El Paso, Texas, 11:00 AM, UTC
"Jaime? Jaime, are you awake?"
Jamie slowly blinked, and the blurry images of his parents came into focus, along with...
"Mami, why is there a super-hero in my room?"
The Jaime Reyes is awake. Warning. This unit's power level is dangerously low. Shutting down all primary functions and starting auto-repair
Jaime jumped out of bed and stared at everyone in the room, temporarily forgetting the fact that Ted Kord, aka Blue Beetle, was standing in his bedroom
"Mami, Papi, did you hear that?" He stared at his parents, wide brown eyes filled with fear. His parents looked worriedly at Ted.
"Mr Kord, is Jaime going to okay?" Bianca Reyes looked at Ted, her face filled with concern for her son.
"Don't worry, Miss Reyes. This was expected to happen. The scarab is talking to Jaime. Would you allow me a few moments with Jaime?"
Alberto and Bianca nodded reluctantly, and walked out of the room, leaving the door open a crack. Ted sat down in front of Jaime, and smiled kindly.
"Take a seat, Jaime. I'm going to explain everything. That scarab attached to your back is a device that used to belong to Dan Garret, the first Blue Beetle and a great man. He used the scarab to gain amazing powers, like the ability to fly-" Ted was interrupted by Jaime jumping up and yelling excitedly.
'I'm going to be able to fly? Will I be able to shoot laser out of my eyes? Will I be super strong as well? Am I going to be a superhero?"
Ted sighed. This is going to take a while, he thought.
"Jaime. For some reason, the scarab is really weak. I don't think you'll have flight for a while. It's very badly hurt, you see. And, when you turn fifteen, I'll take you in for training. Until then...sit tight, and I'll talk to your parents about this..."
Three years later...
[Rebooting...analyzing new mission parameters...New mission accepted: Protect Jaime Reyes and his familial unit.]
Jaime sat bolt upright in his bed. During the three years since the scarab latched onto his spine, he'd never heard it speak once.
"Um...hi?"
[Greetings, Jaime Reyes.]
"Okay...this is really weird. You know my name, but I don't know yours, bug."
[This unit has no 'name'.]
"Dude, everyone has a name. You gotta have a name."
[Explain]
"Um...explain what?"
[Explain this 'name']
"Um...a name is how people know who you are. Like, someone just sees you, and they wanna be a friend, they have to know your name."
[Analyzing...a name is a form of designation used to differentiate between individuals. This unit has no 'name']
"You know what? I'm gonna call you Scarab for now."
[Acceptable.]
Five Years Later
Jaime got off the bus to school, grinning at Paco as the two of them walked over to meet with their friends Tye Longshadow and Brenda Del Vecchio. Scarab had finally decided that the three teenagers weren't a threat to Jaime and ceased threatening to eviscerate Brenda every time she gave Jaime a hug. Jaime had finally figured out how the armour worked after three years, when the scarab had finally said: [Repairs to tactical directory complete. Deploying Infiltration Mode]. The armour had taken some time to get used to, but it was totally worth it, besides the really crazy advice the scarab gave him.
[Jaime Reyes. The enemy designated "Carl" approaches. Hormonal scans indicate he is in a state of belligerence. Recommended tactic: Evisceration]
Hey, hermano, we had this conversation. We hate Carl, but we don't kill him.
[You are a fool, Jaime Reyes. The "Carl" is intent on your destruction.]
The bulky footballer strode up to Jaime, a cruel smirk on his face, blond hair gelled into spikes.
"Hey, Reyes! You're going to give me your history paper."
Jaime raised an eyebrow, and Paco stepped up beside him
"This guy givin' you a problem, hermano?"
The bulky teenager was easily a match for Carl in both size and weight, and Paco's reputation as a mean fighter made him a little bit more of a threat. The Scarab liked how Paco fought, which in itself is more than a little worrying. Carl slowly backed away, and turned to leave.
"See you later, Jaime. You know you won't always have Paco to save you!"
Jaime sighed, and clapped Paco on his back.
"Thanks, hermano. Let's just get to class, yeah?"
The foursome walked into the school building, and got ready for class. Jaime looked out the window of his history class, and sighed to himself
When am I going to become a proper hero?
[Jaime Reyes, the Ted Kord will return soon for his next visit.
"I know that!"
Everyone in class looked at him like he was crazy, something Jaime was getting even more used to after five years of having Jiminy Cricket with a bad attitude living in his head and occasionally taking command of his voice.
Meanwhile, at the edges of school...
"It's them."
The figure in the shadows looked at her partner.
"Really? Who's going to approach them?"
"I'll handle Longshadow. You take Reyes."
"Why me?"
"Which one of us is he more likely to listen to?"
"Fiiiine."
The two figures lept off, and stood in wait for their targets...
A/N: Guess who the mystery figures are! Also, I hope people don't mind how the timeline skips around...