M'gann grinned as she watched the colored orbs zip around the roof of the tent. The crowd around her was mostly silent as the balls of light zoomed through the air, a few people laughing as one or two would dip low near the audience, illuminating their faces in shades of green, red, and blue. Her colors. The thought had her smiling even wider.
A tap to her shoulder brought her attention to the seat on her left, it's occupant practically on top of her own. Wally smirked up at his teammate.
"Y'know this isn't actually magic right? They stick a bunch of tiny LED lights in some plastic balls on invisible string and keep them just high up enough so that nobody can really see the bulbs. That 'magician' down there isn't even doing anything! Trust me, I've been to the circus before. Haven't found a trick I can't figure out yet. Too smart I guess, especially as I've learnt how to recognize real magic after dealing with Nabu." He shrugged.
A loud snort to her right made her jump.
"Too up yourself is what I think you meant."
Robin, now leaning in his spot on the bleachers to the point he risked toppling forwards, wore an even bigger grin than the speedster. Wally scowled in return, turning his attention back onto the show with a huff.
The Boy Wonder raised an eyebrow in return before turning back to his alien friend. "I was actually in the circus... um, once. To learn acrobatics for Batman. The 'magician'" - he used only one hand to make air quotes around the title - "tried to mix it up from show to show. He was pretty cool, wore a lot of red though. When I was little I thought he was Santa." He tossed a few popcorn kernels into his mouth and offered her the bag. She couldn't resist a giggle as she took a handful of the Earth treat.
"Is it okay if we go after this? I want to go to the petting zoo. I've never been to one before." The acrobats were next, and she knew better than to even think of letting her teammate sit through memories that would dredge up - or even be on his own with them for the matter.
Without needing Robin's confirmation, she turned back to Wally, knocking his elbow gently with the back of her hand to get his attention.
"Hey, we're going to see the animals once this is done. Want to come?" She made sure to whisper so as not to disturb their fellow spectators. Wally, however, did not seem in touch with the idea.
"Great idea babe! You know I'm a natural with animals! Why I-"
A handful of popcorn to the face stopped him from ever finishing, and Robin was suddenly making too big of an effort not to look at his friends.
Megan's smile was back full force. It was nothing she could help - the more obvious Wally was with his flirtations, the more ridiculous they seemed.
The weather outside was better than it had been when they first arrived. The scent of rainwater had yet to dissipate, but now the sun shone through thinning grey clouds with bright sunbeams. Lovely weather for flying.
They wandered around the circus site without the aid of signs, not that they were needed. The petting zoo had attracted a reasonably sized crowd mostly made up of families now that the rain had left. The smell of freshly-churned mud from the pens was not wholly unpleasant, as workers had done a fine job of keeping any animal waste separate from the petting area. It was probably the only reason Wally had no qualms about jumping right in with the piglets.
"Looks like you fit right in, Wal."
Wally maturely stuck his tongue out at his friend, not noticing the one piglet nuzzling his shoe and undoing the lace. With a turn of his heel he landed flat on back, hitting his shoulder awkwardly on a wooden fixture as he went down. Immediately every piglet in the pen jumped onto his stomach, squealing as he let loose a string of profanities.
M'gann winced. The knock to the shoulder looked painful. Robin seemed less concerned however, as he was wiping tears of laughter from under his sunglasses as he watched their friend. He was laughing so hard, he almost didn't notice the increasing level of distress coming from the tent they had just exited until M'gann shook his arm.
Immediately Robin stopped laughing as adults and children started running past the stalls, tripping over each other in an effort to get away from whatever was causing a scene.
Cackling laughter overrode the sounds of terrified yelling. In no time the trio saw a striped tabby cat with a goldfish from one of the game stands in it's mouth round the corner. Right on it's heels was a suited boy, holding a small stack of cookies in one hand and the other engulfed in a red flame-like energy.
"Isn't the circus fun Teekl? All the mortals running around like ants! And free sweets!" The pale boy grinned as he bit into his stolen treats, the cat being far to busy with hers to bother with a reply.
Robin and M'gann ducked to the side of the petting zoo's main entrance, so that they couldn't be seen from the angle the boy was approaching. Robin didn't dare close his eyes as he tried to focus on breaking down his mental shields.
'Shoot, that's the guy from the Tower of Fate! Klarion, I think. M'gann? Communications open?'
'When aren't they?'
'Yes Robin, but you and Wally aren't in uniform. What are we going to do?'
Before Robin could think of a solution, Klarion sent a blast towards one of the nearby ticket stands, narrowly missing a child crying for his mother. The witch-boy sneered.
"Shut your whining! Don't expect your mother to save when she's left you!" The energy in his hand surged to new life, engulfing half his forearm in the mysterious red mass. M'gann shoved Robin over the railing to join Wally on the floor of the pen as the boy neared their tent.
'You guys can't be seen as civilians, just keep down.' Robin nodded. Wally pressed himself against the corner of the stall where he was less likely to be spotted, the piglets having long fled in search of the protection of their mother.
'I'll try to get in touch with the rest of the Team, but Aqualad's probably still in Atlantis. Wally, do you have anything to cover your face with?'
'I can find something. Look, everyone's running in opposite directions, I'll try and control the crowd, sound good?'
'Perfect. If I can't get in touch with anyone, I'll find a way to get to the cat while you distract him M'gann, but whatever you do, don't try and take him head-on. Understood?'
M'gann gave a quick nod and morphed into her hero persona before zooming out of the tent, high into the air, away from them.
The child's wailing intensified as Klarion drew back his arm aiming. All of the magic that had been visible on Klarion's arm shot from it like bullet, pinpointed directly at the whimpering toddler. The boy's eyes widened in horror as he watched, frozen, as the destructive energy hurtled towards him.
Just a foot away from the child a popcorn machine was blasted to smithereens. The child had to blink several times before he realized that it had exploded right in front of him, and that red point ball wasn't coming at him anymore. Yet he couldn't open one eye and he felt something warm and sticky sliding down his face.
Klarion turned to the direction that the machine had come flying from. Surely enough, Miss Martian was hovering in the air, a wooden stand and chair stayed suspended in air near her hand as her eyes glowed green. He couldn't stop himself from giggling.
"Oh please! You think you can stop me from having my fun? I'll crush you! Right Teekl?" The demonic cat gave a far too human-like grin.
Without any other warning Klarion launched another blast of energy towards Miss Martian, who used the table to block it.
'I told you not to take him head on!'
'But the boy-'
'Alright, okay! Time for plan B ... I need to think of a plan B.'
'Robin, Wally, do you think you can get over to the boy without being detected? He needs a doctor,he's losing blood.'
'Wally, you get him out of here and to the nearest medical facility. I'm having trouble reaching everyone. I'm going to use something to capture the cat from where I am. M'gann, try to lure him towards the south of here, away from the main road.'
Another blast of energy-magic flew just next to Miss Martian's head. She dropped closer to the ground, beneath the protection of a clown-shaped sign.
Klarion's eyes turned to a glowing red. He murmured chant too low for Miss Martian to hear.
The clown sign sprung to life, shooting downwards for the young hero with sharp splinters for fingers and teeth. Miss Martian's eyes glowed with power as she psychically lifted two iron gates from the petting zoo to crush the rapidly approaching living wood between them.
She broke through the shelving to escape, feigning retreat to the other side of the circus. Klarion, as she suspected, gleefully gave chase as he launched blast after blast with a cackle.
"Aww, Teekl! The baby hero's trying to leave without saying goodbye! Let's teach her some MANNERS!" The witch boy threw his arms in the air. Thin streams of red energy shot from the palms of his hands like lightning, all twisting to chase the flying hero.
Another blast of energy joined the jagged streams of light, only it was pure white. Without thinking Miss Martian dropped to the ground to avoid it. Both physical forms of magic hit one of the circus rides, casting the entire area in a blinding light. M'gann shielded herself with her cape, but spots still decorated her vision when she was rocked to her side by the sheer force of the blast.
A deep maniacal laughter sounded from behind Klarion. The witch-boy furrowed his brows in confusion at the man now standing in front of him amid the remains of the circus structures.
"Abra? I thought you were in Belle Reve!"
Abra Kadarbra's laughter stopped dead. A look of controlled rage about to break out twisted his handsome features into an ugly expression of pure hatred.
"I have very helpful, very useful friends on both sides of Belle Reve's gates, boy." he spat the last word out like poison. "Not that you would know. You left me for dead!"
The magician threw his arm out. Another bright white beam flew from his hands. Instinctively, Klarion threw up a barrier, but it shattered completely upon being hit. He growled.
"I see you've gotten a little more clever with your tricks Abra, but you still can't beat a Lord of CHAOS!" a giant ball of red energy quickly formed in front of the witchboy before launching itself towards the trickster.
Another beam of white light met the red energy dead-on. Klarion's magic instantly disintegrated into nothing.
Klarion's eyes widened, grin instantly falling. Abra could not have appeared more gleeful.
"Tricks, boy?" He let out a harsh bark of a laugh. "Give me more credit than that! You're not the only one who can give mortals magic! Nor are you immune from having your power separated from you." Abra lifted the hand that had been releasing the power beams. In the center of his palm was a small round stone covered in small runes that were impossible to make out from a distance. A thin cord was intricately wrapped around it so that the center remained clearly visible. The rest of the cord was wound securely between Kadabra's fingers to keep the stone in place.
Klarion scoffed.
"So you found a new - or should I say old - toy. Big deal!" Abra's eyes widened, as did his smile.
"Oh, it's a big deal alright boy! You enjoyed mocking me for not having any powers? Well I hope you can survive without yours! Especially when I use this little trinket to transfer all of your powers to ME!" Another bout of laughter had Abra throwing his head back. Klarion rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, you've got magic now, blah blah. That thing has to be what, three thousand years old? And that's just the one rune I'm thinking of. I doubt your little dress-up toy still has that ability, if even had it to begin with!"
Abra giggled. "Well why don't you come here and find out?" Another beam erupted from the stone without warning. Again, Klarion shielded himself, only this time was knocked unsteady when his protection shattered. A hula hoop tied quickly with a loose basketball net found it's way on the ground far behind the pair. Teekl, who had previously been keeping a good ten feet between herself and her master, jumped away from it to wind her body between Klarion's legs to hiss at the magician.
Klarion's shoudlers stiffened. "Teekl get out from my feet! You're in the way!"
The tabby growled. Whatever Klarion had understood he clearly didn't like, as he gave the feline a small boot to the side with his shoe. Teekl stopped to turn to hiss at him, only for their surroundings to become considerably brighter.
Without a second's thought Teekl was in front of Klarion, launching herself straight at the magic beam Kadabra had aimed at her master. The witchboy was given no time at all to even consider having Teekl transform. By the time the possibility had even crossed his mind his familiar had been thrown back unconcious towards him by the blast, sending both of them sprawling backwards.
Abra was laughing uncontrollably now.
"Well that takes care of your flea-bag! Lets see how you get on without your precious pet!"
Another beam struck near the fallen sorcerer. Klarion threw his legs to the side, just missing the beam. His arms wrapped around the injured cat clutched close to his chest and placed two fingers by her neck.
A relieved sigh escaped him when he felt her pulse. It was slow and faint, but there nonetheless.
Another mis-aimed blast shattered a shelf full of glass jars right behind him. He jumped, nearly dropping Teekl as he scrabbled to get out of the way.
Klarion chanted another familiar curse from a dead language, positive Abra would be unable to deduce it's translation. He ducked behind a cardboard cutout of he didn't care what, waiting for the spell to take hold.
Nothing happened.
The pits of Klarion's stomach churned as he waited, squeezing his unfamiliar familiar as he ran from hiding space to hiding space.
Still nothing happened.
"COME OUT BOY! FACE YOUR DOOM LIKE A MAN!" Abra roared over the sound of the increasing destruction.
Klarion's hands started to shake. Teekl's prone body began to slide from his grip. The boy pulled his friend closer to him. He was crouched under a storage shelf behind one of the circus's game stalls, where Abra had failed to see him duck under.
He couldn't do magic, not without Teekl. No powerful magic. Nothing that would help get them out of there.
Except one spell.
Klarion's nails clawed at the frame of their protection. The wood beneath his nails began splintering, digging into his skin like tiny daggers until a small portion of the stand broke off. He bit his lip to keep any noise down his throat.
Hands still shaking, he scrapped the wood against his palm until the skin turned an angry red. The blasts outside were getting louder.
The shard of wood slipped from his fingers. Klarion couldn't stop the growl that slipped out. He slammed his hand on the offending piece of wood. The sharp, splintered points instantly pierced the skin of his tender hands, drawing blood. The witchboy hissed as he rubbed his hand against the wood, breaking more skin to make more blood flow. Next, he used his abused hand to draw a circle around Teekl, muttering a chant beneath his breath that prayed would work.
What felt like an eternity went by as Klarion's repeated chanting grew more frantic.
Then his blood sunk into the ground, staining the grass it had touched black.
Relief flooded him. His chanting quickened. Something shattered from nearby in front of them.
Teekl vanished.
Klarion would have laughed with joy, if his shelter hadn't exploded on top of him.
Abra grinned down at the injured boy at his feet.
"I didn't know Lords of Chaos hid like rodents! Oh, this has been fun, but I think I'll take your powers now!"
He shoved his hand right in Klarion's face, muttering a quick spell unknown to even the witchboy. The runes of the stone glowed brightly, forcing Klarion to squeeze his eyes shut.
A whizzing noise sounded from behind the pair, breaking Abra's concentration. The runes automatically stopped their glowing as the magician looked up just in time to be pummled by a broken wooden table.
Klarion seized the opportunity to run, only to get his foot caught on a broken piece of what was his temporary shelter.
A hand tugged it out of place for him, before pushing him over the remainders of the wreckage.
Miss Martian chanced a look behind her, but Abra seemed to be knocked unconscious from the heavy blow to the head.
"Run, quick, before he wakes up! My friends should be on their way!"
Not thinking to argue, nor would he wish to, Klarion sprinted for the nearest brick building.
A relieved sigh left Miss Martian. She closed her eyes, reaching inside her mind for her teammates.
'Wally? How's the boy?'
'He's out of range, but he let me know he had the kid before he left the park. I can't see you from where I am, what's going on?'
'Klarion's fled, and there's no sign of Teekl anywhere near here. I've subdued Abra.'
'Great! I saw him get injured when I nearly captured it earlier, but there's no traces of him from wher I am either. Still nothing from the League or Team, so get to the nearest Zeta Tubes. I'm hoping to get the police here any minute.'
'Okay, but Robi-'
Before she could say any more, a sharp pain stabbed her back, and everything was black.