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Ted Kord was currently having a really bad day. Emphasis on the bad. What had started with what he had initially thought would be a simple case of rescuing people from a burning building, had dramatically turned into Ted being knocked down by a mad man with a bucket on his head. [b]Firefist[/b] was what the loon seemed to call himself, with the man repeating his name constantly as he droned on in great detail about how this would be the end of the mighty Blue Beetle of Chicago. Or something along those lines. Honestly Ted had zoned out within the first couple of seconds of the man's speech, with him attempting to recover from his current situation. 

Drawing both his legs anterior to his chest, the Blue Beetle pushed forward against the floor with his arms, thrusting himself up into the air and quickly onto his feet. Before the villain could react, Ted darted forward and kicked out. His foot impacted heavily against Firefist’s chest, a short cracking sound indicating that Ted had broken one of his ribs. The impact of course caused the armoured man to stumble back, before hunching forward in pain.

“What’s wrong big guy?” Ted taunted moving closer. “I’m having a cracking time here!”

“That was honestly awful Ted.” Tracy’s voice buzzed in his ear briefly, with her evidently ashamed by Ted’s attempt at smack talk.

“I’m trying, okay?”

Firefist obviously agreed with Tracy, with him roaring in rage. He swung out his arm in an attempt to hit the hero, instead missing and smashing it through a wooden support beam. The ceiling lurched slightly, causing debris to fall around them. It took Ted to have to avoid a falling piece of wood in order for him to remember about how literally everything around him was burning. He had to finish this. Fast. 

He swooped backwards as Firefist sent another rage fuelled fist in his direction, avoiding the hit and probably what was likely to be another trip to the floor. Using the fact that the arsonist was currently off balanced with the recent swing, Ted got in close, pummelling him. The repeated blows kept the villain at bay, leaving him unable to respond, which just enabled Ted to continue. Swinging round his arm for one last hit, Ted launched it upwards, his hand colliding with the button of his helmet. The punch caused the helmet to launch into the air off of his head, leaving Firefist to tumble helplessly to the floor. That was when Ted saw his face.

It was easy to understand why the man wore the helmet. Scars covered the entirety of his face, with Ted realizing instantly that they were burn marks. Two pale eyes stared back horrified at Ted, with what appeared to be tears beginning to stream down what remained of his face. 

“Don’t look at me, you… you freak!” Firefist cried, making a grab for his helmet. 

Ted stepped forward to help, only to find himself knocked down to the floor again, with Firefist swinging his arm out quickly in his panic. From his position on the floor, Ted watched helplessly as the arsonist covered his burned face with his helmet, with him giving the hero one last look with his terrified eyes, before he turned and ran straight towards the room’s wall. Or well what was left of it anyway. He charged forward, smashing his way through with his fist, before jumping out of sight. 

Grimacing Ted got up to follow, however Tracy’s voice in his ear stopped him. 

“As much as you need to catch that guy, we still have someone else left in there with you.”

Ted nodded to himself, remembering. “Right.”

Pressing forward, the Blue Beetle attempted to navigate himself through the burning building, his left hand covering his nose and mouth due to him breaking his gas mask during his confrontation previously. He didn’t let that stop him however, with Ted continuing his journey through the apartments. He managed to make his way down a few flights of stairs when a cry caught his attention over the roaring sound of the flames. Realizing he was close, Ted pressed harder, the crying getting louder the closer he got. 

Kicking down the remains of a door, Ted encountered her. The girl was probably only around five and was obviously cowering underneath her bed. Well it was only obvious due to the extremely loud crying. Crouching down next to her, he smiled in an attempt to calm her down, despite the face the walls around them were falling apart. 

“Shh… shh… it’s ok!” He coughed, with Ted attempting to put on a brave face. 

“You’re him!” She cried, her eyes seemingly lighting up at the site of the blue hero. 

“Indeed I am.” Ted gave her a smile, sweat pouring down his face under his mask.

“Beetleman!”

“Yeah… sure, I’m Beetleman” He said, realizing that now was probably not the best time to give her a lesson on Chicago’s number one hero. “Don’t worry, I’m getting you out of here!”

Pressing a small button on his glove, Ted caught hold of the wire from the Bug as it descended down to him among the burning wreckage. Pulling the child in close, he activated the Bug’s winch by clicking the side of the handle on the wire. The two were pulled up into the air, the girl holding Ted tightly as they passed through the debris. Before long, they were finally out of the heat and above the crumbling wreck. 

It didn’t take long for Ted to return the girl back to her parents, with Ted lowering the Bug towards the ground. It had been a magical event, watching her parents reuniting with their daughter. There face’s so full of joy and hope at just the mere sight of her. That’s what Ted loved most about being a hero. The little moments like that.

It wasn’t over however. After congratulating the fire fighters for their hard work and telling the press that it was them, the everyday people, that were the true heroes, Ted returned to his seat in the Bug and took to the skies once more. 

“Tracy, I’m going to need you to run a scan through the records of Mercy Hospital and all the other medical centres in Chicago.” He instructed. 

“What am I looking for?”

“A burn victim. A severe one at that.” Ted replied, steering the Bug back towards Kord Omniversal.