Secret of the Scarab
Kord Tower – Midway City
The building was quiet. Everyone had gone home for the day. Except Ted Kord; working late on his newest invention. He got more work done at night, despite the loneliness. He got distracted easily, especially by people. In this silent environment, Ted would've jumped at something as mundane as his phone ringing. Most people probably would. So he can probably be forgiven for falling out of his seat and cowering under his desk when the majority of the floor shook in reaction to a massive explosion. Within seconds, the silence was replaced with the deafening clamor of glass, metal, and heat ripping its way through the 42nd floor of the massive building.
While the event lasted only a few seconds, it felt to Ted as though it has been hours. He peeked out from under his desk, cutting his finger on some glass that had fell onto his table as a result of the explosion. As he looked around at his lab he assessed the wreckage, still a bit shocked at the situation. The entire wall of his office, which doubled as a private lab, was blown open, glass, metal, pieces of the wall strewn everywhere. The room had some additional protection from minor lab accidents, so most of the lab equipment was intact. He slipped out of his lab coat, throwing it aside as he deftly hopped around the debris littered through the area. When he made it out into the hallway, he audibly gasped.
“My god …”
The whole rest of the floor was exposed like a wound. He could see the city below him, lit up, likely looking back up at him. This was the most prominent building in the city, and it had just exploded. He heard a low groan, and another crash. Pieces of the building were falling all around him. He moved slowly towards the groan, revealing a metallic blue figure slumped on the ground. Its hand was outstretched, holding a small metal object. He grabbed the object and moved closer to the figure, only to find that the figure was none other than the Blue Beetle! He was motionless, and Ted was sure he had died. The armor began to shift, slowly collapsing within itself, revealing the human form beneath.
“No …”
The form was Daniel Garett, Ted’s mentor. He hadn’t seen his mentor in months, he was supposedly been working on a secret project. Ted slumped to the ground, devastated. Before he could begin grieving, a smaller explosion shook through the building.
Ted ran to the source, hoping to find who was responsible. He sped through the hallway, ignoring the hundreds of papers strewn about. He entered another room, and had to catch himself to keep from falling from the building. This entire room had been blown out, carved from the side of the building. As he regained his balance, he realized he heard a dull roar coming just a few feet away from him. As the smoke from the explosion cleared, he could make out a large black shape out in the distance. As he focused, he could also make out a large human shaped figure fading into the shape. Then, in an instant, there was a loud boom, and the shape sped off.
Ted had no idea what had just happened. He had to call his dad. He kept calling and calling, but got no answer. Eventually, the police arrived, and questioned him on what had happened. He had no answers, only the metal object that he had taken from Dan. Upon further inspection, it appeared to be some kind of scarab.
“I need to get to the lab and figure out how this is connected to Dan’s death” he thought.
Ted's Lab – Midway City
Ted sped down the barren freeway at 3 in the morning. The police had held him for a while, but he couldn't give them anything. And despite his intellect and resources, it (at least so far) didn't make sense to them that Ted had anything to do with the explosions. They informed him that Thomas had been reported missing several hours ago by the butler. Ted was too busy working to check in on him or even his phone. He needed to get to his lab and try to get to the bottom of this.
Dan and Jarvis had secret labs, so it only made sense that Ted build one. It was a fledgling operation at this point, but he had come up with some interesting inventions of his own. He had recently taken an interest in urban parkour, and was working on wrist pointed grappling cables. They'd be able to retract and cling to all sorts of objects, like the roofs of buildings. The whole idea was crazy and dangerous, which was why it was so interesting. He'd never work on it for the company though, he tried to keep those inventions in the same vein as what his uncle had developed. Or used to develop.
Thomas, Ted's father, was the business sense behind Kord Industries. At a very young age, he had already climbed the corporate ladder at prominent companies like LexCorp and Wayne Industries. At the same time, his brother, Jarvis Kord, began developing advanced technologies, particularly those that could be used in the medial field. The two formed Kord industries, and for a while, the company flourished. Thomas' wife left when Ted was young, and the two brothers worked to raise Ted together. As the company continued to succeed however, the two began to disagree on the direction of the company, prompting Jarvis to distance himself from the Thomas and Ted. He embarked on many research expeditions, which all came up with nothing, until about a year ago, he came back with mysterious artifacts. No one, not even Ted knew what they were, and Jarvis all but withdrew himself from public contact to study them. Soon after, Jarvis was fired, and no one had seen him since. The artifacts where then given to Daniel Garrett to study.
Ted placed the scarab-like object on the table and spent hours studying it. Hours. He tried everything he could think of. Nothing seemed to activate it or have any effect.
“What do I have to do, be 'worthy' like Thor or something?” he said out loud. Part of him thought that might work.
He started to look around his lab at all the inventions scattered about. He needed to be out there. He had hoped that he could get the scarab to work, to get that suit on and avenge whoever had done this to Dan. Dan was his mentor, he had learned everything from him. It still hadn't quite hit him that he was gone. He had to find what had caused this. That shape had to be some sort of vehicle, some advanced hovercraft or something. It had to have left a trace.
“Can't believe he was a superhero, the Blue Beetle, behind my back” he said, again to no one.
He had admired the Blue Beetle from afar, seeing his exploits on the news. He seemed to be doing good, despite what the police had said, that he was some sort of menace. They said that about all the heroes it seemed. Ted, like anyone, wanted to be him, even though it wasn't possible. He couldn't believe it had been Dan the whole time.
He had learned a lot from Dan. While working with him, he learned that just being smart wasn't enough. You have to have drive, and you have to live. For Dan, that meant spontaneous adventures; spelunking was a big hobby of his. That's how the parkour started, because of Dan. He also had one cardinal rule for Ted, that Ted tried to live by. That he had been blessed with a great gift, and that, combined with that life, would allow him to do anything. He could be anything. He openly talked of quitting the company and becoming a fisherman, or a chef.
“I don't need this thing” he thought, tossing the scarab aside onto a table.
Rapidly he began scrounging together all sorts of gadgets and tech. The element resistant flight suit he had designed. The multi-vision goggles. The "defensive" gun. He worked into the early morning, gathering everything together, until he finally finished his suit.
“Heh, I can be the Blue Beetle too, just like you Dan”
Then he sat down, admiring his work. And then, after being awake for about 24 hours, quickly fell asleep slumped over his desk.
