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PREVIOUSLY . Jaime Reyes received the mysterious scarab thought to belong to Dan Garrett by accident when it fell to El Paso , Texas , allowing him to become the world-saving hero BLUE BEETLE. Amidst heroing, absences and chaos, Jaime scrambled to salvage his life. Now a Teen Titan and estranged from his family, Jaime struggles to discover who he is while being heralded as the new HERO OF TEXAS. All the while, he sees strange figures no one else can. that have finally struck back at him, through his family, while he is away.

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Imagine waking up to find an ancient living artifact had grafted itself to you. Imagine that it granted you unbelievable and unexplained powers, making you fill shoes you never wanted. Imagine being a teenager who saved the world only to have to explain it to your parents. Imagine if your world was forever changed. Sound cool? He'll trade you.

 

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DC Infinity Proudly Presents

vol. 1, issue 5: "What Lies Inside"

[written by Bowie Sessions]

 

"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored."

- Aldous Huxley

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[ Dallas , Texas ]

[Blue & Gold Industries Penthouse]

 

No matter how fully I live my life, I dream only of dying.

VVVVVT.
VVVVVT.
VVVVVT.

"Mm?" I ask as I roll to the side of the bed, groggily. My hand hangs down to find the vibrating pants that lay strewn across the floor, patting at its side in a haze, until I find the pocket and pull out my cell phone. Raising it up and rub my eyes, getting the fuz out of them. Clearly marked on its caller ID screen is the word Home . With a wince on my face, I make the phone drop the call to send it to Voicemail and relax back against the mattress.

My bed seems to shift, and I only now become fully aware of Ali, a (usually) bespectacled assistant for B&GI, lying next to me. That awareness brings a soft frown to the curve of my lips, painfully formed under a mask of regret and frustration. She groans as she stretches out in bed, only to focus on me and smile so sweetly, her black bangs hanging haphazardly over her crystal gaze. "You okay, Jaime?" she whispers and leans across to lay a soft kiss on my lips, causing me to sigh and forget for a moment the family I've just shut out.

"Yeah," I whisper unconvincingly, and roll out of the bed and out from her embrace. Hanging my feet off the side, I lean forward, my face collapsing into my palm as I take in a deep breath. She moves up against me from behind and curls her arms around my stomach, laying her chin on my shoulder.

"You want to talk about it?" she whispers, helpfully, and I shake my head dismissively, as I check the time on my cell phone. It interrupts me to say Missed Call followed by 1 Voicemail .

".who was it?" Ali follows up, not giving up yet. I smile bittersweetly, not that she can see, and breathe deeply again.

"No one important," I tell her and pull out of her touch, finding those pants and pulling them on. Knowing that if I turn around I'll see her frown and apologize . I pull on my shoes without a glance and then my shirt. "I need to check in at the Titans Tower . I'll come see you when I get back from Cali , okay?" Bolstering my courage, I look back to her with as warm a smile as I can force.

She smiles back, if seemingly hesitantly, and nods her head without a response. She goes to pull on her own clothes, and I spare a look. "We can talk about whatever's bothering you tonight, if you want," she offers again, garnering a wince from me.

"Yeah. Maybe," I respond and head out the door, closing it behind me for her privacy. "I gotta go prep the Bug."

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[ El Paso , Texas ]

[Home of the Reyes family]

 

The Police walk around the home, an odd expression over their lips. Their doubt was clear, as they cased the dining room. "Sir. we've looked thoroughly. and I don't know what you want me to tell you."

"I want you to tell me you will find my damn daughter!" Mr. Reyes screams at the police officers angrily, brooking little argument from them as they forced themselves to stay resolute in the face of such fury.

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, the cop went on, his notepad in hand. "You have to understand how it sounds to us, sir. Ma'am. Your . daughter . disappeared during dinner . into nothingness. And you didn't see who - what - took her."

My mother screams out violently, now, at the horror. "Our daughter is gone and you will do nothing! I don't give a damn what it sounds like! Outside, Superman flies around, Green Lantern zips things with his ring, OUR OWN SON is the BLUE BEETLE! He could have . supervillain enemies! Who can -"

"Ma'am, you're going to need to calm down, we'll do all we can, but I don't know-"

"Do not DARE tell us to CALM DOWN," my mother furiously bites out, her teeth tightly clenching and eyes set. My father grips her arm and she steps back a little, tears brimming her eyes.

"Get out of my home. Find my daughter. Or find someone who can. We are not crazy. We saw this. Call my son. Call the Teen Titans. Call the Justice League. Call us when you know something. Thank you for not being the slightest bit helpful, sir."

My father's cold fury protects my mother, and he ushers the officer out of their home with a few more curt words. The officer swears to himself even as he walks to his car, scribbling notes up until the door. Getting in, he drives off, while Mr. and Mrs. Reyes stare on from the window. Moving over to my mother, my father wraps his large arms around her as she sobs gently under his grip.

"We will get Milagro back," he assures her, even as she shakes with her sadness and anger.

"This is the world of superheroes, now. They always save the day. we'll get her back. Maybe have two superheroes in the family, eh?" he asks, with a slightly warm, if forced, smile. She doesn't laugh; she just pulls free his arms and shakes her head.

"One is more than enough," she whispers as she leaves the room, desperate to find distance from the horror that entered their world. If only they could see - see beyond the obvious world, where their daughter, surrounded by a dozen eyeless men and women with knives, screams angrily for them. Screams as loud as she can.

"I'M RIGHT HERE!"

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[ San Francisco , CA ]

[ Titans Tower ]

 

It's a gigantic 'T'. There's a second home for me - with its own spare bedroom - in a gigantic building shaped like a 'T'. I somehow can't get over this feat of engineering, though I suppose I've seen stupider things in my life. For now, though, no offense to Booster, it's sort of the closest thing I've got to a family. It's been . about a year since I've seen my family, and I miss them. but they don't want me back. Not for who I am now, anyway.

"Hey, Gar," I greet the green-skinned Titan pleasantly as I take a seat next to him on the couch, watching somewhat intently as he rails away at the gaming console in front of him, decimating the opposition in his FPS.

"Great game," is my offered comment, a slight gesture given to suggest some deep meaning that isn't there. Predictably, he just nods his head.

"Yeah, this is a great game, really gets you into it," he comments as if by rote memory, eyes undeterred from the game. Bouncing around the couch as he veers away from a pixellated enemy animatedly, as if sympathetic to his character, I don't really think I'm getting through to him.

"Tonight was pretty fun, man, thanks. I needed that. That girl Ali and I kind've hit it off," I let him know, thanking him for the party - something. I hear him grunt, as about the extent of his opinion on the matter.

Despite the appearances, I go ahead and venture further into things. A deep weight rests on me I'm trying to let off - but I think I'm going to need to look elsewhere. "So uh . is anything going on?"

"Nope," is all the depth of his conversation, and I nod my head in understanding. What teenager hasn't ever fallen into the lure of Video Game Zone? Still, I need something more. No idea what it is I need to say, or to whom, but . I know I'm not going to get it out to the 21 st Century Digital Beast Boy.

"Yeah, well, I'm gonna." I begin, but don't bother finishing before I get up to wander towards the kitchen, where I fix myself a late dinner slash midnight snack. Hopefully it might my mind off the myriad of frustrations and regrets that are quickly occupying me. Pulling out a few cans of tuna, then some bread and mayo from the fridge, I start to set up on the counter.

Behind me, I hear someone walk up, and spare a glance. There, in a cute little midriff-exposing shirt and overly styled jeans, is a smiling Lorrie - though most might know her best as Aquagirl . "You know, about Dolphin-safe? Really not true," she informs me with that same I-know-something smile she always wears for me.

Shrugging my shoulders, I still crack open the can and drain it over the sink while she leans against the counter, eyeing me from the side. "Well, gosh, next you're going to tell me there's no Santa Claus," manages out of my lips wryly while I fix myself the snack. I get nervous around her, and am doing it again now, but I force down the slight anxiety. Superpowered girls that hot just don't tend to talk to me.

"What brings out the mighty Hero of Texas?" she asks, conversationally.

My shoulders do their habitual shrug, before I tell her as best as I can figure, "Restless. Nobody who. y'know. I really care about at 'home'. You guys took me in. It's . y'know, nice. It's something. A family, I guess. Except you're all asleep."

"Not me," Lorrie begins, "I'm restless."

Unable to hold back a broad smile at her turn of phrase, I move to find a bowl to place the tuna in. She makes a point to get in my way, causing much more proximity than I intended. Something that makes my breath catch, just slightly. "Don't you waste a lot of gas on flying that Bug across the country every half hour?" she laughed as she thought it.

"Not as much as you'd think. It uses so little power it's practically cold fusion. Ted Kord was just . a total genius," I consider, with some awe in my voice at the thought. Even she smiles at that. "You ever meet him?" I follow up, curiously, breaking myself out of my own reverie.

"Saw him once. Pretty cool guy, I guess. but you're definitely an upgrade, in some ways, I'm thinking." she flirts, with that same knowing smile, yet somehow her words sting. Strike the wrong nerve. My face seems to fall a little, but she shows concern, her smug expression quickly replaced. "What is it?"

My standard shrug shows itself, and I finish adding the mayonnaise to the tuna, while the bread erupts from the toaster. I take it onto a plate and begin to make the sandwich. "I just . shadow, y'know?
"Hey. thanks for talking to me, it . believe me, it helped. I got this . interview with Letterman in the morning. I gotta go back and get some rest, y'know?"

She smiles, and moves closer, to speak softly and clearly. "Don't be a stranger, Jaime," she whispers before she turns and heads to her room. I'm intimidated just knowing her.

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[ Dallas , Texas ]

[Up, In The Sky]

 

Only maybe twenty minutes later, I fly over Texas in the Bug, dropping low so I'm visible - and so that the crowd is - I forget all my troubles for the brief moment. All the melancholy I endured for some emo-rock reason or another, likely spurred by too much Fall Out Boy or combing of my hair to cover just one eye, disappeared.

Below, I could just barely make it out during my low fly-by. Fingers pointed, cameras clicked, people cheered. The icon above them wasn't just anyone - it was their hero. Blue Beetle, Hero of Texas . Bridging gaps and being the figurehead of causes I never even knew about, they loved me.

It replaced a dark pit in me, if only for a moment.

Skeets tells me my popularity is at an all-time high in 'the polls', whether I ask him or not. It's different, somehow, when I see it with my own eyes. I'm not even armored right now - I'm just Jaime. They're cheering me .

I raise the nose of the Bug at the last minute, taking it high so I can easily bank into the Blue & Gold Enterprises top floor - its air-accessed roof. Something so cool I swear it's out of The Mighty Ducks cartoon, with the little 3D inserted moment. The ship touches down comfortably, and I relax, unstrapping myself from the seats' tyrannical grip.

While I lower the landing props and the entry hatch to leave, I am unaware of watchful and judgmental eyes that spear me with their irritation. Behind his domino mask, he gazes attentively while I disappear clearly from sight. Then, with a sudden leap from the roof he perched on, though little do I know yet, he rushes to find me.

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[ Antarctica ]

[A Makeshift Base Camp]

 

A group of would-be-adventurers hastens back to the base camp, and throw open the tent flap in a sudden rush of desperation. In a flurry of motion, they drop the thing they'd all been carrying back on to the cot just inside of the slight warmth of their base tent - a redheaded girl shuddering and convulsing. The group, completely covered in snow-gear, hurriedly tear off their heavy jackets and start packing it around her for insulation.

"What the hell happened to her, Dale?!" screamed the man at her feet, as he took off her boots in a rush of action, and then began warming her feet quickly.

"She's . freezing! But no signs of hypothermia or frostbite." another comments, curiously, while they move.

The man at her head, Dale, who's trying to pull open her eyes to see into her gaze tried to dilate her eyes with a flashlight, to positive success. "I don't know, Jake, Crystina just - passed out, and started shaking. Like she's been electrocuted or something, all tensed up, it just - I don't know!"

The man from earlier speaks up again, helpfully. "We ran into the Green Lantern, who was fighting this supervillain girl - maybe it had something to do with that? Could it have been a . idunno, something?"*

"What's she holding onto?" 'Jake' asks, continuing his inquisition as he rushes over to move the heating unit near her.

"I - I don't know." Dale starts, moving to grasp her hand and pull it to him. He tries to pry open her fingers, and manages to just enough to grasp the rock within her fist. and his eyes open wide before he collapses to the floor, shuddering and convulsing, just like her.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" the other man screams in terror, backing away from both bodies. A lance of electricity rushes out towards him and snaps into his flesh. The surge causes him to collapse to his knees, his eyes blinking rapidly, before he lies against the floor, shaking.

Jake just stares in horror, and starts taking some tentative steps away from them both, before he breaks into a run for the canvas. only to hear whispered quietly from Crystina's lips. "Jake?"

Jake stops, and turns. His breath shaky and his movements hesitant, afraid of what he might see. As he turns, his breath releases from him thankfully. "You're okay," he says, and moves to the weak and frail looking woman strewn on the cot, flanked by two still bodies - no longer shaking as they were.

Crystina manages to stand, if barely, revealed naked by the uncovering for her 'benefit' a minute ago. and stalks forward to Jake. Jake takes a tentative step back, eyes widening as she nears him, her hand stretching outward. ".Crystina.?" he whispers, quietly, nervously.

"Jake," she whispers back, and reaches out to him. A hand grasps his shoulder, and she closes the distance. "I feel so cold," her breath shakily manages, and in an unexpected turn, she closes the gap between them and seals her lips over his. In a flash of light, his body shudders, convulses, and collapses in her arms.

"So very cold."

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[ Dallas , Texas ]

[Blue & Gold Industries Penthouse]

 

The door of my penthouse slides open, my retina duly scanned and biometrics cross-checked to record. It greets me with a warm --Welcome home, Jaime!--, a tone I've grown quite accustomed . and annoyed . to hear every damn day . Times like these, I wish I had keys, so I could make an overdramatic I'm-so-bitter throw into the little . key plate thing. It'd perfectly sum up my misplaced discontent that slowly grows with each passing hour.

I check my voicemail, and the glowing red icon informs me quite helpfully that I have received 19 voice mails. With a heavy sigh, I stand while shrugging off my jacket and allowing it to limply hit the ground. I've barely slept, and this is the last thing I need.

While the first message begins to drone informatively Hi, Jaime, this is Dan Ingram - Dan, not Dave - with Bug Out, we were wondering if you would be interested in - I only allow it to go on so long because I'm hanging up my jacket, unable to let myself be that slovenly, especially in this place. I feel almost like a guest, still, even after so many months. Mike says I should get used to it, that it's mine.

Jaime, it's your mother, we- I delete it almost as soon as it comes. One from Paco, which makes me smile. Reminding myself to call him back, the rest play one by one until somewhere around number 14.

Looking at my watch for the time, I sigh in frustration. "I've got a little time to nap before Letterman." With the dull droning of the voicemail playing on behind me, I pull back the glass door and wander onto the balcony, to stare into the abyss of night. It's beautiful out here, and Dallas seems to stretch on for an eternity.

At least, I thought everything was going to be okay, and that maybe I'd get a few seconds to relax. But through the din of the night, I hear one thing clear above all else - the scarab tied directly to my brain. Something is wrong!

"What do you mean? What's going on?" I ask aloud, like an idiot, but my beetle hears me all the same. It begins to chitter, but my attention is split very suddenly.

"I'd like to have a word with you, is what." Turning suddenly to the noise, I see the obvious form of a red-and-black bedecked masked man squatting on my balcony rail, apparently unarmed. His expression is clear - he's staring at me with my extremely dumb expression. "I am El Diablo, Defender of Texas ."

"I thought that was me," I casually respond, standing back, and bidding back my Scarab, despite its strong desire to armor. to protect me. to eat . Wait, what does it want me to do to him?

We need sustenance, devour the attacker!

"No way!" he hears me shout suddenly, a quizzical reaction on his face. "The uh - the magic amulet I have is talking to me. Sorry, what were you saying?"

"Ah. yes, well, no, you're the hero of Texas . There's a difference. Heroes fail." Unfazed, and having obviously seen quite worse, he continues. "I know the Oracle. We have been discussing you. I decided it was in my best interests to see your character. I've been one of the few protecting the whole of Texas for some years now, but I've . retired."

"You're looking awfully spandexy for the retired kind, there, Devil." He looks kind of constipated when I call him that, so I smile apologetically. "I'm sorry, what was that? The Devil? Well, The Devil. I mean . I'm kind of about to go to work. Could you come back and condescend to me later?" I swear to God, that he attempted to kill me with his eyeballs alone. The stare could have peeled paint from walls.

He changes his tune after a moment, forcing a calm to cover his face again and then he took a very deep breath. "Look, Jaime, Blue Beetle, I understand. You're cocky. Arrogant. But I need you to understand - people look up to you. Rely on you. That cheer outside is brief - fleeting. You've yet to be given a challenge. Yet to be given the chance to fail . You're a hero because you have power; but that's how most incompetents in positions of power start, to the cheer of pre-emptive approval."

I swallow deeply, and try to keep my strong front forward for my sudden verbal assailant. "I should call security. They're robots, you know. With laser beams."

"You've never heard of me. Don't respect me. Got it. That's cool. But how about you listen to something: I'm obscure. I know this. I don't have flashy powers. I haven't worn this costume in five months. But I save countless lives. I make differences in every Texan's life, every day, in some way, and for the better almost every time.
"I don't need powers and a fancy costume to be a hero, even a hero incognito. But you, Jaime? You got big shoes to fill. Heroes don't need adulation, they need balls . So go. Be the puppet. Enjoy Letterman today." He tears into me, and angrily rants a diatribe of his personal agenda that he tries to force on me . and I feel it. Unable to help but wince and look away, he continues on, with dramatic gestures and his fiery words. The very last thing I want to hear - and maybe the very thing I need to hear.

"Me, I've got to go make a difference . Tell me how your gratis Jacuzzi over there is. Maybe I try it next time I stop by." He smiles and stands on the rail. "Or maybe not," he finishes and backflips, flying down below. I rush to the end of the balcony to stare down, and the man is gone, swallowed by the night.

God, do I need that sleep. I'll need good luck getting any of it, though.

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[ New York City , New York ]

[NBC Studios: Late Night with David Letterman]

 

"-so you just - picked up the rock? Then, POW! Faster than a speeding roach, able to jump like two grasshoppers, more powerful than an ant? Ha!" Letterman taps his pen against the table to emphasize his point and wheels around in self-amusement, a big cheeky grin on his face mid-interview.

I'm not feeling too swell. While I am holding on and not freaking out just yet, I do realize millions of people are analyzing my every move - I am anything but slick about it and I have to remember to breathe. "Hey, I figured it was a cool looking rock. I thought, hey, what's the harm, right?" Making a slight laugh, I get much more canned laughter returned back.

"So, your teammates - Donna Troy, Superboy, Cyborg, Raven. it brings me to a very important question. How does your life insurance policy hold up when you get resurrected? Do they still pay it out?" The crowd is laughing, but I'm not - not because of what he says, but because suddenly I can't focus, I can't think. The Beetle is screaming and screaming - what its saying is almost impossible for me to follow, and I'm the only one that understands it.

they are alive! alive! swarm is coming! SWARM IS COMING!

I collapse in my chair, to the gasps of the crowd. Falling to my knees, I grasp my skull desperately, as if I'm trying to hold my brain in. Nothing else registers to me, while I contend with this demon inside my brain. "What the hell are you talking about?" I ask loudly, holding my ears tightly.

The Late Night crew is freaking out over me, but I can't hear any of them.

there is no time! YOU MUST GO! GO now! YOU MUST!

Before I can say another thing, I am screaming in agony as the Beetle forces itself over me, my carapace formed along the length of my body. Unable to stop it from spreading, I convulse and shudder while I transform in front of a live studio audience, recorded for posterity to spread the word.

"HELP ME!" I scream through the mouth of my mask, before I burst into action and explode through the roof above. The ceiling crumbles in about a seven-foot span as I leap straight skyward and out of the building, before my wings spread and take me at a speed I can barely comprehend half-way across the world.

Inside this suit, I'm screaming . but no one can hear.

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[ Antarctica ]

[?? Small Fishing Village ??]

 

The ice shatters underneath my feet as I suddenly land. A blanket of snow is launched in every direction from me, falling only moments later. I crumbled to my feet, eyes darting around desperately. "Where am I?" I ask myself, while the scarab screams from behind my eyes. The mist of air - and that of my own fear - clears in time for me to hear screaming from a frozen dock in the distance.

I quickly approach the pier, when wings burst free of my back to allow me to soar there without pause. The Scarab is quieted when I begin to move - and I realize what it's been screaming. MOVE . So I do, if only to shut the racket out.

What I seek appears before me quickly; the focus of the screaming is a figure of a deep scarlet red. Beyond the strange inhuman glyphs of the Scarab's speech I can barely see, but the figure becomes clear as I approach it. Once within fifty feet, the strange hold the scarlet menace has on two dockworkers becomes clear, holding two men wide apart by their throats, feet dangling over the street perilously.

"What the fu-" I begin to swear, in shock, landing in front of the red-dressed murderer . to learn that she isn't dressed. She's armored . To be really fair, it's more of a carapace .

With a disgusting crackle, I hear two necks snap - she drops the two dockworkers and lunges at me. Catching one of her claw-formed hands in mine, I stare into her face through mine, both armored, both cracked and formed in the strangest patterns . she's armored just like I am. She's got another scarab. "Who are you?!" I try to scream, but can't manage it. I'm trapped inside of myself, and can't move. My body moves for me, as I see a massive blade erupt from both of my forearms. The chittering of my beetle becomes a high keening tone . and it forces its blade through the other's shoulder, lancing through the tough carapace and giving up a soft green ichor.

They speak too quickly for even me to understand, only the briefest words apparent to me - and I'm psychically linked to a degree. DIE! heralded from my own, BETRAYER! From hers. I pause to wonder if she is in a similar position. Is she locked within her own carapace, screaming without her lips moving, like I am now?

She charges her arm and levels it on me while my own scarab darts its hand to try to amputate hers; the lance on my forearm pierces theirs, but doesn't seem to stop it. Not in time, at least, because the energy pulses free with a massive VA-THOOM rumbling free of the gauntlet and into my chest. The pain shocks me, since the Green Lantern barely fazed me. I'm sent airborne, and sail for far too long. The world seems to slow down while I trail through the air, shattering panels of wood as I come to a sudden stop within a dock, opening it to the faint moonlight.

I feel coursing pain, and want to just lay there and suffer for a moment, but my 'pilot' seems to think differently; the clock starts racing again, when my scarab wastes no time in extricating itself from the hardwood, and it takes me along for the ride.

While I sail through the air, the form before me becomes very visible - rocketing back in my direction is this red beetle, this . Scarlet Scarab. If I'm going to give it a similar name, I guess that works. Although I think 'Crimson Cockroach' could have a good ring to it, even if it's a misnomer. She lunges into me and slices her claws into my stomach as we connect; tearing through my armor like it was paper. My body responds for me, tearing into hers again with that same hook, impaling her in the shoulder and twisting it to cause the Scarab to make an unholy shriek of pain.

It says what sounds like BETRAYER! again, and my own responds in kind through my lips - crying out that it is Different, that it is Smarter.

The Scarab laughs and strikes me again, and we plummet through the air. Rocks below welcome us when we shatter into them, ice cracking open along the water and drifting as we submerge into the sea. Blows traded, it goads mine - saying that mine has the mark of domestication. It asks what made him weak.

Khandaq , the Scarab says. The Mighty Teth-Adam led me to glory , it continues. The Scarab laughs - and claims it tamed him, not led him.

Then, words truly terrify me as it becomes so much clearer that this isn't magical, maybe. This is . like . a race of mutant bugs from the Ice Age. My Scarab threatens her; it says, succinctly, You will not spread your taint further .

The Scarlet Scarab laughs in mirthful amusement, as we sink to the depths. With all its claws stabbed into me, I feel something. My Scarab screams, and surges of electricity coarse through the water, lighting up its dark recesses as the Scarlet Scarab absorbs my strength. I feel myself getting weaker, until the point when the Scarab's vision grows black and my world drifts into nothingness. The last thing I heard was the chittering laughter of the Scarlet Scarab, and its one taunting word. SWARM .

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[Later]

My eyes open. I see through strange filters, and am looking up at a large woman bundled up and in bright yellow water-slick clothes. "Hey, there!" she greets me. "Aren't you that new Blue Beetle? That's some crazy get-up!"

Sitting up, I hold my head. I feel weak. I feel hungry, and the Scarab begs me to feed from her. How delicious she looks. It, however, doesn't want that darkness any more than me and we stand. "I'll feed you soon," I tell myself, to her utter confusement. Standing tall, I leap into the air, wings unfolding quickly.

"Where you going? You need some help, some hospital or-" the old woman begins.

"Khandaq."

 

[END]

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What happened to Milagro? Is Jaime gonna help her? Is Jaime a two-timing ass? Where did Ali come from? Will we see El Diablo again? Who the %$#@ is El Diablo? Where is The Crimson Cockroa-I mean the Scarlet Scarab off to? What the hell is this Swarm - are there more of these Ice Age Cockroaches? Teth-Adam and Khandaq. Blue Beetle's gonna go see Black Adam?

All this (maybe!) and more when we return in four months, while meanwhile the story continues in the three-issue SWARM miniseries, and answers many of these burning questions! Be there!

See you next month in THOSE pages, and remember, to those about to rock: We salute you.

- Bowie

Note from the Author: All the preparations are made. It is, in fact, time to boogie.

This was hard to write; I lost it once, and now I'm skimming time at work in Iraq here, which is easier said than done. Hope it meets the par, and hope you guys are feeling pumped about what's coming.