Chapter 74
Added 2024-01-08 22:05:25 +0000 UTCBathing in the river was something I desperately needed. Not only to clean myself, but to just relax. For some reason I had even forgotten to even make mints to take the edge off.
The idea itself wasâŠalmost foreign. As if itâs been awhile since Iâve had one. Which was obviously not the case.
At least, I think it wasnâtâŠ
But at the moment I wasnât sure what to believe. It was becoming steadily evident that there was something wrong with my memories. Things that I had forgotten started to show themselves in my mind rather vividly, only to bring more questions along with them.
Who were these people? What did they mean to me? And what was wrong with my mind?
All questions that I pushed to back of my mind as I savored the taste of a mint in my mouth. For the moment it would be ignored. A few minutes of unburdening myself was exactly what the doctor ordered.
Besides, it wasnât as if I was suddenly going to come up with an answer in the next few minutes.
Or so I thought, before I noticed a flying Poison Ivy quickly coming towards me from the sky.
The only reason I didnât react immediately was because the situation had me completely baffled. This wasnât Gotham, so why would Poison Ivy be here? Furthermore, why the fuck would she be after my head? It wasnât as if I had suddenly become an oil baron.
And since when could she fly?
âLaw! Thank goodness I found you. Iâve rounded up just about everyone else and theyâre on the bio-ship.â
And apparently Poison Ivy knows me well enough to call me by a pet name, like Galatea. Not only that, but she apparently also has telepathy. Because she just said that in my mind.
She got progressively closer before wincing and slapping herself in the head. Now that I got a good look at her, she did seem a bit different from Poison Ivy. Less curvy and more immature. But she still had the green skin and red hair.
Did Poison Ivy have a daughter?
And I was apparently familiar with her?
âŠI felt distinctly proud of myself if that was the case.
âHello Megan! Your memories would be affected as well! Sorry, I should have known that. Itâs justâŠyou knowâŠâ
The young Poison Ivy scratched the back of her head awkwardly while flying over me. Which was rather awkward, considering I was still bathing in the river. Naked. With nothing really covering me up.
âItâs what?â
âIâm just used to following your lead.â
Huh?
The confusion on my face must have been pretty evident, because young Poison Ivy decided to explain.
âYouâre our leader. The one who usually takes control of the situation. Donât worry, Iâll make sure you and everyone get your memories back once we leave.â
âŠI was a leader? Well, that didnât sound like me at all. That sounded like a lot of responsibility. Responsibility that I didnât much care for.
âA leader of what, exactly?â
âThe Titans.â
âŠas far as names go, that one was pretty badass. She continued to explain.
âItâs a team of superheroes. Like the Justice League.â
Me? A superhero? And a leader of a team of superheroes no less?
ThatâŠwas a tough pill to swallow. Unless she was actually the daughter of Poison Ivy. Which would imply that maybe this group was some sort of correctional group for criminals with abilities.
In which case, it was still hard to believe. But I couldnât deny that there was something to it. At the very least it started to make some sense in my head. As well as lining up with some of the strange memories and thoughts that bubbled in my head.
Paying off some sort of debt with the government in order to fight against supervillains. Yeah, I could see it. It helped that the government never really seemed to have an answer to super powered individuals.
âUh huh. So, whoâs on this team?â
I asked, steadily wading out of the river. The dry clothes that I could change into was nearby. Despite being naked through the majority of the conversation, young Poison Ivyâs face seemed to grow several shades redder as I stepped out to change.
âOh uh, well, for this mission it was just me, you, Beast Boy, Artemis, and Ravager. Iâve already got Artemis and Beast Boy onto the bio-ship. All thatâs left is you and Ravager.â
Interesting.
âSo, whatâs with the memory loss?â
âThatâs uhâŠpartly my fault. You wanted to try out linking up our thoughts in order to better stay off the radar for the mission. But then there was this brain guy who was also a telepath and he attempted to scramble my memories. I could defend myself, but I didnât count on all of you getting hit.â
Okay. Weird. It was a bit awkward to put on clothes without properly drying, but it wasnât as if I had a choice in the matter. Wait, a mission?
âWhatâs the mission?â
This time the green girl notably looked away from me.
âWe uhâŠalready completed it.â
That sounded pretty suspicious.
âWhat happened?â
The green girl continued to look away while pressing her index fingers against each other. A rather obvious grimace was written on her face as she attempted to stammer something out.
âWhat?â
âWe uhâŠwe blew it upâŠâ
Huh. Well, thatâs definitely one way to solve a problem. I guess. Probably?
Iâm not sure why, but I definitely feel a good bit safer with the green girl around. She reminds me of Galatea, in a way. Speaking ofâŠ
âDo you know a Galatea?â
The green girlâs eyes lit up as she nodded. She seemed rather surprised of the question.
âOf course! Sheâs part of the team.â
âI just ran into her a bit ago.â
Her eyes widened even further in surprise.
âOh wow. She didnât even come with usâŠbut if sheâs here, that means weâre pretty safe!â
She paused for a moment. Pressing her finger against her chin before nodding and looking back at me.
âOh, and I go by Miss Martian. Not Poison Ivy.â
A martian? Oh right, thereâs that one guy on the Justice League, isnât there. Still, isnât every day I meet an alien.
Wait. Did that mean Poison Ivy was a martian?
Miss Martian pointed behind her in the direction past the river to the north. The sun bounced off the surface of the water, so it was a bit difficult to focus on.
âOver in that direction is my bio ship. Beast Boy will help guide you in when you get close. Iâve already restored his memory.â
Her expression changed a bit at the mention of âBeast Boyâ. A look of concern and something else mixed in. Pity maybe?
âAnd what will you be doing?â
âRavager is still out there. I have to find her first before we leave.â
Ah, I see. She was loyal to the team. A pretty admirable quality. I could see her getting along quite well with Ethan and the others. It was also obvious that she felt responsible for what happened.
Miss Martian repeated the direction in which I was supposed to go before leaving. Causing me to crack my neck before deciding to follow.
A part of me was suspicious that this was some sort of trap. An elaborate set up to capture me for further testing. But in which caseâŠwhy? It didnât need to be so complex. It didnât need to be so fancy.
Not only that, but I generally felt really relaxed when she was around. Not on my guard waiting for any sudden movements.
Not that I could do much to someone who could fly, butâŠI could try at least.
Oh right, maybe I should have brought up Rose to Miss Martian. Or perhaps not? She seemed a bit confused but not entirely surprised by her circumstances.
Eh, Iâd just mention her to Miss Martian later. Besides, itâs better to keep some cards in reserve.
After about an hour-long walk, I finally came across a road. No ship or water in sight. Which was pretty disheartening.
Unfortunately it would also seem that my luck would be taking a turn for the worse, as I heard the sound of a car before I saw it. Three vehicles were driving quickly down the road towards me. At least about seventy miles per hour from what I could tell.
Which wasnât a good idea. Considering these roads were fucking dogshit. The likelihood of the occupants eating shit and dying was pretty high.
Iâd have run for some sort of cover if it was possible. Unfortunately, there was nothing around except for a cliff off the side. And I quite liked the feeling of being alive.
I did attempt to casually continue strolling off the road, but I knew my luck was up when the cars did much the same in order to catch up with me. Now that the cars were closer, I could tell that their occupants were mostly middle eastern men.
Which seemed to be quite bad for me. Then again, they also havenât chosen to shoot at me or run me down. Instead, simply approaching with their cars at a slow roll. Eventually the one in the middle came to a complete stop, and on of the passengerâs got out.
Surprisingly enough, a rather hot middle eastern woman stepped out.
Almost immediately I could tell she was different from the rest. Not only because she was pretty much the first middle eastern woman Iâve seen in my entire time here, but because of how looked.
It wasnât just that she was attractive. Her clothes were regal. More than that, they were expensive. A clear contrast to pretty much everything in the area. There was a golden like crown wrapped around the top of her head. Helping push back her long black locks of hair. Which looked rather well groomed.
Her dark blue eyes seemed to be rather piercing. With an easy going smirk on her face. Her back was straight. Firmly so. And from the way she walked I could tell that she had a lot of confidence in herself.
Which made sense, considering she looked like the middle eastern version of Wonder Woman.
âŠif you took away her muscles and height, that is. I didnât even realize the lack of muscles simply due to the sheer presence she was maintaining until now. She simply felt âstrongâ.
Or at least threatening.
âI was wondering who was responsible. Who wouldâve guessed it would be the little Justice LeagueâŠâ
She walked rather seductively in my direction. Whether it was intentional or simply an air about her was unknown. But I did know that I wasnât the only one who noticed. All of the soldiers behind her were following her step.
Every single pair of eyes were actively locked onto her. It was ratherâŠunnerving how in sync they appeared to be.
âMmm.â
I stated with disinterest. Not even looking in her direction as I shifted my gaze.
Out of the corner of my eye I noticed her expression shift. Only for a second before returning. She doesnât take getting snuffed well. Good to know.
Even still, she played it off. Flipping her hair with an imperious look. Even from the distance between us I could smell the shampoo and conditioner she used for her hair. It was powerful, but not overly soâŠ
âŠMint would have been a much better choice though.
âUnfortunate. If you had been a member of the Justice League I could have gained something from all of this. But the leader of the Titans? Thatâs practically worthless.â
She searched my eyes for any signs of pain. Attempting to push my buttons. To see what made me tick. Unfortunately for her, I seemed to have lost my memories. A fact that she didnât seem to be privy to.
Hopefully weâd keep it that way.
âYou seem to believe that youâre capable of beating me.â
As I shifted my focus back towards her, the guards immediately became more alert. Aiming their guns in my direction. Which of course made me pay more attention towards them instead of her.
Until she waved her hand. Causing her private army to stand down as one.
âŠThere was something odd about it, but I couldnât quite put my finger on it.
âSorry, but Iâm not the type to get violent. Fights areâŠbeneath me.â
I hummed at that.
âWell, that makes two of us. Iâm not really a fan of fighting either.â
She chuckled. Pulling her hand to her mouth in a very posh looking fashion.
âWhat an amusing thing to hear from someone whoâs the leader of a ragtag group of superheroes!â
âItâs a position of power, just like any other.â
She stopped smirking at that. Instead giving me a more appraising look as she hummed. A few seconds later she continued to speak.
ââŠSo it is. Very well then. Despite how discourteous of a guest youâve been, Iâm willing to let bygones be bygones. As long as you do one little thing for me.â
Yeah, I didnât see that happening.
She took a few steps in order to approach before bringing herself to my ear. Whispering seductively as her breath brushed against it.
âAfter your Queen leaves, jump off that cliff.â
I blinked in surprise as she took a step back and smiled. Before turning around and heading back to her car. All I did was watch as she started to drive away in dumbfounded silence.
She definitely had a set of balls on her to ask something like that with a straight face.
Asking someone to kill themselvesâŠI wonder if thatâs ever worked out for her?
Maybe she had some sort of secondary meaning in her words? Like that being a stupid way of just saying sheâd never forgive me. Or perhaps there was a reason why she explicitly said jump off the cliffâŠ
Was there something at the bottom, perhaps?
I felt like a complete dumbass when my curiosity got the better of me. Leading me to look over the edge to confirm what I already knew. It was just a steep drop at the bottom. One that most people would be hard pressed to survive.
Yeah, I was going to have to pass on this one.
Just as I was starting to back away from the edge, I froze up in panic as someone immediately grabbed me from behind.
âStop!â
Oh fuck no. I got this far, I was definitely not going to die here. Using my full strength, my body shook from side to side. Attempting to shake off my attacker.
It was pretty effective, up until the point where they kicked the shit out of the back of my knee. Causing me to stumble down before being wrestled to the ground.
âIâŠwonât let you!â
Despite having pretty thin arms, the guy was pretty strong. But I was eventually able to break out of his hold and flip my body to face him. This time knocking him to the ground and pinning him there.
âŠA green boy who seemed to have tears streaming down his cheeks as he fought back with all his strength. Worry and fear seemed etched across his face.
âIâŠI canâtâŠâ
My arms slackened, leaving him to easily break my hold before pushing himself up. Slamming the front of his body against my own. His arms circling around me. Causing me to blink repeatedly.
âI canât lose you tooâŠâ
I paused as a choked sob ripped out of his throat and his pressed his face against my chest. Attempting to push me back down to the ground. But it didnât seem like he had the stamina to keep up the level of strength he had been exerting.
My hands gingerly reached across his back andâŠpulled him into a hug.
ââŠItâs okay, Beast Boy. Iâm not going anywhere.â
IâŠwasnât sure why I said that. I only felt that this was something I had to do. My hands were practically tied with this action. It just felt right. Correct.
No, it went even deeper than that. In a way I couldnât really express.
Instead of having a calming effect, his cries became even louder. No longer even attempting to hold back the volume as he simply let it go. Though I did notice how he stopped attempting to push me to the ground. Instead returning the hug.
My hand rubbed his back in a comforting way. It was something I wasnât really used to do doing, so it felt rather awkward. But if he noticed he didnât seem to care.
This was something I had to do. Especially as the leader of the team. I had to protectâŠsomethingâŠ
I had to be there when I was needed.
I always would be.
âŠDid he just blow his nose on me!? God Iâm starting to hate this new life of mineâŠ
Comments
1. Takes time. 2. She parked it and didn't want to draw attention to the invisible bio-ship. But yeah, she probably could have flown it around as well. 3. Because of his backstory in Young Justice. Which hasn't been revealed yet in story.
Valorious Prophet
2024-01-08 22:52:43 +0000 UTCI am so confused by this chapter. Why didnt Megan restore his memory on the spot also why wasnt she using the bioship to look for the others and why is beastboy freaking out
Readm
2024-01-08 22:40:53 +0000 UTC