[ The memory kicks off with Ananke and Scarab blasting through space, and then promptly ripping open a small tear in space and blasting into a hazy sub-dimension. The black expanse of space is replaced with pink and orange galactic clouds that spread off into the endless distance, but Ananke's got no time to waste on marveling at the change. He's already pulling open a new tear in the fabric of space—
Abruptly it becomes 3 overlapping memories as they exist the sub-dimension, popping up in 3 different locations on the planet's surface at once. The trio of Blue Beetles chatter amongst themselves, syncing up an attack on some beetle-themed structures that they refer to as "World Rippers" and complaining about how confusing time traveling to the same point in time as yourself is.
The attack "fails." The shielding on the structures flares with a burst of energy, searing each of them with an explosive shock. The first two Blue Beetles complain, while the third wonders why they only needed three and opens a line of communication back to his people. The voices on the other end of the line confirm they got the data—
"Can you say triangulation, baby?" quips one of them.
The memory settles back into a single timeline, and the remaining Blue Beetle smiles sharply, determined and dangerous. "Therrrre you are."
He launches into the air, heading straight back into space as a set of coordinates pop into his visual field and the memory fades out. ]
[OOC note: Nothing the aliens are saying is audible in the memory. They're spying on Blue Beetle, but he doesn't have communication with them open at this point. ]
You're in space, drifting 90 miles above the surface of the planet Earth. You don't pay it any mind, instead reaching out and focusing on the strange sensation of the dimensional drives that Scarab's shown you time and time again. It's still strange to trigger them; the buzzing jolt in your spine makes you gasp, but it's done. The rift opens before you, silvery and wavering strangely, and you fall through into the sub-dimension.
Earth is gone. You can't see anything but strange, reddish pink galactic space dust drifting through the void you find yourself in, but there's no time to think about the horrible emptiness. You're on a deadline.
You reach out and activate the drives again. Your spine jolts, and you fly through—
You're at the equator, a thick jungle sprawling below you. You know the other two of you should be in position by now, but it's too confusing to think about how. Scarab promised it was going to work, so you've just gotta go with it. An alien, domed structure rises from the foliage in the distance. You activate your comm unit as you come to hover over the building.
"Uh, this is me...calling the two other "mes". I'm gonna try to pull this world ripper into our real space in five seconds."
"I need to blast some cliff awway here for access. Wait for my count," responds one of the other yous. Some primal part of your brain insists that nothing good from hearing your own voice answer you in real time. You ignore it and wait for the other you to begin the countdown.
"Go!"
You extend the claws of your suit and thrust your hand directly into an access panel on the building. The power surge is too much — blinding, deafening, searing pain. You aren't quite sure when it ends, but you come to on the ground beneath a cluster of jungle palms. Groaning, you push yourself to your feet and reach for the dimension drives again, returning to the sub-space.
Once again, you linger in the sub-dimension for only seconds, racing to tear a hole in space-time the moment you arrive. You grit your teeth and focus on the timing. You need it to be earlier this time, just a few minutes—
This time you send yourself to a frozen wasteland. Just as before, you tear across the landscape until you find a similar domed alien building with another access panel. You hear your own voice crackle across your comms ("Uh...this is me...calling the other "mes"").
You wait until you hear the command to go, and just like last time you plunge your hand into the depths of the access panel, staggering under the surge of power that floods every circuit in the suit.
And then you're on the ground, pushing yourself up, tearing open a sub-dimensional rift. You curse under your breath, stretching out sore the sore sting in your arms, and tear open one last hole in space. This rift spits you out somewhere in a sprawling desert. When you find the alien structure here, a cliffside has crumbled on top of the access panel you need.
You hear your own voice crackle over your comm. ("Uh...this is me...") That's right, you'd had to tell yourself to wait. Well, you have to tell you now.
You activate your comm to tell them to wait. "I need to blast some cliffs..."
While you're focused on talking, Scarab takes control of your free arm and activates a heavy laser canon. The structure of the weapon rises seamlessly from the suit and mounts itself to your forearm. Scarab handles the trouble of firing, measuring the amount of force needed to precisely destroy the rubble without damaging the access panel before you're ready.
When you give the command to go, however, you're the only one left in control. For the third time, you thrust your hand into the access panel and try and fail to grit your teeth against the painful surge. When you come out of it this time though, you activate your comm one last time.
"Nadia, Hector. You got the data, right?"
There's a brief pause. It feels like your heart's going to beat out of your chest. Please please please you need this. You won't get another chance at—
"Yeah, Blue Boss. Sending the coordinates now."
A sharp thread of satisfaction cuts through the tension. The coordinates arrive, and the moment Scarab locks onto them you fire up your jet and take off into the depths of space. The memory is already fading out as the enemy mothership comes into view, but the last thought you're left with is that you're going to take all of them down.
[ And now for something simple, Ananke and another boy who could pass for a linebacker are just wrapping up some work at a closed gas and auto shop. His father pulls up with the rest of his family to ask what they're doing here — this could be trespassing! They don't own this shop anymore!
Ananke does his best not to look smug while his friend opens the garage door to reveal a sign bearing [REDACTED]. It seems like even the last name is obscured in memories...
Ananke in the memory cheerfully explains how he leveraged his college savings for a loan to buy the place back, and his friend helped with a windfall of insurance money. His father flails for a few moments, trying to find some reason to reject the gift and get them their money back, but...there just isn't one.
Defeated, he drapes one arm over each boys' shoulders.
"You're good boys. We start at 4 AM tomorrow morning."
Ananke can't keep the smile off his face as the memory fades out. ]
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Regular Every Day Time Travel
Abruptly it becomes 3 overlapping memories as they exist the sub-dimension, popping up in 3 different locations on the planet's surface at once. The trio of Blue Beetles chatter amongst themselves, syncing up an attack on some beetle-themed structures that they refer to as "World Rippers" and complaining about how confusing time traveling to the same point in time as yourself is.
The attack "fails." The shielding on the structures flares with a burst of energy, searing each of them with an explosive shock. The first two Blue Beetles complain, while the third wonders why they only needed three and opens a line of communication back to his people. The voices on the other end of the line confirm they got the data—
"Can you say triangulation, baby?" quips one of them.
The memory settles back into a single timeline, and the remaining Blue Beetle smiles sharply, determined and dangerous. "Therrrre you are."
He launches into the air, heading straight back into space as a set of coordinates pop into his visual field and the memory fades out. ]
[OOC note: Nothing the aliens are saying is audible in the memory. They're spying on Blue Beetle, but he doesn't have communication with them open at this point. ]
2nd person view for ritual shares
Earth is gone. You can't see anything but strange, reddish pink galactic space dust drifting through the void you find yourself in, but there's no time to think about the horrible emptiness. You're on a deadline.
You reach out and activate the drives again. Your spine jolts, and you fly through—
You're at the equator, a thick jungle sprawling below you. You know the other two of you should be in position by now, but it's too confusing to think about how. Scarab promised it was going to work, so you've just gotta go with it. An alien, domed structure rises from the foliage in the distance. You activate your comm unit as you come to hover over the building.
"Uh, this is me...calling the two other "mes". I'm gonna try to pull this world ripper into our real space in five seconds."
"I need to blast some cliff awway here for access. Wait for my count," responds one of the other yous. Some primal part of your brain insists that nothing good from hearing your own voice answer you in real time. You ignore it and wait for the other you to begin the countdown.
"Go!"
You extend the claws of your suit and thrust your hand directly into an access panel on the building. The power surge is too much — blinding, deafening, searing pain. You aren't quite sure when it ends, but you come to on the ground beneath a cluster of jungle palms. Groaning, you push yourself to your feet and reach for the dimension drives again, returning to the sub-space.
Once again, you linger in the sub-dimension for only seconds, racing to tear a hole in space-time the moment you arrive. You grit your teeth and focus on the timing. You need it to be earlier this time, just a few minutes—
This time you send yourself to a frozen wasteland. Just as before, you tear across the landscape until you find a similar domed alien building with another access panel. You hear your own voice crackle across your comms ("Uh...this is me...calling the other "mes"").
You wait until you hear the command to go, and just like last time you plunge your hand into the depths of the access panel, staggering under the surge of power that floods every circuit in the suit.
And then you're on the ground, pushing yourself up, tearing open a sub-dimensional rift. You curse under your breath, stretching out sore the sore sting in your arms, and tear open one last hole in space. This rift spits you out somewhere in a sprawling desert. When you find the alien structure here, a cliffside has crumbled on top of the access panel you need.
You hear your own voice crackle over your comm. ("Uh...this is me...") That's right, you'd had to tell yourself to wait. Well, you have to tell you now.
You activate your comm to tell them to wait. "I need to blast some cliffs..."
While you're focused on talking, Scarab takes control of your free arm and activates a heavy laser canon. The structure of the weapon rises seamlessly from the suit and mounts itself to your forearm. Scarab handles the trouble of firing, measuring the amount of force needed to precisely destroy the rubble without damaging the access panel before you're ready.
When you give the command to go, however, you're the only one left in control. For the third time, you thrust your hand into the access panel and try and fail to grit your teeth against the painful surge. When you come out of it this time though, you activate your comm one last time.
"Nadia, Hector. You got the data, right?"
There's a brief pause. It feels like your heart's going to beat out of your chest. Please please please you need this. You won't get another chance at—
"Yeah, Blue Boss. Sending the coordinates now."
A sharp thread of satisfaction cuts through the tension. The coordinates arrive, and the moment Scarab locks onto them you fire up your jet and take off into the depths of space. The memory is already fading out as the enemy mothership comes into view, but the last thought you're left with is that you're going to take all of them down.
Recovering a loss
Ananke does his best not to look smug while his friend opens the garage door to reveal a sign bearing [REDACTED]. It seems like even the last name is obscured in memories...
Ananke in the memory cheerfully explains how he leveraged his college savings for a loan to buy the place back, and his friend helped with a windfall of insurance money. His father flails for a few moments, trying to find some reason to reject the gift and get them their money back, but...there just isn't one.
Defeated, he drapes one arm over each boys' shoulders.
"You're good boys. We start at 4 AM tomorrow morning."
Ananke can't keep the smile off his face as the memory fades out. ]