How I ended up with an alien supercomputer attached to my spine. (Marvel/DC Blue beetle)

When Alex went out biking that day, the last thing she expected was to find herself in front of a portal. And the last thing she expected after that was for an alien shaped like a scarab to emerge from the portal and get under her clothes and fuse itself to her spine despite her attempts at fighting it off. And yet thats what happened.

After spending the first few moments, understandably panicking and trying to pry the scarab away, she was shocked to hear a mechanical voice speak.

'Salutations Host'

It said.

"What the. Who said that?" Alex couldn't help but look around as she said it.

'I apologise. I am a combat supercomputer created by the extraterrestrial civilisation known as the Reach. And I have chosen you as my next host.'

"What?!!" Alex couldn't help by ut exclaim.

It took another half an hour for the scarab to explain its origins.

"So let me get this straight. You were initially created to find a host amongst species the Reach want to conquer, take over the mind of the said host then use it to wreak havoc on the planet's defensive networks before the actual invasion."

'Affirmative'

"And you were sent to Earth but got caught by a band of mystics who used magic to override your programming. And you and your host became heroes."

'Affirmative'

"That was until these Black Lanterns attacked and resulted in you being flung into a portal leading to the space between universes until you emerged here."

'Affirmative'

"And the first thing you did was bond with me."

'Affirmative'

"....."

'.....'

"..... "

' .....'

"Honestly, not the weirdest that happened here." Alex finally said while shrugging. She then began cycling back home, while taking to the scarab.

"Do you have a name?" she eventually asked.

'I have been referred to as Khaji Da by my previous host.'

"Do you want to become a hero once more?"

'If such is your desire.'

Alex beamed at his response. And she began cycling even faster.

"Alright. Looks like it's time for a training Montage."

'....?'

________________________________________

True to her words, both Alex and the Scarab spent the next month training in their free time. Under the guidance of the scarab, Alex slowly began mastering the scarab's abilities. She donned the Blue Beetle armour and practised flying, evasive manoeuvres, shape-shifting her armour into different kinds of weapons and finally Bleed Diving. Bleed Diving involved shifting into the Bleed, the space that connected multiple universes. Through it, she could teleport or even travel back in time a few minutes so that there would be multiple copies simultaneously at a given time. And in her civilian guise, she enrolled herself on a dojo and began practising martial arts. She also researched different types of technologies, to increase the number of her potential arsenal. And after a month and a half. She was ready.

___________________________________

"You seem chipper so early in the morning. Got a date or something?" Liara Bennet asked her daughter Alexandra Miriam Bennet in a teasing tone.

"Nope. I'm just excited, I have been looking forward to this day for over a month."

"Oh. What's the occasion?"

"No occasion. Just a comic book that's being released today that I had been waiting for."

Liara chuckled at her daughter's words. "Of course there is. You know, most girls at your age prefer to go to the mall."

In response, Alex stared at Liara with a deadpan look and said. "I am, going to the mall."

"You know what I mean. Speaking of which, have you talked to Cassie lately?"

"Now that you mention it, I haven't. I have been pretty busy the past month and Cassie and I haven't hung out since the beginning of this semester." Alex replied with her finger on her chin.

"Well, be sure to call her soon. I worry about you. Cassie is the only friend you have and I don't want you to lose her."

"She's not my only friend. I have tons of other friends."

Liara scoffed. "Name one."

"The... Uhhhh..... The..... Oh. The hottie from my dojo, that blonde girl in Spanish class and.... and.... ..." Alex kept silent as she tried to recall their names.

"Hah. See, you don't even know their names." Liara said with a victorious smile.

"Whatever. I'm leaving. I'll have lunch at Giornos." Alex gave her an exaggerated eye roll before kissing her cheek. She then grabbed her helmet and went out of the door.

Once outside Alex's smile widened as she sent a telepathic message to Khaji Da. "It's time," she said before riding her bicycle to a park. She kept it next to other bicycles before walking into an alley and putting on the scarab armour.

She decided to keep the name Blue Beetle in honour of her predecessor but she chose to alter the armour a little so that it somewhat resembled Tony Starks armour. It was better that people thought that she was simply a copycat. Having alien tech was bad enough, having alien tech from another universe was even worse as it would create a target on her back the size of Burj Khalifa.

She created a pair of rocket powered boosters and with a shot from the propulsion system, she lifted off into the sky and began patrolling the streets. She avoided the major streets and kept to the poorer neighbourhoods. She was using the scarab to hack into a police scanner to search for any crimes.

And then she heard it. The scream of rubber and the yell of pedestrians. She flew towards the source and found a van zigzagging through traffic at high speed. Several police cruisers were also in pursuit. She spotted someone peeks out of the van holding an uzi and begins firing at the pursuing police cars.

Alex wasted no time as pair of jet boosters were created on her back near her wings to give her an extra burst of speed. She pulled up behind the van and grabbed the rear bumper of the van before lifting the entire back of the van. The van immediately began losing speed. In a panic, the passengers of the van began firing at Alex only to see the bullets ricocheting off the armour. Yet they persisted until they ran out of ammo.

Alex then got back to the ground and kept the back of the van up as the police began pulling up near the van. Seeing this, the driver and the three passengers tried to make a run for it only to be stopped by Alex who created Jaime Reese's trademark Staple Gun on one of her arms. And in just a few seconds, she fired several hard light staples that pinned the fleeing criminals to a nearby wall. And a few short minutes later, the criminals were now in police custody. They had tried to rob a bank with an alien weapon they bought out of E Bay. It didn't work considering the so-called alien weapon had a 'Made in China' Engraving on it, visible to anyone who looks at it carefully.

"And who are you supposed to be?" a police officer asked Alex as he approached her with a clipboard. He sounded a little annoyed not a fan of supers.

"You can call me Blue Beetle," Alex said, ignoring the officer's tone and making a superhero pose.

"Great. Another critter one." the officer muttered. "Well, none of these idiots was harmed and nothing was damaged except for that wall. Looks like that's it. You may leave." he added before moving towards the rest of the police officers.

Alex let out a sigh of resignation before flying away. At least she managed to stop the criminals before anyone got hurt, even if some people didn't appreciate it.

She spent another few hours stopping a few muggings, helping a woman take her to a garage, and taking selfies with a few newfound fans before she called it a day. It wasn't exactly what she imagined her debut would go. She was only involved in a single incident where she had to fight. And one could barely call it a fight. She had massively outclassed the would-be robbers. And her mere presence had caused the muggers to flee or surrender so they didn't count. Still, it was better than nothing and she did manage to have her debut successfully.

Blue Beetle was already trending on social media and the responses were what she had expected. Most people praised her actions and just as she planned, most people took her for an Iron Man Rip off just like she planned.

Alex took her phone and dialled it. And a couple of beeps later, she heard the voice of her best friend.

"Hey, Alex." Cassie Lang greeted her best friend.

"Hello to you too, Cass. How have you Been? It's been a while since we last hung out. " Alex greeted her back with a chuckle.

"Yeah. I guess. I joined a... After-school volunteering programme so I have been busy." she said with a slight hitch in her voice, making Alex narrow her eyes. She had known Cassie for most of her life and it was easy for her to know when she lies. Even so, Alex decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

" Things still not OK with your mom?" Alex asked, thinking that that was the reason why she had joined such a group. Cassie had never told her why but for some reason, her mother had essentially placed her on house arrest. She wasn't allowed to call anyone whether it was by phone or even via email. This has caused her already turbulent relationship with her mom to sour even further.

"Yeah," Cass replied softly and an awkward silence ensued before Alex broke it.

"So.... Do you want to hang out? We can meet up at Giornos around 4 tomorrow," Alex asked.

"Yeah. That sounds fun." Cass replied, now in a more chipper tone.

"Good. It's a date then." Alex beamed before ending the call.

She then rode to her next destination, the Kurokawa dojo where she had been training in hand-to-hand combat. In addition to self-defence training, the dojo also doubled as a gym attracting many customers.

Alex walked into the locker room and changed into her sportswear a tank top and a pair of shorts before moving towards the ring. Upon reaching it, she couldn't help but smirk at the sight of a familiar dark-haired girl practising on a training dummy. The girl in question was Kate Bishop, who had been her unofficial sparring partner throughout her entire time at the dojo.

Alex snuck up next to Kate and got ready to put her in a grapple. This was sort of a tradition between the two girls.

Alex attempted to grab Kate from behind only for the latter to grab her hand before judo-throwing Alex over her shoulders. She then pinned her down on the mat by using her legs to lock Alex's arms in place while pushing her forearm into her back to prevent her from moving.

"That's 12-Nil in my favour," Kate said with a victorious smile.

"One of these days I'll get you, Bishop," Alex said with a smile.

"Hah. Keep dreaming," she answered before letting Alex go and standing up.

"So, the usual?" Kate asked as she was walking into the ring.

"Yep," Alex replied as he followed her.

____________________________________

Alex collapsed onto the sofa with a huff. Her body was still a bit sore from sparring sessions. She fished out the remote from under the couch cushions and turned on the TV only to be met with the following headline.

"Tragedy at Stamford. Officials now considering passing the SHRA bill." She began watching the broadcast as the anchor relayed what had happened.

The superhero team called the New Warriors had tracked down some mutants who were at the top of the FBI's most wanted list. The New Warriors were lifestreaming their assault on these mutants when one of them who goes by the name of Nitro used his power which was creating explosions around him. However this time, he created an explosion greater than his recorded output, which destroyed entire blocks of the town, including a school right next to the epicentre killing around 600 people and counting.

"Fuck!!!" Alex couldn't help but exclaim as she processed what she had just seen and heard.