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

[khajidont]

Oh, come on, bruises are a part of the gig! That's good old fashioned character building, right there, [he says cheerfully, thumping one fist against his chest.]

But do me a favour, and ask Noodle if he wants me to come and help him learn how to control it. I'm talking serious lessons here, though, no screwing around.

[amadaman]

Right now he listens to me so we're trying to figure out how he could control it. He doesn't have a handy government print out like the rest of us did. In the meanwhile, I'm also trying to teach the super speeders that super speeding in a soccer game is just cheating.

[middle schoolers]

[khajidont]

Good plan. On both counts. If imPorts can't use their powers in sports, then the locals shouldn't either!

[He says it chipperly enough, but really, he is kind of concerned for Noodle. Firebreathing is a destructive power, and one that could go very badly if it ever spirals out of control.]

You're making sure to help him practice away from vegetation, right?

[amadaman]

Yeah, I try. I've been taking him to the pool at a nearby high school...

I'm really trying to get them to listen. They listen to me more than to the captain, but if Gran and Kidou-kun are holding back their hissatsu soccer, it's not fair to let them fool around.

[khajidont]

Sometimes, when these things are brand new, you gotta give people a chance to flex their powers, have a little fun. They'd have to be careful, but maybe you guys can have a fifteen minute session at the beginning of the match to really stretch your powers out.

Gran and Kidou too.

[amadaman]

I guess so. I mean, I can always provide a decent goalie.

...

... Kala-Nemi, that is.

[Ken's been finding many many weird uses for his Persona lately.]

[khajidont]

Your teammates are cool with Kala-Nemi?

[does it not SCARE THE SHIT out of them????]

[amadaman]

I'm not gonna summon her in front of them!

Otherwise they don't really mind the Persona herself.

[khajidont]

So you've shown her to them before? I'm surprised; I thought you'd keep her kind of private.

[amadaman]

I did, at first.

But nowadays you never know when something's going to happen? So I showed Kidou-kun and Gran as soon as I can and showed the others on my team too. I can't have them being scared of her when I need them safe, you know?

[khajidont]

That's smart.

[Jaime wouldn't have thought of that, but then again, he's a reflexively secretive person, in a way that's not studied but rather habitual. This kind of stuff dies hard.]

I hope nothing does happen, but I'm glad they can associate her with something safe now. I'm sure they feel a lot safer for having you as a classmate.

[amadaman]

Honestly, the effect is pretty ruined by the summoning method but I don't think I'm able to or willing to go for the alternative.

[You know, the forcible shattering of his mental wall because he doesn't want to lose his emotional stability again.]

But I hope so. At least, I want them to understand that fighting to keep us all safe isn't a hardship to me like it will be to them, if they had to use their soccer for that sort of thing.