VIDEO | ID says Blue Beetle

[khajidont]

[Hello, everyone, and welcome to what may well be the Blue Beetle's first - and possibly last - ever video post! He's clearly in uniform, and frankly looks a little inhuman; his red-yellow lenses glow faintly, even though he's posting from a rooftop out in the sunshine, he's conspicuously noseless, and he's covered from head to toe in a blue and black carapace armour. When he speaks, his voice is calm and measured; he's clearly been thinking about this for a long time, and it's something he wants to get out right, even if his speech is a little marred by the fact that he's speaking through a faintly robotic filter.]

Hi, everyone. Um, some of you might know me, even if I don't talk here a whole lot, but just in case -- I'm the Blue Beetle. Not my real name, for the record, but plenty of us superheroes still do the codename thing, even here. But that's not what I'm here to talk about! I wanna talk about powers.

See, as far as I can tell, we all get powers when we get here, unless we already had some back home, and now? Even the people who were born here have them. It's especially hard for people who got dangerous powers. Some people try and use them for good, and other people just try to ignore them, and others try to master them by themselves, but this kind of thing isn't something you should have to tackle by yourself.

Where I'm from, there are a lot of people with powers. We call them metahumans. And sometimes when they try to tackle these things by themselves, it works out just fine! A lot of the time, though? It doesn't. Especially when they go out and use them to try and do a lot of good, and I know that's what people here are doing too. Maybe it seems like it's not a big deal from the outside, but it is. That's how a lot of people wind up dead. [He pauses, just for a moment, and inhales quickly before continuing.] It's how a lot of people I know wound up dead. It's not something to take lightly. I know I didn't have a lot of help - I didn't ask for a lot of help - when I started out, and if I did? Things would have gone a lot smoother.

But I'm not trying to lecture anyone! I know a lot of people here have been doing this for a lot longer than me, [he admits, flashing a quick smile at the screen, teeth white and human behind his mask.] This is just me making an offer. If you're trying to break into what people like me do, or if you're trying to figure out your powers, don't do it alone. If you're not worried about yourself, at least think of other people -- if you've got some strong powers going on, without training, it's really, really easy to hurt other people accidentally. If you guys want help, I'll do that, the best I can. And if I can't, I have a feeling there's a lot of others who'd be willing to help too.

So, um... yeah. I guess that's it! Didn't... really think about how I was going to end this.

[He blinks at the communicator, suddenly awkward before clearing his throat and saying:] Bye!

Comments

video

[rathercommon]

[ Oh Jaime. What a good you are. Kitty's no big fan of harnessing powers to serve society, obviously, because in her imaginings that's how people with powers get elevated above people without them, and also paranoia, but that doesn't mean she can't be charmed by this earnestness.

So, in a friendly tone - the tone of someone speaking publicly, who's trying to put a friend at ease when that friend's primary skill is most certainly not public speaking - ]

What happened when you started out?

[ She is, at the moment, a cat. ]

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[khajidont]

Well, I sure could have helped a lot more people if I'd known what I was doing. But I guess that's the cop-out answer, huh?

[The corner of his mouth twitches upwards, just slightly.]

I blew up a Church once. It was an accident.

video; private

[snarkbot]

[ Before Skeets arrived, he had been with Booster, cleaning Ted's grave. He understands where Jaime is coming from immediately. ]

It needed to be said, sir. Do you require any assistance?

video; private

[khajidont]

Not yet. But thanks for the offer, Skeets. If you see anyone asking for help that you think you can help too, maybe you should say something?

But who knows if anyone's gonna even ask in the first place.

[He has his doubts. But he had to offer.]

[redhott]

[ It's Kyle! Well, more specifically, it's Red Hot in his wonderful spandex. But, lbh, very few people have that particular shade of natural red. ]

Not to jump on your thunder or anything, but if you need anyone to assist I'm all for it! It took me a long time to control my powers and I'm sure there's people here that have elemental powers or powers controlled by their emotions. I can help with that.

[khajidont]

Nah, this is exactly what I wanted! I knew if someone started talking about this, a lot of people would want to help, you know?

[He's relieved to see that he's not being proven wrong on that front.]

I don't think I've seen you around before, have I?

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[monster_san]

It's easy to feel overwhelmed by being here, or suddenly gaining new powers... and it can be hard to talk to people if you don't know that they'll understand. It's kind of you to let everyone know that you do, and that you'll help.

If you need help with training people--or a bit of healing--let me know, all right?

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[khajidont]

Honestly, it's the least I can do.

[He remembers coming back here when Eddie's death was so fresh, angry at the world, and how Power Girl had simply asked him what he was going to do about it. And this? This, he can do.]

We have to start looking out for each other a little more. If I think you could help someone out, I'll let you know!

voice;

[hisheartsdesire]

[There's hesitation in the way he speaks.] All this about natives getting powers lately, and not knowing the first thing about controlling it... It's really got me thinking about things. Like my own experiences and things that I'd done here, when I first arrived.

I don't believe we've ever met before, Mister Blue Beetle—I'm Tobias Matthews, by the way. Perhaps you've heard, though maybe you haven't. I'm a vampire, and in my first month of arriving here, I sired four native vampires.

[A deep breath, and a gulp as an attempt to push away the anxiety creeping up inside him. He would like as much as possible to still sound fairly composed. But this is something really close to him, something he's not really used to opening up about.]

Anyway, you've really touched upon something I've only started to give more thought to recently: people who didn't have powers before suddenly having them and having to adjust to them, to what they can do, to what they mean for themselves and for others around them.

Re: voice;

[khajidont]

It's nice to meet you, Mr. Matthews.

[That's what he begins with, anyway, nice and polite. It's a bit funny, he thinks, to be referred to as Mister Blue Beetle, but he can roll with it.]

I've heard about the native vampires, yes. It came up last election. [Not a huge surprise that it did, either; it's easy to forget that Tony Stark's whole business isn't the first time natives found themselves irrevocably changed.] Were you a vampire before you came here?

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[kanadian]

[ It's actually a touch affectionate when he speaks -- IT'S LIKE HIS LITTLE BRO IS FOLLOWING IN HIS FOOTSTEPS. ]

You know, I'm glad there are people like you stepping up for this. [ A beat. ] People with powers could always use good teachers.

Re: Video

[khajidont]

[Well, if Kaidan's going to be a sap, Jaime's going to out-sap him where he can't respond properly, lest he give away Jaime's secret ID.]

I'm going to do my best, anyway. Nobody's asked for lessons yet, and I'm not sure if they will -- it can be a hard thing to ask for. [He grins.] But I hope they do, because the right teacher means a lot. I didn't have one when I started out, sure, but I got a great one later on.

[darkpants_warmfeeling]

This was a good idea, Blue Beetle. Thanks for making the offer.

I've been running into more and more of the new Extremis natives. The ones that got Stark's 'upgrade.' They could definitely use some teaching. Can I send them your way?

[khajidont]

No problem. It's the least I can do. And yeah, absolutely send them my way! I was thinking about them too, but making an open offer on the Internet would probably be a pretty bad idea.

[He knows where that would go.]

I've been trying to talk a few of them into getting lessons, but they haven't wanted to so far. But to be fair, most of the guys I've been trying to convince were trying to burn my head off.

[It didn't work.]

Video | ID says Tsukuyomi

[unfortunatechemistry]

Everyone passes here has a quirk then? And with little supervision that's just irresponsible.

In my home, all heroes have to undergo a rigorous education before even being considered the privilege of a hero license.

...it happens I was studying for mine before this.

Video

[khajidont]

[Well hello there, Birdman! Jaime doesn't comment on it, though; that would be just a mite hypocritical, all things considered.]

You too, huh? It's not like that where I'm from, but I've spoken to other Heroes who had a program a little like that back home. Where I'm from, it's more like vigilante work; people are born with powers, or get them later on in life, and then it's up to them what they wind up doing with them.

It probably makes more sense to have actual, formal training. What was the school like? Maybe you've got some tips for people like me!

video; ID reads Robin

[performance]

[ Whoa... bird. ]

So what happens if someone tries to do hero stuff without a license?

UN: Clark Kent because he's a dork

[andaway]

As someone coming from a similar world as you, this is a really important message.

People without powers are usually the ones to suffer when a metahuman missuses their powers. You don't have to be evil, or careless for something to go wrong, no one controls their powers completely on their first try.

CLARK PLS

[khajidont]

Exactly. You don't have to mean to hurt someone to do it anyway. But then... a lot of people hurt themselves with their powers too. It's too easy for things to go wrong. In comparison to that, asking for help shouldn't seem that bad.

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[marriedmedium]

Oh, thank you for the offer, darling, but I'm coping with mine quite well! No hero tutorials required!

[...because a polite refusal is absolutely needed as oppose to just not replying.]

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[khajidont]

Looks like you're one of many. I don't think anyone's actually going to ask for help! [He confesses with a little laugh.] What's your power?

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[amadaman]

... If anybody needs healing from accidents during practice, I can help with that.

Ever since my teammates [that is to say, Noodle] started sneezing flames I've gotten a lot more practice with smaller injuries.

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[khajidont]

I'm hoping that won't be necessary. Training shouldn't come with injuries.

But thanks for the offer, Ken. I'll definitely keep you in mind. [He pauses.] Uh, does your teammate need help?

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[primadovea]

[ WEIRD ALIEN ALERT, Mint does not trust this weird looking guy at all. ]

And why on Earth should people trust you to help in the first place?

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[khajidont]

Uh. I mean, they don't gotta. I'm not forcing anyone into anything.

But why should anyone trust anyone? I'm as good of a bet as anyone else around here, and I'm the one offering.

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[hardcorduroy]

Okay, so I hear what you're saying. And I 100% respect it. I honestly do. (he's obviously seen some shit, wendy's not about to go off on that. he knows what he's doing, she's just. well, she just has these powers she uses sometimes.

and she's musing for a few seconds, thinking that maybe it would be a good idea to get some training. really find out what her limits are with her strength. but she has one very important question she asks, with nothing short of earnestness.) But I can still juggle people, right?

video;

[khajidont]

Uh...

[Trust Wendy to have those kinds of questions.]

Did you ask them if you could beforehand?

video; ID reads Robin

[performance]

I'm glad you said something. What we do is always going to be dangerous, but we do have the makings of a pretty great support system.

video; ID reads Robin

[khajidont]

Right? It's weird that we don't have more of one going on, honestly.

Maybe it's because not that many of us are the leading type of people.