Document 1278803-4576b

-Keypad initiated-

Entry 8 -

I have returned to finish pondering the events of this day, and all that has happened in it, and how it has affected me. When I ended my previous entry, I was being held at knifepoint by a young man who was obviously in over his head. (Technically, I was being bothered by Thaal. But in the story I was relating, I had been at knifepoint.) Just when I was beginning to think that the young man might listen to me and forsake his blade, a security guard rushed into the room, startling myself, the other guards and, of course, the fellow holding a knife to my throat.

"The Science Police are on their way!" the security guard shouted, as if to reassure me.

Of course, this news really didn't affect me one way or another, but it completely unhinged the young man holding me hostage. "NO!" he shrieked, "NO POLICE! NO POLICE OR HE DIES!"

The shouting really was not doing my throat any good, as shouting involved heavy use of the diaphragm, which meant that his torso jerked and his shoulders jerked, which made his arms jerk, which jerked the blade against my throat. Absently, I wondered if this young man had taken melodrama lessons as part of his burglar training, what with the low snarling responses to my comments, his gravelly growls, and now the shrieking over a little thing like the science police. He was like a thug from one of the bad movies that Bouncing Boy inflicted upon the Legion on a regular basis.

Even as I considered this point, I found myself suspecting that the knife might have broken my skin during his shouting, since I could feel a gentle trickle oozing down my throat now. Absently, I wondered what the young man would think of my green blood. After all, I appeared to be a human male, but I had a feeling that the odd color of my blood might surprise him. It made sense, that having green skin that I would also possess green blood. However, as my skin was currently slathered with Arno's makeup and hidden underneath leather gloves…

I blinked, feeling foolish. Leather gloves! I had been so worried about my human frailty that I'd overlooked the simple fact that I was wearing leather gloves! I could simply grab the knife, twist it from the young man's hand, and be rid of this matter in record time! I glanced down slightly and reached for the blade, when the young man dug the knife into my throat, and I felt another trickle of blood trail down my neck.

"Don't even think about it," he snarled.

I sighed. So much for leather gloves. I didn't think I was fast enough to tug it away before he really cut me. "Look, why don't we call this a truce?" I asked. "You leave, I leave, and we never see each other again."

"Except there's the problem of the Science Police right outside," the young man snarled. "And six security guards."

"Seven," I reminded him, thinking of the guard who had delivered the unpleasant news that the Science Police were on their way.

The young man's grip slackened slightly. "That doesn't help your case any," he commented, sounding confused.

"Yes, well, that's hardly the point," I replied. "Obviously, you can't count."

"Shut up," he snarled.

Oh, back to the melodrama, were we? I found myself rather bored with the whole proceeding. It sounded as though most of the other people in the museum were far more disenchanted with the idea of a knife being held to my throat than was I myself. The worried whispers, muffled sobs, and occasional cry indicated that most others seemed to be quite affected by the trauma of this incident.

I found myself strangely calm. I reflected on this as I stood there, a bit of blood trickling down my neck and pooling on my collarbone. Perhaps it was because I'd found myself in harrowing situations so many times that this hardly seemed worth my notice? Was it that I no longer cared for my life, and did not feel concern over the thought of whether or not it would continue? Could it be a sense of certainty that justice would prevail despite what circumstances might indicate? Or perhaps I simply felt that there were better uses for my energies than being afraid for something over which I have very little control. I really have no say in my life span, when I live or die, unless I were to take my life into my hands. In which case, what point is there in worrying over whether I live or die? At least if I died, I doubted this fellow would get away with stealing… or murder.

Although, once it occurred to me, it felt a bit foolish that I would sacrifice my life for some small trinket stolen from a museum- especially when people probably wouldn't have known the difference between the trinket and the hologram, had the burglary been successful.

I was just musing over what could be considered of the same value as a human life when a strikingly familiar voice broke through my musings.

"You there! Release that young man immediately!"

From behind me, I heard Thaal shriek in exhiliration. "It's the Legion of Superheroes!" he shouted excitedly.

I cringed. Perfect. This is just what I needed to end this day "on a high note"… Of course, Cosmic Boy's order did little to convince my friend with the knife to do anything but tighten his grip, which allowed another drip of green blood to trickle down my throat. Please don't let them notice I'm a human bleeding green, I thought frantically. That's the last thing I need right now.

I was wondering how they were going to get me out of this situation anyway. Would Phantom Girl make use of her intangibility? Cosmic Boy could probably do something. Absently, I wondered why on earth the Legion decided to intervene in this situation. It wasn't as though the young man had any special abilities or anything like that. Shouldn't the science police be allowed to deal with this?

"Hey!" I heard another familiar voice shout. Triplicate girl? I couldn't move my head for fear of the blade, but I tried to look with my eyes. I couldn't spot her. "You! With the knife!" she shouted, addressing my blade-bearing friend again.

The guy's grip had slackened substantially, and due to my relaxed stance, he had apparently decided that it was acceptable to "let his guard down." With Triplicate Girl distracting him, I made my move.

I quickly snaked my right hand up to the blade, sliding my fingers between the blade and my throat. At the same time, I plunged my elbow into his abdomen, hard. I stomped my left foot down and back in tandem with my elbow, and my heel caught the inside of his foot. With my hand on the blade, I pushed it away, spun around and slid out of his grasp, shouting "Ha!" as I did so and punching my fists into the air. I was feeling ridiculously victorious for having been so unskilled that I'd ended up spending a good twenty minutes at knifepoint.

Snarling angrily, the young man lunged at me, knife flashing- but it almost seemed to be moving in slow motion as my mind analyzed his movement, noted his foot position and how he'd overextended, putting his weight too far forward. It was like my one action had kicked off a whole instinctive part of my brain that I hadn't realized existed, and I pushed my arm out, sliding in along the knife's trajectory and striking the inside of his arm, avoiding the blade by mere inches as I swept my foot into his instep, grasped his shoulder, yanked him forward and down, striking the back of his neck as he stumbled and fell.

The knife clattered across the floor and the young man with robes lay on the ground, unmoving. I quickly knelt by him, felt for his pulse, found it, and nodded. He was alive, disabled, and would be taken away by the Science Police. All in a day's work, even if it had required some tolerance of uncomfortable situations to get there.

"Wow," someone said from behind me, "Nice moves."

I turned around. "Thank…you…" I trailed off awkwardly.

Karate Kid was positively beaming at me, hand extended to shake.

I clapped a hand to my neck, hoping he hadn't noticed the green blood. "I… I… um. Um." It was as though all powers of speech had abandoned me in my moment of need. "Um," I said again, more urgently. I glanced around, hoping to spot Thaal or Arno. I had no such luck. I was alone, facing old team mates for the first time since I'd left, and every movement, every glance, every smile was like stabbing a knife deep into my abdominal cavity. They were coming closer, asking me if I was feeling well, did I need anything, was I hurt; they were telling me how brave I was, how impressed they were, encouraging me, congratulating me. I wanted to run away and hide under a large boulder, preferably at the bottom of the ocean on a deserted planet in the outer rim of the galaxy.

My only consolation was that Saturn Girl did not appear to be present. She would have known it was me instantly. The only members present were Karate Kid, Cosmic Boy, Triplicate Girl, and Phantom Girl. I was relieved that there were so few, or I might have lost it then and there. (And the patrons of this museum had thought me crazy when I'd attempted to get Thaal's attention…) As it was, I nodded blankly, hand firmly clasped to my neck, hoping they didn't notice my green eyes or blonde hair, wondering why I hadn't worn a large, hooded cloak when I left the hotel this morning. Or a steel collar.

"Guys, give him some air," Phantom Girl ordered after a moment, "Can't you see the guy's shell-shocked?"

Well, that wasn't the exact term I would have used, but it at least got them to move back a few paces. Unfortunately, it also meant that they were beginning to scrutinize me carefully. My stomach clenched suddenly, and I tasted a bitter, biting fluid in the back of my mouth. Frantically, I ducked my head and pushed past Phantom Girl and Cosmic boy, rushing towards the nearest restroom. I barely made it to the nearest toilet stall before emptying the contents of my stomach.

I was not distressed by being held at knifepoint. Rather, I was feeling a myriad of mixed emotions at seeing my old friends. Guilt, despair, longing, hope, fear; emotions flooded through me, tore at me and gripped me for an undetermined amount of time. Slowly I rose from my position, kneeling before the toilet, and found my way to the sink, washing my hands and splashing some water on my face to clear my head before realizing that I'd just splashed water on my face. I glanced at myself in the mirror- green was showing through, my paltry disguise washed away by my foolish act.

It was in that moment when Thaal chose to barge into the restroom. "Oh, there you are, Bvril!" he exclaimed, then paused. "Uh…"

"I mistakenly wetted my face in a moment of absent-mindedness," I noted softly, glancing at him in the mirror. "I have ruined my disguise."

Thaal frowned slightly. "You're bleeding, too," he said, sounding concerned.

"Not much," I said. "Do you know where Arno-"

"Say no more, I'm sure he brought something. He's more paranoid than you are…" Thaal smirked. "And that's sayin' something."

"I shall shut myself into a stall until you return, lest someone else enter this restroom in your absence," I murmured, moving to the stall in a near-daze, now feeling empty of emotions rather than overwhelmed by them. I stood in the stall, trying not to think (which, admittedly, is difficult for someone like myself) or feel. Too overwhelmed to fully comprehend all that had happened in such a short span of time, I rested my forehead against the stall door and allowed tears to pool in my eyes and spill over. Releasing the lacrimal fluid did wonders for my emotions, and I felt myself gradually growing calmer.

Arno entered not long after, and-

Once again, I am being interrupted. I must go, for if I do not, Thaal will once again accuse me of "journaling" despite my many protests to the contrary. I will return to this analysis of my day post haste.

…if Thaal would be willing to leave me alone for another hour…

A/N: Wow. I thought this story would be over, but somehow it just drags on…and on…and on…

Sorry. On the bright side, you guys get multiple chapters! Yay! I don't think I've ever carried on a single story for more than four entries, except for the Jonis saga (no, that's not it's official title) from Document 1278803-4576a.

Okay, so I went and just read all of Document 1278803-4576a and decided that no, this was not really a continuing story that drags on… and on… and on… On the bright side, the chapters have gotten longer! ^_^ This one was actually just OVER three pages long. Hooray! Stay tuned, and thanks for reading.