This is Whispery Muse again. This chapter was really difficult for me to write just because it's important, but didn't fall into my original plan for the story. But it just doesn't work out unless this happens. Anyways, for those chomping at the bit for the pairing, it might take a little bit to get there, sorry. Please read and review! I won't bash if somebody critiques my writing, because any help is appreciated. Thanks!
CHAPTER_3
She was taken to an interrogation room. Or at least that's what Keida thought it was as she eyed the table and chairs with the mirror. Turning around, she was stupefied to find the door was locked. She tried it a few more times, and then banged her head against it in frustration. When nothing happened, she gave up and stood in the middle of the room, staring at her filthy reflection with apprehension.
This is going to make a great impression, Keida. No, the crazy girl in the locked room is genuine! She's just covered in muck and looks like she needs psychological help!
The tumblers in the lock began to turn, and a tall figure came in, the door shutting behind him ominously. "Sit down, please."
Keida nearly fell down as she saw the tall man had green skin. Skittering backwards, she reached around behind her until she felt the chair and sat down heavily. "Y-y-you're a M-martian." She sputtered, her mind barely computed what was going on.
"Yes I am. I am Martian Man Hunter. Who are you?" His voice was strangely gentle, but Keida didn't let herself relax for a second.
"I need your help. There's something hunting me, and it won't leave me alone. It's going to kill me!" Her voice hitched at the last few words.
"Is that why you're so tired?" He asked gently. "Why is this thing after you?"
She closed her eyes, her dirty hair brushing against her cheek, and suddenly she realized how filthy she was. "Yes. I-… I'm running because—" Keida cut herself off and met Martian Man Hunter's red eyes. "I can't tell you. You're trying to trick me, and I really want to tell you, but please…Kill it first!" She begged, and tears began to drip down her chin.
Suddenly a calming presence entered her mind, and her fear felt soothed—but then the realization hit her square in the face. "Get out!" She yelled, shoving herself away and smashed herself flat against the wall-as far away from the Martian as possible. "Leave me alone in my head." Her emotions came back at full force, and she had to take a moment to swallow her panic.
"Are you sure that you can't tell us why?"
"No! Because I'm supposed to be dead! Nobody can know I'm alive!"
Her words reverberated in the quiet room, and she saw the mirror. Her insides turned cold. "Why are you watching me? Am I that important?" she shouted.
"You broke into Justice League property. You assaulted a Justice League member, and you have been pursued by someone who wants to possible to harm to the Justice League. You are the key to discovering what we're being involved in right now."
His voice was now slightly on edge, and she sat down slowly, still keeping as far away from him as possible. "So we need to know what you know."
Keida felt her heart rate slowly go down and she took a few deep breaths to steady herself further. "I've been chased—for a very long time...by something. I don't know what it is, because frankly I didn't wait to stay and find out. But, I did something that wasn't right. But what I were discovering wasn't right either. Never did find out what it was. It did have to do with the Justice League, but before I could get a clue—"
"Got caught? By the authorities, or something else?" Martian Man Hunter prodded, and Keida finally found the courage to look him straight in the eye.
"I never saw a face. There was a light, and I ran—and then there was this horrible voice that wouldn't leave, saying that its job was to kill intruders." She shuddered at the memory, clenching her fists tightly. "So I ran. And I haven't stopped since until now. I'm pretty sure it won't stop now that I'm not moving, and if you could kindly figure out why it wants to kill me I would appreciate it. That way all my time spent running won't be a waste!"
Her last comment was accompanied by her fists slamming into the table, but the Martian didn't respond. Awkwardness permeated the air, and she sighed, blowing her grimy hair out of her face. Taking a deep breath, she realized how horrible she really smelled.
"Erm…While you're deliberating whether to brainwash me or whatever, may I take a shower? It's been awhile…" She stammered, embarrassed by her request. When the Martian remained silent, her blush deepened to a darker color, but she doubted he could see it under the dirt.
A hiss echoed through the room, and the younger Martian walked in with a cheery smile. "If you could come with me, Keida, we'll get you cleaned up." Slightly wary, the temptation of being clean overruled her newfound paranoia and she stood stiffly, keeping one eye on the adult Martian. As they walked into the slate gray hallway, the Martian grabbed her arm and gave her a beaming smile. "Hi Keida. I'm Miss Martian. How are you?"
Keida gave Miss Martian a disbelieving look. "Well, I'm pretty sure you can try and guess what my day's like. Especially since I have two mind-readers trying to delve into my brain, I nearly died—twice, and now I'm in the custody of the Justice League."
The Martian palmed her forehead and muttered, "Hellooooo M'gann!" Turning her attention back to Keida, she pulled her around another corner into a huge locker room. "You can shower here, and I'll get you some clothes. By that time Batman and Uncle John will have made a decision about you."
Keida let out a huge breath she didn't know she had. "Er…Thanks. But whose—Oh." Uncle John must be Martian Man Hunter.
WHAT!
"You mean your uncle is Martian Man Hunter?" Keida nearly flipped, barely keeping her brain from jumping to conclusions.
Miss Martian gave her a blank look then gritted her teeth. "Oops. I probably wasn't supposed to tell you that."
Confused, Keida stretched her legs casually, avoiding eye contact. "Why? I'm not going to tell anybody. It's not like I can go home or anything."
There was a deep silence, and Miss Martian changed the subject, the sympathy nearly overwhelming in her voice. "Well, there you go! I'll give you some clothes when you're done." With that, the door slammed, echoing hollowly in the empty space.
Keida's sigh was amplified and she shrugged, thinking, I might as well not delay the inevitable. Besides, I don't want to smell horrible and be all gross when my future is being decided by the two foremost members of the Justice League. Best impressions, right?
Quickly cleaning up, she got dressed with the clothes Miss Martian had left her. Wait…did she call herself something like Megan? Or was that some strange Martian phrase? Noticing she didn't have shoes or socks, she stood on the cold tile floor simply stared at nothing, quickly dropping into her habit of listening for signs of someone following her. To her puzzlement, there wasn't any. Why would my stalker stop now, while he's so close?
He must be more scared of what's here than chasing me…
The door slid open, and Keida jumped two feet in the air, letting out a squeak and dropping to a fighting stance. The Atlantean stood in the doorway, giving her a puzzled glance. "Miss…? Are you alright?" He asked quietly, and she nodded, feeling silly for overreacting.
"Constantly fearing for your life must have some effect on your mental health." He spoke, and she immediately picked up the attentiveness in it.
"I'll be even better when this is over with. Who are you, then?" She asked, hoping to change the subject and took a tentative step towards him.
"I am Aqualad. Please follow me." He asked politely, and turned to walk away. Rushing to catch up, she nearly ran into him as he stopped outside the door.
"AH! Sorry…" She muttered, and he gave her a gentle smile.
They began to walk down the hall, and Keida was beginning to wrap herself in her thoughts when Aqualad interrupted her again. "How did you hurt Superboy? No one has been able to do that before."
"Huh? Oh…wait, who's Superboy?" She asked, feeling more confused than she wanted to.
"The one you attacked." Even though the tone was calm, Keida finally exploded, anger getting the best of her.
"Okay that's it! First off, he attacked me first! Frankly, you all attacked me first! I was just trying to run away from a giant metal man who wants to kill me for a reason I can't even remember! Then all of you sit there and point your condescending fingers at me like it's all my fault. Sure! I'd love to go home, but I've kinda got a stalker that will kill my family before you can whistle 'God Bless America', and how well do you think my family will feel now that they think I'm dead and can do this!"
She held her hands up and punched the wall with her fists, skin tingling with energy. The concrete wall melt slightly, the wet rock sliding down to the floor. "Oh great!" She grumbled as her feet sank a little further than planned, and looked down to see her were smoking too, hot energy exiting the soles of her feet.
"So if you were in my situation, what would you do?" She asked, stepping out of the twin depressions in the floor. Her hands were still hot with energy, but her feet weren't, and she sighed, staring at them and taking deep breaths. Forcing herself to meet Aqualad's gaze, she was slightly annoyed to see his mouth agape.
"What it is it this time?" She moaned, and he merely blinked in a stupefied response. Keida fiddled with the hoodie she was wearing until the tension was too thick.
"Answer me! Or walk! Or do something that doesn't leave me standing her looking dumb!"
That seemed to shake Aqualad out of his reverie. "When did you gain this ability?"
She sighed and leaned back against the wall, setting her eyes on the two holes gaping at her like eyes. "I…I only vaguely remember. And for the hundredth time, I can't tell you until that thing hunting me is caught!" She crossed her arms and gave Aqualad a pleading look.
He sighed and then walked past her. "Follow me. This new development must be reported to Batman at once."
"Hang on a second!" She followed him, noticing he had bare feet as well. Jogging to catch up, she asked, "So wait, does everything that ever happens have to be reported to Batman?" Aqualad stopped suddenly, and she ran into his back. Instead of falling likes he would've expected, it felt as if she'd hit a brick wall and she fell on her backside, rubbing her head and wincing. "Owww…" She muttered, but it was more out of surprise than actual pain. She'd had enough of that to tell the difference.
"Yes, we do. Even though I am team leader, my team and I are under jurisdiction of the Justice League. Are you all right?" He finished with a puzzled look shot her way.
Rolling her eyes, she gave Aqualad a flat stare. "Man, you and your team sure love to ask those pointless and rather degrading questions." His face fell slightly, but he quickly put up a blank face. Guilt bit her, hard, and she tried a peace offering. "But yeah, I'm fine."
Standing, she brushed off the jeans that fit her surprisingly well. "We probably don't want to keep Batman waiting, right?" Did I really just say that? Wow…When did it get so easy to refer to the Justice League member that way?
Aqualad led her around for a few more moments, and then opened a door into a large business looking room. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she walked in and felt like her destiny was sealed as the door clicked shut behind her.
Looking around the room, she saw the six teens she had…fought earlier, along with Batman, Martian Man Hunter, Red Tornado, and a shorter blond woman she didn't recognize.
Aqualad went and stood by Batman, turning to whisper something in the adults ear. Keida was left standing, barely keeping her cool. Just keep calm and carry on. When you're done, you can panic and freak out. Then she noticed something odd. Most of these guys are apprentices to Justice League members…are they starting a young fan club or something?
"Keida. We're gathered to talk about you and your role that you may play in this team's existence. Please tell us your story." Red Tornado spoke, and to her surprise, she found herself more comfortable talking to him, considering Superboy, Robin, and Artemis were glaring at her, while Kid Flash was scarfing down food and giving her a once over.
"Right…Er…I'm—"
"We know already! You're some zombie chic that can't tell us what's going on because you've got a zombie master running behind you ready to take you down. We got that part already." Robin retorted sarcastically.
Even though she was tired, this time Keida was ready with something she clearly remembered. "Alright, try this on for size, smarty pants. I was looking into a company for my high school newspaper. The receptionist I was interviewing gave me a list of contacts for me to look at, and one of them was listed L.o.S. Ring a bell, anyone?"
It took a few moments, but each one of them went a shade paler as the realization hit home. "Exactly. Then I went investigating…This is where it gets fuzzy. I can't distinctly remember anything except—"
A growing rumble cut her off, and she felt dread cut her to the quick. "Ladies and gents, I present…" She muttered to herself, and braced herself for impact. You always wanted to fight. Now's your chance.
Then the world exploded, concrete, electric bits, and dirt and grit crashing into the room with a thunderous boom, knocking everyone off their feet. A grinding voice permeated the dust and made Keida shiver in fear. "I have come for the trespasser."
Ha ha does anyone else notice each chapters are getting longer? So these next two weeks are show weeks (I'm in a play) so expect a delay in writing because I won't be able to write as often as I have been.