[COLOR=SLATEGRAY][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3] P R E S E N T[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR] [CENTER][IMG]http://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/s480x480/e15/12353928_725869450847746_1871297134_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=MTE0NjkzNDU0ODY4NjU2MTIzMw%3D%3D.2[/IMG] [b][h3][color=Dodgerblue]B E E T L E' S B L U E S P A R T T W O [/color][/h3][/b] [/CENTER][COLOR=gold][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3] C H I C A G O[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][INDENT][sup][color=silver]March 11[sup]th[/sup], 2017 - 03:28 PM | [i]Museum of Science and Industry- Auditorium[/i][/color][/sup][/INDENT] One of the biggest perks of owning a hypersonic, bug-shaped airship had to be the ability to get across the country in no-time flat. Life as a billionaire, genius, and inventor-vigilante definitely had its upsides and for Ted one of the biggest was the chance to give speeches like these, to minds ready to be inspired towards a future of great inventions. That was without even counting the potential millions that could watch it as it was streamed to the internet too. Some might have been made nervous by the attention, but for Ted, about to get on stage in a teal blue suit and a bright green tie, it was just energy to feed on. The announcement finished up, and there was an instant hush as somewhere around seven-hundred people caught sight of the purposefully garish colors of his outfit. He raised his hands for their further attention, then gave a flourish and a dramatic bow that set some less decorous viewers chuckling and put a few smiles on what was otherwise a sea of raptly attentive faces.. "Well, I know we're not here just to admire my raw charisma and dashing good looks, so let's get right to it. Hello everyone, and welcome to my 'TED' Talk." Another series of scattered laughs from the crowd. "As many of you know, since I took over Kord Omniversal at eighteen, I've always oriented the company towards a single slogan 'Making a brighter future, today'. Too often, it seems we envision the future as a dark place, bleak and degraded if not an outright wasteland, especially in our pop culture. Too often, it seems that technology in one form or another is to blame for this dark future." He paused for a moment as images flickered across the screen from a variety of dystopian and post-apocalyptic films and properties, then continued. "But when I went to work at Kord Omniversal, technically at the tender age of nine, it was a different version of the future that inspired me to invent. A future dreamed up by men like Isaac Asimov, the Strugatsky Brothers, and at times my dear old dad. A world where things weren't always perfect, but always better! Where technology was a benevolent tool, one that helps us better ourselves and better understand our universe. Yes, I have some talent, but it's that bright vision for the future that I really credit for my success." Right on schedule, the big screen flashed the Kord Omniversal logo and brought up a series of images of all sorts of Kord inventions. "In the many years since, Kord Omniversal has created endless new technologies, from drones built to explore the vastness of space and the depths of our oceans, to life-saving and life-extending medical inventions. We've broadened out even further to artificial intelligence development, electronic entertainment, any problem that could use some of the best scientific and creative minds on the planet. Because it's not about money or the recognition, it's about bringing a better future one step closer every day and-" [h3][b][color=silver]"-LIAR!"[/color][/b][/h3] Ted froze at the sound of the familiar bellow that rang like the world's most enraged set of wind chimes. A figure that stood like a gleaming, six foot five metallic statue had just come through the doors to the auditorium, flanked by two others. To the right of him was a gas-mask wearing man in a suit of golden metal plating and silvery flameproof fabric, and to the left another in a robotic exosuit of green and purple with an odd, curved apparatus attached to one arm. Ted knew all of them well, not only because he'd put them all in specially designed prison cells, but also because they were all former employees of Kord Omniversal. He wordlessly rolled up his sleeve and started pressing buttons on the arm of the Blue Beetle suit underneath as the metal man went on. [color=silver][b]"This is the result of your 'better future' Mr. Kord! Your company made disfigured us, discarded us, made us freaks and outcasts! So now we're going to show the world how your dream ends, by killing you live in front of the world! But we're generous guys, so everyone else can get out! Today, we're just here for Ted Kord!"[/b][/color] A lot of screaming and panic ensued, but to the credit of both the crowd and surprisingly the supervillains, nobody was trampled and they were actually allowed to run out of the hall. Which just left Ted and three very angry, murderous bad guys. "Y'know guys, I don't exactly feel like dying today. Could we maybe reschedule?" No such luck, the League of Evil Ex-Employees continued to advance on him. That is, until the wireless commands he'd issued to the Hall's lighting via his wrist communicator plunged the hall into darkness. Long years of experience gave Ted the timing he needed to roll aside as an unseen projectile whirred through the empty air where his head had been. He came to his feet and stripped off his over-clothes in swift, well-practiced motions to reveal the skintight Blue Beetle suit underneath and got his cowl on and goggles in place moments later, ignoring his enemies' cries of frustration and alarm. The now suited-up Blue Beetle used his B.B. gun to grapple up to the balcony level of the Auditorium while dropping a little disk at his feet. Then, overlooking the stage, he let out his instantly recognizable guffaw, the noise echoing around the room: [color=dodgerblue][b]"BWAH-HAHAHAHA!~"[/b][/color] The villains might have interrupted, but the show must go on! With another command sequence to the little screen on his wrist, a hard-light HoloTed popped up from the little disk and began cowering off to the side, just in time for the lights of the auditorium to flash back on in a perfect shade of Beetle Blue. The metal man's face reflected the light with a look of shock and despair, while the other two masked figures searched the room wildly, all of them in dismay at the sudden illumination and the all-too-recognizable laugh. [color=silver][b]"NonononoNO! He can't be here! Not today! Not now! Anyone but him!"[/b][/color] The HoloTed used the distraction to run out a side exit, screaming like a little girl. It [i]was[/i] programmed to be a completely accurate simulation of himself, after all. Still running on the same hacked-in program, a big Blue Beetle logo appeared on the auditorium's main projector screen, right as Blue Beetle himself dropped down to center stage with a big grin. "Well it sure ain't Wonder Woman, Promethium Man!" Promethium Man started to glow red hot, his rage rising as fast as his temperature as he stormed the stage with a roar. The Big Blue Bug waited until nearly the last minute, then sailed into the air so that the big lug crashed into the wall behind him in a cloud of smoke and plaster. Ted did a few midair flips for good measure before coming down, then stuck the landing, with a smirk on his face. "Be honest with me fellas! Is the reason I don't get enough respect in the capes-and-tights community because my villains are [b]so lame[/b]?" The silver-and-gold suited villain lit his fists on fire with a [i]whoosh![/i] of igniting accelerant, just as his purple-and-green armored counterpart took to the air and loaded some sort of sphere into the long, curved cup on his arm. "I mean-" The gas-masked man shot a gout of flame at Blue Beetle and a blue pistol was suddenly in Ted's hand as a blast of wind snuffed the fire out and slammed him into the first row of seats "-what kind of name is 'Firefist' anyways? Was it supposed to be a heavy metal album for nine-year-olds before you turned evil?" A crash and a tortured shriek of hot metal announced that the Promethium Man was back on his feet, only for Ted to turn and blind him with a painfully bright beam of light from the same gun. " The name 'Promethium Man' has the opposite problem, it's [i]sooo[/i] boring." Promethium Man fought through the blindness and pain to charge in the direction of Blue Beetle's voice at the same time as his flying foe flung a beeping metal sphere at Ted. Without pausing, Ted whirled into a perfect bicycle kick that knocked the explosive into the metallic murderer's face and hurled him back into the very same dent in the wall he'd just exited. Ted landed in a crouch to face the last of his enemies still standing, or in this case flying, and gave him a mock salute "See, you've got it right, Overthrow is a decent name." Overthrow immediately started flinging more miniature explosives from the air, though Blue Beetle nimbly evaded each through a series of aerial cartwheels then leaped almost impossibly high in the air. His fist cracked across Otherthrow's faceplate in a mid-air collision before he could launch another bomb, then the two of them crashed into the balcony seats in a tangle. Blue Beetle got to his feet first. Hands blurring, he gripped Overthrow's wrist and twisted his arm into a lock that made him writhe and scream in pain before snapping the launching apparatus around his arm. Overthrow managed to scythe out with his feet and knock the Azure Avenger to the ground, but before the power-suited killer could bring a boot down on his neck Ted grabbed his leg and twisted so they were both on the ground. The two rolled apart and stood up across from each other. They faced one another like that for a while, both panting, each seemingly wary and sizing up their opponent. "You always were...a tricky one, Arnold. But there's one thing...you don't understand." Overthrow scoffed, voice distorted to a crackling basso by his helmet "What? That a corrupt dog of...the military-industrial complex like you has...[i]righteousness[/i] on his side?" "Heh, Nope! When I grabbed your leg earlier, I broke your jet-boots!" "WHA-" Overthrow slammed into the ceiling in a burst of rocket fire, then fell back down onto the balcony, flopping like a rag-doll. Ted chuckled in between trying to catch his breath "Overthrow might be...a decent name...but picking jai alai as your theme makes you...my stupidest rogue." Blue Beetle shot his grappling hook up into the roof and descended back down to the main floor, still panting, thankful that his outfit prevented sweat from getting in his eyes and with one hand over his hammering heart. Firefist tried to take another shot at him from behind, but Ted just drew a second trick pistol with his left hand and hit the pyromaniac with a sonic pulse that made him start violently vomiting into his gas mask, not bothering to turn around. "Whoo...not bad for a man with a heart condition, huh?" The Chicago Police Department moved in after that, along with a horde of reporters. Not quite the sort of publicity Ted was hoping for today. [hr][indent][sup][color=silver]March 12[sup]th[/sup], 2017 - 8:28 AM | [i]Ted Kord's Chicago Penthouse-Bedroom[/i][/color][/sup][/indent] Ted got out of bed aching after yesterday's rigors of crime-fighting, press coverage and inventing. He'd gotten the Bug running at 90% solar power, He'd be running some new drone designs for space exploration by STARK and Waynetech R&D to see if either of them wanted to bite on collaborations and the heads of both companies along with a few others should be waking up to party invitations by now. No sense having a birthday week if you didn't celebrate, after all. Still, he couldn't help feeling troubled by the accusations of the supervillains from yesterday. They were right, at least about the fact that he had failed each of them in the past. Curt Calhoun was a foreman at one of his factories before he became the Promethium Man in an industrial accident that bonded one of the world's strongest and most radioactive materials to his body. True, Ted had been working on a cure for the man for years, but mutations to Curt's DNA and bonding to the metal on a cellular level meant that was going nowhere fast. Ted couldn't imagine how he must suffer, trapped in a cold Promethium body, unable to feel anything. Firefist was Doctor Lyle Barnes, High-Energy Materials Researcher for K.O.R.D. . At least he was until a malfunctioning experiment disfigured him. He'd blamed the firefighters for not responding quickly enough at first, then blamed Ted once that failed to ease his pain. Overthrow was Ted's bodyguard, but...well no, Arnold Becker had always been a crazy, paranoid conspiracy theorist. But Ted was at least responsible for the other two. Maybe he could do something more for them now that they weren't a danger to anyone. It was a new problem for this new day. "HoloTed, gimme the schedule for this beautiful morning, then set my alarm for a quick power nap!" A voice and a form materialized by Ted's bed, but it wasn't his own grinning mug that faced him. "Oh little Theodore, still a foolish boy dreaming of saving the world." The shimmering, chrome-dome'd visage with its precise, clipped Germanic accent belonged to a man Ted believed to be dead for over a decade. His greatest enemy. Conrad Carapax. "It's time to wake up, Ted."