[center] [hr][hr] [img]https://res.cloudinary.com/teepublic/image/private/s--Kl3ScUff--/t_Preview/b_rgb:191919,c_limit,f_auto,h_313,q_90,w_313/v1512130609/production/designs/2126250_1[/img][/center] [right][h2][color=7ea7d8]The Blue Beetle stars in...The Runaway: Issue #4[/color][/h2][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/4719334]Previous Issue[/url][/right] [hr][hr] [b]Unknown SHIELD Facility[/b] The elevator doors sliding open was matched by the sliding of rifle bolts. That threshold was met with the cavernous roar of a dozen guns, each pouring hellish amounts of fire into the tightly backed interior. Jaime didn't have even a moment to prepare himself before he felt the sting of exploded rounds striking against his body. If he wasn't wearing the Scarab's chitin Reyes would've been torn apart in less than a second. Still, he felt every individual shot ring against his chest and against his skull. The armor squirmed, hardening like steel around every super-sonic bullet, catching it in that liquid shell. Most of the energy was successfully diluted and absorbed; but a volley of thousands was nearly enough to overwhelm the Scarab's natural defenses. Reyes let out a blood-curdling scream, equal parts pain and terror, as he felt burning lead stab into his gut. He threw his arms up in front of his face, letting the bullets stop inside of his arms instead of his skull. Anguish spread like fire through his sinew and marrow, forcing the boy down to his knees. He'd never been shot before...it was a pain without compare. Another sound played in synchrony with his cry. A far less human shriek, like that of the damned. It's meaning was less clear to Jaime than the one upon his own lips. The Scarab's emotions were...less than human, and difficult to read. Was it pain that Khaji Da felt? Or was it rage? Either worked in equal measure, Reyes realized, as he felt his own arms lower of their own accord. He felt them shift unnaturally, melting and melding with the chitinous exterior until a pair of wicked blades were all that was left. Both pain and rage were sufficient motivators to violence. This was the first time Jaime didn't immediately black out when Khaji Da took control. It was the first time he would get to see what the Scarab was like in action. It was somewhere between a beautiful dance and a stomach-churning massacre. Every movement of the Beetle was quick, precise and measured. Jaime felt himself lurch, his arm splaying out toward the closest SHIELD agent. These men were armored, surrounded in a shell of plastics and titanium plating. Soldiers. Yet even still, those wicked, wicked blades wielded on Reyes's arms seemed to slice through them as if the armor wasn't even there. Both of the first man's arms were sliced deep, straight to the marrow. Hee let out a terrible, agonized cry as he hit the floor. Khaji Da knelt down, the blades retracting to let his fingers take hold of the agent's fallen firearm. It was automatic assault rifle of unknown make and model- likely a SHIELD exclusive tool for dealing with beings like the Scarab. Their weapons proved less than adequate this day. Thin, snaking tendrils coiled from the chitin, grasping the gun like a hundred tiny fingers. They pulled and tugged at it, dragging the rifle down into the ever-growing mass of otherworldly material. Jaime felt just a little sick as he watched the two become one. His ears rang painfully at the cacophony of gunfire that followed. Each of the eleven soldiers sent to apprehend them went down, his or her limbs exploding in a crimson mist as they went down. Reyes wanted to protest the sickening sight, but the pain in his stomach told him that Khaji Da had done what was needed. [i][color=7ea7d8]'At least they're still...alive...'[/color][/i] The sentiment rang hollow, but there was no time to think on it any further. Life and death hung by a thread, and it was all Jaime could do to press onward. He ran from the elevator, making a break for the large gate on the other end of the room. Stacks of cargo crates strapped together filled the room, standing sentinel beside barrels of what Reyes assumed to be oil or gasoline. His arm transformed once more, the newly assimilated rifle mutating into the Scarab's plasma cannon. Reyes raised the heavy device, his teeth gritting together as he felt streams of heat bow over him. An explosive sphere of energy tore the door in twain, melting through several inches of solid steel like it was tissue paper. Climbing through, Reyes was hit in the face by two things: A massive gust of wind, and the realization that he couldn't see anything but clouds for miles. No land, no sea, no trees; at first he thought a fog must've fallen over the airstrip, but it was made readily apparent that was not the case. [color=7ea7d8]"Uhh...Where are we?"[/color] [b][color=0072bc]'We appear to be twenty four thousand feet above sea level."[/color][/b] Reyes could only scoff at the ridiculousness of the claim. [color=7ea7d8]"Well how the hell are we gonna get outta here, [i]ese[/i]? Can...we fly?"[/color] [b][color=0072bc]'Not yet. Approach that pad to your right.'[/color][/b] He turned, eyeing up the ground. It took him a second to take notice of the square indent in the metal. [color=7ea7d8]"A trap door?"[/color] He muttered, starting toward it at a jog. He felt unsteady in the beating, merciless embrace of the zephyr. "What's under here-" Hesitant fingers reached down into the indent, finding some purchase underneath. With a heave Jaime lifted, surprised by how easily it seemed to give way. Metal screeched in protest as gears were turned. Something-likely a safety lock- snapped. The doors were forced open, revealing the vehicle nestled inside. Some kind of fighter jet, Jaime could tell, though it wasn't a model or design he was familiar with. [color=7ea7d8]"So this is how we get outta here? Can you fly this thing?"[/color] [b][color=0072bc]'Not exactly. Place your hand upon it.'[/color][/b] Reyes reached down and did so, and immediately felt a shock run through his fingers. He watched the armor on his arm bend away, revealing the flesh underneath as it splayed out over the metallic hull of the airplane. Tendrils of ebony snaked around toward the back end of the jet, wrapping their inhuman feelers around the engine. With a heave and a monstrous tug, Khaji Da broke the engine off the back of the jet, dragging the hefty object toward Jaime. Another merger, much like what had happened with the gun, made Jaime's skin crawl- literally, in this case. [color=7ea7d8]"What're you-"[/color] His mouth snapped shut when he felt something stab into his back. Craning his neck over his shoulder let the teenager catch a glimpse of the mutating hunk of technology now protruding from his back. It looked like what an ant might conceive to be a jetpack- covered in a hard shell and pulsating like a living entity. It was a disconcerting sight, to say the least. Khaji Da wasn't going to give his human host time to process what was happening. [color=7ea7d8]'I will explain when we are out of danger. Running flight protocols.'[/color] Jaime's body jerked upward without any further warning fast enough for his head to whip forward, his chin smacking his chest. He briefly wondered of this was how his dog felt whenever he tugged on her leash- if he was tugging her at somewhere between mach 1 and 30 through open air. His terrified, less-than-dignified screams were cut short after they'd risen high enough for Jaime to get a full look at the structure he'd been kept prisoner on. Or, more accurately, the [i]flying aircraft carrier[/i] he'd been on. [color=7ea7d8]"Shit."[/color] He whispered under his breath, eyes as wide as saucers. [color=7ea7d8]"That's...cool."[/color] Then he heard something of a sputtering from behind him. Then he stopped going up. And started falling down. [color=0072bc][b]'Odd.'[/b][/color] Khaji Da started, amidst the screams for help from his young partner in crime. Ignoring the prayers for help from the boy, the Scarab attempted to rationalize what was happening. [b][color=0072bc]'Perhaps I should have mentioned this earlier, Jaime Reyes, but when I was reactivated in the interrogation room, I noticed that several of my files had been corrupted. Included in these were memory, mission parameters, and several of my unit's basic functionalities such as flight controls-'[/color][/b] [color=7ea7d8]"Holy shit!"[/color] Jaime screeched, his arms flailing helplessly through the clouds as he plummeted toward the earth at terminal velocity. [color=7ea7d8]"I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. You killed me- you fucking killed me-"[/color] [color=0072bc][b]'Not to worry, Jaime Reyes. This unit is designed to survive atmospheric reentry. We should be perfectly safe.'[/b][/color] [color=7ea7d8]"S-SHOULD BE?!"[/color] [color=0072bc][b]'Theoretically.'[/b][/color] So Jaime Reyes screamed. And he screamed. And he screamed some more, until his throat was too raw too continued. He screamed until the clouds broke and he saw the ground approaching. Then he hit. And everything went black.