[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/RUtJzFy.png[/img][/center] [sub][h3][color=SKYBLUE][b]T H E ‘ E M B A S S Y ‘[/b][/color][/h3][/sub][hr][sup][color=skyblue]Four Months Ago[/color] | [color=darkgray]Manhattan, New York[/color][/sup] [color=skyblue]“So, I’m Blue Beetle. This is Booster Gold. We called you in to clear up some gaps in your résumé. Now it says here that your power set—”[/color] “Strong Guy.” [color=goldenrod][b]“Uh huh. That’s what it says here. Seems pretty apparent too. Big unit.”[/b][/color] Booster Gold said, pointing at the paperwork and flexing his bicep. [color=goldenrod][b]“Must be hitting that creatine pretty hard, huh? I’ve been thinking about getting into some kind of program myself. Heard good things about this new gym program thing around here called ‘Dianetics’, there seems to be a bunch of them open in the area…”[/b][/color] [color=skyblue]"Dia--?"[/color] Ted turned and shot Booster a look of disbelief, before he rolled his eyes and shook his head, returning to the task at hand. [color=skyblue]“Yeah. As we said there’s a lot of gaps in your résumé here. Also it seems to say your name is—”[/color] “Strong Guy.” The pair looked at each other and then at the new potential hire. [Img]https://i.imgur.com/FsM6ZIH.jpg[/img] [Color=skyblue]"..."[/color] [Color=goldenrod][b]"..."[/b][/color] [color=skyblue]“Well, we have your paperwork on file if anything new opens up…”[/color] [hr] [sub][h3][color=SKYBLUE][b]I N T R A N S I T[/b][/color][/h3][/sub][hr][sup][color=skyblue]Three Months Ago[/color] | [color=darkgray]Manhattan, New York[/color][/sup] The team rode quickly in the Bug. It was fairly open plan and over the years Ted had added more seats for group comfort despite how many of his teammates could fly themselves. He'd even sectioned off a mobile "laboratory" for Hank on board since he'd generally either stay with the Bug or communicate via comm-link from the Embassy. Ted sat in the driver's seat and casually flicked between visual screens whilst maintaing steady control of the vehicle with a DJ's precision. Keeping focus on the main screen using one of the ship's Doodlebug drones, whilst flying to their Wall Street destination. Janet Van Dyne watched him for a few moments, and seeing that he had control of the situation, used a lever to swing her seat up towards the front of the airship to sit alongside of him. [color=yellow][b]"So, how's things?"[/b][/color] Ted shot her a curious glance. [color=skyblue]"Fine. Why? Shouldn't take more than a few minutes."[/color] [color=yellow][b]"Everything alright with Tora?"[/b][/color] Jan probed. [color=skyblue]"Ah."[/color] Ted responded, realising what the concern was about. [color=skyblue]"She's fine. She's back celebrating her birthday with her family. They have a festival back in her home town.. village..? Let's stick with 'home town'. Whole big thing. We're fine."[/color] [color=yellow][b]"Aha..."[/b][/color] Janet replied, as if she was understanding the situation. [color=yellow][b]"And the parents don't get on with their little girl's choice of men?"[/b][/color] [color=skyblue]"What--? No. We get on fine. I just can't go because work gets crazy this time of year. At K.O.R.D we have our own festival. It's called 'End of Financial Year'. At hers there's folk dancing, the strange fermentation of regional fish and traditional dress. At K.O.R.D we have the annual balance sheet, Profit/Loss and the annual cash flow forecast... which in my experience has so tenuous a bearing on reality that whoever's worked on it has probably consumed numerous bottles of something well fermented beforehand. And the only dancing I do is at the Annual Shareholder meeting."[/color] He shot her a clownish grin. [color=yellow][b]"Proud of that one, huh?"[/b][/color] She smirked. [color=skyblue]"Little bit."[/color] His grin widened. [color=yellow][b]"So everything's fine?"[/b][/color] [color=skyblue]"Well, at the risk of jinxing everything - always a concern in our line of business - yeah, everything's fine. We're good. Thanks for your concern though. [b]Anyway, we're here. He's down there. Delta formation. Hank, over to your console! Go! Go! GO![/b]"[/color] [hr] [center][b]Five Minutes Later[/b][/center] [hr] Ted and Booster are pinned down behind a parked car. There's flame and the charred smell of bio-electricty in the air. [color=goldenrod][b]"How's he doing this? This is crazy, he's one guy!"[/b][/color] [color=skyblue]"In fairness we've done most of this to ourselves. I don't know about you, but I took a full shot of Wasp's stingers before and she stalled and fell out of the sky for the effort, and if it weren't for the Nomex in the suit Fire would have flash-fried me as well. I had no idea we were so out of form. We're going to have to train more."[/color] Wasp called out from behind another car. [color=yellow][b]"Are you alright, BB? I don't know what happened there, I could have sworn I had kept these set on 35%. That never should have happened!"[/b][/color] [color=goldenrod][b]"Skeetz, are you picking up anything 'hinky' about this guy?"[/b][/color] Booster asked his floating mechanical companion. [color=lightyellow][b]"'Hinky', sir?"[/b][/color] [color=goldenrod][b]"Yeah, any kind of auras, or have you got any kind of future file on this guy?"[/b][/color] [color=lightyellow][b]"Scanning now, sir...[/b][/color] Skeetz began to play elevator music. Fire continued to lay down covering fire from behind another car, only for the fire to roll onwards beyond their foe and hit another car, where it's gas tank spontaneously combusted and flipped the car back in her direction. She cried out in fear and quickly flew behind Wasp's car. [color=skyblue]"Good call, Booster. I take it you saw that too?"[/color] [color=goldenrod][b]"Uh-huh..."[/b][/color] Booster Gold answered in the affirmative. The music stopped and they would have their answer. [color=lightyellow][b]"An EXCELLENT theorem, sir! He appears to be surrounded by non-repeating, periodically expanding waves of Nega-Quantum affected energies.[/b][/color] [color=goldenrod][b]"You get that?[/b][/color] Booster asked Ted. [color=skyblue]"I think I got the gist. The true nature of quantum mechanics is thus far unknowable, but it can be used to determine outcome via probabilities. I think he's saying the guy puts out a field that somehow expands upon and further generates negative outcomes."[/color] [color=yellow][b]"He's feeding on chaos?"[/b][/color] Wasp clarified. [color=limegreen][b]"Huh... With this team we're lucky he didn't destroy the whole city the second we touched down."[/b][/color] Fire sneered. [color=skyblue]"Non-repeating waves. That means he's doing it deliberately, right? He's controlling it actively, it's not a machine. It's him."[/color] [color=goldenrod][b]"Got it![/b][/color] Booster declared, seeming to have come up with a plan. [color=goldenrod][b]"You two lay down covering fire, Beetle and I will take him out! I've been saving something special for just this kind of situation!"[/b][/color] His three teammates gave him looks of extreme skepticism. [color=goldenrod][b]"I'm serious! We've got this! Just cover us![/b][/color] [color=yellow][b]"Beetle..?"[/b][/color] The hundreds of times Booster had let him down in the past flickered before Ted's eyes. [color=goldenrod][b]"BB..? C'mon, man. I've really got this."[/b][/color] Booster earnestly pleaded. Janet shot Ted a final sympathetic look. [color=skyblue]"Alright, go. Apparently we've got this."[/color] He gave Booster a look that suggested he was less than completely certain. Booster flashed back his well-rehearsed smile. And that was when the fear came flooding back. Wasp and Fire briefly discussed their plan to storm Major Disaster. [color=skyblue]"So what've you got? Secret Legion of Superheroes weapon? Pocket Captain America's Shield? What are we talking here?"[/color] Excited, Booster started to fiddle with his suit. [color=goldenrod][b]"Better. We're gonna wait until the girls make their frontal assault, and then we're gonna jump back minutes before anyone was here and take him out before he starts his plan!"[/b][/color] [color=skyblue]"Wait, your plan is to screw around with time travel to take out a guy who uses chaos as a weapon? That's less than no plan. That's taking a problem that affects a few city blocks and potentially turning it into something that could tear the universe asunder! That's crazy!"[/color] [color=goldenrod][b]"I call it 'Blitzing the blindside'."[/b][/color] Booster said, barely paying attention whilst he fiddled with his suit's chronocircuitry. [color=skyblue]"Wait, we can't do this! This is nuts!"[/color] [color=goldenrod][b]"Hup... there go the girls![/b][/color] Booster said as Fire and Wasp executed their perfectly choreographed charge from cover. [color=skyblue][b]"Shit!"[/b][/color] [color=goldenrod][b]"C'mon, it'll be fine. Trust me! You've just gotta stay within about a metre and a half of me while we're doing this! It'll work![/b][/color] Ted was out of alternatives now. His teammates were already exposed and laying down covering fire. Faithfully depending on their attack. [color=goldenrod][b]"C'mon! To the end of the line, buddy![/b][/color] Booster held his fist out. Ted held for a second, but then dapped him up. A light flashed within the suit. A burst of fire ricocheted and lapped against a building. Stone fell. The pair flickered as the chronocircuitry activated. Stone knocked Ted forward. Time seemed to freeze all around them as the Blue Beetle stumbled. In reality time travelled in multiple directions, between numerous simultaneuous points. Ted reached out for a saviour. He clutched at Skeetz. And then he was gone. [color=goldenrod][b]"Ted!?"[/b][/color] Everyone turned and faced where Booster had dropped to his knees, and the space where their friend once was. [h3][color=goldenrod][b]"TED!?!"[/b][/color][/h3] [color=limegreen][b]"Codenames, Booster!"[/b][/color] Major Disaster started laughing. A harsh cackle that stood in stark contrast to the seemingly omnipresent laughter of their lost friend. Now distracted, Janet walked behind him and stung him into unconsciousness whilst his guard was down. But the damage was done. [h3][color=goldenrod][b]"TEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED?!"[/b][/color][/h3] The Blue Beetle was gone. Lost forever in the infinite of spacetime. Who could know what horrors awaited him? [hr] [sub][h3][color=SKYBLUE][b]S O M E W H E R E[/b][/color][/h3][/sub][hr][sup][color=skyblue]Sometime[/color] | [color=darkgray]Sure as Hell Not Manhattan, New York[/color][/sup] Ted stumbled forward into being. He checked on Skeetz, who was now recalibrating after the shock of time travel. People passed him in the street and stared. Clearly his Blue Beetle costume stood out as strange here. Ted thought about what that likely meant in terms of the timeline of self-proclaimed superheroes. Anything to narrow things down and give him a sense of when and where he could be. Skeetz chimed merrily, having rebooted. [color=skyblue]"Skeetz? When and where are we?"[/color] [color=lightyellow][b]"I am now back online, but it will take time to re-align database and determine chronal position."[/b][/color] [color=skyblue]"[sub]No...[/sub]"[/color] The Blue Beetle had already got a sense of his position. He'd seen a sign on a local movie theatre that said "[i]The Adventures of Pluto Nash[/i]". Ted dropped to his knees and vomited all down the kurb. [color=lightyellow][b]"Please be wary, Mr Beetle. The effects of time travel without possessing your own chrono suit can be quite nasty and result in purging stomach conten--"[/b][/color] [color=skyblue]"Chrono suit be damned, Skeetz!"[/color] Ted cried out. [color=skyblue]"No need to rush with the database. It's 2002 and we're stuck in the Devil's Armpit."[/color] [color=lightyellow][b]"Sir..?[/b][/color] Ted grabbed the floating robot and turned it around to show what he saw. The sign hanging in a park that declared the township to be: [center][h3][sub]"[i]Raven's Perch, New Jersey[/i]".[/sub][/h3][/center]