Jaime hunched over the workbench in Uncle Rudy's garage, goggles slipping down his nose as he soldered the final connection point on a matte black stun baton. Khaji Da projected schematics across the walls in faint blue light, each blueprint representing another tool in a growing arsenal that Jaime didn't even plan to use himself.
"That should be the last circuit," Jaime muttered.
[Confirmed. System integrity optimal. Power delivery: 97.3% efficiency. Recharge duration: 16.2 minutes.]
He leaned back, wiping his brow. A week ago, he wouldn't have thought of handing weapons to the police. But he wasn't giving them Reach-grade alien death tech—this was gear designed to defend, restrain, and protect. Stun batons, sonic deterrents, non-lethal concussive grenades, and body armor upgrades that wouldn't make them look like stormtroopers.
"Upload the encrypted specs to the thumb drive," he said. "And tag it with Rudy's dummy business credentials. Make it look like a tech pilot, not some rogue superhero donation."
[Understood. Inserting metadata and scrubbed ownership tags. Preparing manufacturing instructions in PDF and CAD formats.]
He took a deep breath, then looked at the line of crates beside the garage door. Each one was filled with the prototypes, neatly padded and labeled. He'd already printed out user manuals with diagrams even someone half-asleep could follow.
All that was left was the drop-off.
The next night, the El Paso Police Department found an unmarked van parked in their rear lot. Inside: a full cache of advanced tech. A note taped to the dashboard read:
"For the good ones. Stay safe out there. - A Friend."
By morning, officers were testing stun weapons that wouldn't kill and armor that actually fit. Some didn't believe it. Others did.
Commissioner Delgado would never admit it, but he locked the evidence room himself and personally signed off on the test units for the next week's patrols.
Meanwhile, Jaime had already begun the next phase of his plan.
"Time to clean house," he said, armor sealing over his body with a whisper of nanotech. [Confirming location of secondary gang outpost: Southview rail yard.]
Khaji Da highlighted the map in his HUD, pinpointing hotspots where the remaining gangs had holed up. Ever since Jaime had taken out the tech dealers and the Cadmus-puppeted group, others had begun to crawl into the vacuum—but not fast enough. Not while he still had time.
The armor darkened into its shadow mode, and he launched into the air. Below, the lights of El Paso glittered like embers. Jaime Reyes had always loved this city. And if he had to leave it behind, he was going to make damn sure it could stand without him.
The warehouse was very active, despite the fact that it was abandoned. But it's not like that wasn't to be expected anymore. Jaime crouched at the ledge of a nearby building, peering inside with the help of Khaji.
"What are we looking at buddy?" He muttered, scanning the dozens of people strutting about inside.
[This is the final bastion of the Iron Fist gang, one of the many that we have driven out of town while investigating the Ghost Fangs. In reaction to your recent actions, they have consolidated all of their property in this location in a bid to protect it.]
Jaime nodded slowly as his vison panned to the crates upon crates of illegal goods and the hundreds of loaded weapons the thugs were carrying around. "Yeah, unfortunately for them, they aren't exactly a match for us."
[Yes, however a singular problem may arise: We cannot be everywhere at once.]
Jaime laughed, shaking his head. "I guess, bus is this your way of asking to use our new protocol?" He asked teasingly.
There was silence for a moment before Khaji responded. [...Possibly. It would be an effective measure to ensure their capture.]
Jaime laughed again. "Fine, go ahead and send the Swarm."
In the next few minutes, a faint buzzing could be heard around the area, as strange looking beetles began to appear out of no where, settling down in strategic locations before going through a radical transformation.
From inside them, a flood of nano particles burst outwards, forming the silhouette of a man before further transforming into a familiar figure: Blue Beetle.
They were indistinguishable from the original, and unless you already knew which one was real, it'd be nearly impossible to find the true Jaime.
Jaime himself stood up to his full height, admiring the sight before him. 'A little something I took out of Superior Spiderman's book, but with my own little twist. Each and every one of them act as both surveillance as well as security, being able to transform into a proto-armored form that can either subdue villains or protect civies by enveloping them...Not too shabby if I say so myself.'
Khaji was actually the most eager to make use of them, as he was the one to actually control them, unless Jaime had a use for them. And while they could be used to spy on people, Jaime wouldn't resort to such a thing unless necessary.
"These babies are essentially glorified cameras, until a meta appears and causes more harm than the police can handle, that is." He muttered to himself, before setting his eyes back on his proverbial 'prize.'
"I think it's time we finished this little purge of our, don't you think?"
Khaji's voice had an unusually eager tone to it, even beyond the human-like glimpses he would show every once and a while. [Yes, I believe it's time this city is rid of the parasites in it's walls.]
"Well damn Khaji, I never knew you had that in you! Well, I did, but- Oh whatever, let's just get on with it!"