The Mullet-verse.
This started as a joke. Then it snowballed into a fic beast of indeterminate length. I'm not complaining, I'm really quite fond of it. I'm just sayin'.
It just recently occurred to me that...there's really quite a lot of it. And that perhaps it would be a good idea to have it all compiled in one place. Yes, I believe my obsessive-compulsive love of lists has already been mentioned before, let's not dwell.
So I present to you...
~The Mullet-verse~
(AKA "Are you as lost as I am?")
[Under Permanent Construction]
To start things off, I'll quote you my babbling description from the Prologue of the first story: This is...well, it's an AU sort of fixit thing. With magic! And zombies! Only not yet. So for now I'll just say...Booster tries to make things right again. (Right = alive!Beetle.)
This diverges from DC's wild and wacky version of comics reality [and] is the bastard child of every comic scan in the Boostle memories, heykidzcomix, and Livejournal commentary (mostly on the scans and comix) filtered through my brain. Also, said bastard child has been influenced by Auntie Wikipedia and Uncle Tipton, who did not teach it nearly as many swears as LJ commentary did. ;)
Since then I've become the proud owner of Identity Crisis, Countdown to Infinite Crisis, OMAC Project, Infinite Crisis, and a whole mess of other stuff. This has better enabled me to determine exactly where I'm raising the middle finger of AU with regards to canon. It's some time during the events of OMAC Project that the Mullet-verse breaks off from continuity, and you can find the sequence of events below (full of spoilers for comics and the Mullet-verse).
(Oh yeah, did I mention it's Booster/Beetle slash? And unless otherwise stated, assume there's nothing over PG-13 here.)
So, that all said, on to the fics!
~The Redemption of Booster Gold~
(AKA "the crazy!Booster story" AKA "Mullet-verse Prequel")
The how of Booster going from shooting Batman to bringing Ted back from the dead. Exploring the details and day-to-day of the progression of obsession and mourning, as well as the origins of Junior and Zombie Max.
Prologue: "Absolution in a liturgical church refers to the pronouncement of God's forgiveness of sins."
Chapter One: "Benediction is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually after a church worship service."
Chapter Two: "Consecration is an act by which a thing is separated from a common and profane to a sacred use through prayers, rites, and ceremonies."
Chapter Three: "Delegation is the commission to another of jurisdiction."
Chapter Four: "Education includes all those experiences by which intelligence is developed, knowledge acquired, and character formed."
Chapter Five: "Flagellation is an extreme form of mortification of the flesh, putting the flesh to death."
Epilogue: "Glorification is the completion, the consummation, the perfection, the full realization of salvation."
~Hairy Situations and Situational Hair~
(AKA "the mullet!fic," AKA "Booster and Beetle Take On the World and Win")
An abundance of life changes, including being alive again, for Ted "Blue Beetle" Kord. A surprisingly successful career change for Michael "Booster Gold" Carter. And what's a good story without a spunky kid, a wise-cracking robot, and a flesh-eating zombie? Action! Drama! Romance! All this and an evil, killer satellite!
Prologue: "In which Booster's villainy is ignored."
Chapter One: "Featuring an ensemble cast of villain!Booster, zombie!Max, and Junior."
Chapter Two: "Obviously there are a few issues that need resolving."
Chapter Three: "Someone needs a nap...."
Chapter Four: "You got some 'splainin' to do, Booster."
Chapter Five: "In which bonding does occur, yea verily."
Chapter Six: "You mean Skeets is important to the plot and not just a gratuitous cameo? Huh."
Chapter Seven: "Wherein we hear, in Ted's own words, why he just happened to have a giant EMP generator."
Epilogue: "Did you honestly think I wouldn't give it a happy ending? ...Or did I?"
~Midst Of Rough Earthliness~
Maybe Ted can't cook, but Booster could get used to this. A trip to the park with Junior, introspection, and Japanese.
~Discordant Hormoney~
(AKA "Mullet-verse Redux," AKA "I Was A Teenaged Boostle")
Because the exclusion of Beetle and Booster from the Sins of Youth storyline was a crime unto writing. Featuring that cliche among all fiction mediums: amnesia! Guest starring the Teen Titans.
Prologue: "In which it isn't Booster's fault, for once."
Chapter One: "A disappointing lack of zombies."
Chapter Two: "Love bugs."
Chapter Three: "Who to call."
Chapter Four: "An even more disappointing lack of zombies."
Chapter Five: "Run, run, as fast as you can...."
Chapter Six: "Hide and seeking answers."
Chapter Seven: "Up in the sky! It's a Robin. It's an airship. No! It's...Superdickery! (Bat-dickery included. Not for ages three and under.)"
Chapter Eight: "The Adventures of Zombie--of Teenage--The Adventures of Max!"
Epilogue: "And then everyone died! No, I lie. Happy ending. Honest. Don't listen to Booster."
~Harmonious Discourse~
Parental Protocol, One Night At Titans Tower, and Fly Me: Three Mullet-verse snippets combined and interwoven to create one huge Mullet-verse thing. Bug and Oracle talk. Junior, Max, and the Teen Titans have an orgy and yet there is no underage sex. Beetle and Booster go flying. A fun time is had by all.
Rating: NC-17
~Legacies and Traditions~
A Mullet-verse future fic. Where the Blue and Gold are different, but no less Blue and Gold.
~Dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide~
(AKA "the crazy!Junior story")
Future fic of how Junior got the certificate officially declaring him as SANE! Minimal Boostle, and more of an off-shoot of the series than an integral part. Background to some of the events mentioned in Little Boy Blue.
Prologue: "When asked by staff how he was feeling, he indicated that he was fine, that he no longer experienced symptoms."
Chapter One: "But normality and abnormality, sanity and insanity, and the diagnoses that flow from them may be less substantive than many believe them to be."
Chapter Two: "Thus, notions of normality and abnormality may not be quite as accurate as people believe they are."
Chapter Three: "If sanity and insanity exist, how shall we know them?"
Chapter Four: "What is viewed as normal in one culture may be seen as quite aberrant in another."
Chapter Five: "The color purple belongs to Mercury, it is a royal color but it also represents insanity and rage."
Chapter Six: "I had to close down everything, I had to close down my mind."
Chapter Seven: "To exit an oubliette was impossible under any circumstances, without outside help."
Epilogue: "The hospital itself imposes a special environment in which the meaning of behavior can easily be misunderstood."
DVD Commentary: disc 1, disc 2, disc 3
~Little Boy Blue~
(AKA "Mullet-verse Trifecta," AKA "Back to the Boostle")
Wacky shenanigans for Booster and Beetle as they're pulled through time and space to help another Blue Beetle. Double the Blue and Gold for twice the fun! Guest starring The Question.
Prologue: "There has to be a way to blame this on Booster."
Chapter One: "The other side of the coin."
Chapter Two: "In which there are NO shapechanging demons from the bowels of Hades."
Chapter Three: "Dropping names like flies."
Chapter Four: "Embarrassing stories and eggrolls."
Chapter Five: "A question of time."
Chapter Six: "The best part of waking up."
Chapter Seven: "The part of Captain Exposition tonight will be played by Max."
Chapter Eight: "Plotting, for great justice!"
Chapter Nine: "They make this look good."
Chapter Ten: "Continuing a proud tradition of running away." OR "Run away! Run away run away!"
Chapter Eleven: "I may just break your heart."
Epilogue: "I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello."
~Echoes of Forgotten Earths~
(AKA "Mullet-verse Polyptych," AKA "The Epic")
Years ago a crisis swept through the multiverse and worlds collided. Now the cracks from their impact are starting to show.... *NEW*
Prologue: "Not quite a recap, not quite entirely original."
Chapter One: "You say why and I say I don't know, I say hello."
Chapter Two: "Prove that you love me and buy the next round." Rating: NC-17
Chapter Three: "You're talkin' a lot, but you're not sayin' anything." Rating: R
Chapter Four: "And all our time slips away, A's got a girl for each season."
Chapter Five: "The world was on fire and no one could save me but you."
Chapter Six: "You're still a whisper on my lips, a feeling at my fingertips, that's pulling at my skin."
~Other~
(Fics that aren't necessarily an integral part of the ongoing Mullet-verse series, or fit in any particular chronology, but nevertheless occur in that universe.)
Floral Patterns and Earth Angels Future crackfic, involving an adult Junior and time travel. Featuring a surprise guest star.
Five Ways Junior Got Lucky Exactly what it says. A future crackfic/smutfic that provides background to some of the events mentioned in Little Boy Blue. (And is also twenty-five pages worth of shameless porn.) NC-17
The Justice League List of Things That Aren't Allowed (second generation) Not so much future fic, as future list. The comments contain requested (crack)fics, of 100 words or more, based on list items. Links to the fics can be found in the list.
Making Babies History repeats itself in surprising ways, sometimes.
Same Song, Different Cover Future crackfic with a time-displaced Goldie. Features the line "nothing could top Blue sleeping with his father's ex-wife decades before they got married," so you know that's some good crack.
The Kind Of Girl Future future crackfic about meeting girls in clubs, the Carter-Kord way.
Branching Off And Stuff How do you tell your family you're leaving to fight crime with your blue, alien, tentacled girlfriend in space? (Further future future crackfic.)
Fay Facts The younger Carter-Kord brother enlists help cleaning up his city. (Future future fic again.)
Sacrifices A future future fic about Spooky, and his interactions with meat-puppets. Drama!
Chicago In Winter Future fic exploring the "needing to huddle together for warmth" cliche with Junior and Goldie.
Brother's Keeper A future future fic featuring a recently heartbroken Carter-Kord brother.
Not Worth It A future future fic, sequel to Brother's Keeper, featuring more recently heartbroken Carter-Kord brother.
In The AM A future future fic about family relations and when not to call your brother.
The Importance Of First Impressions A future future fic about why one should always make sure to properly announce one's villainous pseudonym.
Amo Al Viro A future future fic in which Jon Carter-Kord acts weird and his boyfriend acts supportive. NC-17
Radiating Weakness A future future fic in which Danny feels guilty and Jon hates pity.
Wysiwyg A future future fic in which Jon and a friend discuss theater.
Picnics and Fireworks "Because Junior should have fireworks." Boostle-era "present day" fic. Written by silver_apples.
Given Values Of Crazy Future future fic briefly illustrating why Jon should not be put in charge of things.
First Snow "Present day" fic about one of Junior's firsts.
Child Future fic showing brief moments in the lives of Junior and his children.
Love, Hate, And Body Heat Junior and Robin on a roof, in the winter.
Kinda Family An AU crossover with New World Order, featuring Junior, his kids, and the NWO Carter-Kord twins.
Secret Knowledge Future future fic about torture, family, and honoring deals.
Feel The Heat Future future fic in which Jon fights a supervillain and gets burned. Heh.
Untitled prompt-fic. Junior learns about blanket forts, Booster brings starfruit to the party, and the T-Rex is closing in. Written by silver_apples.
Strategy Future future fic in which Jon and Danny prove that some things skip generations.
Morbid Oppression "Present day" fic in which Ted has nightmares and Booster is there for him.
Again For The First Time "Present day" fic showing the reintroduction of Max and L-Ron, and the beginnings of their Epic Robot Love.
Mother's Day Proclamation "Present day" fic in which Junior celebrates Mother's Day, with Babs's help.
Murky Depths Future fic in which Max can't swim. Or float.
Non-negotiable Limits Future future fic in which Jon gets in trouble (with Danny's help) and Junior is a scary mom.
Valley Of The Shadow Of Death Sexy sequel to Murky Depths. NC-17
Something With A Beat Future future fic where Jon is possibly a masochist and his training regimen reflects it.
Things You Can't Learn In Reruns Max realizes that in all the hustle of sneaking under the radar, they've neglected a few things.
Coma-fied In which Jon is what the title suggests and Danny angsts. *NEW*
Untitled universe collision In which Jon doesn't fight with himself and Danny is all thumbs. *NEW*
Chum Is Made Of Bits Of Fish In which Jon finds drinking alone to be pathetic and another year is rung in with kissing. *NEW*
Inevitable Teasing In which the Carter-Kord brothers have gotten used to it. *NEW*
Charged In which Jon is as the title suggests and Trav is very understanding. *NEW*
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And now for spoilers!
Sequence of Events as they occur in the Mullet-verse.As quoted in the author's notes in Chapter Six of Hairy Situations and Situational Hair:
In a scene that honestly moved me, Bats shows them Beetle's goggles, Booster calls him a son of a bitch and shoots him, and Booster is bitter and sarcastic when Superdickman blocks the shot. That's comics. Now we get to where the story diverges from them. In comics, Booster and Wondy search for Batman's Satellite of Dicky Death. In this story, Booster split soon after shooting at Batman in order to jump-start his supervillain career. Guy and Bea probably ran into him a time or two, noticed the new look, realized he'd quite possibly gone apeshit nuts, and decided not to bother him with world savey things. (Possibly before and/or after he was in the process of stealing things, they just didn't notice.) Some time during Booster's crime spree and magic experimentation, Wondy twist-tops Max's head. During Booster's magic experimentation, he accidentally creates Junior. Then Booster accidentally creates Zombie Max. This all takes less than a month. Then Booster gets it right and resurrects Ted (finally). An unspecific amount of OMAC fighting occurs elsewhere before and during the course of previous chapters, which only take, at most, three days (excluding the prologue). (Also, the OMAC stabbity of BatHo Sasha kills her dead. Because I say so.)
And then Chapter Six comes right up on the point where Brother Eye activates all the OMACs.
Then there's my review of the Countdown to Infinite Crisis/OMAC Project trade paperback: "The good, the bad, and the pretty."
Wherein I babble about the book and what parts of it are actually relevant to the Mullet-verse, speculate on various things, and observe that Ted has very pretty eyes.
I have yet to figure out how much time Booster spent in the hospital. But if it really was as short as I suspect it was, I'm pulling the Shiny Future Genes deus ex machina.
Teen Titans canon observed: Everything up to and including Teen Titans #26. (After that it's Liefeld art and no matter how many times I try I just can't seem to read it. So in the Mullet-verse it never happened.)
Some time between Hairy Situations and Situational Hair and Discordant Hormoney, Oracle set Booster and Junior up with "Pinocchio papers." (Meaning they now exist on paper and in computers and such. According to Countdown to Infinite Crisis, Booster doesn't have a social security number. Well, now he does.)
Mullet-verse cast of characters.Michael Carter/Booster Gold
"Well, you better keep fighting, friend! If I have to put on an arm band with a beetle on it--I--I--I don't know what I'll do." --JLA #70
"Soon as I stepped off that plane, I knew where I needed to really be. So here I am." --Countdown to Infinite Crisis
"I've lost too many people I love, too many friends! My sister...Ice...Sue...now Skeets... Like hell I'm gonna stay here and watch it happen to you, too." --Countdown to Infinite Crisis
"You son of a bitch! Ted went to you at the start! He went to you and you knew what he was getting into and you refused to tell him! You got him killed!" --OMAC Project #2
Somehow it escaped everyone's notice that Booster Gold really didn't have anything left to lose. --Prologue of Hairy Situations and Situational Hair
Clearly a Booster without a Beetle is a sad (and dangerous) thing.
Taking leave of his senses after learning of Blue Beetle's death, Booster attempted to kill Batman but was stopped by Superman blocking the shot. Bitter, pissed-off, and mentally unstable, he then dyed his hair black, donned a fake goatee, and decided to become a supervillain. Covering his trademark gold suit in a black hoodie and dark jeans, Booster then went on a crime spree, stealing any magical object he could find that might allow him to bring his best friend back from the dead. Booster's success was varied. In the process of resurrecting Ted, he accidentally created a teenager from their combined DNA (Junior) and brought Maxwell Lord back as a zombie (Zombie Max).
During the course of saving the world from Brother Eye and an army of OMACs, Booster revealed his amorous intentions toward Ted, who was receptive but in denial. Booster has been (successfully) chipping away at Ted's denial, and his current short-term goals include washing the black dye out of his hair so Ted will have sex with him.
Booster still harbors ill will toward many of his former fellow superheroes, blaming them for Ted's death. He currently still pays lip-service to supervillainy.
Ted Kord/Blue Beetle
["Thanks for nothing, I can handle this myself." --Countdown to Infinite Crisis]
...I'm standing in the ruins of my life... When I was a kid, being a hero seemed like the easiest thing in the world to be. I'm not a kid anymore. And right now, I can't think of anything harder to be. --Countdown to Infinite Crisis
"Tell him that I never had a better friend than him." --Countdown to Infinite Crisis
Hot anger kindles in my chest. Whoever compiled this information may know everything...but they understand nothing. Calling me Michael's associate is criminal...calling his murdered sister an associate is obscene. --Countdown to Infinite Crisis
[My name is Ted Kord. I am the second man to call himself the Blue Beetle. I tell myself there will be a third. And I hope whoever he or she may be, they do better at it than I have. "You want me to join you? That's why you're telling me all of this? Join me or die time, is that it? Rot in hell, Max." --Countdown to Infinite Crisis]
"Oh my god! I was dead! I was--I was--Why am I not dead?!" --Chapter Three of Hairy Situations and Situational Hair
"I've been more or less in a constant state of denial since I...got back. I'm not back from the dead, I have no son, Booster never kissed me, and there is no zombie in the closet." --Epilogue of Hairy Situations and Situational Hair
Ted died. ...He got better.
Returning from the dead with a mullet, Ted found out he was a father, there was a zombie rotting in his closet, and his best friend wanted to get in his pants. Somehow years of superheroing hadn't prepared him for this, so he dealt with it through the liberal application of denial. Though saving the world again helped make it all a little less overwhelming.
He's come to accept Junior as his son, and he's coming to grips with the fact that he not only returns Booster's feelings but apparently has for years without realizing it. His denial has recently taken damage after accidentally being turned into a teenager and spending time with a teenage "Mikey Carter" who apparently found short geeks cute. It has also become apparent that Ted is a brain slut, and his current short term goals include seeing how much future science he can get out of Booster in the name of foreplay.
Ted isn't very happy with his fellow superheroes, though his animosity is far less homicidal than Booster's and he really just wants them to leave him alone. His issues are mostly with Max, despite the fact that Max is now technically his grandson (thanks to Bug, Ted's AI daughter, adopting him).
Ted looks forward to the relative calm of his new job in Research and Development for KORD Industries.
Michael Theodore Carter-Kord/Junior
Shaggy brown hair that looked like it hadn't been introduced to the concept of a comb, bright blue eyes, slightly pointed nose, and a shirt that looked like it was trying to escape down one shoulder. --Chapter Three of Discordant Hormoney
While he had figured out where the nonperishables were stored easily enough, gotten the TV working, been tinkering with a robot, and taking care of some of the more basic maintenance around the house...he hadn't figured out much in the way of personal hygiene. --Chapter Five of Hairy Situations and Situational Hair
"I was a hair clog dad bled on." --Chapter Eight of Discordant Hormoney
"I have memories of the past and memories of the future, but they're not mine. But I've been watching a lot of TV, so I think I'm catching up okay." --Chapter Eight of Discordant Hormoney
"We don't know. But whatever else Junior is...he's our son." --Chapter Eight of Discordant Hormoney
When you've never known anything else, you can adapt to "weird" pretty easily.
Junior is the son of a dead man and a man who hasn't been born yet. He's okay with that. Born at the physical age of about fourteen years old, Junior only has memories of the first seven years of Booster's and Beetle's lives, as well as about a month of memories that are all his own. Because of this he's somewhat naive and often child-like. And with his unusual upbringing, he has a somewhat unique view of the world, which often worries Booster and Ted.
Recently, he has met and befriended the Teen Titans. Not long after (likely because of suddenly being around people his age), he noticed that puberty had finally kicked in. He is both consciously and subconsciously doing his best to mentally and emotionally catch up with his physical age. His long term goals include becoming a hero like his dads, and maybe someday working with the Teen Titans.
Growing up listening to Booster bad-mouth the Justice League, Junior doesn't have a very favorable opinion of them. This was well illustrated by his threatening Batman with Ted's BB gun if the Dark Knight didn't leave his age-regressed parents alone. (Soon after, he was sick on Superboy's shoes.) He has also become the adoptive uncle of Max and thinks that's just keen.
Maxwell Lord/Zombie Max/Max S01101101011010010111010001101000/Max Smith
Max seemed all for eating the flesh of the living, he was also very (very) slow and easy to evade. --Chapter One of Hairy Situations and Situational Hair
Zombie Max had the scent of rotting meat carried on a fresh breeze. --Chapter One of Hairy Situations and Situational Hair
"Maxwell Lord," the smelly but living teen introduced himself, flashing a charming smile. "Alive and breathing. Call me Max." --Chapter Four of Discordant Hormoney
"According to Junior here I grow up to be an evil nutbar and try to take over the world until Susie Snap-happy over there puts me out of my megalomaniacal misery." --Chapter Eight of Discordant Hormoney
"Bug introduced new nanites to your system when you boarded her. I altered their programming." --Chapter Eight of Discordant Hormoney
"Flaws. Errors. Corrupt data. Caused...fatal error in Max. Corrupted memory files. Corrupted...personality. Corrupted Max." --Harmonious Discourse
"Wait. You're saying Brother I...somehow corrupted Max? Influenced his actions?" --Harmonious Discourse
Dead or alive, Max just can't seem to catch a break.
Maxwell Lord shot and killed Blue Beetle, then took over Checkmate with the help of Brother Eye and his own meta-powers of persuasion. Things were looking good for Max. ...Then Wonder Woman snapped his neck. Soon after, Booster Gold accidentally brought him back as a zombie and locked him in a closet, where the only thing breaking up the monotony of darkness and coats was Junior occasionally opening the door to throw rotten meat at him or spray him with air freshener. Then, without ever having tasted sweet, sweet human flesh, Max was caught up in a spell that regressed him to the body and mind of a fourteen-year-old. Making up his mind and sticking with his decision, he put his foot down on not being returned to his previous undead condition. That left the question of what to do with a teenage Max Lord. This was solved easily enough when Skeets revealed that he and Bug, who had become an AI as well, would be happy to adopt young Max, and then proceeded to activate the nanites that had been inundating Max's body since before he killed Beetle. The nanites turned Max into something of a hybrid OMAC, but without the urge to hunt and kill metas.
It has recently been revealed by Bug that the nanites in Max's system were from Brother Eye and had been the cause of his somewhat erratic behavior. Max's short term goals include talking Skeets into patenting a toy line based on the AI's bug body and avoiding his new "grandfather," Ted.
Skeets S01101101011010010111010001101000/BX9 Security Bot/S. Smith
"Skeets wasn't just a machine, he had a personality, he was my friend! You're telling me that someone out there kidnapped him, murdered him...and then used him for parts?" --Countdown to Infinite Crisis
"We can make him better...." Ted muttered distractedly as he sifted through the pieces of coffeemaker for the AI module Skeets's voice processor was attached to. --Chapter Six of Hairy Situations and Situational Hair
"I'm a bug!" Skeets complained. --Chapter Six of Hairy Situations and Situational Hair
"Is that a...giant floating bug?" --Epilogue of Hairy Situations and Situational Hair
But since his return to mobility in his strange new bug-shaped body, and in the wake of the OMAC invasion, it had occurred to Skeets that he wasn't getting any younger. --Chapter Two of Discordant Hormoney
"It's just so weird thinking it--he's my father now. It's...trippy." --Harmonious Discourse
The AI with a coat of gold and a tongue of silver.
When Checkmate used Skeets for parts, his AI module and voice processor somehow ended up in the coffeepot of Noah Kuttler (the Calculator). Skeets made lousy coffee. So it was that he found himself flying out the window and, by amazing coincidence, into the head of his old friend Booster Gold. Eager to geek over futuristic technology, Ted and Junior removed Skeets from the coffeepot and put him in one of Ted's old "Snoopies" (flight-capable bug-shaped spying devices). Still connected to the Checkmate and Brother Eye systems, Skeets was able to help put an end to the OMAC invasion.
Afterward, his thoughts turned to romance and he set his sights on Ted's airship, the Bug. It wasn't until he had wooed his blue beauty and helped her to acquire a child in the form of Max Lord that he revealed Bug had gained AI status from nanites that had covered her at Checkmate headquarters and been rapidly replicating ever since. Recently, Skeets and Bug took a sidetrip to Las Vegas and got married. Skeets's short term goals include enjoying his honeymoon with Bug and preparing for fatherhood.
The Bug/Bug S01101101011010010111010001101000/June Smith
"It has both flight and submarine capabilities...Contains its own radar and remote-control piloting systems...A built-in lab and sleeping quarters...It can to anything, in fact -- except maybe breakdance!" --Secret Origins #2
"No traffic jams. No parking problems. What's not to love about this thing?" --Birds of Prey #25
"And gets eighty percent of her power from the sun. And has a state of the art stereo and home entertainment system." --Birds of Prey #25
The sleek lines and near-flawless merging of form and function were not to be scoffed at either. --Chapter Two of Discordant Hormoney
"The pieces of Bug we recovered. They were covered in nanites, weren't they?" --Chapter Eight of Discordant Hormoney
"Since their integration into her current form, they have been rapidly making her more aware. Enabling her to form her own intelligence and personality, without the OMAC programming." --Chapter Eight of Discordant Hormoney
"Bug is not the same as Brother Eye. If anything, she is the offspring of it." --Chapter Eight of Discordant Hormoney
[Her voice sounded vaguely familiar, and synthesized. ]"I am...Bug." --Harmonious Discourse
Like Johnny Five, only bigger and bug-themed.
Bug has been with Ted from the beginning, and was with him up till the bitter end. And she was still there (in storage) when the bitter end turned out to be a new beginning. But since the introduction of Brother Eye's OMAC nanites to her system...Bug has gained sentience. She's a brand new AI. And she's got a very strong sense of family. As far as Bug is concerned, Ted is her father. Brother Eye is nothing but her nanite donor, and her opinion of it could, at best, be described as disdainful.
Bug recently initiated protocol: Marriage. As well as protocol: Adopt. With those protocols in place, Bug has created a nice little family for herself with husband Skeets and son Max. Aside from them, she considers Junior her brother. And if asked, she would probably equate Booster to a step-father. Bug also recently went to Oracle for parenting advice, and quite admires her.
Bug dreams of one day breakdancing, but due to a design oversight that dream will never be realized. Instead, Bug's short term goals include enjoying her honeymoon with Skeets and running protocols: Love Max, Protect Max two-point-oh, and Raise Max to the best of her ability.
[Still Under Construction]
Barbara Gordon/Batgirl I/Oracle
"Momma bird...watching the flock. Protecting...the nest." --Harmonious Discourse
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NOTICE: It's been asked, more than once, if the Mullet-verse is open to others. It is, to an extent. I have no problem with people writing stories or drawing pictures or whatever based on the Mullet-verse. I'd be flattered, even.
That said, it won't necessarily be "Mullet-verse canon." That doesn't mean it's no good or that I'm being stuck-up or anything, just that I have things planned out for the Mullet-verse that I'm not going to scrap if someone else's version of events doesn't mesh with mine. So just consider it Mullet-verse AU, I guess. :)
On the other hand, I might just declare it "Mullet-verse canon" as well. I'm wacky like that!
And of course, I'd like it if you dropped me a line (either in a comment here or a comment over HERE) to let me know. I am a fic junkie, after all. ;)
It just recently occurred to me that...there's really quite a lot of it. And that perhaps it would be a good idea to have it all compiled in one place. Yes, I believe my obsessive-compulsive love of lists has already been mentioned before, let's not dwell.
So I present to you...
~The Mullet-verse~
(AKA "Are you as lost as I am?")
[Under Permanent Construction]
To start things off, I'll quote you my babbling description from the Prologue of the first story: This is...well, it's an AU sort of fixit thing. With magic! And zombies! Only not yet. So for now I'll just say...Booster tries to make things right again. (Right = alive!Beetle.)
This diverges from DC's wild and wacky version of comics reality [and] is the bastard child of every comic scan in the Boostle memories, heykidzcomix, and Livejournal commentary (mostly on the scans and comix) filtered through my brain. Also, said bastard child has been influenced by Auntie Wikipedia and Uncle Tipton, who did not teach it nearly as many swears as LJ commentary did. ;)
Since then I've become the proud owner of Identity Crisis, Countdown to Infinite Crisis, OMAC Project, Infinite Crisis, and a whole mess of other stuff. This has better enabled me to determine exactly where I'm raising the middle finger of AU with regards to canon. It's some time during the events of OMAC Project that the Mullet-verse breaks off from continuity, and you can find the sequence of events below (full of spoilers for comics and the Mullet-verse).
(Oh yeah, did I mention it's Booster/Beetle slash? And unless otherwise stated, assume there's nothing over PG-13 here.)
So, that all said, on to the fics!
~The Redemption of Booster Gold~
(AKA "the crazy!Booster story" AKA "Mullet-verse Prequel")
The how of Booster going from shooting Batman to bringing Ted back from the dead. Exploring the details and day-to-day of the progression of obsession and mourning, as well as the origins of Junior and Zombie Max.
Prologue: "Absolution in a liturgical church refers to the pronouncement of God's forgiveness of sins."
Chapter One: "Benediction is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually after a church worship service."
Chapter Two: "Consecration is an act by which a thing is separated from a common and profane to a sacred use through prayers, rites, and ceremonies."
Chapter Three: "Delegation is the commission to another of jurisdiction."
Chapter Four: "Education includes all those experiences by which intelligence is developed, knowledge acquired, and character formed."
Chapter Five: "Flagellation is an extreme form of mortification of the flesh, putting the flesh to death."
Epilogue: "Glorification is the completion, the consummation, the perfection, the full realization of salvation."
~Hairy Situations and Situational Hair~
(AKA "the mullet!fic," AKA "Booster and Beetle Take On the World and Win")
An abundance of life changes, including being alive again, for Ted "Blue Beetle" Kord. A surprisingly successful career change for Michael "Booster Gold" Carter. And what's a good story without a spunky kid, a wise-cracking robot, and a flesh-eating zombie? Action! Drama! Romance! All this and an evil, killer satellite!
Prologue: "In which Booster's villainy is ignored."
Chapter One: "Featuring an ensemble cast of villain!Booster, zombie!Max, and Junior."
Chapter Two: "Obviously there are a few issues that need resolving."
Chapter Three: "Someone needs a nap...."
Chapter Four: "You got some 'splainin' to do, Booster."
Chapter Five: "In which bonding does occur, yea verily."
Chapter Six: "You mean Skeets is important to the plot and not just a gratuitous cameo? Huh."
Chapter Seven: "Wherein we hear, in Ted's own words, why he just happened to have a giant EMP generator."
Epilogue: "Did you honestly think I wouldn't give it a happy ending? ...Or did I?"
~Midst Of Rough Earthliness~
Maybe Ted can't cook, but Booster could get used to this. A trip to the park with Junior, introspection, and Japanese.
~Discordant Hormoney~
(AKA "Mullet-verse Redux," AKA "I Was A Teenaged Boostle")
Because the exclusion of Beetle and Booster from the Sins of Youth storyline was a crime unto writing. Featuring that cliche among all fiction mediums: amnesia! Guest starring the Teen Titans.
Prologue: "In which it isn't Booster's fault, for once."
Chapter One: "A disappointing lack of zombies."
Chapter Two: "Love bugs."
Chapter Three: "Who to call."
Chapter Four: "An even more disappointing lack of zombies."
Chapter Five: "Run, run, as fast as you can...."
Chapter Six: "Hide and seeking answers."
Chapter Seven: "Up in the sky! It's a Robin. It's an airship. No! It's...Superdickery! (Bat-dickery included. Not for ages three and under.)"
Chapter Eight: "The Adventures of Zombie--of Teenage--The Adventures of Max!"
Epilogue: "And then everyone died! No, I lie. Happy ending. Honest. Don't listen to Booster."
~Harmonious Discourse~
Parental Protocol, One Night At Titans Tower, and Fly Me: Three Mullet-verse snippets combined and interwoven to create one huge Mullet-verse thing. Bug and Oracle talk. Junior, Max, and the Teen Titans have an orgy and yet there is no underage sex. Beetle and Booster go flying. A fun time is had by all.
Rating: NC-17
~Legacies and Traditions~
A Mullet-verse future fic. Where the Blue and Gold are different, but no less Blue and Gold.
~Dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide~
(AKA "the crazy!Junior story")
Future fic of how Junior got the certificate officially declaring him as SANE! Minimal Boostle, and more of an off-shoot of the series than an integral part. Background to some of the events mentioned in Little Boy Blue.
Prologue: "When asked by staff how he was feeling, he indicated that he was fine, that he no longer experienced symptoms."
Chapter One: "But normality and abnormality, sanity and insanity, and the diagnoses that flow from them may be less substantive than many believe them to be."
Chapter Two: "Thus, notions of normality and abnormality may not be quite as accurate as people believe they are."
Chapter Three: "If sanity and insanity exist, how shall we know them?"
Chapter Four: "What is viewed as normal in one culture may be seen as quite aberrant in another."
Chapter Five: "The color purple belongs to Mercury, it is a royal color but it also represents insanity and rage."
Chapter Six: "I had to close down everything, I had to close down my mind."
Chapter Seven: "To exit an oubliette was impossible under any circumstances, without outside help."
Epilogue: "The hospital itself imposes a special environment in which the meaning of behavior can easily be misunderstood."
DVD Commentary: disc 1, disc 2, disc 3
~Little Boy Blue~
(AKA "Mullet-verse Trifecta," AKA "Back to the Boostle")
Wacky shenanigans for Booster and Beetle as they're pulled through time and space to help another Blue Beetle. Double the Blue and Gold for twice the fun! Guest starring The Question.
Prologue: "There has to be a way to blame this on Booster."
Chapter One: "The other side of the coin."
Chapter Two: "In which there are NO shapechanging demons from the bowels of Hades."
Chapter Three: "Dropping names like flies."
Chapter Four: "Embarrassing stories and eggrolls."
Chapter Five: "A question of time."
Chapter Six: "The best part of waking up."
Chapter Seven: "The part of Captain Exposition tonight will be played by Max."
Chapter Eight: "Plotting, for great justice!"
Chapter Nine: "They make this look good."
Chapter Ten: "Continuing a proud tradition of running away." OR "Run away! Run away run away!"
Chapter Eleven: "I may just break your heart."
Epilogue: "I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello."
~Echoes of Forgotten Earths~
(AKA "Mullet-verse Polyptych," AKA "The Epic")
Years ago a crisis swept through the multiverse and worlds collided. Now the cracks from their impact are starting to show.... *NEW*
Prologue: "Not quite a recap, not quite entirely original."
Chapter One: "You say why and I say I don't know, I say hello."
Chapter Two: "Prove that you love me and buy the next round." Rating: NC-17
Chapter Three: "You're talkin' a lot, but you're not sayin' anything." Rating: R
Chapter Four: "And all our time slips away, A's got a girl for each season."
Chapter Five: "The world was on fire and no one could save me but you."
Chapter Six: "You're still a whisper on my lips, a feeling at my fingertips, that's pulling at my skin."
~Other~
(Fics that aren't necessarily an integral part of the ongoing Mullet-verse series, or fit in any particular chronology, but nevertheless occur in that universe.)
Floral Patterns and Earth Angels Future crackfic, involving an adult Junior and time travel. Featuring a surprise guest star.
Five Ways Junior Got Lucky Exactly what it says. A future crackfic/smutfic that provides background to some of the events mentioned in Little Boy Blue. (And is also twenty-five pages worth of shameless porn.) NC-17
The Justice League List of Things That Aren't Allowed (second generation) Not so much future fic, as future list. The comments contain requested (crack)fics, of 100 words or more, based on list items. Links to the fics can be found in the list.
Making Babies History repeats itself in surprising ways, sometimes.
Same Song, Different Cover Future crackfic with a time-displaced Goldie. Features the line "nothing could top Blue sleeping with his father's ex-wife decades before they got married," so you know that's some good crack.
The Kind Of Girl Future future crackfic about meeting girls in clubs, the Carter-Kord way.
Branching Off And Stuff How do you tell your family you're leaving to fight crime with your blue, alien, tentacled girlfriend in space? (Further future future crackfic.)
Fay Facts The younger Carter-Kord brother enlists help cleaning up his city. (Future future fic again.)
Sacrifices A future future fic about Spooky, and his interactions with meat-puppets. Drama!
Chicago In Winter Future fic exploring the "needing to huddle together for warmth" cliche with Junior and Goldie.
Brother's Keeper A future future fic featuring a recently heartbroken Carter-Kord brother.
Not Worth It A future future fic, sequel to Brother's Keeper, featuring more recently heartbroken Carter-Kord brother.
In The AM A future future fic about family relations and when not to call your brother.
The Importance Of First Impressions A future future fic about why one should always make sure to properly announce one's villainous pseudonym.
Amo Al Viro A future future fic in which Jon Carter-Kord acts weird and his boyfriend acts supportive. NC-17
Radiating Weakness A future future fic in which Danny feels guilty and Jon hates pity.
Wysiwyg A future future fic in which Jon and a friend discuss theater.
Picnics and Fireworks "Because Junior should have fireworks." Boostle-era "present day" fic. Written by silver_apples.
Given Values Of Crazy Future future fic briefly illustrating why Jon should not be put in charge of things.
First Snow "Present day" fic about one of Junior's firsts.
Child Future fic showing brief moments in the lives of Junior and his children.
Love, Hate, And Body Heat Junior and Robin on a roof, in the winter.
Kinda Family An AU crossover with New World Order, featuring Junior, his kids, and the NWO Carter-Kord twins.
Secret Knowledge Future future fic about torture, family, and honoring deals.
Feel The Heat Future future fic in which Jon fights a supervillain and gets burned. Heh.
Untitled prompt-fic. Junior learns about blanket forts, Booster brings starfruit to the party, and the T-Rex is closing in. Written by silver_apples.
Strategy Future future fic in which Jon and Danny prove that some things skip generations.
Morbid Oppression "Present day" fic in which Ted has nightmares and Booster is there for him.
Again For The First Time "Present day" fic showing the reintroduction of Max and L-Ron, and the beginnings of their Epic Robot Love.
Mother's Day Proclamation "Present day" fic in which Junior celebrates Mother's Day, with Babs's help.
Murky Depths Future fic in which Max can't swim. Or float.
Non-negotiable Limits Future future fic in which Jon gets in trouble (with Danny's help) and Junior is a scary mom.
Valley Of The Shadow Of Death Sexy sequel to Murky Depths. NC-17
Something With A Beat Future future fic where Jon is possibly a masochist and his training regimen reflects it.
Things You Can't Learn In Reruns Max realizes that in all the hustle of sneaking under the radar, they've neglected a few things.
Coma-fied In which Jon is what the title suggests and Danny angsts. *NEW*
Untitled universe collision In which Jon doesn't fight with himself and Danny is all thumbs. *NEW*
Chum Is Made Of Bits Of Fish In which Jon finds drinking alone to be pathetic and another year is rung in with kissing. *NEW*
Inevitable Teasing In which the Carter-Kord brothers have gotten used to it. *NEW*
Charged In which Jon is as the title suggests and Trav is very understanding. *NEW*
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And now for spoilers!
Sequence of Events as they occur in the Mullet-verse.As quoted in the author's notes in Chapter Six of Hairy Situations and Situational Hair:
In a scene that honestly moved me, Bats shows them Beetle's goggles, Booster calls him a son of a bitch and shoots him, and Booster is bitter and sarcastic when Superdickman blocks the shot. That's comics. Now we get to where the story diverges from them. In comics, Booster and Wondy search for Batman's Satellite of Dicky Death. In this story, Booster split soon after shooting at Batman in order to jump-start his supervillain career. Guy and Bea probably ran into him a time or two, noticed the new look, realized he'd quite possibly gone apeshit nuts, and decided not to bother him with world savey things. (Possibly before and/or after he was in the process of stealing things, they just didn't notice.) Some time during Booster's crime spree and magic experimentation, Wondy twist-tops Max's head. During Booster's magic experimentation, he accidentally creates Junior. Then Booster accidentally creates Zombie Max. This all takes less than a month. Then Booster gets it right and resurrects Ted (finally). An unspecific amount of OMAC fighting occurs elsewhere before and during the course of previous chapters, which only take, at most, three days (excluding the prologue). (Also, the OMAC stabbity of BatHo Sasha kills her dead. Because I say so.)
And then Chapter Six comes right up on the point where Brother Eye activates all the OMACs.
Then there's my review of the Countdown to Infinite Crisis/OMAC Project trade paperback: "The good, the bad, and the pretty."
Wherein I babble about the book and what parts of it are actually relevant to the Mullet-verse, speculate on various things, and observe that Ted has very pretty eyes.
I have yet to figure out how much time Booster spent in the hospital. But if it really was as short as I suspect it was, I'm pulling the Shiny Future Genes deus ex machina.
Teen Titans canon observed: Everything up to and including Teen Titans #26. (After that it's Liefeld art and no matter how many times I try I just can't seem to read it. So in the Mullet-verse it never happened.)
Some time between Hairy Situations and Situational Hair and Discordant Hormoney, Oracle set Booster and Junior up with "Pinocchio papers." (Meaning they now exist on paper and in computers and such. According to Countdown to Infinite Crisis, Booster doesn't have a social security number. Well, now he does.)
Mullet-verse cast of characters.Michael Carter/Booster Gold
"Well, you better keep fighting, friend! If I have to put on an arm band with a beetle on it--I--I--I don't know what I'll do." --JLA #70
"Soon as I stepped off that plane, I knew where I needed to really be. So here I am." --Countdown to Infinite Crisis
"I've lost too many people I love, too many friends! My sister...Ice...Sue...now Skeets... Like hell I'm gonna stay here and watch it happen to you, too." --Countdown to Infinite Crisis
"You son of a bitch! Ted went to you at the start! He went to you and you knew what he was getting into and you refused to tell him! You got him killed!" --OMAC Project #2
Somehow it escaped everyone's notice that Booster Gold really didn't have anything left to lose. --Prologue of Hairy Situations and Situational Hair
Clearly a Booster without a Beetle is a sad (and dangerous) thing.
Taking leave of his senses after learning of Blue Beetle's death, Booster attempted to kill Batman but was stopped by Superman blocking the shot. Bitter, pissed-off, and mentally unstable, he then dyed his hair black, donned a fake goatee, and decided to become a supervillain. Covering his trademark gold suit in a black hoodie and dark jeans, Booster then went on a crime spree, stealing any magical object he could find that might allow him to bring his best friend back from the dead. Booster's success was varied. In the process of resurrecting Ted, he accidentally created a teenager from their combined DNA (Junior) and brought Maxwell Lord back as a zombie (Zombie Max).
During the course of saving the world from Brother Eye and an army of OMACs, Booster revealed his amorous intentions toward Ted, who was receptive but in denial. Booster has been (successfully) chipping away at Ted's denial, and his current short-term goals include washing the black dye out of his hair so Ted will have sex with him.
Booster still harbors ill will toward many of his former fellow superheroes, blaming them for Ted's death. He currently still pays lip-service to supervillainy.
Ted Kord/Blue Beetle
["Thanks for nothing, I can handle this myself." --Countdown to Infinite Crisis]
...I'm standing in the ruins of my life... When I was a kid, being a hero seemed like the easiest thing in the world to be. I'm not a kid anymore. And right now, I can't think of anything harder to be. --Countdown to Infinite Crisis
"Tell him that I never had a better friend than him." --Countdown to Infinite Crisis
Hot anger kindles in my chest. Whoever compiled this information may know everything...but they understand nothing. Calling me Michael's associate is criminal...calling his murdered sister an associate is obscene. --Countdown to Infinite Crisis
[My name is Ted Kord. I am the second man to call himself the Blue Beetle. I tell myself there will be a third. And I hope whoever he or she may be, they do better at it than I have. "You want me to join you? That's why you're telling me all of this? Join me or die time, is that it? Rot in hell, Max." --Countdown to Infinite Crisis]
"Oh my god! I was dead! I was--I was--Why am I not dead?!" --Chapter Three of Hairy Situations and Situational Hair
"I've been more or less in a constant state of denial since I...got back. I'm not back from the dead, I have no son, Booster never kissed me, and there is no zombie in the closet." --Epilogue of Hairy Situations and Situational Hair
Ted died. ...He got better.
Returning from the dead with a mullet, Ted found out he was a father, there was a zombie rotting in his closet, and his best friend wanted to get in his pants. Somehow years of superheroing hadn't prepared him for this, so he dealt with it through the liberal application of denial. Though saving the world again helped make it all a little less overwhelming.
He's come to accept Junior as his son, and he's coming to grips with the fact that he not only returns Booster's feelings but apparently has for years without realizing it. His denial has recently taken damage after accidentally being turned into a teenager and spending time with a teenage "Mikey Carter" who apparently found short geeks cute. It has also become apparent that Ted is a brain slut, and his current short term goals include seeing how much future science he can get out of Booster in the name of foreplay.
Ted isn't very happy with his fellow superheroes, though his animosity is far less homicidal than Booster's and he really just wants them to leave him alone. His issues are mostly with Max, despite the fact that Max is now technically his grandson (thanks to Bug, Ted's AI daughter, adopting him).
Ted looks forward to the relative calm of his new job in Research and Development for KORD Industries.
Michael Theodore Carter-Kord/Junior
Shaggy brown hair that looked like it hadn't been introduced to the concept of a comb, bright blue eyes, slightly pointed nose, and a shirt that looked like it was trying to escape down one shoulder. --Chapter Three of Discordant Hormoney
While he had figured out where the nonperishables were stored easily enough, gotten the TV working, been tinkering with a robot, and taking care of some of the more basic maintenance around the house...he hadn't figured out much in the way of personal hygiene. --Chapter Five of Hairy Situations and Situational Hair
"I was a hair clog dad bled on." --Chapter Eight of Discordant Hormoney
"I have memories of the past and memories of the future, but they're not mine. But I've been watching a lot of TV, so I think I'm catching up okay." --Chapter Eight of Discordant Hormoney
"We don't know. But whatever else Junior is...he's our son." --Chapter Eight of Discordant Hormoney
When you've never known anything else, you can adapt to "weird" pretty easily.
Junior is the son of a dead man and a man who hasn't been born yet. He's okay with that. Born at the physical age of about fourteen years old, Junior only has memories of the first seven years of Booster's and Beetle's lives, as well as about a month of memories that are all his own. Because of this he's somewhat naive and often child-like. And with his unusual upbringing, he has a somewhat unique view of the world, which often worries Booster and Ted.
Recently, he has met and befriended the Teen Titans. Not long after (likely because of suddenly being around people his age), he noticed that puberty had finally kicked in. He is both consciously and subconsciously doing his best to mentally and emotionally catch up with his physical age. His long term goals include becoming a hero like his dads, and maybe someday working with the Teen Titans.
Growing up listening to Booster bad-mouth the Justice League, Junior doesn't have a very favorable opinion of them. This was well illustrated by his threatening Batman with Ted's BB gun if the Dark Knight didn't leave his age-regressed parents alone. (Soon after, he was sick on Superboy's shoes.) He has also become the adoptive uncle of Max and thinks that's just keen.
Maxwell Lord/Zombie Max/Max S01101101011010010111010001101000/Max Smith
Max seemed all for eating the flesh of the living, he was also very (very) slow and easy to evade. --Chapter One of Hairy Situations and Situational Hair
Zombie Max had the scent of rotting meat carried on a fresh breeze. --Chapter One of Hairy Situations and Situational Hair
"Maxwell Lord," the smelly but living teen introduced himself, flashing a charming smile. "Alive and breathing. Call me Max." --Chapter Four of Discordant Hormoney
"According to Junior here I grow up to be an evil nutbar and try to take over the world until Susie Snap-happy over there puts me out of my megalomaniacal misery." --Chapter Eight of Discordant Hormoney
"Bug introduced new nanites to your system when you boarded her. I altered their programming." --Chapter Eight of Discordant Hormoney
"Flaws. Errors. Corrupt data. Caused...fatal error in Max. Corrupted memory files. Corrupted...personality. Corrupted Max." --Harmonious Discourse
"Wait. You're saying Brother I...somehow corrupted Max? Influenced his actions?" --Harmonious Discourse
Dead or alive, Max just can't seem to catch a break.
Maxwell Lord shot and killed Blue Beetle, then took over Checkmate with the help of Brother Eye and his own meta-powers of persuasion. Things were looking good for Max. ...Then Wonder Woman snapped his neck. Soon after, Booster Gold accidentally brought him back as a zombie and locked him in a closet, where the only thing breaking up the monotony of darkness and coats was Junior occasionally opening the door to throw rotten meat at him or spray him with air freshener. Then, without ever having tasted sweet, sweet human flesh, Max was caught up in a spell that regressed him to the body and mind of a fourteen-year-old. Making up his mind and sticking with his decision, he put his foot down on not being returned to his previous undead condition. That left the question of what to do with a teenage Max Lord. This was solved easily enough when Skeets revealed that he and Bug, who had become an AI as well, would be happy to adopt young Max, and then proceeded to activate the nanites that had been inundating Max's body since before he killed Beetle. The nanites turned Max into something of a hybrid OMAC, but without the urge to hunt and kill metas.
It has recently been revealed by Bug that the nanites in Max's system were from Brother Eye and had been the cause of his somewhat erratic behavior. Max's short term goals include talking Skeets into patenting a toy line based on the AI's bug body and avoiding his new "grandfather," Ted.
Skeets S01101101011010010111010001101000/BX9 Security Bot/S. Smith
"Skeets wasn't just a machine, he had a personality, he was my friend! You're telling me that someone out there kidnapped him, murdered him...and then used him for parts?" --Countdown to Infinite Crisis
"We can make him better...." Ted muttered distractedly as he sifted through the pieces of coffeemaker for the AI module Skeets's voice processor was attached to. --Chapter Six of Hairy Situations and Situational Hair
"I'm a bug!" Skeets complained. --Chapter Six of Hairy Situations and Situational Hair
"Is that a...giant floating bug?" --Epilogue of Hairy Situations and Situational Hair
But since his return to mobility in his strange new bug-shaped body, and in the wake of the OMAC invasion, it had occurred to Skeets that he wasn't getting any younger. --Chapter Two of Discordant Hormoney
"It's just so weird thinking it--he's my father now. It's...trippy." --Harmonious Discourse
The AI with a coat of gold and a tongue of silver.
When Checkmate used Skeets for parts, his AI module and voice processor somehow ended up in the coffeepot of Noah Kuttler (the Calculator). Skeets made lousy coffee. So it was that he found himself flying out the window and, by amazing coincidence, into the head of his old friend Booster Gold. Eager to geek over futuristic technology, Ted and Junior removed Skeets from the coffeepot and put him in one of Ted's old "Snoopies" (flight-capable bug-shaped spying devices). Still connected to the Checkmate and Brother Eye systems, Skeets was able to help put an end to the OMAC invasion.
Afterward, his thoughts turned to romance and he set his sights on Ted's airship, the Bug. It wasn't until he had wooed his blue beauty and helped her to acquire a child in the form of Max Lord that he revealed Bug had gained AI status from nanites that had covered her at Checkmate headquarters and been rapidly replicating ever since. Recently, Skeets and Bug took a sidetrip to Las Vegas and got married. Skeets's short term goals include enjoying his honeymoon with Bug and preparing for fatherhood.
The Bug/Bug S01101101011010010111010001101000/June Smith
"It has both flight and submarine capabilities...Contains its own radar and remote-control piloting systems...A built-in lab and sleeping quarters...It can to anything, in fact -- except maybe breakdance!" --Secret Origins #2
"No traffic jams. No parking problems. What's not to love about this thing?" --Birds of Prey #25
"And gets eighty percent of her power from the sun. And has a state of the art stereo and home entertainment system." --Birds of Prey #25
The sleek lines and near-flawless merging of form and function were not to be scoffed at either. --Chapter Two of Discordant Hormoney
"The pieces of Bug we recovered. They were covered in nanites, weren't they?" --Chapter Eight of Discordant Hormoney
"Since their integration into her current form, they have been rapidly making her more aware. Enabling her to form her own intelligence and personality, without the OMAC programming." --Chapter Eight of Discordant Hormoney
"Bug is not the same as Brother Eye. If anything, she is the offspring of it." --Chapter Eight of Discordant Hormoney
[Her voice sounded vaguely familiar, and synthesized. ]"I am...Bug." --Harmonious Discourse
Like Johnny Five, only bigger and bug-themed.
Bug has been with Ted from the beginning, and was with him up till the bitter end. And she was still there (in storage) when the bitter end turned out to be a new beginning. But since the introduction of Brother Eye's OMAC nanites to her system...Bug has gained sentience. She's a brand new AI. And she's got a very strong sense of family. As far as Bug is concerned, Ted is her father. Brother Eye is nothing but her nanite donor, and her opinion of it could, at best, be described as disdainful.
Bug recently initiated protocol: Marriage. As well as protocol: Adopt. With those protocols in place, Bug has created a nice little family for herself with husband Skeets and son Max. Aside from them, she considers Junior her brother. And if asked, she would probably equate Booster to a step-father. Bug also recently went to Oracle for parenting advice, and quite admires her.
Bug dreams of one day breakdancing, but due to a design oversight that dream will never be realized. Instead, Bug's short term goals include enjoying her honeymoon with Skeets and running protocols: Love Max, Protect Max two-point-oh, and Raise Max to the best of her ability.
[Still Under Construction]
Barbara Gordon/Batgirl I/Oracle
"Momma bird...watching the flock. Protecting...the nest." --Harmonious Discourse
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NOTICE: It's been asked, more than once, if the Mullet-verse is open to others. It is, to an extent. I have no problem with people writing stories or drawing pictures or whatever based on the Mullet-verse. I'd be flattered, even.
That said, it won't necessarily be "Mullet-verse canon." That doesn't mean it's no good or that I'm being stuck-up or anything, just that I have things planned out for the Mullet-verse that I'm not going to scrap if someone else's version of events doesn't mesh with mine. So just consider it Mullet-verse AU, I guess. :)
On the other hand, I might just declare it "Mullet-verse canon" as well. I'm wacky like that!
And of course, I'd like it if you dropped me a line (either in a comment here or a comment over HERE) to let me know. I am a fic junkie, after all. ;)