First chapter of the still nameless fic in progress.
All editing, as far as I can tell, is complete for this puppy, and so I deem it fit for human consumption. ...Or something like that, anyway.
Here we introduce the magic! Zombies! Robots! Dinosaurs--no wait, no dinos. My bad. But all the rest, yes! Same stuff goes for this as for the prologue (AU, fixit, references galore, blah blah blah).
CHAPTERS: { Prologue }{ Chapter One }{ Chapter Two }{ Chapter Three }{ Chapter Four }{ Chapter Five }{ Chapter Six }{ Chapter Seven }{ Epilogue }
<-{ previous story: The Redemption of Booster Gold } { next story: Midst Of Rough Earthliness }->
~1st Chapter
"What's that?" Junior asked.
Booster looked up from the object he was studying. "Resurrection talisman."
The boy cocked his head and frowned. "Last one didn't work."
"...I know." Booster muttered irritably. It had come as quite a surprise, during his previous attempts, to find himself face to decomposing face with the zombie of Max Lord. After a few moments of pants-wetting terror and girly screaming that he would later deny, Booster realized that while Max seemed all for eating the flesh of the living, he was also very (very) slow and easy to evade. So after some fancy maneuvering, that consisted largely of standing around waiting for him to shuffle close enough and then dodging around and behind him before shoving, Zombie Max was successfully secured in a closet.
Luckily, Junior had missed the girly screaming (which made it easier to deny) because he was upstairs digging through rubble and still-standing portions of what had once been Ted Kord's house. It had seemed fitting to use Ted's (surprisingly undamaged) basement as his secret lair, and enough time had passed that no one had much interest in the burned-out ruin on top.
Junior, as Booster has taken to calling him, was another curious accident. Unlike Zombie Max, however, the boy seemed content to explore his new surroundings and hadn't made any threatening moves toward Booster's grey matter or living flesh. The boy, as far as he could tell, was some sort of physical manifestation of Blue Beetle's inner child, or as close to as to be sufficient description. As if that weren't weird enough, Booster was pretty sure some of himself had somehow been added to the mix.
The ritual resulting in Junior called for something of the person's body and it wasn't until Booster had already started that it occurred to him that maybe a hair clog from Ted's bathtub drain wasn't the best source of DNA, especially considering he had used the shower as well. And handling it while he had a sluggishly bleeding papercut (now bandaged to avoid future such accidents) was probably less than brilliant. But by that time it was too late and when the smoke cleared (literally) Booster found himself confused and in possession of a very confused boy.
Further examination of the ritual's description revealed it to actually be a way for one to get in touch with one's inner child by giving it physical form. It neglected to mention, anywhere, what happened if the child was created from more than one source, or how long it would last with any number of genetic donors.
Booster wasn't sure whether Junior was permanent or if he would suddenly disappear in a puff of smoke any minute, but if he did stick around for any significant amount of time he intended to see about doing a DNA test on him just to be sure. In the mean time, he was trying not to remember or think too hard about the people he had known in the future who were the genetic offspring of two parents of the same gender. It made the thought of Junior's existence, not to mention disappearing in a puff of smoke...slightly uncomfortable. And he wasn't going to think about it long enough for it to be more so.
For his part, the boy didn't seem bothered and had taken to exhibiting the very Ted-ish trait of tinkering with a prototype robot Beetle had been working on before his--
"Why don't you go play with the...Beetle Borg." Booster said abruptly, setting the talisman down on the book he was using to research it. He was trying not to look at Junior because the boy had found and started wearing a spare pair of Beetle's goggles while working on the robot and Booster didn't want to know whose eyes he had with the yellow tinting.
Junior, not taking the hint, leaned over the desk and peered at him curiously. "You look tired."
While he might not be able to take a hint, the boy could be perceptive. Booster was not only tired, but he was getting a headache and a sneaking suspicion that he might need to get reading glasses in the near future. The last one he was assuring himself was actually because of the tiredness and the headache, and pointedly refusing to consider the possibility that it was actually his eyes that were giving him the headache.
A snack-size box of raisins was suddenly thrust under his nose. "Want some?" Junior asked, popping a few in his own mouth. "They're good."
Booster warily held a cupped hand under the box and the boy shook some raisins into it. Pleased, Junior grinned when Booster ate them, and he tried not to think about how odd it was to see Ted's grin with Booster's (shiny future genes enhanced) teeth.
"Thigh of Xipe Totec?" Junior muttered, tilting his head to read the book. "Hm, it does kind of look like a bone. But the ritual sounds gross. Does it have to be the whole skin? Can it just be like sunburn flakes or dandruff?"
Pointing to the paragraph that stated clearly that yes it had to be the whole skin or pretty close to in order for the ritual to work, Booster sighed and leaned back in the chair. "I'll save this one as a last resort. Whole human skins are so hard to come by this time of year."
"What about Max?" At Booster's confused frown, Junior blinked at him and explained. "He's a zombie. He probably wouldn't even miss it. I mean, it might be gross having him around without his skin, but it's all going to rot off eventually anyway and it's still mostly intact right now."
Booster pointed at him. "You." He said sternly, then pointed at the robot. "Go...tinker until you're less creepy."
The boy heaved the "grown ups are so stupid" sigh of teenagers throughout history and slunk back to the robot. Wearily covering his face with his hands, Booster tilted his head back and wondered if Ted had been a creepy kid or if that was his influence. Or if it was the result of Junior spending his entire life (as short and possibly unnatural as it was) hanging out with a zombie, a robot, and a supervillain. Then he purposefully went back to work and tried not to think about that, setting Xipe Totec's thigh aside...and under some papers...behind something that looked a little like a garbage disposal carved from rock.
Flipping to another page he had bookmarked, Booster located the object described on it and looked it over. Cybele's Stone was made of amber and looked a lot like a bee trapped in the center of an egg-shaped chunk of its own honey. There was some worrying talk of castration in the book, but as far as Booster could tell that was just some of the history behind Cybele and her (completely insane!) followers. Using the Stone itself didn't require any unnecessary removal of body parts, and sounded relatively harmless compared to some of the things he had read about.
So it was with some trepidation and a swelling of hope that Booster double-checked the pronunciation guide in The Idiot's Guide To Spell-Casting, pointed the Stone at a hastily-cleared section of floor, warned Junior (again) to stay out of the way, and spoke the words of power. For a moment nothing happened, though Booster thought maybe the Stone got a little warmer, but that could have been his imagination. Then the air shimmered a little before a blinding flash of light blazed from Cybele's Stone and Booster briefly saw what looked like an x-ray of his arm before the light blotted out his vision.
When the light finally faded, Booster's eyes watered as he blinked spots out of them, feeling annoyed that the book's warnings hadn't included sunglasses. As his sight returned, all thoughts of sunglasses left Booster's mind. There, standing where the Stone had been pointed, was Ted Kord, AKA the Blue Beetle. Ted Kord, AKA the Blue Beetle, with a mullet. Ted Kord, AKA the Blue Beetle, with a mullet, wearing all of his Blue Beetle costume except for the cowl. That was how the mullet was visible.
Mullet.
"Huh." Booster said. Zombies made him scream like a little girl, inexplicable hair made his brain stall out. Who knew?
Beetle swayed a little, then groaned, and for a moment Booster worried that he had accidentally created another zombie. Then Ted's eyes opened, blearily took in his surroundings, and focused on Booster as he asked in a groggy but clear voice, "Booster, what did you do?"
Booster beamed happily. "It's you."
-----
[ETA of Chapter the second: Unknown, currently being written.]
Here we introduce the magic! Zombies! Robots! Dinosaurs--no wait, no dinos. My bad. But all the rest, yes! Same stuff goes for this as for the prologue (AU, fixit, references galore, blah blah blah).
CHAPTERS: { Prologue }{ Chapter One }{ Chapter Two }{ Chapter Three }{ Chapter Four }{ Chapter Five }{ Chapter Six }{ Chapter Seven }{ Epilogue }
<-{ previous story: The Redemption of Booster Gold } { next story: Midst Of Rough Earthliness }->
~1st Chapter
"What's that?" Junior asked.
Booster looked up from the object he was studying. "Resurrection talisman."
The boy cocked his head and frowned. "Last one didn't work."
"...I know." Booster muttered irritably. It had come as quite a surprise, during his previous attempts, to find himself face to decomposing face with the zombie of Max Lord. After a few moments of pants-wetting terror and girly screaming that he would later deny, Booster realized that while Max seemed all for eating the flesh of the living, he was also very (very) slow and easy to evade. So after some fancy maneuvering, that consisted largely of standing around waiting for him to shuffle close enough and then dodging around and behind him before shoving, Zombie Max was successfully secured in a closet.
Luckily, Junior had missed the girly screaming (which made it easier to deny) because he was upstairs digging through rubble and still-standing portions of what had once been Ted Kord's house. It had seemed fitting to use Ted's (surprisingly undamaged) basement as his secret lair, and enough time had passed that no one had much interest in the burned-out ruin on top.
Junior, as Booster has taken to calling him, was another curious accident. Unlike Zombie Max, however, the boy seemed content to explore his new surroundings and hadn't made any threatening moves toward Booster's grey matter or living flesh. The boy, as far as he could tell, was some sort of physical manifestation of Blue Beetle's inner child, or as close to as to be sufficient description. As if that weren't weird enough, Booster was pretty sure some of himself had somehow been added to the mix.
The ritual resulting in Junior called for something of the person's body and it wasn't until Booster had already started that it occurred to him that maybe a hair clog from Ted's bathtub drain wasn't the best source of DNA, especially considering he had used the shower as well. And handling it while he had a sluggishly bleeding papercut (now bandaged to avoid future such accidents) was probably less than brilliant. But by that time it was too late and when the smoke cleared (literally) Booster found himself confused and in possession of a very confused boy.
Further examination of the ritual's description revealed it to actually be a way for one to get in touch with one's inner child by giving it physical form. It neglected to mention, anywhere, what happened if the child was created from more than one source, or how long it would last with any number of genetic donors.
Booster wasn't sure whether Junior was permanent or if he would suddenly disappear in a puff of smoke any minute, but if he did stick around for any significant amount of time he intended to see about doing a DNA test on him just to be sure. In the mean time, he was trying not to remember or think too hard about the people he had known in the future who were the genetic offspring of two parents of the same gender. It made the thought of Junior's existence, not to mention disappearing in a puff of smoke...slightly uncomfortable. And he wasn't going to think about it long enough for it to be more so.
For his part, the boy didn't seem bothered and had taken to exhibiting the very Ted-ish trait of tinkering with a prototype robot Beetle had been working on before his--
"Why don't you go play with the...Beetle Borg." Booster said abruptly, setting the talisman down on the book he was using to research it. He was trying not to look at Junior because the boy had found and started wearing a spare pair of Beetle's goggles while working on the robot and Booster didn't want to know whose eyes he had with the yellow tinting.
Junior, not taking the hint, leaned over the desk and peered at him curiously. "You look tired."
While he might not be able to take a hint, the boy could be perceptive. Booster was not only tired, but he was getting a headache and a sneaking suspicion that he might need to get reading glasses in the near future. The last one he was assuring himself was actually because of the tiredness and the headache, and pointedly refusing to consider the possibility that it was actually his eyes that were giving him the headache.
A snack-size box of raisins was suddenly thrust under his nose. "Want some?" Junior asked, popping a few in his own mouth. "They're good."
Booster warily held a cupped hand under the box and the boy shook some raisins into it. Pleased, Junior grinned when Booster ate them, and he tried not to think about how odd it was to see Ted's grin with Booster's (shiny future genes enhanced) teeth.
"Thigh of Xipe Totec?" Junior muttered, tilting his head to read the book. "Hm, it does kind of look like a bone. But the ritual sounds gross. Does it have to be the whole skin? Can it just be like sunburn flakes or dandruff?"
Pointing to the paragraph that stated clearly that yes it had to be the whole skin or pretty close to in order for the ritual to work, Booster sighed and leaned back in the chair. "I'll save this one as a last resort. Whole human skins are so hard to come by this time of year."
"What about Max?" At Booster's confused frown, Junior blinked at him and explained. "He's a zombie. He probably wouldn't even miss it. I mean, it might be gross having him around without his skin, but it's all going to rot off eventually anyway and it's still mostly intact right now."
Booster pointed at him. "You." He said sternly, then pointed at the robot. "Go...tinker until you're less creepy."
The boy heaved the "grown ups are so stupid" sigh of teenagers throughout history and slunk back to the robot. Wearily covering his face with his hands, Booster tilted his head back and wondered if Ted had been a creepy kid or if that was his influence. Or if it was the result of Junior spending his entire life (as short and possibly unnatural as it was) hanging out with a zombie, a robot, and a supervillain. Then he purposefully went back to work and tried not to think about that, setting Xipe Totec's thigh aside...and under some papers...behind something that looked a little like a garbage disposal carved from rock.
Flipping to another page he had bookmarked, Booster located the object described on it and looked it over. Cybele's Stone was made of amber and looked a lot like a bee trapped in the center of an egg-shaped chunk of its own honey. There was some worrying talk of castration in the book, but as far as Booster could tell that was just some of the history behind Cybele and her (completely insane!) followers. Using the Stone itself didn't require any unnecessary removal of body parts, and sounded relatively harmless compared to some of the things he had read about.
So it was with some trepidation and a swelling of hope that Booster double-checked the pronunciation guide in The Idiot's Guide To Spell-Casting, pointed the Stone at a hastily-cleared section of floor, warned Junior (again) to stay out of the way, and spoke the words of power. For a moment nothing happened, though Booster thought maybe the Stone got a little warmer, but that could have been his imagination. Then the air shimmered a little before a blinding flash of light blazed from Cybele's Stone and Booster briefly saw what looked like an x-ray of his arm before the light blotted out his vision.
When the light finally faded, Booster's eyes watered as he blinked spots out of them, feeling annoyed that the book's warnings hadn't included sunglasses. As his sight returned, all thoughts of sunglasses left Booster's mind. There, standing where the Stone had been pointed, was Ted Kord, AKA the Blue Beetle. Ted Kord, AKA the Blue Beetle, with a mullet. Ted Kord, AKA the Blue Beetle, with a mullet, wearing all of his Blue Beetle costume except for the cowl. That was how the mullet was visible.
Mullet.
"Huh." Booster said. Zombies made him scream like a little girl, inexplicable hair made his brain stall out. Who knew?
Beetle swayed a little, then groaned, and for a moment Booster worried that he had accidentally created another zombie. Then Ted's eyes opened, blearily took in his surroundings, and focused on Booster as he asked in a groggy but clear voice, "Booster, what did you do?"
Booster beamed happily. "It's you."
-----
[ETA of Chapter the second: Unknown, currently being written.]