Instinct – Chapter 7

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Current time: 1:05pm PST, Thursday 19 May (Earth time).
Location: Lock Haven, PA.
Subject: Garfield Logan.
Chronicler of Record: Raven.

I will get to Terra's predicament presently. In the meantime, I wanted to get this into our record files. Green Lantern gave me this hard-copy. The following message is translated – as closely as feasible, according to the Justice League – from the Mmn!'m language. I will read it verbatim.

REPORTING AGENT: Expedition Subaltern (7-Brown-Low)
DIRECTED TO: Expedition Commander-Third (8-Green-Yellow-Quick)
SUBJECT: Propagation of further hostilities

This record, we shall declare, for good of Clan (untranslatable concept) and to greater glory of Parent-of-All, to all who (strive?) for existence (beyond?) cocoon.

Tactics of diversion have (been given?) success. Primary objective remains undisturbed, therefore undetected. Sixty-four (untranslatable value) of vital fluid is now (safe?) at our hive.

Primary Diversion Force was wiped out (up to the?) completely, as Exalted (Leader?) had explained. This was not to be foreseen. Their hives will mourn. There is limitless sorrow.

Secondary Diversion Force suffered 86% losses before (deciding to?) retreat. Their hives will mourn. There is limitless sorrow.

(Our?) Tertiary Diversion Force (received?) much ill fortune. Many highly-concentrated (cells?) for resistance have we encountered. We made to (attempt to?) distract them for needed time, but our losses continued at too high numbers. We are so many dead. We feared to relinquish our task for needed time. Mourn for our empty hives. We looked to (the cells?) of native wounded. They are (unbelievably?) robust race, as you discovered for our limitless sorrow.

We are so many dead. This world is so many to damage. There is limitless sorrow.

Our attack for (the cells?) of wounded at first did seem (to have?) success. But Mighty (Undaunted?) Thing was there. Mighty (Undaunted?) Thing caused so many dead for Secondary Diversion Force. We had thought it also dead. It was given many wounds. Those wounds would have been (the death?) for so many Mmn!'m. It leaked much vital fluid. It should have been (the death?) for Thing. My (untranslatable concept) feels that there may be more than one. We did not ever encounter more than one at one time. But this one was different. It was larger and had different (more?) markings. It may be another (species?) or type.

We (breached?) their structure. We caused much of great damage among native wounded. Our surprise for them was total. Many are dead. But at (the lower level?) Mighty (Undaunted?) Thing was guarding one of (the Elite?). My (untranslatable concept) escaped with me. None other is left. There is limitless sorrow.

It was (at the same?) while of our diversion that your message came from primary objective. We moved (so far?) back away gone from (this odd construction may indicate great speed) structure. Mighty (Undaunted?) Thing did not follow.

We now move to go at all haste many times for primary objective. Our diversion is complete and we may return to hive.

And that's done, for what it's worth. I will try to return to it later.

Now … well … I hardly know where to begin. The attack referenced in this … odd missive happened at the military hospital where the Army was keeping Garfield, and indeed there were a great number of casualties; at least a hundred, the vast majority of them patients. The Mmn!'m wiped out the top two floors and made deep inroads on the bottom two. But they had reckoned without the Megistotherium.

Apparently Garfield heard them in the first instant of their attack, and had enough presence of mind to understand that it would put Terra in danger. In hindsight, it is obvious that, ever since gaining his increased mass, the room was not "containing" him, in the sense that he couldn't leave. Per the security tapes, he went through that reinforced steel door with little more effort than he would have expended on a beaded curtain. He was out of the basement and up the stairs to the first floor, where Terra was staying, in approximately eleven seconds. Certainly in time to intercept the Mmn!'m troops that were trying to kill everyone. He fell among them and …

(there is a brief pause and a sigh)

… and he … ah … he wiped them out. Quickly. This new, larger form that he has attained is disproportionally stronger and tougher. He didn't seem to notice the flechette rounds that hit him several times, stopping only when no more of his foes moved.

Terra had, I believe, been injured somewhat in the explosion that opened a path for the Mmn!'m into the first floor. Garfield scrabbled and nosed about in the rubble until he unearthed her. She was moving, albeit feebly, and did not seem to be losing blood. But I imagine, given the amount of detritus that landed on her, that she may have suffered at least a few broken bones. It was impossible to determine for sure, with the low recording quality of the tapes.

When he found her …

… yes. When he found her, and she had grabbed onto his fur so he could guide her out to a more-or-less undisturbed area, and made sure that she was at least comfortable, he stepped back and morphed, very briefly, into some kind of armored dinosaur. But the transformation only lasted a fraction of a second; we had to slow the tapes down and go through them frame by frame to really see it, and even then it was mostly blurry. Then he became a small flying insect, type unknown, and the flechette rounds fell to the floor. Then he was standing there as a Megistotherium again.

This is the part that I find rather … incredible. All his wounds were gone. We counted later, and he had been struck by fourteen of those ceramic missiles. They were lying right there on the floor where they fell. All of them had blood on them. But try as we might, we have … well … he was no longer bloody. There were no holes in his pelt. It was completely unblemished. Nothing to indicate in any way that he had been struck at all.

It seems that Garfield Logan has stumbled upon a novel method of regeneration. He was never able to do that before, and I don't know the extent of the healing, but I am sure beyond reasonable doubt that his morphing eliminated his wounds.

I know it sounds … well, hard to believe. I cannot help that.

(there is a twelve-second pause and some rustling noises, followed by another sigh)

Right. The tapes show that he helped Terra get up on his back and then the two of them left the area. He headed north at a steady lope. Two more security cameras caught glimpses of him in the next seventeen minutes as he made his way out of town.

He and Terra have been missing for thirty-two hours and twenty-seven minutes as of right now. I can't help but feel that if I had known about the attack sooner …

No. That will not help them.

Terra's replacement communicator was found at the attack site, and so …

(the sound of a door opening)

Jinx: Hey, Rae!

Raven: Have they been found?

Jinx: … What?

Raven: Garfield and Terra. Have they …

Jinx: Oh! No. No, they're still awol.

Raven: Damn.

Jinx: None o' that, now. The JL wants us for a meetin'.

Raven: Concerning what?

Jinx: Dunno. Bring your 'corder.

Raven: Of course.

Jinx: Oh, by the by, Vic's been workin' on my unit, an' it'll pick up video now, too.

Raven: Useful.

Jinx: Okay, c'mon.

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Jinx: This is Jinx again. It's about half past one on … hey, Rae, what's today?

Raven: How can you possibly not …

Jinx: Don't gimme no lip, woman. Is it Wednesday or Thursday?

Raven: Thursday.

Jinx: Right. It's one-thirty on Thursday afternoon. We're in a meetin' with the JL. Dunno why yet.

(several clicking and scratching noises occur as the recorder is set up on a table … the video feed begins)

Jinx: A'ight, we got vid.

(the scene pans around a bit shakily as Jinx gets video of the attendees)

Jinx: We got Wonder Woman, Supes, the Bat, the Flash, an' Green Arrow. Plus the non-missing Titans. Oh, an' looks like Argent showed up. Funky.

Superman: (holding up a hand) "No formalities necessary. I think we all know each other." (pointing at Batman) "Floor's yours."

Batman: (pausing to make sure he has everyone's attention) "We – that is, the Earth – seems to be missing approximately 1,350 cubic kilometers of ocean."

(The Titans just stare at him. Finally ...)

Starfire: Please … I am unfamiliar with a basis for comparison. That seems like … a very great amount of water. Is it?

Batman: Yes, it is. Not compared with the total volume, though. It's only about a ten-thousandth of one percent. But it's measurable. What we think of as 'sea level' has dropped about four millimeters.

Nightwing (almost inaudibly): Damn.

Jinx: Won't that mess with the weather?

Batman: Probably.

Cyborg: How'd you find out?

Wonder Woman: Poseidon told us.

(there is a general silence as the Titans stare at her.)

Nightwing: … Poseidon? The … the sea-god guy?

Wonder Woman: Yes. He told Hera. Hera told my mother.

Cyborg: Buh … When did he find out?

Wonder Woman: Several hours ago, shortly before Ha- … um, Green Lantern finally found a way to translate the written part of the Mmn!'m language. Poseidon hadn't been aware of it before because none of the creatures in the area survived to bring him the news. But when the leakage stopped … some of them managed to escape.

Nightwing: But … how did … how could … why would …

Batman: Would you like to firm up that muddy thinking?

Nightwing: … Fine. Where did all that water go?

Batman: Presumably to the homeworld of the Mmn!'m, wherever that is.

Raven: So we still don't even know where they come from?

Batman: Came from. They are all gone, as far as we can tell.

(everyone sits and absorbs that news for a bit)

Raven: So … their gateway to our world is still a mystery?

Superman: After a fashion. Dr. Fate was able to locate and seal off one portal. But there must be others. He said something about conjoined ley-lines and interplanar perigee, but it didn't make a lot of sense to the rest of us.

Raven: Ley lines!

Wonder Woman: … Yes? What about them?

Raven (rising from her seat): That's how I can find Garfield! With the rest of the Mmn!'m gone ...

(Raven vanishes in a swirl of black mist)

Wonder Woman: Jinx? Do you know what that was about?

Jinx: Not the first foggiest. But I think she's gonna need my help. Later, people.

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Current time: 9:48pm PST, Saturday 21 May.
Location: Slaty Fork, WV.
Subject: Garfield Logan.
Chronicler of Record: Raven.

Raven: I am an utter failure as a super-heroine and a friend.

Jinx: And your hobby is Being-Too-Hard-On-Yourself. Now cut it out.

Raven: It's true.

Jinx: It's bullshit. You've driven yourself to the brink of exhaustion trying to find him. Now lie down there on that bed and go to sleep!

Raven: How am I supposed to sleep when …

Jinx: Shut it, girl. You aren't doing anyone any good when you're so tired you get cross-eyed.

Raven: But …

Jinx: No. I'm putting my foot down this time. You sleep. I'll do the recording.

Raven: … Oh, very well.

Jinx: Close your eyes … . . . … good. Now, keep 'em closed.

(there is the sound of bed springs squeaking)

Raven: What are you …

Jinx: Shhhhhh. Be still. I've got you.

Raven: … That feels nice.

Jinx: Just relax.

Raven: … Okay.

Jinx: (singing)
Who is that nestled so soft in my arms?
What bonnie wee lass has me caught in her charms?
Whose eyes so bright as the diamonds do shine?
Whose brow as pale as the …

Raven: Is … is that a lullaby?

Jinx: … It might be.

Raven: You're trying to sing me to sleep?

Jinx: If that's what it takes.

Raven: Where did you learn it?

Jinx: I've known it since I was little. Mom used to sing them to me.

(there is a pause of several seconds)

Raven: I do believe that is the sweetest thing you've ever done for me.

Jinx: Is it working?

Raven: … I don't know. Why don't you sing some more. You have a really nice … (Raven interrupts herself with a long yawn) … nice voice. Heh. Sorry.

Jinx: (singing slowly in a low voice)
All through the night there's a little brown bird singing,
Singing in the hush of the darkness and the dew ...
Singing in the hush of the darkness and the dew.
Would that his song through the stillness could go winging,
Could go winging to you,
To you.

All through the night-time my lonely heart is singing
Sweeter songs of love than the brown bird ever knew ...
Sweeter songs of love than the brown bird ever knew.
Would that the song of my heart could go a-winging,
Could go a-winging to you,
To you.

… Raven?

Heehee! That didn't take long. She's so cute when she's sleeping.

(nearly half a minute passes in relative silence … there is the sound of a door closing)

Okay. Hopefully she'll sleep all night. Poor silly thing. Anyway, I can get stuff caught up now.

Um … right. Okay, my recorder, that Cy worked on, finked out on me yesterday morning. So I'm using Rae's. An' just for the record, she's not a failure, and she's not a 'bad friend'. An' she did find him. Sort of.

We found where he'd been. Several times. He can move really fast, an' for a creature that big, he doesn't leave much of a trace.

They skirted around close to a town … what was it, Meyersdale? Maybe? Eh, Rae would remember. I'll ask her tomorrow. Anyhow, Terra managed to score some paper somehow, an' she left us a note. Left somebody a note. Stuck into the top of this really tall, really narrow pile of rocks, where nobody who couldn't fly could get to it. And, yeah, she knows how close Green Bean an' Rae are, so I guess it was meant for us. Here, I'll read it. For a kid who grew up basically wild, she's got good handwriting.

Dear Titans -

I don't know how long we'll be out like this. Maybe a really long time. It's hard to know. Gar wants to make sure of some things first, and that might take a while.

He's back to being himself. I mean mentally. He's in control again. And he can shapeshift if he has to, but it's a lot more comfortable for him to just stay in Mega form.

You probably ought to know that he can regenerate damage if he gets wounded now. That's not something he was able to do before. All he has to do now is shift to some other animal, and POOF, he's healed. He says it doesn't hurt and it doesn't make him tired or anything.

I'm going to stay with him now. I'm pretty sure I got a broke arm when the Slugs attacked that last time, but it was just a simple fracture at worst and I've got it splinted and it don't hurt much now and there wasn't anything else except for some bruises and scrapes. So don't worry.

I asked him, and he says that if some of you want to look for us, he won't object. But he's not going to make it easy. He needs to stay down. Keep a low profile. There's no telling what kind of ruckus it would stir up if some farmer or herder spotted him on their land, and we don't need that kind of grief, you know?

So, anyway, he's fine and I'm fine. He hunts for us, and I handle the cooking. For me, anyhow. He doesn't need things cooked.

I'm going to leave this letter in a protected place, but easy enough to find that you'll get it. If we have more to report later, well, I guess I'll do it again.

So don't worry about us. We're okay. That Mega form had a strong instinct that came along with it, but Gar's instincts won out in the end, when he came and found me and saved me from the Slugs.

I guess that's all.

– Terra

And that's about all we know, too. 'course Rae's not gonna just stop lookin' for 'em. You might say that ain't in her character. But maybe, once she's rested up good an' proper, she'll understand that they don't necessarily need to be found. I figure, when he's ready, he'll find us. Meanwhile, he's got Terra an' she's got him, an' I don't really think they need much else.

Jinx, out.