Power Surge [Oneshot]
WHO: Blue Beetle
WHERE: North power station, near the outside of the City
WHEN: 9PM, Dec 20
FORMAT: Para
WARNINGS: ....:(
The weather wasn't going to get any warmer. The sun was already set, and it had already been predicted it'd be a bitterly cold night. It wasn't a concern. The only chill that Jaime felt was the sting of the cold in his lungs when he drew breath; his suit kept him warm and stable.
There had been a lot of time to rationalize his decision. He'd gone up there--space. He had scanned that blue-and-green planet as thoroughly as the Scarab could and found nothing. It upset a lot of people, people that Jaime considered, at the least, allies. Friends, even.
He'd promised to do something. Bring Teddy back. Or, at the least, know he was safe. It wasn't much consolation, but it was something.
Sure, it could have been a rash thing to say, caught up in the sense of loss and frustration. He had no tactile proof he could do anything. All he had was the scattered data from Vision's hack and the suit. But that was enough for him.
I'm the freaking Blue Beetle. I blew up aliens by myself, and I got more weapons in this thing than I know what to do with. I floated around in dimensional gunk before, and I can do this.
He landed gently inside the fenced power station, gazing across the grounds and the building slowly, letting Scarab map out and scan the facility for movement. Jaime didn't want anybody around. Just in case. Not everybody wore an insulated power suit, after all.
He walked another few yards and came to a stop, craning his neck up at the web of transmission lines overhead. Hundreds of kilovolts passed through those wires tirelessly, feeding electricity to a good portion of the City. There'd be enough to spare.
"Okay," Jaime breathed, planting his feet. "Do what you gotta do. Juice up."
Initiating feeding sequence.
There was a low-frequency hum, and then Jaime stiffened. The air began to crackle and heat up around him, and the power lines above quivered. The force of energy that suddenly shot through him was staggering; it felt like his skin was going to boil off, and he had the sensation that his bones were vibrating. It was a pain and not-pain, the same feeling he had when Scarab had 'fed' on electricity before. But this was more intense, and this time, Jaime didn't tell it to stop.
Preparing for trans-dimensional jump. Coordinates encoded and set. Waiting for appr--
"Do it," Jaime hissed through gritted teeth.
The suit responded. It began to glow and vibrate, growing in intensity with each passing second, and the electricity kept coming. Popping, cracking sounds, and the shrill sound of...something Jaime couldn't identify filled his head. This wasn't the same as--
Transmission error detected. Aborti--
"No, JUMP!" he screamed.
Another pulse hit him like a ton of bricks. It knocked the wind out of him, blurring his vision and causing a wave of nausea. He'd never felt--
Then, that...feeling. Of becoming nothing. That was the same. The same as that moment, in the satellite, before it blew...I can do this. I can do this. I can--
Outside force detecte--kzz--
"Sca--"
Everything stopped. For brief, frightening seconds, there was no sensation. Nothing but the feeling of his heart beating violently in his chest. Then...
"AAAAH!"
The electricity the Scarab had gathered discharged, exploding out of every node and bone in his body. It shot back into the lines with a violence that caused many to snap and fall, forcing the rest of the power to rise into the air in a furious pillar of lightning. The lights around the fence line rattled, and the bulbs blew. Lights across the street went black. All went black.
Jaime exhaled a small sputter of air that escaped him in the returning chill. His body sizzled; flecks of armor cracked and fell to the snow, melting into oblivion. He could vaguely feel the heat rush away, except for his lips. He had the sensation of the blood streaming out of his nose and the corner of his mouth as he fell backwards. Snow cushioned him as his head filled with a heaviness that made everything slowly fog up and blacken.
I couldn't do it...
Teddy. I'm sorry.
WHERE: North power station, near the outside of the City
WHEN: 9PM, Dec 20
FORMAT: Para
WARNINGS: ....:(
The weather wasn't going to get any warmer. The sun was already set, and it had already been predicted it'd be a bitterly cold night. It wasn't a concern. The only chill that Jaime felt was the sting of the cold in his lungs when he drew breath; his suit kept him warm and stable.
There had been a lot of time to rationalize his decision. He'd gone up there--space. He had scanned that blue-and-green planet as thoroughly as the Scarab could and found nothing. It upset a lot of people, people that Jaime considered, at the least, allies. Friends, even.
He'd promised to do something. Bring Teddy back. Or, at the least, know he was safe. It wasn't much consolation, but it was something.
Sure, it could have been a rash thing to say, caught up in the sense of loss and frustration. He had no tactile proof he could do anything. All he had was the scattered data from Vision's hack and the suit. But that was enough for him.
I'm the freaking Blue Beetle. I blew up aliens by myself, and I got more weapons in this thing than I know what to do with. I floated around in dimensional gunk before, and I can do this.
He landed gently inside the fenced power station, gazing across the grounds and the building slowly, letting Scarab map out and scan the facility for movement. Jaime didn't want anybody around. Just in case. Not everybody wore an insulated power suit, after all.
He walked another few yards and came to a stop, craning his neck up at the web of transmission lines overhead. Hundreds of kilovolts passed through those wires tirelessly, feeding electricity to a good portion of the City. There'd be enough to spare.
"Okay," Jaime breathed, planting his feet. "Do what you gotta do. Juice up."
Initiating feeding sequence.
There was a low-frequency hum, and then Jaime stiffened. The air began to crackle and heat up around him, and the power lines above quivered. The force of energy that suddenly shot through him was staggering; it felt like his skin was going to boil off, and he had the sensation that his bones were vibrating. It was a pain and not-pain, the same feeling he had when Scarab had 'fed' on electricity before. But this was more intense, and this time, Jaime didn't tell it to stop.
Preparing for trans-dimensional jump. Coordinates encoded and set. Waiting for appr--
"Do it," Jaime hissed through gritted teeth.
The suit responded. It began to glow and vibrate, growing in intensity with each passing second, and the electricity kept coming. Popping, cracking sounds, and the shrill sound of...something Jaime couldn't identify filled his head. This wasn't the same as--
Transmission error detected. Aborti--
"No, JUMP!" he screamed.
Another pulse hit him like a ton of bricks. It knocked the wind out of him, blurring his vision and causing a wave of nausea. He'd never felt--
Then, that...feeling. Of becoming nothing. That was the same. The same as that moment, in the satellite, before it blew...I can do this. I can do this. I can--
Outside force detecte--kzz--
"Sca--"
Everything stopped. For brief, frightening seconds, there was no sensation. Nothing but the feeling of his heart beating violently in his chest. Then...
"AAAAH!"
The electricity the Scarab had gathered discharged, exploding out of every node and bone in his body. It shot back into the lines with a violence that caused many to snap and fall, forcing the rest of the power to rise into the air in a furious pillar of lightning. The lights around the fence line rattled, and the bulbs blew. Lights across the street went black. All went black.
Jaime exhaled a small sputter of air that escaped him in the returning chill. His body sizzled; flecks of armor cracked and fell to the snow, melting into oblivion. He could vaguely feel the heat rush away, except for his lips. He had the sensation of the blood streaming out of his nose and the corner of his mouth as he fell backwards. Snow cushioned him as his head filled with a heaviness that made everything slowly fog up and blacken.
I couldn't do it...
Teddy. I'm sorry.