Episode 4: Secrets

It was 1am in Kelna. In an old warehouse the sound of static and groans of pain came from a small office type room. A man in his 40's was kneeling on the ground with his eyes wide open in pain. On his head was a helmet like device that was sending electricity through his brain. In front of him stood an 18 year old human woman.

This was Magpie.

Magpie had snow white, shoulder length hair and black makeup around her grey eyes. She wore a black leather outfit with feathery wing-like ornaments on her shoulders. Her fingernails could sprout into long razor sharp talons lined with the nerve poison curare. She was also carrying a brown satchel bag.

"That's a good boy Joe. Just a little longer." Magpie cooed and the suffering man. Soon the helmet shut off and the man slumped to the ground, unconscious, with steam coming off his body. Magpie removed the helmet and stared at it with a dreamy look.

"Shiny...shiny." She whispered before putting the helmet in the then notice a silver pen on the floor nearby. She looked at the bottom and glared at the words engraved there before putting it in her bag. Magpie quickly ran out the office and towards the nearest exit she could find. But before she could get there someone kicked her hard on the side causing her to drop her bag.

Magpie gracefully land on both her feet on top of some crates and glared at the newcomer.

"Hey! You just hit a girl." She glared at the figure. Querl Dox stepped out of the shadows. He, Kopi, Sorun and Tam had all headed out of solo patrols through the cit to cover more ground. He and the others had been tracking Magpie for a while now. They had believed that she was one of their fugitives.

"No I just hit a criminal." Querl said to her in a deadly calm manner. "You've given me and my team quite a run. 6 warehouses, stolen high tech electronics worth millions." He added.

"Really? Millions? I just liked the way they sparkled." Magpie shrugged with a grin. Her eyes then caught sight of Querl's staff, which still wasn't working.

"Nice stick, shiny...shiny. Can I pwease have it?" She asked in a baby like voice.

"Sorry, I'm using it right now, how about a shiny pair of handcuffs instead?" Querl said and pulled out some handcuffs. Magpie frowned before jumping down towards Querl in order to kick him. Querl quickly leapt out of the way and prepared for her to strike again. Magpie grinned like a madman at him and her black razor sharp nails sprouted out.

As she tried to slash him into tiny pieces with her claws Querl barely managed to dodge her attacks.

Magpie suddenly kicked Querl hard in the face. Querl fired an energy blast at her but she dodged it and it hit and scorched a nearby wall. Querl grabbed hold tightly of Magpie's left arm and got her wrist in one of the handcuffs. Magpie snarled before kicking Querl in the stomach and into a stack of crates before headed towards an open window.

On her way out she hand picked up her bag.

Seeing that Magpie was gone Querl ran back into the office to check on the man. The man was awake but his eyes were wide open and filled with confusion and fear. Querl knelt down beside the man and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Who are you?" Querl asked the man.

"I...I don't know." The man whispered in fear...

Querl yawned loudly as he exited his room. That had been a rough patrol night. He then headed to the kitchen. After they had defeated Rekin everyone agreed that it would be best if Kopi, Sorun, Tam and Abel moved into the garage since it had more than enough rooms. When Querl entered the kitchen he saw that the others were already there.

Sorun and Tam had engaged in some kind of eating contest with their breakfast.

Abel was quietly eating his cereal while Kopi much eating some toast and watching the news.

"Hey, I heard you had a quite rough patrol last night." Kopi said to Querl as he made himself some coffee.

"Yeah, some thief who calls herself Magpie. She appears to be a human with enhanced agility, speed and strength." Querl summed up.

"Are you sure about the human part?" Abel asked.

"What do you mean?" The Coluan arched an eyebrow.

"He means this." Kopi said and turned up the TV.

"Are super humans terrorising Kelna? I'm Lexi Lane outside of a warehouse that was robbed last night by what police believe to be a superhuman. Here with us now is Lieutenant Connor Samson." Lexi Lane said.

The lieutenant stepped up. Connor Samson was a human with short ginger hair and brown eyes. He was in his late 50's and had a daughter named Tanya Samson. He was known for having strong a dislike for aliens and super humans.

"So Lieutenant Samson, can you tell us about the crime?" Lexi asked in her usual cheering voice.

"The victim is at the hospital, mind wiped clean, and someone had raided some of the boxes in the office that were full of files from Takron Galtos Prison." Connor explained.

"So what makes you think that it was an alien or superhuman that busted into the warehouse?" Lexi asked.

"Take a look at this." Connor said and showed Lexi the scorch mark Querl left last night. Querl frowned slightly at the scorch mark. "After my forensic team tested the burn they determined that it was from a power and concentrated form of energy released in a small blast, a weapon could not do that." He explained.

Kopi groaned and turned off the TV, much to poor Sorun and Tam's dismay.

"Great, not only do we have to worry about rounding up all the fugitives but now we have to worry about the police." She sighed.

"I don't get it, why can't we just tell them we've been taking care of the Ark's prisoners?" Sorun asked.

"Because Lieutenant Samson hates super humans and would not hesitate to put us in a prison cell." Querl explained with slight irritation in his voice.

"What do we do wrong?!" The speedster glared.

Querl flinched slightly. He still hadn't told Tam or Sorun about his past. They thought that Querl discharged from the Legion due to an experiment gone wrong. The only people on his team that knew were Kopi and Abel and that's how he wanted to keep it. No one in Kelna except the mayor and Connor knew about his past either.

"Look, until this mess with the police dies down we'll have to hide our faces if we're on a mission." Querl said. Before Sorun could interrogate him further there was a knock at the garage entrance.

"I'll get it." Sorun grinned and raced to the entrance.

"He does remember that we said he couldn't order pizza for breakfast right?" Querl asked Kopi. Kopi chuckled nervously.

"Uh...yeah about that Querl...I don't think it's the pizza guy this time." She gulped.

Suddenly Sorun ran back in with someone behind him. It was a 19 year old woman. This was Sorun's older sister Kiara. She had peach skin, pinkish red hair tied up in a bun and stunning green eyes. She wore a purplish pink t-shirt and brown jeans. Kiara was born with the power of telepathy. Although her powers were not strong enough to read people's minds yet she could sense people's emotions and could send out a powerful thought blast.

"Who is this Sorun?" Querl asked calmly.

"Uh Querl, this is my older sister Kiara, she was looking for some work and I thought you might be able to give her a job working in the garage." Sorun replied. He was giving Querl a pleading look.

"It's very nice to meet you Mr. Dox." Kiara smiled and she and Querl shook hands.

"Likewise, alright Sorun she can stay. There are three ships in the back that need to have their light-drives removed, take Kiara there and show her what to do." Querl ordered before walking away.

"Sweet!" Sorun cheered and practically dragged Kiara to the back...

Querl headed towards the elevator that led to the base. Kopi had followed him.

"I take it that you knew Sorun had invited his sister here?" Querl asked without facing her.

"We all knew." Kopi replied.

"But Sorun hasn't said anything about the fugitives or about what we've been doing." She added quickly.

Querl didn't say anything else as he and Kopi stepped into the elevator. Abel and Querl had added a holographic projector to make the elevator look like a large broom closet. Querl pulled back one of the small metal panels on the wall to reveal the hand print scanner. He and Kopi scanned their hands and the holograph disappeared before the elevator shot down.

"You know I don't like secrets Kopi." Querl finally said as the exited the elevator and headed to the monitor. Kopi frowned.

"Ha! You are the very definition of a secret Querl Dox! When are you planning on telling Tam and Sorun about you're little mental breakdown and almost destroying the galaxy?!" She asked coldly. But she instantly regretted those words when she saw the hurtful look on Querl's face.

"Look Querl, I've seen Kiara's skills and she can be a valuable addition to the team. Test her and you'll see." Kopi insisted. But Querl didn't respond and continued typing something into the monitor.

"What are you doing anyway?" She asked when she noticed he was looking through the Ark's prisoner manifests.

"I've searched through the manifest but they don't have a record on Magpie, meaning she not one of our fugitives." He explained.

"So basically we're flying blind." Kopi groaned. Querl then brought up a picture of the victim.

"I had the computer do a search on Joe Quint and his connection to Magpie. Quint was part of some research team at Takron Galtos." He explained.

"What were they doing exactly?" Kopi asked.

"Doesn't say, but there were boxes from Takron Galtos in his warehouse." Querl replied as Kopi began to type again.

"It says here there was another member of the team, a physiotherapist named Trinity Nicholas." She pointed out and pulled up a profile of Trinity. Querl frowned at something.

"And it also says she has a practise here in Kelna."...

Querl knelt on the edge of an 18 story building, spying on Trinity Nicholas. He was wearing a white helmet with a purple visor. Abel had made similar ones for everyone in case they ran into the cops. Across the road for the building he was on was Trinity's practise and Querl could easily spot her from her office window.

She was doing some work on her he heard a hissing sound and he looked towards the ally down the left side of Trinity's building.

There was two people spray painting the wall. Querl scowled at them and shot a small energy blast at one of the spray cans. This freaked the two men out and they ran as fast as they could. But when Querl looked back to Trinity's office window she was gone. All of a sudden a pair of handcuffs were dangled in front of his face.

Querl whipped around and saw Magpie standing behind him.

"Shiny...shiny." She smirked before punching Querl in the face. Querl hit the roof top with a hard thud. He groaned as he sat up. Magpie was standing further away but still smirking.

"You know after we last met I couldn't help wondering what makes someone sneak around at night catching crooks?" She grinned.

"Who ever said I wasn't doing this for me?" He asked in a cold voice.

"Hm, I like that." She smiled before walking over to him. "You and I should be friends, not enemies, we've so much in common." She said as she wrapped her arms loosely around his neck, before slowly leaning towards his lips.

"Not gonna happen." Querl said and pushed her away.

"What's the matter Little Robin? Too much bird for you to handle?" She snarled. But her expression soon softened. "Too bad. I was looking forward to getting my hands on that shiny, shiny stick." She grinned and pointed to the staff hooked to Querl's belt.

Magpie suddenly tried to kick Querl straight in the head. But luckily he dodged the hit. Magpie unsheathed her claws and went to cut him up again. Querl was only just able to block her blows. Suddenly she kicked his and he went over the edge of the building!

"Goodbye Little Robin." She smiled before turning to walk away. However Querl was not street pizza. Just before he had hit the ground he activated his force field to save him for the impact...

Magpie hummed a little tune as she skipped along the rooftops to who knows where. She suddenly came to a stop and frowned. Magpie slowly turned around and saw Querl Dox standing behind her.

"Joe Quint. Why did you wipe his mind?" He asked the thief.

"I was looking for something that belongs to me." She glared.

"What?" Querl asked.

"Catch me and maybe I'll tell you." Magpie grinned before shooting off. Querl's eyes narrowed before he ran off after her. Magpie laughed as Querl chased her halfway across the city.

"I hope you can fly Little Robin!" She smiled and jumped over the edge of a 20 story building. However Querl grabbed some wire and lassoed it around her ankles. Magpie gasped as she dangled high above an empty street.

"No one is going to cage this bird AGAIN!" She hissed before using her claws to slice the wire. Querl's eyes widened as Magpie fell and onto a car. After a few moments of silence Magpie's limp form began to move! She glared up at Querl before running off into the darkness.

"Caged again?" Querl muttered before activating his com-link.

"Yes Querl?" Abel's voice called.

"Abel, Magpie was an inmate at Takron Galtos and that's the connection to Joe Quint and Trinity Nicholas. I need you to check the Takron Galtos files and she if there were any women there that were 18 at the time those two were doing their research."...

The next morning Lieutenant Connor Samson went to speak to a man named Dram. Dram was very large and muscularly built. Standing in the range of 7 feet he was immensely strong and powerful. As physically imposing as he was however, Dram was severely hampered in mental capacity. A blow to his head from a superhuman and subsequent coma left an enormous lump on his cranium and he had apparently suffered brain damage.

He spoke in the manner of a young child and often had similar temper tantrums.

Also, like a child, he was very partial to candy, especially chocolate. Connor was seeking him out because in the boxes they had found in the warehouse there was Dram's folder from Takron Galtos. He soon found Dram lifting boxes out of a van.

"Dram." Connor said as he approached the man. Dram glared and threw a box at the cop, thankfully it missed.

"Dram don't like you!" He shouted.

"Dram, please calm down." Connor said.

"Dram not go back to prison... Dram been good." Dram whimpered.

"I know, I just have a few questions and then I'll go away. I have candy." Connor smiled and pulled out some chocolate. Dram eagerly took the chocolate and began to eat it. Connor smiled and pulled out the file.

"I have a file with me from the time that you spent on Takron Galtos, in the psychiatric ward. It says here that you were involved in an experiment, something about mind control." He explained.

"Wanted to fix Dram's brain... didn't work. More candy now." He frowned. Connor pulled out another bar of chocolate and handed it to Dram.

"Why would a super human care about this experiment." He asked.

"Don't know." Dram replied before turning to leave.

"One more question, was there anyone else in the experiment with you?" Connor asked.

"A lady... nice to look at... in other cage... took her away." Dram said with a sad tone in his voice. Connor frowned.

"Do you know her name?"...

Querl casually walked down the street toward's Trinity's building.

"Maria Shallows. According to the Takron Galtos criminal database she was a kleptomaniac that received ten years but served two." Querl said into his com-link as he sat in the lobby, waiting to be called.

"Where is she now?" Kopi asked.

"Unknown. Five years ago she just disappeared, right after leaving Takron Galtos." He replied.

Suddenly a nice young lady walked up to him. This was the receptionist Cassie. Cassie had short brown cropped hair and grey eyes. She wore a black sleeveless shirt and a beige knee-length skirt.

"This way please Mr. Dox, I'm Cassie." She smiled as she lead him to Trinity's office.

"Thank you very much Cassie." Querl before heading into Trinity's office.

"Good morning Mr. Dox." Trinity smiled. She had blonde shoulder length hair, grey eyes, a blue shirt and a grey skirt. Querl looked around her office and saw pictures of different species of birds. He also noticed a picture on the desk. In the picture was both Trinity and Joe Quint.

"See you like birds." Querl smiled.

"More of a curiosity really." Trinity smiled back before looking at some paperwork.

"Now Kopi." Querl whispered into his com-link once Trinity was distracted. A minute later Cassie burst through the door in a panic.

"Cassie I'm with someone!" Trinity exclaimed.

"I know but there's a woman from the United Planets Elite Guard on the phone and she's demanding to talk to you right now. Something about a lawsuit and falsified insurance claims, she's really mean!" Cassie whimpered in fear.

"I'm sorry about this Mr. Dox, I'll be right back." Trinity said before following Cassie out the office. Once they were both gone began Querl began searching the office for anything that could tie Trinity to Magpie. He pulled open a draw in her desk and found a gold watch. On the back it said 'If Found Please Return To Joe Quint'.

Querl put the watch back and pulled out a sliver pen.

There was something engraved on it. 'Property Of Miskatonic Psychiatric Hospital'...

After doing some research, Querl learned that Miskatonic Psychiatric Hospital was an asylum that worked with Takron Galtos years ago in an attempt to brainwash villains into giving up their ways, but when the project failed the asylum went bankrupt and shut down. Querl silently walked down the dark empty corridors of the asylum, keeping his eye out for anything out of the ordinary.

He then entered a large circular room with a glass dome roof and full of helium canisters and old equipment.

Suddenly something hit Querl in the back and sent him into a wall. When he stood up he saw an enraged Magpie running at him. The Coluan just managed to block Magpie's punches before he pulled out his staff and batted her to the other side of the room. Magpie growled before grabbing some scalpels and throwing them at Querl.

Querl put up a force field to shield himself from the scalpels before punching Magpie hard in the face and she fell into some of the canisters.

"I have no interest in hurting you." Querl said as Magpie stood up.

"Haven't you figured it out? I can't feel pain! One more piece they stole from me." She snarled as he approached her.

"Let me help you get it back. I understand what it's like to fight your true nature and you're going to lose that fight if you don't get help." He warned.

By now they were standing almost toe to toe. Magpie's expression softened and she looked to the ground.

"But I'm afraid." She whimpered.

"Of what?" Querl asked.

"That I've already lost."

Suddenly Querl felt a sharp pain in his shoulder before his body went numb and everything became fuzzy.

"Hush now Little Robin. Let the curare do it's work, just go to sleep." He heard Magpie giggle before everything went black...

Querl groaned as he woke up. He was wearing the same helmet Magpie had used to wipe Joe Quint's mind and he was chained to a table.

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey." Magpie giggled as she swung on one of the lights above him. She also had Querl's staff attached to her belt. Querl Dox tried to move off the table but the chains stopped him. He looked back up and Magpie.

"Magpie, I meant what I said. I can help." He said.

"Quite!" Magpie snapped as she suddenly jumped down from the light and punched Querl in the face. "I appreciate the offer Little Robin but I already have it covered." Magpie smiled. She then started tapping the mind helmet on Querl's head. "Joe Quint created this helmet to remove memories. But with a little reprogramming I found a way to reverse the process, to put the memories back."

A woman's scream suddenly echoed from the hallway and Magpie's smile widened.

"My memories await. But first your's need to go away." She said to Querl. "I would say it's been a pleasure, but you won't even remember I said it. So goodbye Little Robin." She gave Querl a brief kiss on the lips before walking over to a remote.

What she failed to see was that Querl had grabbed one of her feathers. She suddenly pressed a button of the remote and the helmet came to life. Querl cried out in pain as electricity surged through his brain. Magpie grinned before running out the room and down the hallway. Querl quickly stuffed the sharp end of the feather into the keyhole of his cuff.

It quickly snapped open, freeing his arm.

Querl ripped the helmet off his head and threw it aside. He quickly freed himself from the chains by blasting the with an energy blast. He put his own helmet back on before walking over to the mind helmet and crushing it beneath his foot. Before he went after Magpie he noticed some files from Takron Galtos scattered on the floor.

He picked up one and opened it.

His eyes widened before he ran out the room. The file he had just seen was Maria Shallows' file...

Querl followed the screams to a room at the other end of the hall. He burst inside and saw Magpie straddled on top of someone tied to a stretcher with her claws in their face. The room had light walls and x-ray pictures on them. Magpie wiped around and was surprised to see Querl standing there. Querl threw a scalpel he had grabbed at Magpie's head and it took her white hair clean off and into a wall.

It was a wig.

Trinity's eyes widened as she saw her capture's face. Magpie saw her hair hanging on the wall and looked to the full length mirror on the wall by the side of her. It was Cassie.

"What is this?" Magpie asked in a mixture of fear and rage. She got off the stretcher and walked towards the mirror. "Whose face is that?" She glared at her reflection. Querl walked over to her.

"You don't know. Two personalities in one body, unaware of each other." He said. Magpie turned around to face him.

"What are you talking about?" She hissed.

"Maria Shallows was part of an experiment at Takron Galtos. For your participation you received early release." He said. However Magpie shook her head in anger.

"No. They took my memories! THEY STOLE THEM FROM ME!" She cried in disbelief.

"I'm sorry but you did this to yourself. Maria Shallows volunteered. The experiment was meant to remove the bad out of criminals and in your case it worked, for a while anyway." Querl explained. Magpie's eyes widened as she turned around to look at her reflection again.

"They gave you a new name, a new face, a new life. But sometimes the bad is just too strong, it has a way of coming back." He added.

"No! LIES!" Magpie exclaimed before punching the mirror, shattering it into millions pieces.

She then turned around to face Querl, tears streaming down her face.

"I want to know who I am." She sobbed. Suddenly she pushed passed Querl and stood over Trinity. "AND SHE CAN GIVE THAT BACK TO ME!" She screamed and raised her claws to tear Trinity apart.

Suddenly three bullets shot three of Magpie's claws off.

"Nobody move!" Connor shouted as he pointed his gun at them. He didn't recognise Querl due to the helmet he was wearing. Magpie knelt down and started to pick up her broken nails.

"That means you bird girl!" He glared.

"Shiny... shiny..." She whispered as she clutched her nails close to her chest as if they were the most precious thing in the world.

She suddenly whipped around and threw the nails at Connor. One managed to cut his shoulder. Magpie pushed passed the cop and down the hall. Querl followed her while Connor made sure Trinity was alright...

"NO!" Magpie screamed. Querl ran into the circular room and saw Magpie kneeling over the remains of the mind helmet.

"You destroyed it! My memories! I'll never get them back now! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" She sobbed as Querl moved closer to her.

"We can find another way. Maria Shallows is still in there somewhere." Querl said.

"Maria Shallows is gone. There is only Magpie now." Magpie whispered.

She whipped around and tried to slash Querl with her claws but he managed to dodge it. Querl then noticed the helium canisters behind her. Dodging another hit, he fired an energy blast at one of them. Querl leapt out of the way as the canister shot towards them. It hit Magpie and shot her straight into a power box, electrocuting her.

She fell to the floor, unconscious.

Querl walked over to her and removed his staff.

"No more shiny, shiny." He said as he hooked the staff back onto his belt. "Is the doctor safe lieutenant?" He suddenly asked.

Standing behind his was Connor. He was holding his wounded shoulder and pointing his gun at the back of Querl's head.

"Shaken up but fine. She had no idea Cassie was once Maria Shallows." He replied.

"Makes perfect sense. A new different face different memories. My guess, Magpie subconsciously drove her here for revenge." Querl explained.

"Well now Maria, Cassie, Magpie or whatever her name is goes back to jail." Connor glared.

"Put her back in the hole that created her, is that really justice?" Querl asked coldly.

"That's the law." Connor replied in the same tone of voice.

"Will I be getting the same justice?" Querl asked.

"Yes. But not tonight." Connor said. He lowered his gun and went to Magpie's limp form. He turned her onto her front so he could handcuff her.

"Just so we're clear, this doesn't make us friends. The next time we cross paths I'll put you away for years." He said. But when he turned around Querl was already long gone...

The next day Kiara arrived at the garage but it was empty.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" She called but received no reply. She then noticed Querl walking down the hall, away from her.

"Mr. Dox!" She called to him. But he didn't rely and silently walked into another room and closed the door. Kiara frowned and went to follow him. However when she opened the door all she saw was an empty broom closet. Down in the base, Querl was watching Kiara on the monitor through a hidden camera.

"Let the tests begin."...

ROLL CREDITS