Chapter 7 – Bereft

September 4

It was dark out, the moon was high in the sky, and Ravager had sand in places sand should never be. Rav was in the middle of some godforsaken desert with no memory of how she got there or what she was supposed to be doing. Walking around in a sort of dazed way she came across a sort of shack. Ravager heard voices coming from inside, one male, one female. Rav crept around the side and peered in, she recognized Artemis, someone she had trained with on more than one occasion, and the other kid matched the physic of Kid Flash even though he was wearing all black.

A sudden noise alerted her to the presence of unwanted company. Ravager scampered out of sight and into a small crevice. Now aware that she was most likely in an "unfriendly zone" Rav checked her gear. She was lacking most of the normal equipment i.e. guns, swords, other bladed weaponry, etc. Her wrist blades where still there and upon further inspection where revealed to be disguised swords. Her shuriken, for some odd reason, had been fashioned in the shape of red x's instead of the usual steel s. Examining her belt it appears that she finally got around to upgrading her tech, now if she could figure out what it did that would be helpful. Finally she realized that her mask was covering her mouth which was completely unnatural.

Taking all this in, she deduced that how she got there wasn't the only information missing from her head. Closing her eyes she searched the immediate vicinity for signals similar to her. Her mind brushed up against human thoughts. 'Six months! How is it possible that six months' worth of memories are missing?'

Quickly backing off Ravager thought, 'What was that? …So I'm not the only one with memory loss.' unaccustomed to having someone else share her mind and her thoughts. Turning her attention to the tanks that had recently attacked the small shack while she was taking stock of the situation, she took note of some things.

Their dialect suggest somewhere in the Middle East.

Their uniforms are from the Bialyan Republic further helping narrow down the location. Either Bialya or Qurac.

Heavily armored military vehicle, not a normal patrol.

Amount of soldiers and provisions suggest a camp somewhere nearby.

Sighing the assassin set up to follow them.

Tailing the soldiers for what seemed like hours so that it was nearly sundown. Originally the troops had chased after the hero and his companion but had soon stopped after losing sight of them. Ravager slipped behind some boulders and was now confronted with a problem. There was a delusional fish boy lying on the ground in front of her.

Killing him would be best, I have no water and prolong exposure to this environment will kill him anyway, Ravager thought; on the other hand if he didn't come here alone then I might have a problem. Or I could be setting myself up for some fun. The sounds of gun fire prodded her to peek out from her hiding place. A short distance away the tanks had engaged Superboy in battle. Approaching Rav laughed as she watched him attack with animalistic savagery. The soldiers, alerted to her presence, began shooting at her. Grinning with the utmost glee she drew her blades and began her counterattack.

Two men lost their heads immediately and several more followed. At one point she felt a slight buzz in her head, like someone was trying to talk to her telepathically. Irritated Rav snarled and attacked the first man in front of her. The poor man had his throat slit and his guts where hanging out of him courtesy of a slash aimed at his stomach. She barely noticed when Superboy went down due to overwhelming numbers. Ravager's dance of death only ended when she was surrounded by a sea of blood and corpses.

"My, my, my, such ferocity, who knew this little beast was hiding amongst the Justice Leagues little pests," a hooded figure clapped slowly as he approached. "Amazing how much six months can change a person."

"So you're the one responsible for my memory loss!" Ravager snarled, "Return them to me or die a painful death!"

"You know what? I think I will," 'Hood' snapped his fingers, smirking, "if only to see your reaction."

Red X gasped in pain as every memory from the last six months crammed itself inside her head. X was being forced to relive each moment all at once; every wound, big or small, physical or emotional. Every argument she had that had help change her from a sadistic assassin into a thief with only herself in mind to a hero for her little brother.

Woo! This was so fun! Let's do it again!

Did we really have to kill them? They were just innocent bystanders.

I'm your daughter not some means to an end! I thought you cared, clearly I was wrong!

So that's it we're just going to run away? What about the Joey and Rose?

Hmm… how about… Red X? It has a nice ring to it.

I guess this is goodbye for now; I'll contact you when the missions done.

I'm not a hero, not like you. I don't belong with you.

It's not as bad as I thought it would be. It's actually kind of fun.

When you said this night would be unforgettable, you weren't kidding.

"No, no, no, no! I failed dammit!" Red X collapsed somewhere in between sobbing and shouting, punching the sand in frustration and guilt.

Holding up her hands eyes widening in horror as she saw they were covered in blood. Looking down around her at the carnage she had wrought, eyes resting on a particular gruesome kill. X tried to back away from the destruction, her hand bumping into a decapitated head; turning to look at it she closed her eyes. Red X hugged her knees and began rocking back-and-forth, muttering to herself in Romanian, she was pretty much cationic.

"That was better than I'd hopped," Psimon said observing the girl, "take her too, she won't cause any more trouble."


September 4

At the same time this was going on Robin was having his own troubles. First he had woken up in the middle of a dessert with no memory of how he got there. Then he had realized a couple of things, one he was in Bialya for some reason, two he was under radio silence, and the last and most unpleasant, he had no memory of the last six months.

Soon after finding out the last one he became aware of an invader in his mind. It was barely there and gone just as quick, a whisper on the edge of his mind. 'What was that? …So I'm not the only one with memory loss.' Jerking around looking to see if whoever had "spoken" was nearby. The owner of the "voice" was nowhere to be seen.

"That voice it sounded familiar…" Robin murmured.

Checking his holo-computer, Robin located an area he had used GPS to mark. Deciding it worth investigating he headed in its general direction. After a while when the sun was low in the sky he had decided to try contacting the voice from earlier. He found a small area where he sat down and tried to reach the person on the other end of the line. All he got was pure unbridled rage and frustration… and hints of guilt and other unnamed emotions that where drowned out by the hate. Drawing back he gasped not used to such wiled displays of emotion even though he had no idea what was happening on the other side of the connection.

By the time he arrived at his destination it was night fall. The source of the signal was a machine set up very close to the Qurac/Bialyan border. Warily approaching the machine he checked his holo-computer for any available data.

"Careful! Her Majesty want's him alive!" Soldiers that had been concealed in the sand popped up and began shooting at him. Being the ninja he was, Robin avoided all the bullets using a smokescreen. He leapt unto one guy's helmet, balancing on his hands, and kicked two others in the head. Leaping off his current perch he took out three more of his current aggressors before running up a sand dune.

"Enough! Open Fire!" Turning around he watched as the Bialyan soldiers weapons "mysteriously" disappeared and the soldiers themselves where rounded up unconscious. Some soldiers just fell down unconscious, while others had arrows explode in their face.

"KF! Man, it's good to see a familiar face!" Robin exclaimed relief filling his voice.

"Hey Rob! Memory loss?" Kid Flash asked, greeting Robin.

"Six months! Let's hog tie these creeps and compare notes," Robin sighed.

After Miss Martian explained everything to Robin the abridged version was something like this: "So where a team, the four of us plus two others Superboy and your sister, Red X."

"Superboy? Then this must be his," Robin said holding up a piece of cloth with the 'S' shield on it, "and sister? What do you mean by sister?"

"Well in my memory a girl wearing a full bodied uniform called you 'little brother' and that was also the vibe I got from you two. I only assumed…" Miss M said embarrassed.

"Robin you've been holding out on me! I didn't know you had a sister! Is she hot? Because if she is I totally call dibs!" KF said without thinking, then catching a glimpse of Artemis. "Not that I wouldn't date you, beautiful."

"Augh, so this Superboy, we might have seen him," Artemis said rolling her eyes.

"Yeah Feral Boy didn't seem too friendly," Kid Flash said not exactly impressed by their show of teamwork.

"He doesn't know who we are; hell I don't know who we are!" Artemis used the heel of her hand to rub the bridge of her nose.

"She has a point and dude, KF, the only sister I have is a twin sister and if you even try to hit on her, I'll personally castrate you. That is if she doesn't do it first," Robin glared at his best friend; no one was going near his sister.

"Geesh a little harsh don't you think? Would I ever hurt a lady?" KF slapped a hand across his chest dramatically in mock hurt, accidently deactivating the stealth mode in his suit. "Wow! This is so cool!"

Then everyone began tapping their chest hopping to activate something. Kid Flash kept switching between his.

"We look ridiculous! Quit touching yourself!" Artemis scowled at KF, "we need a plan."

Suddenly everyone was in a domed shaped room with memory fragments forming the wall/celling. "I've brought you into my mind to share what I've remembered so far, but I need your help. Together our broken memories can form a whole, that is if you open your minds to me," Miss M said hope mingling with uncertainty.

"You want to pop through our private thoughts?" Artemis backed up a couple steps.

"Believe me I have no wish to intrude, but…" Miss Martian held up her hands in a pacifying gesture.

"You have to hack our minds to fix our brains, got it, go!" Robin said trying to get them to hurry; if what the Martian girl said was true then Lala, his sister, was out there somewhere.

"My brains all yours, try not to let its awesomeness overwhelm you," Kid Flash said smirking suggestively.

"Or underwhelm you, hey why isn't anyone just whelmed?" Robin rolled his unseen eyes at his friend's idiocy before getting distracted.

KF grabbed Artemis' hand giving her an encouraging grin and friendly squeeze. "Alright, last six months only and only what you need," Artemis gave in.

Miss Martian nodded and ghostly hands came out and gently grabbed everyone's head.


"The Watchtower detected an immense power surge in the Bialyan dessert," Batman was saying, "spectral analysis revealed that it was non-terrestrial in origin. Your mission is to find out what happened, what's happening. Bialya is a rouge state ruled by Queen Bee and not part of the Leagues UN charter. All communications are subject to interception, maintain radio silence at all times. You will land at the Qurac border two clicks from the hot zone."


"All clear," Robin was saying as he scoped out the area using his binoculars.

"Thermal shows nothing as well," Red X reported from the other side of the bio-ship.

The observers could clearly see a sane Superboy carrying the machine they had all met up at, as well as another figure that wasn't as well illuminated.


The next memory was of Artemis and Robin checking out the hot zone.

There was a tent set up with Bialyan soldiers surrounding it. They could clearly see what their objective was. Now all they had to do was figure out what exactly was going on…


They where setting up a base camp with the machine collecting the necessary readings. "Set that here," a deep voice commanded them.

Red X was busy programing it to pick up on the readings they wanted, "I'll have it running in no time."

Kid Flash, who was standing to X's right, exclaimed "Jack pot! This site's loaded with zeta beam radiation."

"Detecting extraterrestrial readings from the tent," X informed them.

"I'll check it out in camouflage mode," Miss M volunteered.

"I'll back you up, Robin take over," X stood brushing sand from her tattered cape.

"Good idea," the voice spoke again, "but be careful, camouflage is not invisibility and maintains telepathic contact."

Artemis – whose memories they were currently viewing – turned to look at the "voice." It was revealed to be Aqualad…


"Aqualad!" everyone said to varying degrees of shock.

"Where is he? What happened next?" Robin asked, of course it would be the Bat that came out of his shock first.

"I-I don't k-know, that's the last thing I – we – remember," Miss Martian stuttered.

Artemis and Kid Flash let go of their hands embarrassed, "We landed over 24 hours ago. If Kaldur's been wondering this dessert for that long… Well let's just say it's not good for a guy with gills," KF said rubbing the back of his neck.

"Now that I know what to look for…" Robin brought up a holo-map, "but he's not moving and I'm not picking up X's signal at all. We have to hurry she's probably in trouble."

They split up Artemis and Kid Flash going after Kaldur; Robin and Miss Martian going to where they sensed Superboy and Red X.


Red X was strapped down to something a kin to a table, there was an electrical current running through her body. Strong enough to immobilize her, but not strong enough to hurt her in any way. X herself had forced herself to calm down by erecting a barrier in her mind. The six months she had been forced to relive where locked inside. Until she could sort them out to make sense that was where they would stay.

Unlike when Psimon had made her forget she still had some recollection of the memories. The ones where X just hung out with her friends and she allowed herself to relax and be herself, no masks, no tricks, no lies (for the most part.) So "Ravager" wasn't entirely back, but neither was "Red X."

The girl, whoever she was, was occupying herself by glaring at Psimon. R – The letter was the only constant between her personas – was bleeding from a couple lucky shots that she hadn't managed to stop or dodged and had pierced her armor. Every now and then she'd glance at the other occupants of the room, several Lab Coats, a living ball of alien tech, and Project Kr – Superboy.

They were testing Supes invulnerability or something; they'd zap him, sending arcs of electricity coursing through him. The sphere reacted rather violently to the Boy of Steel's cries of pain. R winced at the living tech's anguished cries.

"Fascinating," Psimon said observing the reactions of his "guests." Turning to R he said, "I assume by your reaction that you are able to understand this thing. What is it saying?"

R smirked at him, "My mommy told me not to repeat words like that."

Psimon scowled at her then gave a scientist a signal; the scientist pressed a button which amped up the current flowing through R. She screamed in pain as the tech that was incorporated into her body went haywire. It didn't last long; power to the tent was cut off. Laughter echoed around the area and just like that R was free. She collapsed on the ground, the paralysis not completely wearing off. Robin approached her warily not sure where her allegiance was at the moment. His knowledge of her life before them meeting at Cadmus was sketchy at best, none existent at worst.

"Hey there Wonder Boy, help a girl in need out," R gasped, some more memories falling into place at the site of her brother. "I'll be ready to play in a moment." Standing up straight she cut of the pain receptors in her brain. A trick she had picked up soon after gaining her "upgrades." R went over to a table and picked up her stray swords, "Who's up for round two?"

The soldiers looked at her in fear before running of to god knows where, valuing their life over their jobs, "Was it something I said?" R pouted before shrugging, "Oh well there are plenty of fish in the sea." She laughed as if remembering an inside joke.

"X come on! We have to leave," Robin said tugging at his sister's arm.

R looked at him suspiciously before nodding and following him. Miss Martian and Superboy had engaged Psimon in a psychic battle and it was becoming unsafe for non-invulnerable people to be around. R reconfigured the swords into their normal form so that they wouldn't drag her down.

"We're going to meet up with the others. Can you make it?" Robin asked, seeing as R was bleeding from several places.

"I'll be fine, I don't even feel it," R smiled racing alongside him.

Suddenly the tent exploded, turning to look they noticed the two aliens along with the sphere walking towards them. Miss M flew up to them and grabbed R's head. The Martian girl's eyes glowed and then they were in R's head. Miss M without even considering that she was a guest in someone else's mind tore down the wall barricading R's memories. A bright flash of white and then all the memories Danielle had ever sealed away where released and something in her mind changed.

In the real world Red X's body collapsed from a mix of exhaustion and blood loss. Superboy picked her up and Robin glanced at her worriedly but apart from that the boy's made no note of anything out of the ordinary.


September 5

Ella woke up in the medical wing of the Cave. Her mask had been removed as well as her gloves and belt, all of said items where on the table next to her. Tying up her hair she got up and checked herself out. Gathering her items she relocated herself to her room. Not bothering to change she collapsed face down on her bed.

Rolling onto her side she grabbed the pillow and hugged it to herself, burying her face in it. After a while her phone, which was on the table near her head, caught her attention. Sitting up she picked her phone up and called Grant.

"Do you know what time it is?" a groggy voice said from the other end of the line.

"5:37," Ella murmured.

"What's wrong?" he asked picking up on the unsaid emotions.

"I don't know, I just feel wired," Ella sighed, "it's like I'm forgetting something important or…"

"Ella? Are you there? Answer me dammit!" Grant yelled franticly.

Ella was staring blankly at the wall, phone held loosely in her hand. Unaware of everything around her.

Martian Manhunter, who had gone to check up on the girl, phased into her room. Seeing the girl in this state he entered her mind. After several tense moments Ella collapsed, fast asleep. The phone being lost somewhere along the way. Grant hearing sounds that she was asleep, let out a shaky laugh, this wasn't the first time she had fallen asleep at inconvenient times.

"I must report this to Batman," MM said to himself flying off to find the Caped Crusader.

Batman was going through the mission reports in the briefing room, "What is it J'onn?" he said as the Martian entered.

"There is something wrong with Red X," Manhunter reported, "when my niece restored her memories something must have happened."

"What?" Batman said not turning to look.

"I sense multiple personalities forming inside the girl," MM answered.

"Explain," Batman turned to look at the Martian.

"You have to understand my nice does not know how strong she truly is. She could not tell the difference from a barrier erected by an outside force from one the owner of the mind put in place. All she saw when she entered Red X's mind was wall's halting her friend from remembering certain things."

"So Red X put up the barriers herself, to do what keep you from reading her thoughts?" Batman questioned.

"No, from what I understand those barriers where meant to keep her from remembering certain events," Martian Manhunter shook his head.

"Why would she do something like that?" the Dark Knight asked himself.

"If I may? Would you allow me to assist her with her other selves?" MM asked wanting to help his niece's friend

"Go ahead, but report any unusual behavior to me," Batman returned his attention to the holo-screen.

Neither of them noticed Robin hiding behind a wall, listening to every word they said.


Hello people! I bring you the latest chapter, sorry if it wasn't what you expected. Sorry for the blood and gore but it is rated T for a reason.