Post by DocQuantum on Jun 27, 2018 5:38:33 GMT
Just throwing this out there. It's a story fragment I wrote a while back that I'm planning to develop someday, but I'd like feedback on it. Is there anything in our Earth-4 continuity that would mean this story can't work? Let me know.
***
September, 1943:
Sparkington J. Northrup had good reason to dislike his name. He had been saddled with a surname masquerading as a first name since birth, and because Sparkington was such a mouthful, everyone just called him Sparky. But that name had grown tiresome for the teenager, and over the couple of years he had latched onto a nickname, Spunky.
Truthfully, though, he longed to have a normal name, and he planned to legally change it as soon as possible. He already had an idea what his new name could be; all he had to do was to convince his mentor and crime-fighting partner Dan Garret to agree to let him be Danny, Jr. But even if Dan didn’t agree to adopt him, Spunky could still change his name to whatever he wanted. Maybe he’d even call himself Daniel Garrett, after all, with an extra letter T at the end of his name to differentiate himself a bit. He could even keep the name Northrup as a middle name, to honor his parents.
Maybe, with a new name, people would finally start taking him seriously. He was exceptionally intelligent for his age, after all, and he’d been accepted into the advanced schooling program. But it would mean no longer acting as the Blue Beetle’s kid partner, which he loved more than anything else in the world so far.
Could he truly give up a life of adventure for more scholarly pursuits?
“Heads up, kid!”
Spunky looked up just in time to see a football hurtling toward him like a rocket, but not in time to do anything about it.
“Oof!” he exclaimed as the football hit him squarely in the head, knocking off the glasses that he wore as an affectation. He hadn’t noticed that he was walking this closely to the football field.
“You all right, kid?” said a stocky, brown-haired boy around his own age who ran up to him. “I didn’t see you there.”
“I should be fine… once my head stops spinning,” groaned Spunky.
“Here are your glasses,” said the boy, holding them up. “The frame isn’t busted or anything.”
“Thank you,” Spunky replied. “The name’s Northrup, but people call me…”
“Oh… Sparkington!” replied the boy with a laugh. “I remember seeing that name. You’re new at school, huh?”
“Yes, I am. And as I was saying, people call me Spunky.”
“Well, I won’t hold your name against you,” said the boy. “Why don’t I call you Northrup, instead? I’m Nate. Put ‘er there, pal.” Nate thrust out a hand to shake Spunky’s own.
Spunky grinned at Nate. Despite having to keep up the pretense of being a sissy, Spunky had actually managed to make a friend. Nate was obviously intelligent, or he wouldn’t have been at their school, but he seemed equally as comfortable on the sports field as he was in the academic arena. He hoped they would be friends, after all.
***
Time went on. Spunky Northrup told Dan Garret that he could no longer act as his kid sidekick, but he shied away from asking him about outright adoption. Something told him that it probably wasn’t a good idea. Dan was a good friend, and he was like an older brother to Northrup, but he didn’t seem at all interested in being a father just yet.
Nate Adam ended up being the best friend Northrup could have asked for. Nate was popular at school, where he was known as an all-American boy, and he already had several friends. Why he chose to befriend Northrup was anyone’s guess. But Northrup was grateful for the friendship. Already other boys had begun treating him differently. Whereas before Northrup had been the victim of cruel pranks, which he had to endure to preserve his secret identity, now he was known as Nate’s little buddy, and no one wanted to make trouble for Nate.
Northrup and Nate had told each other what they wanted to do when they grew up. Northrup wanted to become a teacher, and maybe even a college professor, but he couldn’t decide what he wanted to teach. He just had such a thirst for learning that he wanted to become a master of all disciplines, if he only had enough time. Nate, meanwhile, loved science and wanted to become a physicist, but his father had insisted that he was going to join the U.S. Army Air Force and become a pilot instead. After all, America needed good men to defend her fair shores, his father had told him again and again. Nate seemed resigned to his fate, but Northrup could tell that Nate still wanted to study physics and chemistry.
“Maybe you could do both?” Northrup suggested one day, when the subject came up again.
“You’re dreaming, kid,” said Nate, with that dismissive smile he wore when he was listening to a tall tale.
“No, hear me out, Nate,” said Northrup. “One day, not too far in the future after the war is over, they’ll need young men to fly rockets to the moon. Those men will have to be ace pilots, of course, but they’ll also need to be crack scientists as well. There’s a lot of complicated physics involved in landing a rocket on the moon, after all.”
“Hmm… you could be right about that, Northrup,” replied Nate thoughtfully. “But try convincing my old man about that. He’d say it was nothing more than a pipe dream.”
“Just don’t give up hope, Nate,” replied Northrup. “You’ve got too good a head on your shoulders to be just an ordinary pilot.”
***
More time went on, and Spunky Northrup and Nate Adam became virtually inseparable. Eventually, Northrup began to wonder if he could let Nate in on his secret other life. He and the Blue Beetle had been working together less frequently as of late, so it wasn’t as if it was a big secret any longer. And he knew Nate was utterly trustworthy by now. So he told him.
“That… actually makes a lot of sense, kid,” said Nate after he’d thought about it for a while. “Your name is Sparkington, and the Blue Beetle’s sidekick was called Sparky. Of course, you’re such a good actor that no one even thought to suspect that you might be Sparky.” Nate peered at his friend with a sideways glance. “You know, I just realized you’ve been holding out on me. All those times when I thought I was protecting you from neighborhood bullies, who would have thought that you could protect me from gun-wielding hoods!”
“Well, it looks like my life as Sparky is pretty much over these days,” said Northrup. “B.B. is pretty busy without me, and I’ve been too wrapped up in school to even think about putting on that chain-mail costume again.”
“You should, though, kid,” said Nate. “Don’t give up something you love that much. Trust me on this one.”
Northrup nodded in response. He had a lot of thinking to do.
Sparkington J. Northrup had good reason to dislike his name. He had been saddled with a surname masquerading as a first name since birth, and because Sparkington was such a mouthful, everyone just called him Sparky. But that name had grown tiresome for the teenager, and over the couple of years he had latched onto a nickname, Spunky.
Truthfully, though, he longed to have a normal name, and he planned to legally change it as soon as possible. He already had an idea what his new name could be; all he had to do was to convince his mentor and crime-fighting partner Dan Garret to agree to let him be Danny, Jr. But even if Dan didn’t agree to adopt him, Spunky could still change his name to whatever he wanted. Maybe he’d even call himself Daniel Garrett, after all, with an extra letter T at the end of his name to differentiate himself a bit. He could even keep the name Northrup as a middle name, to honor his parents.
Maybe, with a new name, people would finally start taking him seriously. He was exceptionally intelligent for his age, after all, and he’d been accepted into the advanced schooling program. But it would mean no longer acting as the Blue Beetle’s kid partner, which he loved more than anything else in the world so far.
Could he truly give up a life of adventure for more scholarly pursuits?
“Heads up, kid!”
Spunky looked up just in time to see a football hurtling toward him like a rocket, but not in time to do anything about it.
“Oof!” he exclaimed as the football hit him squarely in the head, knocking off the glasses that he wore as an affectation. He hadn’t noticed that he was walking this closely to the football field.
“You all right, kid?” said a stocky, brown-haired boy around his own age who ran up to him. “I didn’t see you there.”
“I should be fine… once my head stops spinning,” groaned Spunky.
“Here are your glasses,” said the boy, holding them up. “The frame isn’t busted or anything.”
“Thank you,” Spunky replied. “The name’s Northrup, but people call me…”
“Oh… Sparkington!” replied the boy with a laugh. “I remember seeing that name. You’re new at school, huh?”
“Yes, I am. And as I was saying, people call me Spunky.”
“Well, I won’t hold your name against you,” said the boy. “Why don’t I call you Northrup, instead? I’m Nate. Put ‘er there, pal.” Nate thrust out a hand to shake Spunky’s own.
Spunky grinned at Nate. Despite having to keep up the pretense of being a sissy, Spunky had actually managed to make a friend. Nate was obviously intelligent, or he wouldn’t have been at their school, but he seemed equally as comfortable on the sports field as he was in the academic arena. He hoped they would be friends, after all.
***
Time went on. Spunky Northrup told Dan Garret that he could no longer act as his kid sidekick, but he shied away from asking him about outright adoption. Something told him that it probably wasn’t a good idea. Dan was a good friend, and he was like an older brother to Northrup, but he didn’t seem at all interested in being a father just yet.
Nate Adam ended up being the best friend Northrup could have asked for. Nate was popular at school, where he was known as an all-American boy, and he already had several friends. Why he chose to befriend Northrup was anyone’s guess. But Northrup was grateful for the friendship. Already other boys had begun treating him differently. Whereas before Northrup had been the victim of cruel pranks, which he had to endure to preserve his secret identity, now he was known as Nate’s little buddy, and no one wanted to make trouble for Nate.
Northrup and Nate had told each other what they wanted to do when they grew up. Northrup wanted to become a teacher, and maybe even a college professor, but he couldn’t decide what he wanted to teach. He just had such a thirst for learning that he wanted to become a master of all disciplines, if he only had enough time. Nate, meanwhile, loved science and wanted to become a physicist, but his father had insisted that he was going to join the U.S. Army Air Force and become a pilot instead. After all, America needed good men to defend her fair shores, his father had told him again and again. Nate seemed resigned to his fate, but Northrup could tell that Nate still wanted to study physics and chemistry.
“Maybe you could do both?” Northrup suggested one day, when the subject came up again.
“You’re dreaming, kid,” said Nate, with that dismissive smile he wore when he was listening to a tall tale.
“No, hear me out, Nate,” said Northrup. “One day, not too far in the future after the war is over, they’ll need young men to fly rockets to the moon. Those men will have to be ace pilots, of course, but they’ll also need to be crack scientists as well. There’s a lot of complicated physics involved in landing a rocket on the moon, after all.”
“Hmm… you could be right about that, Northrup,” replied Nate thoughtfully. “But try convincing my old man about that. He’d say it was nothing more than a pipe dream.”
“Just don’t give up hope, Nate,” replied Northrup. “You’ve got too good a head on your shoulders to be just an ordinary pilot.”
***
More time went on, and Spunky Northrup and Nate Adam became virtually inseparable. Eventually, Northrup began to wonder if he could let Nate in on his secret other life. He and the Blue Beetle had been working together less frequently as of late, so it wasn’t as if it was a big secret any longer. And he knew Nate was utterly trustworthy by now. So he told him.
“That… actually makes a lot of sense, kid,” said Nate after he’d thought about it for a while. “Your name is Sparkington, and the Blue Beetle’s sidekick was called Sparky. Of course, you’re such a good actor that no one even thought to suspect that you might be Sparky.” Nate peered at his friend with a sideways glance. “You know, I just realized you’ve been holding out on me. All those times when I thought I was protecting you from neighborhood bullies, who would have thought that you could protect me from gun-wielding hoods!”
“Well, it looks like my life as Sparky is pretty much over these days,” said Northrup. “B.B. is pretty busy without me, and I’ve been too wrapped up in school to even think about putting on that chain-mail costume again.”
“You should, though, kid,” said Nate. “Don’t give up something you love that much. Trust me on this one.”
Northrup nodded in response. He had a lot of thinking to do.
