Sorry it's taken so long for this to come out, what can I say-I'm lazy. Part 5 will be out much sooner, probably in a few days so check back. I hope you enjoy it.
-Nikira
"Perhaps you should keep a clear head, Master Dick," Alfred suggested calmly, "There's no need to get flustered."
"No need?!" Dick shouted, "There's a dangerous girl out there with superhuman capabilities and the ability to shoot pure energy from her fingertips who knows my real identity and you're telling me that there's no need to get flustered! When should I get flustered?! When she breaks into the Batcave and destroys the place and us along with it?! Or maybe when Bruce gets back tomorrow and finds out that I've single-handedly ruined everything?! I'd say now is a very good time to be flustered!"
He took a deep breath and slumped down in the chair in front of the computer. He was dead.
"I don't suppose you've read Niccholo Machiavelli's The Prince?" Alfred asked.
"I don't think that was on the reading list this year in school," he said sarcastically, burying his face in his hands.
"One of the most famous Machiavellian principles is to know thy enemy," Alfred continued.
"I do know her," he said looking up, "I just told you. Superhuman strength, dangerous, energy from the fingertips."
"Yes, I remember," Alfred said drolly, "But perhaps you need to understand her more than know her abilities."
"You mean like who she is and what she's doing in Gotham?"
"You might find that things aren't as they seem," Alfred said, "There might be more to the situation that you can't see."
"Okay," Dick said, turning to the computer, "So, who is she? Well, I don't know, she could be an alien or a metahuman. What's she doing in Gotham? I know it has something to do with this virus going around, the one that leaves people dehydrated. She surfaced around the same time it did."
"When were the first reports of the victims?"
He accessed the files on the computer, "Uh…three days ago. A family of beachgoers on their way home. The driver passed out and they caused a four-car pile up. Hours later, an elderly man was found on the beach, dead from severe dehydration. The two people on the boardwalk Friday night and an officer who was there the next day was also reported to be severely dehydrated."
"So this all started at the beach."
"Most of them," he said, scanning the computer, "The rest are in areas not too far from it. If that's where this so-called virus started, then that's where she might be and that's where I'm going."
His attention suddenly shifted to the red light blinking near the phone console. Someone was calling the manor.
Alfred, seeing it as well, moved towards it, "Allow me," he said, pressing the voice button, "Wayne Manor, how may I help you."
"Alfred, yes, it's Leslie."
"Ah, Doctor Thompkins," Alfred said with a friendly demeanor, "And how are you this morning."
"Fine, I don't suppose Dick is downstairs, is he?" she said hurriedly, emphasizing her words.
Both Alfred and Dick understood her implications. Alfred switched the console over to the Batcave connection.
"Is there something wrong, Dr. Thompkins," noticing the strange tone and urgency of her voice.
"Well, to tell you the truth, I'm not quite sure," she said, "I got the charts on the patient you had mentioned earlier, a Jane Doe who was admitted yesterday for lacerations and a gunshot wound. There was no record of her ever coming to the clinic and none of her leaving. I've asked around and no one remembers seeing anyone of the description your gave on the day you mentioned."
That's not surprising, Dick thought to himself.
"But whoever this mystery girl is," the doctor continued, "She's in a lot of danger. I studied her charts and X-rays and the prognosis isn't very good."
"What do you mean?" Dick asked, his interest piqued.
"The X-rays showed intense muscle damage and her blood test were so low on iron, they were way past the anemic level. I'm shocked she was even alive when the tests were taken. Not to mention the abnormalities in her blood pressure, heart rate and metabolic functions."
"What are you saying, Dr. Thompkins?"
"She's dying. Her body, for some unknown reason, is breaking down, eating itself alive, at a very rapid pace. If she is in fact alive still, she doesn't have much longer to go."
"You okay, kid?" a burly middle-aged man asked, looking at the young girl slumped against the apartment building with some concern, "You don't look so good."
She nodded her head in response, holding up her hand as to assure him of her well-being. Gathering her strength, she moved away from the building and walked down the street, she didn't blame them, the strange looks she was getting from everyone she passed. She could imagine what she looked like-hell. That was exactly what she had been through, for the fifth time that day.
She had never intended to read the boy's thoughts, nor had she meant to absorb any of them. Yet at the brief moment when she thought she could enter his mind and erase any memory he had of her, she had tapped into something else-a part of him that was not meant to be touched. It had happened so quickly, there was no time to stop it and she barely felt anything. But that was then. Shortly afterwards, the first of them came. Spasms of Dick Grayson's memories and wracked her mind and arrested her whole body for short periods of time. And yet, it was not just the memories, they were so vivid, she could feel the emotions running through her as if they were her own. The joy of scoring the winning goal at his first soccer game, looking up to see Bruce cheering along with everyone else. The exhilarating rush of soaring through the night sky as Robin. The nervous pit in his stomach he got when a girl like Barbara Gordon would smile at him. And then, there was the pain. The terror he felt after Two-Face knocked him off the roof of the building, the physical pain of actually hitting the ground. The shame and anger whenever Bruce yelled at him for being careless or just, not perfect. The pain and the loss…so intense, so heartbreaking…O God, Mom and Dad! My parents.
No! she chastised herself, shaking her head of the troubling thoughts, Not my parents, they're his. His parents. His pain.
She had to distance herself from him, separate her mind from the piece of his that had entered hers. She put a weak hand to her head, as if that would quell the sharp pain that hammered away mercilessly. She would have to stop using her borrowed powers, they was killing her. The pain was almost intolerable. But she would tolerate. She had to. She looked up at the sign in front of her. The beach. Soon it would be over.
Robin hit the bottom of the flashlight against his leg. He should have checked the batteries before leaving. Another careless mistake. Nevertheless, he had to go on. The footprints leading into the cave led him to believe he was on the right track. Or some track at least.
She stood there quietly, motionless, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dark. There was no sound except for that of the echoes of crumbling rock and soil. She could feel them; they were here, all of them. She walked deeper into the cave, farther away from the light.
Robin stopped as his flashlight gave once last heroic effort of light before dying out, leaving him alone in the pitch-black cave.
Great, he muttered.
"Okay," he said, putting the flashlight back in his belt, "I spent practically all of junior high in a cave. This shouldn't be a problem."
His eyes quickly adjusted to the complete darkness, a skill he picked up from his mentor and he was able to make his way along with little trouble, though he was going at a much slower pace than he would have liked. The further he went into the cave, the darker and wetter it became.
Dark and damp, there must be a water source down here, which goes along with my theory.
He heard loud crashing noises, as the whole cave seemed to shake.
What's going on in there, he wondered stepping up his pace into a run.
Bits of rock and dust sprinkled down from the cave ceiling, as the noises got louder. As he proceeded, groping his way along, flashes of light, getting brighter with each step he took, illuminated the cave. The rumbling grew louder as the rocks falling became larger and the dust coated his hair.
This whole place is coming down!Suddenly he saw someone running in his opposite direction. Not surprisingly, it was her.
He wanted to find out what was going on but knew that right now it was best to get out as quickly as possible. He turned in the same direction she was running and headed for the cave opening. She quickly caught up to him, grabbing him before disappearing.
They rolled down the slight incline outside the cave before settling into the valley of sand near the shoreline, watching the cave collapse, sealing itself with a wall of rocks.
"Didn't I tell you to stay out of my way?" she asked getting up.
"Yeah," Robin said, dusting the sand off, "So?"
"So, you almost got yourself killed, you idiot!" she yelled.
"Oh, so suddenly, you care about my safety?" he shot back.
She didn't reply, only sighed.
"So what did you just do back there?" he asked, pointing to the cave, which had now been mostly sealed off with collapsed rocks.
"Don't worry about it," she said curtly.
She looked down at the timepiece device on her wrist.
"What?" he asked.
"Nothing's happening," she said, more to herself than to answer his question.
"What's supposed to happen?"
She looked around the beach, "It's not over."
"What's wrong now?"
"I don't know, there must be some strays left, still wandering around the city," she said. "Stray what?!" he exclaimed exacerbated.
"I don't have time to answer your questions, Dick," she said, "You wouldn't understand even if I told you."
"Don't you ever get tired?" he asked.
"All the time," she said sincerely, looking up at the dark sky. She sighed and sat down on the sand.
Robin looked at her. The way she spoke, the manner in which she seemed to walk around the city with an air of familiarity. She seemed human, like just another regular teenage girl-who had lived life at least five times over. In some ways, he could relate. He sat down near her.
"How did you know who I am?" he asked.
"I read your mind. Accidentally."
"Who are you?"
She turned to him, "Who do you think I am? An alien?"
"I don't know," he admitted, "Frankly I have no idea what's going on. But I have some theories."
"Oh yeah?"
"In the alley last night, I found a sample of a specimen that not from this world. When I tested its reaction to certain conditions I noticed that the most favorable to water. It completely soaked it up and then went seeking more. It's a symbiote, isn't it?"
"No, it's a Scryrithian."
"A what?"
"Scryrithians. They're an endangered alien race of advanced single-cellular parasitical organisms. They live off fresh water. They don't have a planet of their own, they just travel from one to another, sucking all the resources from it until there's nothing left. Once they've used up a planet, they go on to the next one."
"And Earth is next up on the list?"
"Not exactly," she explained, "Most of the race was destroyed on the last planet they attacked but some got away. The inhabitants of that planet are a friendly bunch called the Arhtfax, a warrior race of filthy belligerent monsters who like to destroy. A lot. They hunted the Scryrithians all over several galaxies for revenge, destroying whole planets in their path. The Scryrithians in their desperate attempt to flee somehow ended up here. I don't think their main destination was Earth, they must have gotten sidetracked or their ship crashed. Earth doesn't have enough fresh water to suffice. The Scryrithians have taken to using human bodies not only as vessels to get around but as food. The human body is seventy-percent water after all."
"That explains all the people dying from dehydration."
"What they don't know is that the Arhtfax are aware of their location and are currently on their way here to destroy this planet. I came here to destroy the Scryrithians before the Arhtfax could get to them. They'll be here in about seven hours."
"What?!"
"Don't worry, now that the Scryrith nest is destroyed, the Arhtfax have will have no trace to follow and no planet to destroy."
"You just said they get their kicks out of destruction," Robin reminded her, "How do you know they won't come here just for the heck of it."
"They know we wouldn't let that happen."
"We? You mean there's more of you?"
"Four more."
"So you guys are like alien hunters?"
She smiled. It was a sincere smile. She was beautiful with that smile. "Something like that," she said, getting up, "To a more monumental degree."
"And that guy at the water tower and the guys in the alley. They were all people who had Scryrithians in them?"
"A few, the others just got on my nerves," she shrugged, "I don't just go around killing people. The one on the tower was already dead and the others….it's what I have to do."
"Why are you telling me all this?" Dick asked perplexed, "You wouldn't even talk to me before."
She looked at him, "I know you're a good person and you would keep this to yourself. I mean, you're no stranger to secret identities after all."
He smiled, "How can you be so sure I wouldn't tell?"
She tapped his the side of his head, "I took a peek inside remember."
He looked seriously, "So you know everything. Who I am, about Bruce and Alfred? How much did you see?"
Too much, she thought to herself.
"Not much," she said, "I wasn't actually trying to read your mind, I was trying to erase your memory of me. You've heard my voice."
"What's the big deal if I've heard you?"
"You don't know how big of a deal it is," she said seriously, "We have this thing, a special power that we all share. We're completely forgettable; we pass right through your minds. No matter how many times you see us, you'll never remember who we are. As long as you don't hear us speak. Once you do…"
"I'll remember all the times I've met you before."
"And you'll be able to recognize me and retain any memory of me."
"But why is that a bad thing?"
"There are a lot of lives that are dependent on mine. More than you can even count. If anyone were to find out who I am-Why should I explain this to you? You should know why."
"Well yeah, I have to hide my identity too, but not to your extreme. I can speak at least," he said, "What do you do that's so important?"
"You wouldn't understand."
"Try me."
"You wouldn't understand because sometimes I don't even understand it," she said testily, "Sometimes it's just better to follow orders and not question what you're doing."
"You're human, aren't you?"
She turned to him, surprised, "Why do you say that?"
"I don't know, it's just a feeling."
"I am," she said silently.
"But yet, your medical charts at the clinic are anything but, by all accounts you should be dead."
"By all accounts I died three years ago. At least by my accounts," she said, "I have a human body, yes, and I was born of human parents but that's about as far as it goes."
"Where did you get your powers?"
"It's a long story I don't really have the time to get into right now," she said getting up, "I'm wasting time," she turned to him, her demeanor suddenly softening, "You won't understand what I'm saying, right now and hopefully you won't remember it," she took a step closer to him, "It wasn't your fault. You could have never known what he was going to do, you couldn't have stopped it."
"What?"
"They would be so proud of you if they saw what you've grown up to be," she smiled warmly, putting her hands to his face.
Warmth suddenly crept up on Robin, spreading all over his body, and not that of the feeling of being so close to a pretty girl but something else, something so comforting, the feeling of being having someone truly understand everything that you are. He smiled and then his face froze as her hands gripped the sides of his head and an intense pain shot through his whole body. It was like nothing he had ever felt before and as soon as it came to him, it left, leaving him unconscious, his body lying unmoving on the shore.
