[center][img]https://www.alltimelines.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/dc-blue-beetle-banner.jpg[/img][/center][right][color=7ea7d8][h2]Cowboys And Aliens: Issue #8[/h2][/color][/right][hr][hr][b]New York City, New York[/b]

Jaime couldn't get the door open. 

He'd tried everything the Scarab suggested, but nothing was working. Rerouting the power only activated the dead switch on the gate that kept it from popping open if the facility lost power. Attempting to reverse the lockdown ended in failure because he needed a specific code that only a choice few employees knew. And apparently just breaking the door down was going to compromise what little integrity the structure still had.

[color=7ea7d8]"Gotta be kiddin' me."[/color] He grumbled to himself, fidgeting with a pair of wires he'd already tried three times before. He couldn't just stand there dumbfounded, but he was out of ideas. To make matters worse, he had a growing audience to watch him fumble and fail. Over a dozen prisoners, guards and staff had appeared in a blur of movement as the Flash dragged more and more people to the front entrance. They were as impatient as one would expect when their lives were hanging by a thread.

[color=7ea7d8]"If I don't open the door, the Raft gets flooded with water and we all drown,"[/color] Reyes mumbled under his breath, his brow furrowed in utter frustration, [color=7ea7d8]"but if I actually [i]open[/i] the door, the roof collapses, we get buried under rubble and we all drown anyway."[/color] It was a real catch-22- one that ended in about a hundred people dying in the worst way imaginable because Jaime's advanced alien backpack couldn't manage to [i]open a God damn door.[/i]

"Get it open already!" One of the prisoners shouted, throwing his bound hands into the air. "We're gonna fuckin' die in here!"

[color=7ea7d8]"I'm trying, [i]hombre[/i], but it's harder than it looks!"[/color] The distant rending of metal as more of the building caved in was yet another reminder of how little time he had left. There had to be something he was missing. Something he was overlooking that he could use to get them through it before they went down with the ship. [color=7ea7d8]"Give me somethin', Scarab. What do I do here?"[/color]

[color=0072bc][b]'Force the door open.'[/b][/color]

[color=7ea7d8]"So the ceiling falls on us? Great pla-"[/color]

[color=0072bc][b]'No,'[/b][/color] Khaji Da interrupted him sharply, [b][color=0072bc]'we can bear the extra weight while the others flee.'[/color][/b]

Reyes wasn't sure. [color=7ea7d8]"What, like hold the roof up? I...don't know about that."[/color] There was so much that could go wrong. So many things that would have to be accounted for. If he screwed it up even a little bit, people would die- potentially a great many people. There had to be some other way. There [i]had[/i] to be. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of concrete snapping above his head. A crack shot across the ceiling, sending dust and bits of rock falling down on the prisoners' heads. He felt his heart sink when he spotted water dripping down from the crevice. There wasn't any time left to doubt; he had to trust Khaji knew what it was talking about. 

[color=7ea7d8]"Alright. Let's do this."[/color] He stepped up to the massive iron gate, rubbing his palms together as he looked over it. It was almost twice his height and just as wide across, and at least twelve inches thick. He had no idea what this much steel would weigh, but Jaime couldn't imagine it was any less than several tons. He hadn't gotten the chance to test just how strong the suit made him...

Better late than never, right?

Reyes shoved his fingers into the slot between the two sides of the door, wiggling them as deep inside as he could. [color=7ea7d8]"Come on Jaime."[/color] He huffed, dragging at each half with all of the might that he could muster. [color=7ea7d8]"Come on, Jaime!"[/color] It felt like he was trying to pull apart an aircraft carrier. The lock wheezed, bucked and screamed in protest, metal shearing against metal as Reyes tried to open up the door. For every inch of progress he made, the sound of the ceiling pulling apart grew louder. More water was flooding the corridor with every passing second, and a panic was starting to spread through the survivors behind him.

The muscles in his forearms ached and burned, the sinew tensing as it was brought to capacity. [i][color=7ea7d8]'This is what I get for skipping gym.'[/color][/i] He thought with a grimacing, struggling through the pain. He was rewarded by the scent of sea water hitting his nostrils from the other side, a ray of light shooting through the crack. It gave him the second wind he needed to shove even harder, sliding a leg into the gap to use everything he had at his disposal.

Despite the great strength he showed in moving it this far, Jaime still couldn't get it open enough for anyone to slip through. If he couldn't go all of the way, his effort would be for naught, and the lives behind him forfeit. Thankfully for the young, intrepid hero, he was not alone. [color=0072bc][b]'It would appear you require my assistance.'[/b][/color] A dozen tendrils of living metal shot form the Scarab-flesh, twisting and turning in the air as they shot for the gap in the door. Each dug deep into the metal, solidifying into powerful limbs. The Scarab gave it all it had, and it proved to be enough-

The door was open now.

Reyes slipped to the side, shoving his shoulder against one part and motioning forward with his head. [color=7ea7d8]"Alright everybody, pile out! I dunno how long I can hold this!"[/color] He shouted backward. The freezing mob of prisoners and staff didn't need to be told twice. They rushed for the door, ducking underneath Jaime's extended arm and making a break for the Raft's bridge. None of them even bothered to look back at the struggling teenager as he fought to keep from crushing some poor soul between the giant slabs of metal.

He was forced to remain in that position, holding up the waning structure like some discount Atlas as the Flash ferried the injured and other prisoners out through the gap. Reyes groaned, grunted and snarled, but he held his ground. The bruises in his ribs and the burns upon his back were not kind in their aching, but he had to ignore the wounds; he wasn't going to abandon any of these people. That wasn't what superheroes did.

[color=7ea7d8]"Jaime Reyes- [i]agh[/i]- superhero. I can- [i]shit, this is heavy[/i]- get used to that."[/color]