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Cora was a touch disappointed with the way things had gone post-mission. It made sense to keep KJ off of the missions, but the others were [i]way[/i] too willing to write Metamorph off as a monster, or just a bad person. Of course they were upset, and of course Cora understood why they were. But he wasn’t [i]broken.[/i] He just needed help, and nothing they did would happen without him there, or with his input.

Cora couldn’t imagine how he was feeling. But she was going to figure it out. Gently, she knocked on his door. Several seconds of silence followed.

Then, a voice came through the door, slightly muffled. [color=goldenrod]”…Yes, Sparky?”[/color] It was close, as if right on the other side. His tone seemed calm but rather cautious in manner for the typically confident meta.

[color=00ffff]”Hey… I wanted to see how you’re feeling. Can I come in?”[/color] She asked, gently.

[color=goldenrod]”Oh…sure, yeah.”[/color]

The door tugged open to the interior of KJ’s room. Animal patterned carpets lined the floor. A wing chun dummy stood guard near the entrance and across near the window sat a bean bag chair. Guitars lined the wall opposite the closet, above a bed that didn’t seem used. At least not as the hammock that hung in a corner of the ceiling, which seemed to be decorated with painted handprints. 

The boy himself was nowhere to be seen, that is, unless one were to look up and see him scaling across the ceiling like a lizard. He stopped on the wall near the window, sitting to face her.

[color=goldenrod]”Is everyone okay?”[/color]

[color=00ffff]”They will be. Everyone else keeps talking about what to do with you, and how they’re upset. But no one said anything about how you’re feeling.”[/color] Cora looked up at Ja, concern was etched on her face, but not anger, or frustration. [color=00ffff]”No one else stopped to ask, “How does he feel after that?” You shouldn’t have to be alone right now.”[/color]

The bushbaby’s lips pursed, shifting a little on the wall uncomfortably. [color=goldenrod]”I’m…not in pain in the body. Kassy made sure. [/color] His hands clasped the sides of his head and shut his eyes. 

[color=goldenrod]”I…I couldn’t stop the Beast from hurting my teammates…”[/color] His head shook. [color=goldenrod]”I couldn’t stop it…but…there is something else that is keeping me awake at night.”[/color]

[color=00ffff]”You can’t be blamed for something that’s not in your control.  What’s on your mind? You can tell me, I won’t tell the others if you don’t want to.”[/color] She stepped out of the doorway, and closed the door behind her.

[color=goldenrod]”Red Robot told me that I sometimes will have bad memories rush at me, like a dream while I am awake. A ‘flash-back’ in english.”[/color] He sighed, only looking down at Cora for a moment before looking back through the wall. 

[color=goldenrod]”I have had them before, many times…but this was different…On the mission…I think…I fear I [i]heard[/i] something, before the Beast took over. Something from…home.[/color]

[color=00ffff]”From home? What is it? I thought you couldn’t remember much from then.”[/color]

[color=goldenrod]”…I don’t remember much from Zambesi…I was taken when I was very little…Buredunia though…that is where I was trained…Where I spent most of my life…where a lot of…”[/color]

Cora floated up to eye level with him, but he seemed to look on through her.

[color=00ffff]”A lot of…?”[/color]

[color=goldenrod]”A lot of bad things happened…I didn’t know they were…not until my amai found me….”[/color] Ja blinked, now focusing on the blue hues of his silver-haired teammate’s eyes. 

[color=goldenrod]”…amai promised they wouldn’t hurt me anymore…That things with the Justice League would be different…but they are feeling more the same…Now that the Beast is back…I don’t want to be locked away. Not again.”[/color] His eyes aimed to the floor.

[color=00ffff]”Not… Not again? Ja, did- Did someone imprison you? Because of the Beast, and not because of you? I won’t let them do that to you. You are [i]not[/i] the Beast.-”[/color] 

[color=goldenrod]”No, Sparky. I [i]am[/i]…I was locked away because they wanted to control it…but they can’t…No one can…except me. I just…I don’t know how.”[/color]

[color=00ffff]”Maybe we can find a way. Back at the bank mission, one of the robbers had a weapon that fired a subsonic wave meant to disorient people. I saw it and dismantled it in the lab. I found out that it caused a person’s brain to… Confuse itself. The brain tells the body what to do with electrical signals, everything from movement to being asleep. Were you affected by something like that?”[/color]

Ja paused to think but through pursed lips, he shut his eyes and shook his head. [color=goldenrod]”Those are many of what I do not remember…when I try…my head hurts and becomes filled with fog.”[/color]

[color=00ffff]”Okay…”[/color] Cora knew about the fact that Ja couldn’t remember things that Kila did completely, or the other way around. She couldn’t frame it that way, this wasn’t the time to tell him that. [color=00ffff]”Have you ever been able to remember things that happened when the Beast was in control? Or the specific circumstances that happened just before then?”[/color] [i]Smooth.[/i]

Ja slowly nodded. [color=goldenrod]”The memories usually come back to haunt me in time…”[/color]

[color=00ffff]”If you don’t want to talk about them, that’s okay. But, can you think of anything common? A certain something that usually always happens at the start? Something happening to you, a certain sight or sound. At the shootout, the gangs started attacking each other, there was that wounded guy. Anything like that, maybe?”[/color]

[color=goldenrod]”I am unsure…Last mission has not fully come to me yet…the other times…the situations are different.”[/color] A small groan of discomfort grumbled from within his diaphragm; the sound of an orangutan. [color=goldenrod]”The pain is getting worse…”[/color]

[color=00ffff]”…Ja, have you had anything to eat today?”[/color]

The question actually seemed to jar him from his lost expression of seconds ago into something more of a soft humored smile. [color=goldenrod]”I…suppose I forgot to.”[/color]

If she had discernible pupils, they might have given away some of the concern Cora was feeling. [color=00ffff]”Okay. Before you do anything else, you’re eating. We’ll figure this out after. C’mon, let's find something.”[/color]