B3 (Blue Beetle X OC): The Unchangeable

Chapter 12: I always hated carnivals

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Chloe's POV

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"When you said 'I'll think of something', I didn't know you meant a whole fair!" I exclaimed to Ed as I looked at all the booths and rides set up outside the Meta-Human Youth Center. "I had to think of something." Ed replied as he shrugged. "This! Is! So! Crash!" Bart exclaimed as he ran around the room. He wrapped me, Jaime, and Virgil into a hug, and then ran over to Ed, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. I grinned. It hadn't even been a week, and it's like Bart and Ed were always dating. "C'mon, Perdita and Gar should be getting here soon." Ed said as we walked out to the helicopter landing zone.

One que, a black helicopter came into sight. "Hey, looks like Gardita is in the house!" Bart exclaimed as Gar hopped out and helped Perdita out. "Gardita?" I asked Bart. "Gar plus Perdita, Gardita!" Bart explained, and I rolled my eyes. "Hey there, hi there, ho there Gardita!" Bart exclaimed after Gar and Perdita came down from the landing pad. "Hola." Ed greeted, like a normal person. "Hello, there boys. It's so nice to see you again." Perdita greeted all the boys, and then her eyes landed on me. We both squealed and wrapped each other into a hug. "It's been forever!" She exclaimed as we broke away. "I know, we need a take two on that double date!" I agreed, and she laughed.

"Thanks for keeping our arrival quiet. What a relief not to deal with the paparazzi." Gar said. "Yeah, I wouldn't know." Jaime muttered, and I nudged him. "Now let's get this party started!" Bart exclaimed as he pumped his fists in the air. "Um, this was supposed to be a team building day, right? Because I'm feeling like a fifth-sixth-seventh wheel? Where's the rest of the team? Like, y'know, Cassie or Traci?" Virgil asked as he noticed Jaime's arm around me. "She's in Gotham, trying to salvage things with Tim. Traci's with her family for Thanksgiving." I explained. "I gotta get a girlfriend." He muttered, and I grinned. "You'll get there." I replied, and he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, bumper cars aren't my thing." I muttered as we all walked off the, well, bumper cars. "That's because you still can't drive!" Virgil exclaimed. "Hey, technically, I can! I did good enough!" I snapped back. "You ran 20 red lights in the past week." Jaime said. "They're just slowing down my amazing driving skills." I replied as I stuck my tongue out. "You told the officer I had fallen at home! You made me sound like an old man!" He argued back. "Well it worked didn't it?" I replied as I smiled.

"Cotton Candy?" Jaime offered me. "Ew. Nope." I replied, and everyone's jaw dropped. "What do you mean 'ew'!?" Virgil exclaimed. "I mean ew! Why would you want to eat... I dunno! Weird colored sugar?" I explained. Bart shook his head in disappointment. "Got you some cotton candy, amigo!" Bart exclaimed as he ran up to Ed and Gar and held up two empty sticks of cotton candy. Gar and Ed raised their eyebrows as I walked up. "You sure about that?" Ed asked Bart, and Bart sadly looked down at the empty sticks. "Hey, it's a long way from the booth to here! I got hungry." Bart excused, and I rolled my eyes. I handed Ed my cotton candy that I didn't want, and he happily took it. "So how's it going with the meta kids at the center?" Gar asked us.

"Eh. Some are really having trouble, I wish I could do more." Ed muttered, and my eyes widened. "More!? You set this whole party up!" Bart exclaimed as I nodded in agreement. "Sure, but I wish there was some grand gesture I could make to truly inspire them." Ed replied, and I sighed. He wasn't wrong. "That's the problem with the Team! The covert thing gets in the way of the inspiration thing. It's just not what I wanted when I came back." Gar agreed. Another good point. I still hadn't thought about Kaldur's offer to join the League. "The TV star likes the spotlight!" Jaime exclaimed, and I nudged him. "Ow!" "Oh, you're fine."

"It's not about that, it's about setting the right example, offering hope to Meta Teens and kids." Gar said. "Could've used some of that when we were Meta." Virgil said. "Exactly." Ed agreed. "Uh, excuse me? I was your ray of hope!" I exclaimed. "You crash through a wall, like, seven times." Virgil pointed out. "Gracefully." I added as Ed rolled his eyes. "And that's not all! The game's rigged against us by the Lex Luthor's of this world. We need to change-Gah! Ughh." Gar said as sank to the floor. "Okay, maybe I did eat too much cotton candy." Bart said as he collapsed on the floor next to him. "This! This is why I didn't eat any!" I exclaimed as I watched them all sink to the floor in pain. Then, I looked around and noticed everyone was on the floor.