Part One: The Pitch
Spoiler stared out across Gotham City. The sky was
overcast, making the city feel as dark and gloomy as she
felt. Spoiler heaved a heavy sigh, and reached up to pull her
mask from her head, revealing the face of Stephanie Brown.
Even without her mask on the city looked just as dark, and she couldn't
help wondering if maybe there wasn't some underlying truth to that.
It wasn't fair that he'd fired her. She'd saved his life by
breaking his orders. He would have been dead if she'd obeyed
him like some kind of pet, and he had rewarded that with telling her to
get lost.
Stephanie tightened her fist, further crumpling the blue mask in her
hand. Not that fair and the Batman had anything to do with
each other, for someone who claimed to fight for justice he--
The soft thump of a landing body broke through Stephanie's
brooding. Instinctively she ticked off a list of who it could
be. Batman, Nightwing, Batgirl, and Catwoman wouldn't have
made a sound when they landed. Tim and Black Canary wouldn't
have landed with such a heavy thump. Huntress might have, but
Batman had her out of the state as of a day ago.
Stephanie spun around, pulling a bat-a-rang out of her belt as she
turned. By the time she was facing the intruder, her hand was
already drawn back to throw the weapon.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" a voice called out. He was still mostly
hidden in the shadows, but Stephanie could see his raised
hands. She could also see a glint of gold from where she knew
his eyes should be. "I'm one of the good guys," he said.
"Then let me see you," Stephanie said to him. She didn't
relax her arm at all. "Come out of the shadows."
"I can do one better than that," he told her. Stephanie
suddenly realized that the intruder was holding something between his
hands. From where she stood, with what little ambient light
the city provided her from behind, it looked to be the size of one of
Nightwing's escrima sticks. Stephanie watched the intruder's
thumb raised from the stick he was holding and then pushed down on
another part.
Suddenly the rooftop was washed in bright, yellow-white
lights. It took a world of determination not to blink as her
eyes painfully adjusted to the change, but Stephanie knew this kind of
distraction would be an opportune time for the intruder to attack
her. She waited and watched as his blurred form stood
still. She could still see him well enough to launch her
bat-a-rang if he so much as coughed.
After several seconds, her eyes began to adjust. His blurry
form started to sharpen, and with the light she could see he was
wearing a blue uniform. It kind of reminded her of Batman's
own, but it was brighter and didn't have the ears. That, she
realized, and Batman would never carry a gun. Whoever this
guy was, he had one strapped to his right him.
"Nice trick," Stephanie said in a rather sarcastic tone.
"Sorry about that," the man in blue apologized, "I forget just how
bright the Bug's light can be." He released the stick in his
hands, and Stephanie followed it up as it was recoiled into the body of
a giant, flying, bug-shaped vehicle.
"I know you," Stephanie said. She relaxed, letting her arm
drop to her side. "Robin's told me about you. Blue
Beetle, right?"
Blue Beetle smiled. "Guilty as charged," he said.
He stepped forward, extending a hand. Stephanie shoved the
bat-a-rang back in her belt and pulled her mask back on before
accepting his hand.
"What are you doing in Gotham?" Spoiler asked.
"Trying to talk to Batman about something," Blue Beetle admitted, "but
I'm probably going to have to come back later. He was in one
of his moods tonight." Blue Beetle halfway turned and shot a
look in the general direction of the Batcave.
"Yeah," Spoiler said, "That's probably my fault."
"Oh?" Blue Beetle asked, "What did you do?"
Spoiler snorted. "I saved his life." She was about
to add the part about disobeying Batman's orders and being fired, but
before she could say anything Blue Beetle barked out a loud, earnest
laugh.
He paused after a second and waved his hand at Spoiler.
"Sorry," Blue Beetle offered, "I'm just laughing at the image of the
big ol' Batman sulking because he got saved by a girl." He
stopped, and looked up at Spoiler. "No offense, I
mean. I've been saved by girls-- Uh,
women. I've been saved by women before. I just
meant--"
Behind her mask, Stephanie smiled. "I know what you mean,"
Spoiler told him. She snickered. "Was he sitting in
his chair, kind out slouched, and staring at the Batcomputer?"
Blue Beetle nodded. "Oh, yes," he answered. "I have
five backup plans," Beetle said in a deep, rumbling voice, "and five
backup plans for all of those, yet I still had to be saved by a
girl. But I'm Batman!"
Spoiler snorted. "That's about it," she said, "What a jerk."
"Didn't you know, Batman is the best at everything," Blue Beetle said,
"Up to and including being the world's biggest jerk. I think
he spent a few years in Europe training with someone."
Spoiler snorted again.
"Look," Blue Beetle said, "I won't keep you. When I saw you
leave, I just wanted to be sure you were all right. The wakes
of Batman’s moods have been known to capsize ships,
so... Are you okay?"
Spoiler nodded. "I am." After a moment, Spoiler
looked up at Blue Beetle. "I don't suppose you need a
sidekick, do you?"
Blue Beetle scratched his chin. "A Purple Beetle?" he said
aloud, to no one in particular. Before he could say anything,
Spoiler interrupted:
"It's not purple," she told him. "It's eggplant!"
Blue Beetle paused for a second, blinking a few times before he
replied. "The Eggplant Beetle," he said more to himself than
her, "Now that has style." Blue Beetle reached over to his
gun holster. "I'm not really looking for a sidekick," he
said, almost embarrassed to say as much. After a moment, he
pulled something small from his holster. "But if you ever
need anything," he told her, "and if Bat-jerk's in too much of a mood
to help, call me."
He extended the small, white card to Spoiler. She took the
card, and looked it over. "Ted Kord?" she asked, surprised
that he gave out his secret identity so freely. "Forget the
sidekick thing," she said, "do you need a secretary?"
Blue Beetle chortled. He looked up in time to see his
handgrip stick lowering from the hovering Bug. "Send me your
resume," he told Spoiler, "and we'll talk. How do you feel
about Hub City?"
As Beetle began to rise toward the Bug, Stephanie smiled to herself and
quietly answered his question. "I think it must be a brighter
place than Gotham."
~~~
Blue Beetle lay on the checkerboard floor, his head still ringing from
whatever that blue Borg zapped him with. He could feel the
weighted shackles enveloping his arms. He could feel Max in
the room with him from eerily familiar miasma of consciousness he'd
felt times before when Max used his powers.
This, Blue Beetle realized, was about as bad as things got.
"I know you're awake, Ted," Max said.
Blue Beetle shifted himself around until he was sitting on his
knees. He glared at Max from behind his cracked
goggles. "What's all this about, Max?" he asked.
Max walked over from where he was leaning against his desk.
"It's about saving humanity, Ted," he explained. "All I want
is to put Earth's destiny in the hands of humans, not people pretending
to be human, Ted." He stepped in front of Blue Beetle,
looking down at the bound hero. "In the hands of people like
me," he knelt down, "and people like you."
Blue Beetle straightened up, and looked Max right in the
eyes. "You want me to join you?" he asked
incredulously. "That's why you're telling me all of
this? Join me or die, is that it?"
Max stood up from his crouch. He stepped away from Beetle,
moving a couple of steps away. After slowing to a stop, he
turned around, aiming his gun at Blue Beetle's head. "That's
it exactly," Max told him.
Blue Beetle bared his teeth and glared as hatefully as he
could. There was no one to save him. No one knew
where he was. He was alone, facing his end. He
wasn't going to die on his knees. Blue Beetle slowly stood
up, ignoring his throbbing head as much as he ignored the gun that
tracked his rising head.
"Rot in hell, Max."
Max nodded almost imperceptibly, showing no real surprise.
His hand tightened around the handle of his gun, and his finger began
to pull the trigger.
At the same instant that his finger pulled the trigger, a blue blur
whizzed through the air. It hit the barrel of the gun,
changing the angle of the bullet so that it missed its target by
several lifesaving inches. Max turned to look in the
direction from which the disc came. Before he could fully
turn, another blue disc slammed into his head. The disc was
angled perfectly, glancing off of his head enough to only stun
him. As Max staggered back, Blue Beetle watched as a purple
blur sprung from the shadow and delivered a jaw-shattering blow to his
captor.
Correction, Blue Beetle told himself, it was an eggplant-colored blur.
"Are you okay," his rescuer asked. The eggplant form turned
away from Max, and descended on Blue Beetle. She pulled a
smaller version of Blue Beetle's B.B. gun from her holster, and began
using its laser to cut away his shackles.
"I told you to stay in Hub City, Eggplant Beetle," Blue Beetle said
flatly, addressing his sidekick.
She released the trigger of her B.B. gun, and looked up at him through
her own, unshattered, golden goggles. "What are you going to
do?" she asked, "Fire me?"
Blue Beetle grinned. "Do I look like Batman?" he asked back,
"I don't make a habit of people who save my life." He waited
a beat, "Now get me out of these," he indicated his shackles, "I might
fire someone who didn't save me because they were too busy asking silly
questions."
Eggplant Beetle nodded, and behind the mask, Stephanie Brown
smiled. "That would be fair," she told him.
Part Two: Recruitment
All things considered, dull aches weren't the worst things to deal
with. After being shot, tortured, and strung up like a side
of beef by Black Mask, dull aches were almost pleasant.
Stephanie rubbed the back of her left shoulder, working a small ache
out. She hated to think what kind of pains she'd be feeling
if she hadn't run into Blue Beetle after escaping from Black Mask.
Most of that night was a blur, but she knew for certain she'd been on
her way to see Doctor Tompkins. Somewhere along the way, she
vaguely remembered being picked up by a familiar, blue-clad
figure. After that, things went from blur to black, and the
next memory she had was waking up in one of the Gotham City warehouses
owned by K.O.R.D., Incorporated. There was some kind of
purple glow, Blue Beetle looking over her, and slowly the stabbing pain
from Black Mask's bullet faded away.
Blue Beetle -- or Ted, as he insisted she call him -- had taken her
home from there, and made her promise not to go back out.
Even after the warehouse, she hadn't felt like venturing back out
amidst the gang war. Guilt had prompted her to ask Ted to
deliver a message to Batman for her, but he'd agreed on the promise
that she stay out of trouble. She'd agreed.
The rest of the night was spent watching the Gotham news with her
mother, trying to filter out what was media spin and what was
truth. Seeing Oracle's clock tower burn down was the climax
of the evening. After that it had been commentary on fires
being put out, the ban on costumed vigilantes in Gotham, and worrying
what those meant for her future as Spoiler.
It had been a week since that night, and she still wasn't any closer to
figuring out what the future held for her. Tim had been
absent since his father's death. Cassandra had come by once,
but she wasn't even sure what Batman was planning. Batman, of
all people, was someone she didn't even want to try and get in touch
with. After being fired as Robin and being the catalyst for
everything, she wasn't sure she ever wanted to be seen by him.
All of which just seemed to be more nails in Spoiler's coffin.
"Stephanie Brown!" a voice called out from somewhere in the
house. It was her mother, Crystal Brown. Stephanie
moved toward her bedroom door, and headed to intercept.
"Stephanie!" her mother called out again.
"What?" Stephanie asked, sticking her head out of her bedroom door.
Her mother walked down the hall, a stern look on her face.
There was an envelope in her hand, but the address label was turned
away. He mother stopped short a few steps from the bedroom
door. "Come out here right now," she said.
Stephanie stepped out of her room, still trying to get a better look at
the envelope. "What?" she asked slowly.
With no warning at all, Crystal Brown stepped forward and enveloped her
daughter in a giant bear hug. "I am so proud of you," she
said. She pulled Stephanie closer, squeezing her tightly.
"What?" Stephanie asked again.
Her mother released her embrace, and stepped back far enough to be able
to hand Stephanie the envelope without accidentally jabbing
her. Stephanie accepted the envelope. "Dear Miss
Brown," she read, "Congratulation on being awarded the Mariah
Kord--” Stephanie paused for a moment.
"--Scholarship for outstanding public service. This
scholarship is for the full, four year tuition at Midwestern
University." Stephanie stopped reading, and looked up at her
mother.
Crystal Brown was all smiles, with a hint of tears in her
eyes. College had been something they'd worried about for a
while. Stephanie's grandmother had left her several savings
bonds for college, but when they started looking at tuitions, the bonds
had begun looking like less and less.
"Midwestern University," her mother echoed. "My little girl's
going to a University, with ivy and everything."
"Midwestern isn't very close," Stephanie said aloud, "Is it?"
"I don't think they'd call it Midwestern if it were in Gotham,
honey." Stephanie nodded. "I think it's near
Chicago, though; maybe near Hub City or someplace like that."
"Hub City," Stephanie said, more curious than she intended.
"You've never heard of it?" her mother asked.
"No," Stephanie said carefully, "I've heard of it. In fact, I
know someone who lives there."
Part Three: Interview Under Fire
Most big cities, like Metropolis or Gotham City, were known for their
world famous benefactors. Everyone who had ever read the
International page of the Daily Planet was aware that Lex Luthor and
Bruce Wayne were both generous donors to the local colleges, paying for
buildings and setting up trusts for scholarships.
Hub City was an odd duck in that regard. While Hub City did
have its share of corporations, none of them held either the fame or
the size that LexCorp and Wayne Enterprises did. Hub City was
not lacking for education-minded benefactors, however. While
there were no grand buildings named after wealthy families, there were
many scholarships awarded to many graduating youngsters guaranteeing
that Hub City would never lack for the best and brightest minds.
Over the years, as various trusts and scholarships were put into place,
with a majority of them going to Midwestern University and its
associated colleges, something of a tradition had formed around the
start of the fall semester. One night, typically on a Friday,
the university held a formal event. Officially it was to give
the students a chance to meet the people responsible for their higher
education. Unofficially it was a great was for corporate
leaders and people-who-knew-people to scope out the next generation.
The only problem with the whole affair, as far as Ted Kord was
concerned, was that the thing was downright boring. Most of
the people were stuffed shirts, and the sad fact was those were just
the kids; the adults were about four rungs below that on his fun
scale. The best part of the evening, he guessed, was going to
be in about an hour when he could politely duck out and go home.
Ted decided that the best place to stick it out was next to the punch
bowl. He thought about parking himself further down, where
the servers kept placing trays of pigs in a blanket, but he couldn't
even look at the hors d'oeuvres without calculating how many calories
were in each one. Punch, while not completely devoid of
calories, was at least largely part water, which wasn't as sinful as
salty ham and fatty cheeses.
It wasn't as good, though.
"Mister Kord?" a nasally voice called out from somewhere down the table.
Ted turned to look for the speaker. It was coming from a
short-ish woman in a grey dress. Ted squinted slightly, and
thought she might have been someone from Midwestern's financial
department. He seemed to remember writing a check for her at
some point.
She walked up to him, and extended her free hand. Juggling
his punch glass, Ted freed up the proper hand to shake hers.
"I don't want to disturb you," she said, "but I could never forgive
myself if I let you get out of here without meeting the young woman
who's here because of the Mariah Kord scholarship." She
stepped aside. "Allow me to introduce, Miss Stephanie Brown."
"Miss Brown," Ted said, hopefully not too quickly, "It’s a
pleasure to meet you at last. The scholarship committee told
me a lot of great things about you. Your volunteer record is
amazing!"
Before Stephanie could respond, her presenter put a hand on each of
their shoulders. "Would you both excuse me?" she
asked. Before they could reply, the woman in the grey dress
vanished into the swarm of students, alumni, and benefactors.
"It's nice to meet you, Mister Kord," Stephanie said
brightly. She glanced out of the corner of her eye before
adding, "For the first time, I mean."
Ted smiled at her. "Yes, Miss Brown," he replied, "for the
first time." He waited a minute, making sure no one heard
them and that neither of the two was going to break out
laughing. "I really didn't expect you to show up," he said,
nodding toward the window, "I figured something like this would spoil,"
he said with a wink, "your schedule."
"Well," Stephanie hemmed, "I will admit, I'm a bit blue," she weighted
the word with much meaning, "but I wasn't going out with my mom in town
anyway. Speaking of mom, she wanted me to thank you
personally. She hasn't stopped smiling since the letter
came." Stephanie grinned her own awkward smile, thinking back
to her mother.
Ted blushed slightly; trying to decide if he should meet Mrs. Brown or
if that would be too forward. As far as the world should be
concerned, Stephanie Brown was selected by a diverse committee who
controlled the Mariah Kord Scholarship for outstanding public
service. They really didn't need to know that is was the Blue
Beetle way of inviting Spoiler out to Hub City.
"You can tell her she's welcome," Ted answered back. "I might
be the one who owes the thanks, to you and her. It's going to
be nice having a sidekick."
Stephanie opened her mouth to answer back, but was interrupted by the
sound of an automatic weapon being fired into the air.
Instinct took over for Ted, immediately scanning the room for the
attackers, exits, and other signs of danger. His eyes glanced
over several of the attackers as he looked through the room.
Whoever was attacking, it wasn't the garden variety
supervillain. It was, however, the garden variety thug.
"Everybody who wants to live," the leader of the gunmen shouted, "get
down on the floor." People all through the room began to drop
down to the ground, fearful of being made an example of.
"There are seven of them," Stephanie whispered as she began to
kneel. She used fighting with her dress as an obvious excuse
to kneel slower than she could have.
"Okay," Ted nodded, "and three ways out." He continued down,
keeping an eye out for the gunmen, trying to best gauge when they were
and weren't looking at him. When it seemed all seven were
occupied elsewhere, Ted reached into his jacket and pulled out a small,
square PDA. The way he was laying on the ground allowed him
to keep one hand over the screen, and navigate with his other.
"Calling the police?" Stephanie asked. She'd taken his queue,
and was watching out for thugs who might have seen Ted's gadget.
"Not those boys in blue," he whispered back.
"We're not interested in hurting anyone," the leader of the thugs
bellowed, "but we will if we have to. All we want is your
money, jewels, and cooperation. Give us those, and you go
home." He paused a second to let the message settle
in. "My men will be going around, collecting
these. As long as no one tries to be a hero, no one
goes home in a bag."
"Can the bug get here in time?" Stephanie asked.
Ted had finished whatever he was doing, and then slid the PDA back into
his jacket, making the transfer so smoothly it looked like he was just
pulling out his wallet. "The Bug'll get here," Ted nodded,
"but that's not going to do much good if I can't get out of
here. He looked around the room, trying to judge how quickly
he could make it to the emergency exit.
Given a small head start and a narrow corridor, it would be simple to
get up to the roof and wait for the Bug. However, being on
the floor with seven gunmen all watching narrowed his window of escape
considerably.
"I need a distraction," he mumbled.
Stephanie looked at Ted. "How much of one?" she asked,
seriously considering his request.
"About five seconds would--" Ted snapped out of his reverie
and looked at Stephanie. "No way," he said. "Let me
handle this one."
Stephanie sighed and shook her head. "Five seconds," she
said, "I can give you that."
Ted was about to ask what she meant, when a polished boot stepped in
front of him. He looked up to see a ski masked man carrying
an automatic rifle holding a pillowcase. It felt like some
perverse Halloween nightmare, where giant kids showed up demanding
candy. Ted offered his wallet for the sacrifice.
"Anything else?" the man grunted.
"Left my ruby-studded cufflinks at home," Ted apologized, "Sorry."
The man grunted before sidestepping in front of Stephanie.
Ted realized as he looked over at Stephanie, that she'd buried her face
against the floor. The way her hair was pinned up caused it
to fairly evenly divide against her neck, and hid her from
view. Ted was about to nudge her, when she suddenly looked up
at the thug and started bawling.
"Please don't kill me," she begged as loud and pitiful as she
could. Somehow, in the course of a few seconds, Stephanie's
face had been transformed from that of a calculating hero into one from
a sobbing victim. "My-- My necklace," she sobbed,
"won't come off." She carefully eased up to her knees to
prove that it was stuck. "I'll give-- Give it to
you, just don't hurt me."
The ski masked thug watched as Stephanie worked with the
necklace. After a second, he even reached out and tried to
unhook the clasp. That, Ted realized, was the
distraction. With his face all but buried against Stephanie's
neck, trying to get the necklace loose (which he might have been able
to do, if her hands didn't keep tangling with the thug's), his back was
to Ted.
Moving with as much speed and stealth as he could, Ted rolled to his
side and launched himself up on his feet. More than five
seconds elapsed before the thug was able to remove Stephanie's necklace
and realize someone was missing. It was more than enough time
for Ted to have gotten into the stairwell and start up to the roof.
As he ran, taking two steps at a time, Ted grinned to
himself. Four flights up, he decided, having a sidekick was
going to be awesome.
Part Four: Office Supplies
"Normally, I prefer to let other people do this sort of thing,"
Calculator said, more to himself than anyone else. The light from
his monitor bank reflected off his glasses, making it impossible to see
his eyes. His fingers were steepled below his chin.
"However, this time, a more personal approach feels appropriate."
His hands parted, moved to the armrests of his chair, and pushed him to
his feet in one, swift movement. "I hope you'll keep that in
mind," he stepped forward, "Eggplant Beetle."
The Eggplant Beetle, known to her friends as Stephanie Brown, didn't
bother to reply with anything more than a hateful glare.
Not that she could have replied, even if she wanted to thanks to what
felt like half a roll of ducttape covering the bottom half of her
face. Calculator had been quite thorough restraining her when the
Madmen had delivered her to his hideout. She couldn't count all
the straps that held her to the heavy, wooden chair where she'd been
sitting since arrival. She wasn't sure where Calculator's hideout
was, but taking the fact that she was capable of making zero noise --
no chance of yelling for help, no way she could knock over such a heavy
chair -- it must be some place fairly well trafficked.
That was possibly a good thing. Plenty of entrances for Ted, aka
Blue Beetle, when he made his heroic rescue. Which, she grimaced,
he would not let her forget for, like, ever, thanks to that stupid dry
erase board he used to keep track of who rescued who.
After this time, Stephanie figured she was down by two. Which
meant sometime soon, the Madmen or someone needed to kidnap Ted, to
even things up a bit.
"Your mentor has sixty seconds to comply with my demand," Calculator
said. "I do hope, for your sake and my own curiosity, that your
health is more important to him than the true identity of
Oracle." As soon as Calculator finished talking he turned around
and walked back to his consoles. It was obvious, from the windows
that appeared on his oversized screen, that he was activating some kind
of communication system. That was why the next thing he said was
absolutely no surprise to Stephanie. "Blue Beetle, have you made
your choice?"
Ted's voice spoke from several speakers set up around his systems, "I
told you the first time, Calculator, the answer is 'No.' Let
Eggplant go, and it'll go easier on you."
"Very heroic of you," Calculator nodded, "Very unfortunate for your
sidekick."
"If you touch her, Calculator, so help me--"
"Rest assured," the villain said, "I have no intentions of touching
her." Calculator smirked at his captive before turning
around. He bent over next to his computer array; as he stood up,
Stephanie could see he was holding something rather heavy. As the
shape came into the light, he involuntarily drew back. "I do,
however, plan to drill holes in her until you answer my question."
Blue Beetle remained silent.
"Do you have anything to say?"
"Just this," Blue Beetle said, his voice darkening, "There won't be a
hole deep enough for you to hide if anything happens to her. I'm
coming, Eggplant. Just hang on."
Calculator shook his head and smiled grimly as he stepped toward
Steph. "I'll ask you," Calculator said, "Will you tell me who
Oracle is?"
For a moment, Stephanie's eye stayed locked onto the large drill in
Calculator' hand. When the moment passed, she shook her
head. It was slow at first, but quickened with every shake.
"I suspected as much," Calculator sighed. Awkwardly, he shifted
the drill around until the quarter-inch drill bit was resting next to
her right kneecap. "Last chance, Beetle," Calculator spoke
aloud. After a pause, Calculator looked at Stephanie and
smiled. "Just remember, this is personal."
Stephanie inhaled sharply as the drill motor began spinning. She
felt the pressure against her knee, and let out a ragged, muffled
scream anticipating the explosion of pain. The explosion never
came. Instead of pain, there came a metallic, burnt smell as
sparks erupted from her knee.
"What the hell?" Calculator asked. He released the trigger.
With no warning, Calculator pushed the drill up against Stephanie's
left knee to the same effect. There was no blood, no rending of
flesh, no carnage; the only result of his assault was smoke rising from
the drill bit and a flickering glow from its end.
Calculator staggered back away from Stephanie.
Before he could say anything else, the wall behind Calculator's
computer array exploded inward. Dust from the plaster and debris
clouded the wall, but as it began to settle, a human form could be made
out.
"I warned you," the obscured man spoke. He stepped closer to
Calculator, causing the villain to make a break for a nearby
door. Calculator didn't get more than two steps before an
unnatural burst of wind send him flying toward and crashing into the
wall.
As Calculator slowly, painfully moved to his knees, he realized that
the wind burst cleared his obstructed view of the intruder. It
was the Blue Beetle, he recorgnized the two-tones of blue and the gold
goggles. The hard, armored edges of a rigid power suit were new.
"Are you okay?" Blue Beetle asked his sidekick. She nodded.
"Good," he replied, advancing on Calculator. "You, on the other
hand," Blue Beetle growled, "Are going in the that very deep hole I was
talking about."
"But how did you-- What was that-- Why--"
"Where weren't you able to mutilate Eggplant?" Blue Beetle asked.
Calculator nodded slowly, realizing the wrath such an admission might
incur, but too curious not to take the risk for an answer.
"Force fields," Blue Beetle said. He bent forward, yanked
Calculator to his feet, and pulled his arms behind his back. "I'm
an engineer, and my best friend's powers are derived from force field
technology," Blue Beetle growled into Calculator's ear, "Only an
absolute idiot, or a supervillain, would think I wouldn't be curious
how they worked."
