Late for the Sky, Chapter Two
Title: Late for the Sky
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Booster/Beetle (eventually)
Spoilers: Definitely for 52. DEFINITELY.
Disclaimer: All characters and music are copyright their respective owners.
Notes: After that sob-inducing scene from 52 today, I bumped up my posting date for chapter two. I figured we'd need something a bit more positive.
[chapter one]
It was a couple of weeks after Guy and Booster met up for drinks that Skeets picked up on a distress call from the financial district. Booster was currently working out of Chicago, partly in homage to Ted, and partly because the city had been desperate enough for a superhero that it put out a nationwide want ad. Booster was easily the most qualified for the job.
The situation in Chicago had been rocky at first. Booster went back to protecting the common man after he was certain that time, space, and the 52 were in safe and secure hands. He’d quietly handed off the Supernova identity to Daniel and went back to being plain old Booster Gold, the hero most of America last saw exploding over Metropolis in a blinding flash of light and egotism. Booster’s resurrection had been met with bottles and tomatoes thrown at him, until he’d held a press conference to explain that his behavior in Metropolis was all part of a plan to protect the city from a terrible threat. He apologized to the entire nation for his douchebaggery, and assured them that he was not the pompous showboat everyone believed him to be. He urged the nation to think of all the good he’d done, including saving President Reagan from at least one assassination attempt. The fickle public was willing to accept Booster Gold again, and he did everything in his power to make sure the world didn’t think he was a total prick. Having Skeets around to keep him humble was a huge help.
Booster had been off that morning, having pulled a double shift the night before. He was serving as a marketing consultant for, of all places, KORD Industries, and he was good at his job. He’d considered using his pull as one of the company’s shareholders to get a better position, but in the end, Booster decided that he didn’t need that sort of unnecessary stress and public limelight. It was kind of a hassle to have to commute, but Skeets usually gave him traffic advice, and at least if things ever got really bad, Booster would cheat and use his flight ring.
He caught an updraft and soared into the downtown area, where sirens were blaring on every major street. Booster turned to make his descent, and saw that the sky above the Windy City had been ripped open. There was a sense of a vast nothingness surrounding the tear, but behind it Booster could almost see another sky. Perhaps this was one of those mergers of the Multiverse Guy was talking about. At any rate, the situation looked bigger than something Booster Gold could handle. He really wished Skeets hadn’t gotten damaged in his last battle; the little robot was currently without his propulsion system and essentially acted as a sentient alarm clock.
The air started to vibrate, Booster could feel the pulsations all around him and didn’t like it one bit. Something was coming out of that hole in the world, something big. Something like a gigantic mutated lobster as long as a Boeing, with claws that could easily cleave a skyscraper in two with one snap.
“Well, shit,” Booster said. “It couldn’t have been the Rainbow Raider?”
Switching on his force-field belt, Booster dove down towards the monstrous lobster, his wrist blasters already humming. In his rush to attack the creature, he didn’t notice something else emerging from the rent in the sky, something a lot smaller, faster, and bluer. Booster fired a volley of shots along the length of the creature, weaving around its claws. He grabbed the thing by the tail and dragged the hulking crustacean away from a building it was about to topple. The lobster let out the same sort of scream normal-sized lobsters make when they’re dropped in boiling water, only much louder. Booster fired another round of shots, the blasts too loud for him to even notice that there was another volley of shots ringing off the lobster’s other side.
Booster tried weaving through the lobster’s legs, seeing if he could trip it up, but for a giant mutated dinner special, it was pretty damn smart. He flew towards the head, intent on slicing it between the eyes with a controlled blast. He surged upwards, and was shocked to find that he wasn’t the only one doing battle with the monstrous mollusk.
Hovering in midair not more than ten feet away was a Blue Beetle. He (at least, Booster assumed it was a he) was wearing armor similar to the stuff that other Beetle wore, the scrawny kid from El Paso. Booster almost hailed this Beetle as such, but stopped himself as he realized this was definitely not the scrawny kid from El Paso. This Beetle’s armor was slightly different structurally, didn’t have the electricity-conducting pincers in the back, and the reinforced plating was in a few different places. His wings were more scarab-shaped and less butterfly shaped, the membranes quivering on the breeze. The coloring was more or less the same, the bright azure on the deep blue-black, but the markings were slightly different. If Booster hadn’t been staring so hard at this different Beetle, he probably wouldn’t have noticed the differences. The Beetle hovered closer, and Booster noticed that they were roughly the same height, give or take an inch, and this Beetle’s shoulders were much broader than those of the Texan Beetle.
“…Booster?” he asked, voice slightly metallic from the alien tech, but still recognizable.
Booster felt as though the breath had been knocked out of him. “Ted?!”
Before either of them could further articulate their confusion, the monstrous lobster swung its carbuncled claws at them. Booster and Beetle were hit simultaneously, plummeting out of the sky and crash-landing into the roof of a parked Chevy. Groaning, they hauled themselves to their feet and back into the air, determined to get rid of the lobster before it destroyed any more of Chicago.
“I don’t understand how this is possible!” Beetle yelled over the lobster’s shrieking. He grabbed one of the claws and pulled, ripping it clear from the socket.
“You don’t understand? You’re supposed to be dead!” Booster replied, blasting at the hole Beetle created. The mutant lobster was in pain, but not quite dead yet, and determined to take them both out with its one remaining claw.
“What are you talking about? You’re the dead one!”
Both of them turned and fired twin shots of power straight between the lobster’s eyes, slicing it from tip to tail. The two halves of lobster fell over, twitching and curling in on themselves. Booster and Beetle surveyed the mess, hanging in the sky. Then they looked at each other, eyes narrowed behind amber lenses.
“Clean up the lobster and then figure this mess out?” Booster suggested.
“Sounds like a plan. Think it’s edible?”
“I wouldn’t try it. Not even with all the drawn butter in Chicago.”
++
to be continued...
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Rating: PG-13
Characters: Booster/Beetle (eventually)
Spoilers: Definitely for 52. DEFINITELY.
Disclaimer: All characters and music are copyright their respective owners.
Notes: After that sob-inducing scene from 52 today, I bumped up my posting date for chapter two. I figured we'd need something a bit more positive.
[chapter one]
It was a couple of weeks after Guy and Booster met up for drinks that Skeets picked up on a distress call from the financial district. Booster was currently working out of Chicago, partly in homage to Ted, and partly because the city had been desperate enough for a superhero that it put out a nationwide want ad. Booster was easily the most qualified for the job.
The situation in Chicago had been rocky at first. Booster went back to protecting the common man after he was certain that time, space, and the 52 were in safe and secure hands. He’d quietly handed off the Supernova identity to Daniel and went back to being plain old Booster Gold, the hero most of America last saw exploding over Metropolis in a blinding flash of light and egotism. Booster’s resurrection had been met with bottles and tomatoes thrown at him, until he’d held a press conference to explain that his behavior in Metropolis was all part of a plan to protect the city from a terrible threat. He apologized to the entire nation for his douchebaggery, and assured them that he was not the pompous showboat everyone believed him to be. He urged the nation to think of all the good he’d done, including saving President Reagan from at least one assassination attempt. The fickle public was willing to accept Booster Gold again, and he did everything in his power to make sure the world didn’t think he was a total prick. Having Skeets around to keep him humble was a huge help.
Booster had been off that morning, having pulled a double shift the night before. He was serving as a marketing consultant for, of all places, KORD Industries, and he was good at his job. He’d considered using his pull as one of the company’s shareholders to get a better position, but in the end, Booster decided that he didn’t need that sort of unnecessary stress and public limelight. It was kind of a hassle to have to commute, but Skeets usually gave him traffic advice, and at least if things ever got really bad, Booster would cheat and use his flight ring.
He caught an updraft and soared into the downtown area, where sirens were blaring on every major street. Booster turned to make his descent, and saw that the sky above the Windy City had been ripped open. There was a sense of a vast nothingness surrounding the tear, but behind it Booster could almost see another sky. Perhaps this was one of those mergers of the Multiverse Guy was talking about. At any rate, the situation looked bigger than something Booster Gold could handle. He really wished Skeets hadn’t gotten damaged in his last battle; the little robot was currently without his propulsion system and essentially acted as a sentient alarm clock.
The air started to vibrate, Booster could feel the pulsations all around him and didn’t like it one bit. Something was coming out of that hole in the world, something big. Something like a gigantic mutated lobster as long as a Boeing, with claws that could easily cleave a skyscraper in two with one snap.
“Well, shit,” Booster said. “It couldn’t have been the Rainbow Raider?”
Switching on his force-field belt, Booster dove down towards the monstrous lobster, his wrist blasters already humming. In his rush to attack the creature, he didn’t notice something else emerging from the rent in the sky, something a lot smaller, faster, and bluer. Booster fired a volley of shots along the length of the creature, weaving around its claws. He grabbed the thing by the tail and dragged the hulking crustacean away from a building it was about to topple. The lobster let out the same sort of scream normal-sized lobsters make when they’re dropped in boiling water, only much louder. Booster fired another round of shots, the blasts too loud for him to even notice that there was another volley of shots ringing off the lobster’s other side.
Booster tried weaving through the lobster’s legs, seeing if he could trip it up, but for a giant mutated dinner special, it was pretty damn smart. He flew towards the head, intent on slicing it between the eyes with a controlled blast. He surged upwards, and was shocked to find that he wasn’t the only one doing battle with the monstrous mollusk.
Hovering in midair not more than ten feet away was a Blue Beetle. He (at least, Booster assumed it was a he) was wearing armor similar to the stuff that other Beetle wore, the scrawny kid from El Paso. Booster almost hailed this Beetle as such, but stopped himself as he realized this was definitely not the scrawny kid from El Paso. This Beetle’s armor was slightly different structurally, didn’t have the electricity-conducting pincers in the back, and the reinforced plating was in a few different places. His wings were more scarab-shaped and less butterfly shaped, the membranes quivering on the breeze. The coloring was more or less the same, the bright azure on the deep blue-black, but the markings were slightly different. If Booster hadn’t been staring so hard at this different Beetle, he probably wouldn’t have noticed the differences. The Beetle hovered closer, and Booster noticed that they were roughly the same height, give or take an inch, and this Beetle’s shoulders were much broader than those of the Texan Beetle.
“…Booster?” he asked, voice slightly metallic from the alien tech, but still recognizable.
Booster felt as though the breath had been knocked out of him. “Ted?!”
Before either of them could further articulate their confusion, the monstrous lobster swung its carbuncled claws at them. Booster and Beetle were hit simultaneously, plummeting out of the sky and crash-landing into the roof of a parked Chevy. Groaning, they hauled themselves to their feet and back into the air, determined to get rid of the lobster before it destroyed any more of Chicago.
“I don’t understand how this is possible!” Beetle yelled over the lobster’s shrieking. He grabbed one of the claws and pulled, ripping it clear from the socket.
“You don’t understand? You’re supposed to be dead!” Booster replied, blasting at the hole Beetle created. The mutant lobster was in pain, but not quite dead yet, and determined to take them both out with its one remaining claw.
“What are you talking about? You’re the dead one!”
Both of them turned and fired twin shots of power straight between the lobster’s eyes, slicing it from tip to tail. The two halves of lobster fell over, twitching and curling in on themselves. Booster and Beetle surveyed the mess, hanging in the sky. Then they looked at each other, eyes narrowed behind amber lenses.
“Clean up the lobster and then figure this mess out?” Booster suggested.
“Sounds like a plan. Think it’s edible?”
“I wouldn’t try it. Not even with all the drawn butter in Chicago.”
++
to be continued...
++