaime said as he removed his helmet "hey Paco, I know you are in there fighting that thing and you are doing great."
"...Hrrn...Jaime." he had never been so glad to see him.
"I will help you, just try to keep it still," Jaime said stepping forwards, but the moment he did the scarab finally got around to creating cannon out of his arm. Dios, his arm was a freaking cannon!
"My organic host... knows you...blames you... for betraying him," so this thing knew how to play dirty.
"Betraying him?" he wanted to shout at Jaime not to believe one word of it.
"You… did this… to me…" the scarab said using his voice before he saw the hurt on Jaime's face. No, he couldn't be that soft hearted as to believe that! The next moment he felt an immeasurable pain come from his chest which spread through his body.
"Leave him alone!" Jaime formed a cannon and pointed it at him. Of course, he looked unsure about firing it.
"Scarab Khaji Da: you are damaged," the scarab said as the pain subsided and his body was covered in Reach armor. The basic layout was much like Jaime's, but the rest was something else. His heart (scarab) started beating faster as it took its final form. Where his friend was blue he was gray with the tops of his pincers, knuckles and shoulders tainted blood red. The lines in between his armor shone red as if a fire was burning inside him. He launched at Jaime and he saw his face was a terrifying mask of fanged teeth. God, he hoped that wasn't permanent. The area around his eyes and nose was red while his eyes were shining yellow. It reminded him of a rabid dog.
Jaime undid his cannon and took the full hit. They had broken through at least three walls before they landed on the street.
"You are flawed. You must be replaced," the scarab said as it formed the cannon again and shot Jaime in the face.
"No!" he jumped back trying to pull the thing back. He heard coughing and turned to see Jaime stand up though now he was wearing his mask.
He shot his cannon at him but not with the same force the scarab that took over him did. Still, he crashed into the street, demolishing a few cars in the way. He was going to feel that one. Though in pain, the scarab forced him to get up before launching at him. He barreled through the street like a bull trying to impale Jaime with its pincers. His friend planted his feet firmly and took hold of the pincers before flipping him on his back like a wrestler before using his staple gun to immobilize him.
"How come he is using such deadly force?" Jaime asked, but he guessed it wasn't at him.
"The protocol enables extremely efficient countermeasures. Because a defective scarab must be eliminated so the mission can continue," his scarab responded as it broke free and flew up.
"Great," Jaime said forming blades out of his arms.
"It is the same for every scarab: infiltrate target world, disable planetary defenses, and prepare work for conquest," his scarab mimicked the blades.
"We already know that," Jaime said, "we chose to no longer follow the Reach!" Jaime launched and locked blades with his. The next moment the pincers on his back expanded.
"We are the Reach," his scarab said as he tried to fight for control.
"No, you are not, especially not when you are trying to use my friend!" Jaime shouted as the pincers pierced his chest.
"Ahhh!" he and the scarab screamed in unison as the pincers reached his heart before they fell to the ground with Jaime on top of them.
"Fight it, Paco! I need you help in this!" Jaime shouted as he tried to reprogram his scarab.
He was trying, but it hurt so much. It was as if his skin was being peeled off.
"Paco! You can do it!" he heard someone shout before he looked to the side. He spotted Tye watching worriedly.
"C'mon Paco! Show that thing who is the boss!" Damper had shouted before he saw the rest of the Posse before they all started shouting his name.
"Don't dare fucking give up!" Jaime shouted, his mask peeling back again. His face was contorted in pain as he fought the influence of his scarab.
"You are dama- AHHHH!" he shouted with his own lungs.
"So are you," Jaime said collapsing back, "Paco?"
"Yeah?" he asked as he took deep breaths.
"It wasn't true, right?" Jaime asked.
"Not a single work," he laughed before coughing painfully, "idiot."
Designation Khaji Da Re; protector of Earth and enemy of the Reach; new protocol initiated. Revising priorities for Francisco Testas.
"It's Paco!"
"Ha, good luck with that," Jaime said offering him a hand to get up.
Paco Testas, this unit now responds to you alone. As per new protocol, you are to use this unit for the assistance and aid of those inhabiting this world.
"How do you make it shut up?" he asked as he got to his feet.
"You don't," Jaime said now bending over with laughter.
Training is required for the new protocol to function. Providing a list of advice given by Khaji Da. At the top of the list is choosing a memorable name for civilians to call on when in need of aid.
"You are not serious," he said as a list appeared in his sight.
"If you don't talk to it, it stays mainly quiet," Jaime said they started fly, "now, c'mon. We need to speak about some things."
They could hear police sirens not too far. They flew until they reached the desert where Jaime removed his armor.
"It's going to hurt the first few times," Jaime said looking troubled, "better get it over with."
He nodded before commanding Khaji Da Re to come off. It was as if someone was pulling tape off all of his entire body at the same time plus being hung upside down for an hour. He collapsed on his knees trying to stop the world from spinning too much.
"How… how many times?" he asked looking at his friend.
"A few," Jaime said as he sat on the ground in front of him. He did the same.
"So, I guess I am in this too. This thing seems to think so," he said as Khaji Da Re kept going over its new protocol.
"I can program it again," Jaime said.
"It's fine!" he said placing his hand in front of him. That had hurt a lot. "It's just that I am not sure I am cut off for this hero stuff."
"You could join the Team. That's how I got started," Jaime said looking up at the sky.
"Can't you teach me? I mean you are the expert using this thing, Khaji Da Re or whatever," he pointed at his chest.
"Khaji Da Re?" Jaime asked with raised brows.
"That's what it calls itself," he explained.
"Huh, well I can teach you but the thing is I am going off to space in a few months, and I am moving to San Francisco soon so…" and he already knew about all of this.
"Don't you see that's a sign? Francisco? I will go with you," he said with a big smile. He loved El Paso, but life was too short to spend his life in one place. Besides, his mother was still living in California.
"What about the Posse?" Jaime asked.
"I will still come around," he said wondering how long it would be before Piñata forgave him, "besides, I have never been to space."
"Wait a moment, I didn't say you were going to space," Jaime said standing up.
"Khaji Da Re says we need to," it was on the list, really. "It seems Khaji Da added it to the list of things we need to do," he said with a smirk. Life was too short not to go to space.
"Seriously?" Jaime asked, but he knew it wasn't at him. A moment later he ran a hand down his face, "freaking alien scarabs." He looked at Paco with a thoughtful look, "so, the Red Beetle?"
"Heck no hombre," he laughed. "I was thinking more of the lines of the Blood Beetle. You know, since this thing is my heart."
"Yeah, let's try something more friendly," Jaime said with a smirk before a frown appeared on his face. He was looking at his chest intensely.
"Dude, you are freaking me out," he said stepping back. Was there something wrong?
"Torso?" Jaime said before shaking his head as if it didn't sound right.
"What?" he asked, before looking picking at his chest under his shirt. Right in the middle of his rib cage was a red mark in the shape of a beetle.
"Thorax," Jaime said before looking smiling, "what about Thorax?"
"Thorax?"
"Yeah, as in the chest, you know?" because that was where his scarab was.
"So, can I call you Spine?" he asked with a short laugh, "Thorax sounds cool."
"Let's just hope it sticks," Jaime said with a sigh.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"The media has this tendency to give us names without asking," Jaime told him.
"I am so getting called the Red Beetle," he sighed.
888
A few days later he was loading all of his belonging on the moving truck Jaime had brought over. All of his stuff was already there.
"Couldn't we borrow a ship or something like that?" he asked his friend as he helped him load his boxes.
"Yeah, because our landlord would be just happy to see a ship land on its roof," Jaime said before he slapped him on the back of the head, "hey!"
"Sorry, force of habit," he said in reality wanting to slap himself. Of course, they had to keep a low profile.
They kept on loading the boxes. He sort of wished the Posse were there, but they were away on an assignment from DOMA. He had said his goodbyes the night before, but actually moving was something else. He had made a home of that place for the past four years. Piñata was still upset at him, and who could blame her. They had been flirting around for months now and when things just seemed to get serious, he was leaving.
"Something strange happened earlier today," Jaime said snapping him away from his thoughts.
"What could be stranger than the last few days?" he asked curiously.
"Kid Flash was running away from Flash," Jaime started before he stopped in his tracks, "he was asking me to save him before he ran away again."
"That kid is sort of annoying; he probably made the Flash angry," he said before continuing. Did capes actually find such things strange?
"Flash is like the nicest guy around," Jaime said, "the really weird thing was that Flash had these puppets on his hands." His friend said lifting his hands "they looked very freaky."
"I don't believe you," he said with a laugh.
"You can ask Kid next time we see him," Jaime said before they continued loading the truck.
Life with the capes was something else, really.