Chapter 35. Australia.
Australia. Two years ago.
The gorilla swung in one arm over the overgrown roots and branches in its path with such force that with every swing was gaining speed. Swamps, waterfalls, greenery as far as the eye could see. Remnants of a plain crash of long ago were part of the scenery and wild animals of all colors, shapes and sizes, and yet, there were paths that signaled civilization nearby and in what seemed to be an intersection of sorts, came across a sign like those found on city streets to direct the traffic, but instead of a car silhouette, they were figures of four different animals, signaling the abundance of such in that specific area. The gorilla looked at it for a moment and even found it amusing but the crunching sound of broken branches and dry leaves was heard not too far behind.
So, with a swing of its massive arms, climbed the trunk of the tree just ahead and swung thru the nearby branches away from that spot. A few seconds later, heavy footsteps made their way to the intersection, revealing a tall golden metal man followed by three more members of his team. The leader walking pass him to assess the situation.
"…Negative man, take the lead, Mallah cannot be too far… Robot Man, go around and try to cut his path short. Rita and I will follow his trail and lead him to the cliff. He might be able to swing his way thru the branches, but I doubt he can fly". said the leader and as his friends run to their respective positions, he placed his fingers on his helmet and tried to follow the mental trail of their target.
But after a few moments of concentration, Mento frowned.
"Steve, what's wrong?" asked Rita when she saw his expression.
"His thoughts are erratic, completely irrational. I try to pry into his mind but… all I get is forest. Changing direction aimlessly, is difficult to get a lock on his position but there is something else Rita…"
"What is that"
"I'm not so sure he's Mallah" this draw a gasp from Rita and a curious look. "Steve, is it possible that this is just a normal gorilla and we're just scaring him away?"
"No Rita, it might not be Mallah, but he's definitely not a normal mammal" then as soon as he finished, his communicator went off. He pressed a button on his helmet and a thin microphone appeared on the side. "Mento, you and Rita better come. We have Mallah cornered by the cliff"
"Don't engage him Robot Man, I'm afraid we're against someone different"
A few minutes later, Mento and Rita arrived at the location. The gorilla was growling while backing away but soon touched the edge of the cliff but he seemed indifferent to the fact he was trapped, so instead, focused on the four strangers closing in.
"Give up already Mallah, you have nowhere else to run off to" said Robot Man, bending his knees, hands and arms open as if ready to stop a heavy weight. The gorilla just tilted its head as if taunting the metal man and even seemed to grin at the sight.
"What? No smart come back from you, big ape? Or what, the Brain cut off your tongue because you failed in your last attempt to destroy humanity?" taunted Robot Man with a smirk. But again, there was no response.
"Cliff wait!" said Rita lifting a hand to stop her friend. "This is not Mallah…"
"How can you say this ugly monkey is not Mallah. He's been deliberately avoiding us and running away" said an angry Robot Man.
"Let me try Cliff, perhaps… a different approach is what we need to get our answers" Rita said and started to walk towards the animal. Slowly so as to not startled him. that's when she noticed the scars on the left side of his face.
In the main time, Mento was trying to make his way thru the jumbled gorilla's mind. A disarray of events that seemed to be from two different perspectives instead of only one mind.
Meanwhile, the gorilla seemed to frown at something. Looked confused for a moment and the thoughts started to discern on their own accord. As if someone was going thru the index of a book. Memories started pouring in. Memories her mind had buried a long time ago, and there, in her mind's eye, a single image was held unwillingly.
As Rita approached, saw the animal's discomfort and started to grab its head and shake it with eyes closed. Mento was finally getting clearer images from the gorilla's mind. Cages, chains, ocean were prominent, but a single image caught his attention and a chill run down his spine. "RITA! WATCH OUT!" he yelled.
Suddenly, the gorilla opened his eyes that looked like shreds of crystallized blue and roared angrily. Rita stopped only a few feet away and then the gorilla swung its heavy arms, and slammed them on the ground. Then extended his arms and fur grew out and became long feathers, its body shrunk into itself and lower extremities became talons, neck elongated and curved, and the snout became a beak that made a hissing sound. A king vulture stood before her, with its massive wings that made it hover for a split second before turning and flying down the cliff over the rocks and disappeared among the greenery below. The five heroes were too astonished to even react. Mento came running to his wife and placed a hand on her shoulder while the other two were at the edge of the cliff trying to follow the trail of the vulture.
"Rita, are you ok?"
"Steve… he's just like Garfield" whispered Rita, still in shock.
"She's not only like Garfield Rita, she also knows him" said Mento quietly.
"What!" She breathed and turned to her husband "You must be mistaken… Garfield would have told us if he knew about someone like him"
"We don't know if perhaps Garfield didn't want to alarm us but I think he made those scars on her face…"
"Her?…" asked Rita finally realizing what her husband was saying.
"Yes, is not a he, but a she and from what I could pick up, she's got anger issues. I need more time to find out. We need to find her"
"Should we tell Garfield? If she's somehow after him, then…"
"No, I doubt she knows where Garfield is. Those memories were not recent. We'll capture her then we'll get our answers"
It took two days of chasing and following tracks. Mento realized that the unknown changeling's ability also provided sort of a block on her mind. Environments were perceived differently with each change, as well as mental patterns. But he was also sure that she was doing that on purpose. Along the way, they encounter rumors of locals that had at some point seen animals turn into something else. Even ones that did not exist by nature in those lands. They had called it The Phantom. And was heard of, not only in those lands but other continents.
Finally, they had caught up with her. Found her on the skirts of a swamp as a mountain lion, eating the remnants of a zebra. They were across, a few feet away and watched her turn back into her human form. A young brunette, slim if not too skinny for her height. She was naked but quickly found some clothes inside a hollow trunk nearby. A tank top and shorts.
While changing however, she kept looking around across the water. Perhaps searching for other animals. Then from the same trunk, took something out and grabbing nearby dry twigs, made a fire and with what seemed to be a spear, puncture the piece of meat and started to roast it.
"She's so young Steve. Look at the way she has to live" whispered Rita with a heavy heart.
"Don't let yourself be fooled Rita. I don't think she's that innocent" said Mento just as low.
"How are we going to capture her. She can transform into any animal. At least when Garfield does it, he's distinctive. Every animal he transforms into, is green. This one however, has no distinctive marks other than the scars on her face but we would have to get real close to be able to noticed them" asked Negative Man in a somewhat concerned whisper.
"I'll make her talk…" said Robot Man, ready to stand but Rita stopped him.
"No, I'll do it. Last time you were menacing and imposing. That will get us nowhere" then she turned to her husband " Maybe I can distract her enough while you look for answers in her mind… but be gentle. We don't need another goose chase if you scare her away." Mento frowned at her comment but said nothing, instead he nodded in agreement at her plan.
The girl was peeling pieces of cooked skin from the chunk of meat roasting on the fire. It had been a while since she had had enough time to eat. Fruits here and there had been her meals lately and that had started to affect her transformations. Not enough energy to keep certain forms longer made it difficult to run away from a poacher that was prepared to encounter any animal she could think of, but must of all, he was relentless. He hardly ever gave her time to rest enough.
She took a bite from the cooked meat and grimaced at the taste. She was still not used to eat raw meat and would only do it when in animal form like the lion, but she was weak and so, decided to cut a good chunk, leaving the rest behind for some other hungry animal and take that to her hide out place. Temporary, but she could at least have some clothes and a somewhat sense of privacy… or so she thought.
Approaching footsteps were heard from behind and she turned sharply at the intruder. To her surprise, it was the same woman she had encounter two days ago. The girl got up and narrowed her eyes and looked around in search of the others.
"Please dear, I mean you no harm… I just wish to talk" said Rita, hands lifted in defense as she walked slowly towards the girl who kept averting her eyes every which way looking for other intruders. "I came alone… you don't have to worry about them" the girl scuffed and with one last look around, she crouched again to tend to her food. Rita started walking again but the girl spoke for the first time. "Don't come any closer" she said, watching her visitor from the corner of her eye.
"My name is Rita…You're the one they call "The Phantom" correct?" the girl turned slightly her way and seemed to smile a little before answering "Yes"
"Where are you from?… if you don't mind me asking" asked Rita while she stood in her spot. Hands on her sides. This time, the girl didn't turn when she answered "Nowhere in particular"
"I have to ask… have you been in Africa before?" she asked. There was concern in her voice that the girl didn't understand so she turn to look at the woman before answering "Once or twice". there was silence for a moment full of tension that the girl couldn't take for long.
"Rita… is it?… what exactly do you wish to know" asked the phantom, looking at the woman straight in the eyes. Rita sighed deeply and clasped her hands in front of her.
"What I really want to know is if you knew a boy named Garfield?"
The girl breathed in sharply and frowned at the mention of that name. A name she had not spoken of in over ten years. Memories started to pour in again. Things she had not thought of and other things she had rather forget no matter how recent. She shook her head and tried to fight back a shiver, but that's when she realized the same sensation as before. The invasion of her mind to which there seemed to be no escape of. She tried to regain control of her mind and concentrated on a single feeling… anger. Because with anger came the change, and with the change came control.
Her eyes burned for a split second and sharply looked at the woman ahead of her then from behind the woman, out came the other three. The one in the middle being the one trying to invade her mind. "You tricked me!" she hissed and Rita saw the girl's eyes crystallize in shreds of blue and suddenly, her stance was menacing. Dangerous and unpredictable.
The phantom tried to transform but not only was she weak but also, the man with the mental powers was overwhelming her mind, controlling her every move. But , something snapped within her and out came her wilder side. Mento was thrown back and out of her mind with such force that he had to grab his head with both hands in the futile attempt to stop the acute ringing in his ears and the feeling of agonizing pain his mind had sensed and picked up from her.
"Phantom, please… we do not wish to fight… "
"You tricked me…" she repeated "And you shall pay for that…" said the girl with as much anger as she could then with a quick move, she turned into an anaconda, fangs ready, dripping with what seemed to be venom but Robot Man made his way to the serpent and grabbed her by the head right before her jaw closed in on Rita, but the slithering giant managed to be stronger than the metal man and smashed it against a tree nearby, causing him to loose his grip.
Mento was almost recuperated and had jumped towards Rita to get her out of the way when the soul self of Negative Man made its way towards the animal. Her senses spiked at the proximity of the entity and transformed into a vulture once more and flew upwards where the entity came chasing, then from up above, she noticed the limp body of the man who's soul was now chasing her and without a second thought, closed her wings and dropped rapidly towards the abandoned body.
Mento had seen her intention and pushed his powers to the limit to break the barrier in her mind. She screeched in pain and almost forgot to open her wings again to buffer her fall and at only a few feet from the ground, she turned into a cheetah and charged towards Mento who was now on his knees from the exertion. His mind was growing tired as was hers along with her body but kept going at full speed and would have succeeded had not been for a giant hand grabbing him and lifting him in the air. The cheetah turned to make sure what she saw had been real and yes, there she was. The woman she had been talking to not too long ago, now was taller than the trees. But then, a gun shot broke her concentration, then another…
Everyone looked around, and Rita returned to her normal size while Mento shook his head. But the girl already knew who it was and so, with what little energy she still had, she sprinted towards the water, jumped and turned into a water snake and once touched water, it disappeared in its depths.
Present
"GET AWAY FROM MY SON!
"MAKE ME!" with a growl, Meliah turned into a bear and charged towards Mento, who had raised his hand to his helmet, ready to use his telekinetic ability against his attacker.
"MELIAH, STOP!" said Garfield and with lightning speed turned into a bear himself and managed to catch her midair. The black bear roared with all its might as it tried to pry herself off of his paws and pushed him away.
Beast Boy turned back human and stepped in front of his adoptive parent and with arms open, tried to get Meliah's attention. "Meliah, what are you doing? He's not the enemy"
The bear went down on all four while still growling and narrowing her eyes at the young man. Who after seeing her making the effort to calm down a bit (at least that's what he thought), turned to the man behind him. "Mento, please, stop. She's not the enemy either"
"Garfield, I beg to differ, but I know there is something going on in her head and you're involved"
This, not only caught her attention but enraged her much more and made her growl dangerously but instead of attacking, she transformed back to her human form "ME THE ENEMY? You and your team have been after me since Australia…"
Then something else caught her eye and in astonishment, looked from one man to the other and realized they were wearing the same uniforms. "Garfield… you're one of them?" she said in an angry whisper. He followed the direction her eyes kept averting to which eventually also went down to her own attire with disgust.
"Is this how he found me?… thru you?" there was rage in her eyes and disappointment in her tone.
"M…no… whatever you're thinking, is not like that. Yes, I used to be part of them but not for the last five years… they insisted on me keeping the uniform so I would be able to transform… please Meliah, calm down" when she didn't respond and only glared, he turned the man behind him and said "Mento, what is she talking about? What happened?"
"Beast Boy, I don't think I need to explain myself. She knows what she's done"
"But I don't! What happened. In Australia?" asked an angry Beast Boy, trying not to loose his temper. Then his ears twitched at the barely there humming sound that Raven's powers created in the atmosphere and turned in the direction she'll soon appear, as did Meliah.
Raven came out of one of her portals. She had sensed the tension and the tell tale of a psychic's mind nearby. And she only knew two of them to be powerful enough for her to sense at a distance and one of them happened to be her new boyfriend's adoptive father. "What's going on? Why is the Doom Patrol here?" she asked to no one in particular.
"I don't know why, but Mento is after Meliah"
"I'll tell you what he thinks I've done Garfield. Two years ago I happened to be following a trail in search for my mother and running away from Alec, From South Africa to Australia. That was a year before I met Batman. I was in the forest side when I came across him and his team and he thought I was some… talking gorilla with a master plan"
"Mallah?" asked Raven with a frown.
"Why would Mallah be in Australia?"
"After the Titans destroyed their headquarters, Mallah managed to escape. We tracked him down and was last seen in Sydney" answered Mento, crossing his arms over his chest, not loosing sight of the female changeling.
"But that's not why we followed her, dear" came the soft, sweet, voice of Rita who walked next to her husband, while placing a soothing hand on his arm, locked eyes with him for a second then subtly placed herself between him and her adoptive son.
"Raven, Phantom… I wish our encounter would have been in less stressful conditions" said Rita. Raven nodded once and Meliah just narrowed her eyes. "Garfield, dear I'm sorry for showing up unannounced"
"Mom, what's going on? Why are you guys after Meliah?
"Oh, so that is your name dear… Meliah?" she said, ignoring for a moment Garfield's question and addressing The Phantom. "It is a uncommon name" Rita continued with a subtle smile and made the attempt to move towards the girl.
"Rita, Stop!" said Mento with a restraining hand on her shoulder at the same time that Meliah prepared to attack and Garfield tried to shield the two women from each other while Raven's hands were encased in her dark energy, ready to protect her boyfriend from either one.
Rita let out a sigh in controlled exasperation " Ok, we're never going to get anywhere like this" she said to everyone and no one in particular. Then turned to her husband "Steve, enough chasing around. We found her and Garfield is fine. Perhaps you misunderstood the situation…"
"There is no mistake in what I saw Rita. Our son is in danger"
"He is NOT your son… I knew his parents and they were NOTHING like you" Said Meliah with as much venom as she could but as soon as the words left her lips, she noticed the pained expression the older woman had and this did not go unnoticed.
"M… I know they're not my real parents, but they adopted me when I had no one left, so please, don't to her like that" Meliah saw the hurt and anger in his eyes as well and that made her calm down a little while her eyes went back to normal and Raven's hands stopped glowing.
"I'm sorry Gar…" she said to him and then turned to Rita and locked eyes with her for a moment "But is hard for me to trust people… specially them"
Raven looked from one to the other. There were certain subtle changes in Meliah's attitude that were not at all comforting but could not be certain. Then she felt a sudden tug on her mind and sharply turned towards Mento and glared.
"If you wish to know something, you'll be better off asking instead of trying to pry my mind" said Raven in an cold and menacing monotone.
"Mom is right, we're never going to get anywhere like this, Mento…" said Garfield after a moment. Then turned to Raven who's expression soften the moment she locked eyes with him. This did not go unnoticed by the Daytons.
"Rae, M… why don't you two go back inside and wait for me while I find out what's going on." he said walking towards the girls who's response was and arched eyebrow and an uneasy glance at each other.
"C'mon guys, we've been thru this… we all know where we stand" Garfield said, glancing from one to the other, with a lingering look on Raven and slight curve of his mouth into a subtle smile followed by a wink. This made Raven blush slightly and instinctively pulled the hood of her cloak over her head to hide it. While Meliah crossed her arms over her chest with a frown.
"You know Steve, you might have been right after all and our son is indeed in danger of not one, but two powerful forces of nature" whispered Rita to her husband standing right behind her.
"What makes you say that?"
"Because he's right in the middle of a silent war and he seems to be oblivious to that fact"
The two girls walked away while Garfield watched them disappear thru the main door, then turned to his adoptive parents who had a curious expression.
"Alright guys, mind telling me now what's going on?… why are you after Meliah?"
The Daytons looked at each other but Rita decided to take the lead.
"Dear, is true that we thought she was Mallah at some point, but that didn't last long…"
"I read her mind son, before and now again while you two were talking. There is something not right in her mind. Something that I'm afraid, even Meliah doesn't know about."
Garfield let out a sigh, not entirely of relief but close enough. "I know about her condition dad. She suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder. I've seen her two sides… but I'm telling you… she's the same sweet girl I met when we were kids"
"Is beyond a simple mental disorder Garfield… there is something trapped in her mind and is making its way out" said Mento with a stern but concerned tone.
"Making its way out?… what are you…" but Garfield was interrupted by a sudden explosion coming from the tower. When he looked up, he noticed on time the large pieces of debris free falling directly at them but Mento used his mental powers to avert the objects away from them. And there, coming from the whole the explosion had caused, were Raven and Meliah, fighting mid air. Raven using her dark energy and Meliah as a dragon, breathing fire, chasing after the empath. But to Garfield's horror, the dragon made a turn in the air and its tail lashed out and struck Raven on her stomach, sending her well into the water were she did not come out from while Cyborg used his sonic cannon at the flying reptile that was approaching fast for a second victim.