Forever Bat (The final story to my Bat Trilogy)

Chapter 7: Secrets and Assumptions

...

The next morning I wake up at 8am and decided to visit Doc. Last night with the attack really bothered me, and I needed to talk to someone who was a good listener and had an extensive knowledge that could possibly help me. I took a warm shower, happy to be able to stretch my wings and not be confined to my house's small coffin-like shower. I could feel the water dripping down from the muscles and stretched over skin of my wings. It felt nice.

Once I was done, I dried off and got into tight black pants and a long sleeved storm grey shirt. One of the few things that I had left here nine years ago. It was a little small, but one of the only shirts that had big enough holes for my wings to fit through. I placed my glasses on my face and stared down at the medication bottle at the sink. My medication required me to eat, so I took a bite from a granola bar from my backpack, then washed my meds down with some water. Once I laced up my sneakers and placed on my fingerless black gloves, I left my room and walked down towards Doc's room.

Doc's room was just past Link's. My ears flicked to the faint sounds inside Link's room. Sounded like he was doing his early morning swim. He was listening to Guns n Roses. I walked by and eventually found myself in front of Doc's room. I knocked three times. I waited for what felt to be a full three and a half minutes. I knew Doc was awake already. He always stayed up through the nights and into the mornings. I doubt he ever slept at all.

I was about to knock again when the huge metal door slid up and Doc appeared in front of me. His huge cockroach eyes widened at the sight of me. "Bat! What a...what a pleasant surprise!" he said, trying to keep his panic down. I could hear his heart beat pounding inside his ribcage. It seemed frantic, nervous. His antennae twitched. "One moment!" he said, slamming the large door down inches from my face. I blinked in surprise. Why was he acting so weird? Ok...weirder than usual? I listened to him rummage around inside his room for a solid 20 seconds before opening the door and giving me a large, false smile. "Good evening, Bat!" Doc said.

"It's morning, Doc," I pointed out to him. He checked his clock he made out of a saw blade, a spoon and a fork for the hands, and parts of a sewing machine on his wall. "Oh! so it is! Good morning, Bat! How I may be of service for you today? Need a new hair dryer?" he asked me. I shook my head, remembering what happened to Susan's giant hair dryer when she asked him to fix it nine years ago.

"I want to talk to you about something," I said.

Doc's behavior changed drastically. He immediately knew what I was asking. He nodded and stepped aside for me to come in. He looked around behind me to make sure there was no one else spying or noticing the strange encounter before closing the door behind him. Doc quickly scuttled past me and removed a pile of books from a broken swivel chair and let me sit down.

As I sat down, he offered me a cup of tea, which was a bunch of old tea bags in cold water and a chocolate wrapper, his favorite concoction. I politely declined his offer as he took a sip from his own chipped tea cup before setting it aside and going back to his work table. He turned on a machine that began to hum.

I remembered him working on this machine back when I was an official member of the team. He asked me to be his Guinea pig for this one. It was a device that allowed us monsters to talk about things Monger might not like hearing us discuss from the "possible or not possible" secret listening devices he had around the Base. Mainly that was me doing that. I always had issues with certain rules or things that were kept from us monsters. Monger had his secrets. I had mine.

Since I had good hearing, Doc wanted to make sure the machine did its job, but also didn't make me nauseous or irritated from the annoying sounds it produced in the process. Kind of like how a dog can hear high frequencies from a whistle, I was similar in that case. Doc was able to perfect the machine without it blowing up.

"So, what would you like to talk about, my dear?" he asked me taking a seat across from me in another broken swivel chair. I took a deep breath and exhaled. "Ever since I came back here...Monger has not acted like himself," I said. Doc nodded his head. "Yes. I've noticed that too," he admitted. I blinked in surprise.

"You have?" I asked.

Doc nodded his head. "Well of course! Have you seen what he puts on his toast?! Peppered chili!" he cried out, throwing his hands up in the air. I shook my head. "No. Not just that...bigger things. Like not flying on his jet pack or seeing him limping right after I had gotten attacked by that creature that looks like me that John created and causing it to limp on the exact same side," I stated. Dr. Cockroach lowered his arms and stroking his dark goatee. I was not used to him having facial hair.

"Hm...now that you've mentioned it. I have noticed that...He's been acting quite strange for a few months. Almost a year I'd say...even from when you and Link came back from your..." Doc's words faded as I felt the warmth on my face heat up to the roots of my hair.

"I assume the creature that John created and kept in his office for nine years, then escaped and came to kill me is Monger...and the real Monger is somewhere else," I continued, trying to avoid talking about Link.

Doc's expression changed as he leaned closer to me in his seat. "Yes, he said he went looking for you two when you guys disappeared," he stated, his eyes shining.

I nodded, feeling sweat rolling down the side of my face. "Y-yes...did he take his jet pack?" Doc shook his head. I narrowed my eyes. "...I think the creature is a shape shifter," I said, keeping the conversation on track, but Doc was not following me. He smirked, his eyes glinting excitedly in the dimly lit room.

"So...where did you and Link go last night?" asked Doc, smiling mischievously. My face immediately burned a bright shade of red. "Stop changing the subject, Doc," I said, frowning. Doc smirked as he laced his fingers together under his chin. "You have a crush on Link, don't you? Of course you do. I knew it," Doc smiled happily.

"I...N-No...We...When did you find out?" I sighed in defeat. He wasn't going to stop asking.

Doc was practically standing out of his seat. "It's so obvious! The way you look at him. The way you turn away whenever he looks at you. You literally turn red every time you are close to him," Doc pointed out. I raised my shoulders up to my flicked back ears, turning away and cursing under my breath for having this stark white skin ever since I became a monster. Doc grinned and leaned back in his chair.

"Don't worry, Bat. I'm not going to tell the big guy...I want you to do that," he said. I looked over at him. "What? Tell my feelings to Link? Nooooo!" My whole body was sweating from this sudden heat wave I had created, causing my glasses to fog up. My entire skin was a bright tomato red. Doc's smile faded. "Why not?" he asked.

I exhaled a breath, taking off my glasses and cleaning them before placing them back on my face. "He'd laugh and tell me I'm not his type," I said, feeling my heart pound heavily inside. Saying that really hurt. Doc looked hurt by me saying that as well. "Link would never do that to you...and besides, he totally has feelings for you," Doc said, his smile coming back. By the glint in his eyes, he looked like he had wanted to tell me this for a long time. I felt the burn on my face again.

"What makes you think he likes me?" I asked him, wishing we were still talking about "Monger." Doc chuckled. "You haven't noticed? I guess not. But..." Doc's voice changed from amused to serious.

"Ever since you left...Link had become so depressed. He mainly stayed in his room. Didn't come out to socialize with us or try and flirt with Susan. He changed, Bat," Doc explained, staring at me with his huge hazel eyes. "When you came back...He's been so active. So happy. When you went to talk to "Possibly Not Monger," He came up to me and asked me excitedly how great it was to have you back. I have never seen him so happy...and I've known him for over fifty years," Doc said. I was stunned the whole time Doc was talking. The redness spread from my face to my hands. The tips of my fingers were very pink.

"I...He...He bought my paintings...I found out that he was pretending to be a random buyer online. Helping me pay for my college classes," I said. Doc's eyes widened, then he giggled excitedly from the new information. "OMG! He did?! That sly devilfish!" Doc chuckled excitedly, fidgeting in his seat and clapping his hands together like a giddy school girl.

I couldn't help but to smile a little at Doc's excitement. I have never told anyone about my crush with Link. I was beginning to feel relief. That it was ok to reveal that I liked him. My therapist told me to open up more with people who were close to me. Maybe I should start doing that with my monster friends...

"So you guys were on a date?" asked Doc beaming. I told him about going to the movies and him paying for my ticket. I couldn't help but to smile at the memory. Thinking back to that moment, sitting next to Link. Listening to his heartbeat, and his heavy laughter.

"Did you two kiss?" Doc asked. I laughed and shook my head. "No...I...we...We were going to..." I said blushing and smiling. Then my smile faded as the dark creature that looked like me darkened the memory like a shadow. "...and then that...thing attacked us," I said. Doc's smile disappeared.

"Ah," he said, before getting up out of his seat. "Well...going back to what you said about Monger not being himself...Monger has either been possessed by some sort of being...or he's not Monger at all. Might be a shape shifter...Sounds like October." I shook my head from Doc's hunch. "No. Why would he do that? Pretend to have...died...and..." I felt tears come to my eyes, but pushed them back. Doc noticed how I was reacting and quickly continued on.

"Most likely your hunch is correct about Monger being that creature thing. Some sort of alien pretending to be Monger. I think we might have to confront the General and get a straight answer from him...I can talk to the others about confronting Monger..." his voice trailed off as he began to think about something else.

"You went to visit John right?" Doc asked me. I nodded my head. "Still in a coma," I said. Doc nodded. "Well...I was thinking...While we confront Monger, maybe you can go back and see if you can find any more information. Maybe see if the scientists taking care of him are keeping something quiet, or know something that we don't know. From what you said about Monger telling you about John creating this creature, and suddenly appearing when you came back here...it all doesn't add up in my opinion...As for you and Link..." Doc said as he walked over to his work station and placed his finger over the sound canceling device's off switch. He turned his large cockroach head to me.

"I think you should tell him how you feel...I think you two would be very cute together," he added before turning off the device.