Three Dark Horses
Rating: T
Pairings: None
Ages: Season One Ages for YJ crew. Danny, Randy, and Jake are all 15.
Summary: They thought they'd seen everything, then they met three boys.
Extra Notes: After Hong Kong Longs. No PP. End of Season Two for RC9GN. Mid-Season One YJ.
"Is anyone else getting the 'I'm super creepy because I have a spooky dark mansion that's strangely normal' feeling?"
Artemis rolled her eyes as she walked quietly next to the floating M'gann. "Sure that's definitely a specific feeling. That was exactly what we were thinking, Wally."
"It is a little too normal here," M'gann expressed through the mental link.
"See? M'gann knows what's up." Wally grunted with a hint of superiority.
"Let us try to focus on the task at hand," Aqualad offered. Superboy nodded next to the Atlantean as the two walked down a different corridor.
"The building permits and schematics look normal, so they're not giving us any clues," Robin popped in. Wally looked over his friend's shoulder to have a look at what Robin was viewing on his portable computer.
"I was just going to ask, who is this man? Is he like Luthor?" M'gann asked a bit shyly.
"Vlad Masters is a business icon. He's been in Affluence Magazine as billionaire of the year before," Wally explained.
"He also owns Mastersoft which is at least worth 290 billion dollars," Robin reported.
"Huh, I knew he was super wealthy, but damn," Artemis replied.
"That's part of the reason we're suspicious of him. He seemed to gain his wealth over night and there's a lot of questions behind how he got his money and convinced people to invest in him. Then he started making business with Luthor and now it's game on," Robin informed.
"Definitely fishy," Kid Flash agreed.
"Stop." Everyone froze when Superboy suddenly joined the conversation. "I hear two voices near the entrance hall. Sounds like two boys."
"Vandals or robbers? Possibly even just trouble-seekers?" Kaldur suggested.
Superboy shook his head. "They're talking about someone named Danny and someone else named Plasmius and they seem serious about it."
"Let's head back and see who's dropped in. Group up everyone." Kaldur instructed.
"You got it, Kal," Wally expressed.
Eventually the six teens made their way to the front hall and froze when they saw what was there. All of them could hear the duo's speech now.
"Yo, do you even know where Plasmius' secret lair is?" The protégés watched in complete confusion as a large red dragon and a boy dressed as a ninja stood in the room.
"Well, do you want the technical answer or the words you want to hear?" The ninja asked as he looked closely at an expensive looking vase on a fireplace mantle. "By the way, what is it with rich dudes and weird vases? You think this thing is from the Ming or something?"
The dragon walked over and snorted in the boy's face. "Don't ask me, dawg. And by the way, it's a Yuan vase."
The ninja looked put off and placed his hands on his hips. "You can tell?"
"Trust me, my gramps was probably alive then."
"That's a joke, right?"
"What do you think, homie?" The dragon asked with a shit-eating grin on his face.
"You're such a shoob."
"Whatever, man. We need to find Danny. Vlad might already be doing who knows what to him."
"That and we need to get back to the bowling alley. I was about to break Danny's winning streak."
"Dude, he managed a 200 score last time and I've never seen him bowl below a 130. You aren't going to get close to that for a while." The dragon shook his head and growled. "Stay on track! Danny needs us."
"Okay! Okay! Didn't he say there was a chess piece somewhere here?" The ninja asked and looked around.
"Yeah, I think." The dragon lumbered back towards the mantle and built-ins on either side. Eventually he noticed a chess board and moved closer. "Maybe we push down one of these?"
The ninja moved forwards as well, but both froze when they heard the whistle of a weapon. Robin had tossed a bird-a-rang to get their attention, which soared between the two. They were surprised when the ninja sprung back into a hand-spring and rolled before drawing his sword in one quick movement. The dragon snarled and his eyes were suddenly a glow like cinders.
"Is it Vlad?"
"No, others. Don't know who."
They realized quickly that the dragon was able to spot all of them. There was no hope for M'gann trying to hide either at this point.
"Who are you?" Kaldur asked stepping into the dim light of the den.
"I could ask the same," the Ninja asked.
The dragon snorted. "Seriously?"
"What? I've always wanted to reply with that."
"I'm assuming you are not aligned with Vlad Masters?" Kaldur asked as the rest of his team came out.
The dragon huffed. "You shouldn't be here. Aw, man…"
"Don't worry, dude. Your gramps will know what to do. They can't blame you for something like this." Ninja offered, even if he kept eyeing the others for any sign of movement.
"I guess."
"Why are you in this man's home?" Kaldur pushed.
"Why are you?" Ninja questioned back, only to wither when the dragon glared at him. "Heh…"
"We can't tell you. You shouldn't be here."
"We're here if we want to be here," Wally huffed back.
"Look, this isn't the League's business, got it?" the Dragon snarled slightly.
"We're investigating suspicious activity-" Robin started, but the ninja cut him off.
"Took them long enough."
"Harsh, dude."
"What?"
"Enough, both of you start talking before we make you!" Artemis growled and pointed her bow at the Ninja.
"Good luck hitting me with that," the Ninja seemed to smirk and propped himself up on his sword.
"We don't need to be concerned with flexing our egos right now, remember?" the Dragon snapped.
"You're concerned with us, right now," Superboy grunted and offered himself to the Dragon, who growled in his throat.
"Who's Danny?" M'gann finally asked and everyone grew quiet.
"No-one, kay?" Ninja replied.
"Oh I don't know about that. You two seemed pretty interested in saving your dear amigo only moments ago."
The Team and the newcomers stood straighter and looked around until they all spotted a blue-skinned vampire floating above them.
"Plasmius," the Dragon hissed.
"Honestly, did you two think you could come in here without me knowing?" He then looked at the Team. "And oh boy, the Justice League's kids, how cute."
Of course the Team did not like that comment at all. The Dragon snarled. "Where is he, Plasmius?!"
"Oh I don't know. Maybe he's a puddle of green ectoplasm by now. I've seemed to have misplaced him among my chemicals. Oopsie…"
The Ninja was suddenly in the air and managed to slice through the being's left arm before the villain teleported to the other side of the room. "Liar!"
Plasmius reappeared grasping at his shoulder as green liquid bled through his fabric and between his fingers. "Temper, temper. I could introduce you to my son, you'll hardly be able to tell the difference."
"Shut-up!" the Ninja screamed before tossing two stars. This time, Plasmius saw the attack coming and went intangible.
"Stop, Ninja! He's got to be bluffing. He's trying to stall us," the Dragon snapped and smirked when he saw Vlad let out a snarl of his own.
Wally narrowed his eyes and dashed over to the chess board. He poked and prodded at the entire thing within a blink of the eye and suddenly, a passageway opened up behind the fireplace. "Bingo!"
"Nice work, KF!" Robin shouted.
the Dragon nodded to the Ninja. "Go with them to help Danny. I'll hold Plasmius off. We'll meet outside and fix things later, okay?"
"You got it, bro!" Ninja replied and sped down the steps. The Dragon looked at the team.
"You go. There's no way you're prepared to fight a ghost. Only someone like me or Danny can touch them anyways."
"Ghost?" Artemis asked in bewilderment and the Team looked up at Plasmius, who was readying some type of energy blast.
"Yes, now go!" the Dragon roared and shot a torrent of fire at the ghost.
"Now, my boy. Do you think fire is the best element for someone like me?"
Those were the last words the Team heard as they went down into the secret lab. As they ran, they noticed screens showing a young boy transforming and using various powers.
"Danny Phantom? The ghost hero of Amity Park?" Robin murmured. "Okay, we suspected that there were weird things going on there and that they were somewhat controlled, but maybe we need to review this."
"I thought the League said that was all a hoax or phony?" Wally asked.
"Well not a hoax, but that it wasn't as bad as the people said it was. We thought it was just a severely haunted area, not this. These videos and photos never made it to us. This is incredible," Robin expressed.
Their discussion was stopped when they saw the Ninja pulling someone out of a broken tube. He had black hair and wore fairly generic clothing. They saw the Ninja look back at them. He muttered something and pulled out a second scarf. The boy wrapped the scarf around his friends face, leaving only his eyes showing. "Secret ID. You at least know how that is, right?"
"We saw-" Wally started only for Artemis to elbow him harshly.
"Whatever, just principle I guess. You better not tell. He has a family, you know." The Ninja eyes looked a bit sad as he hefted his friend onto his shoulder.
"What was he doing in Masters' home?" Kaldur asked.
The Ninja sighed. "Danny isn't the only one that can transform his appearance. Ghosts can be tricky, ya know."
"Ghosts… Wait a minute. The robberies in Wisconsin, the monetary gain, the signing over of companies… Are you saying-?" Robin questioned seriously.
"Holy cheese, you're quick." The Ninja blinked in astonishment. "Okay, yeah. You kinda hit the bulls-eye."
"The League will want to hear about this," Kaldur expressed.
"You can't," the Ninja answered.
"Why not?" Superboy growled.
"Look. It's complicated, but we need to get out of here, first. Am. Drag is good, but he can't hold off Vlad forever."
"Am. Drag?" M'gann questioned.
"No time!" Ninja exclaimed and ran towards the exit. The others followed quickly and ran through the den, which looked like a battle-zone.
"No!" Plasmius screeched, when he spotted the teens running off with Danny.
"Aw yes, baby!" the Dragon replied before he whacked Vlad into the wall with a tail whip. The man cried out in aggravation as he crashed through a couple layers of dry wall before finding the focus to go intangible. The Dragon scrambled after them. "It's time to dip, y'all!" The Team watched the Dragon spread his wings and snatch up Danny and the Ninja and then soar into the sky. They also noticed him circling for a bit, waiting for their ship to rise to relative safety.
All the teens flew off.
zz
It was something of a middle ground. They had met in a warehouse on the outskirts of Gotham.
The Team's respective mentors, plus Black Canary, Superman, and Zatara had come to meet these mysterious teens. What they hadn't expected was a group of other dragons to be with them.
The groups stood silently as an elderly looking blue dragon snaked forward and bowed. "Greetings, Justice League. I am Lao Shi. Behind me are the Dragon Council." Lao Shi began to gesture to each dragon as he said their names. "Councilor Andam, Councilor Kukulkhan, Councilor Kulde, and Councilor Omina. They look after and advise the entirely of the Magical World."
"So it is true. There is a more organized group of creatures out there," Zatara asked.
Councilor Andam stepped forward and transformed into his human form. "Indeed, magician. We have kept ourselves carefully hidden for quite some time for the safety of both the Magical and Human Worlds. Recently though, we have been considering letting a few choice others know about our existence. This is mostly because of more and more random humans learning about the mystic arts or finding out about our people. In light of the recent meeting between yours and ours, we have decided to try and align ourselves more with you. After all, Atlantis did a while ago."
Kaldur nodded.
The others watched as all of the dragons, including the one from the other night, transformed into their human forms. They were surprised to see their acquaintance turn into a young teen.
"Hey, what's up? My name's Jake by the way," Jake grinned and slicked back his hair a bit when it fell into his eyes.
Then the Ninja reached into his belt and pulled out a large tome. He held it in one hand and stared at it. "Now, I'm going to ask one last time. This is cool? You're not going to flip out and mind wipe me or something?"
At first the League members and teens were a bit confused before the book seemed to glow a bright red and then stop.
"Okay, but you better not gripe later." the Ninja reached up and pulled off his mask, revealing a teen with purplish hair and blue eyes. "Name's Randy and I'm the Ninja. This is Nomi, the Nomicon." He finished by waving said book.
"And I'm Danny."
Everyone looked over and saw the white-haired ghost scratched his neck. "I'm called a halfa. I'm half a ghost and half a boy." A ring of light soon revealed the familiar black hair and blue eyes of the boy they'd saved. "Thanks for helping these goobs out. I was almost cloned again. I don't think Dani would like to share me."
Superboy and Superman's faces both went emotionally blank at that.
"Goobs? Gee thanks man. S'not like I held off the vampire-wanna be or nothing."
"It's actually Strigoi."
"Randy, first, I taught you that, second, those only feed on dragon blood."
"Heh…"
"So." Batman's deep voice cut off the banter between the teens. "We need to talk then."
"Indeed, Batman." Andam bowed at the waist and the other dragons, minus Lao Shi and Jake, did the same.
"Who are these young teens to you?" Superman asked, looking at the Council. "If you don't mind me asking?"
Andam shook his head. "Not a worry. Jake Long has recently been given the title of American Dragon, which means that he protects the American creatures that dwell within U.S. borders. Lao Shi is Jake's grandfather and his mentor. Randy Cunningham was chosen by the Nomicon to continue to line of Ninjas that guard the Chaos Pearls. More recently he managed to free the spirit of a cursed Sorcerer that had plagued his predecessors for many hundreds of years. Danny Phantom or Danny Fenton, is a young boy that was gifted ghost powers through a terrible accident. He uses his gifts to protect the Earth from ghosts that would come back to cause trouble or act as an ambassador for human-spirit interactions. Eventually, all three came together to preform jobs for us. Jake handles most of them, but sometimes he needs help. It's become quite a nice team up and many beings have benefited from it."
Danny, Randy and Jake gave each other a shared smirk.
"Yeah, that's us. Saving the world in secret," Randy bragged and rubbed his knuckles against his uniform. The Nomicon flipped open and slapped his other hand, making Randy drop it and yelp.
"I can tell you what Nomi's going say before it says it this time," Danny muttered.
"Don't brag?" Jake asked.
"Something like that," Danny replied.
"Very funny, you shoobs."
"And Vlad Masters?" Canary asked.
Danny looked at Andam and saw the dragon nod. "Vlad's like me. Only he used his powers to possess people and force them to sell their companies to him. He robbed places and went invisible and intangible to get involved in insider stock market trading. He's sort like my Arch-nemesis. He kinda has the advantage most days though to be completely honest. He's also kinda a pro at covering his tracks, we both hold each other's secret identity over each other's heads, and he has several ghosts working for him."
"Well that's lovely," Green Arrow muttered.
"You said it," Flash added.
Canary placed a hand to her chin and looked over the three boys before looking up at the Council. "What do you say to letting your protégés work with ours? It's a good way to start working together. Think of them as ambassadors of sorts."
Andam looked over at the other dragons and there seemed to be a silent communication that occurred between them. Finally he looked at the boys. "Jake, Randy, Danny, what do you three think?"
Jake shrugged. "You always know I'm game."
"Hey, since the Sorcerer is gone, my schedule kinda got freed up. That is, until Nomi decides to tell me what I need to do next," Randy replied as he slipped the book back into his belt, making it seemingly vanish.
Danny hummed. "I guess. I'm kinda failing a couple of my classes right now…"
Jake looked at the League. "Danny's parents don't know, neither do Randy's."
Why not?" Kid Flash blurted out.
Randy pointed to his waist. "Nomi always told me not to before. I swear the book's bipolar."
"My parents are kinda ghost hunters," Danny muttered.
"Dang, you must be seriously overwhelmed," Robin replied.
Danny chuckled nervously. "Something like that. I can see what I can do though. I've been thinking about telling them. My sister keeps telling me I should."
"You know we've got your back man. If they flip their lid, you know my mom and dad would totally take you in," Jake offered.
Danny smiled. "Thanks Jake. I know."
"Yeah, we can overpower them if all of our friends come. It can kinda be like an intervention," Randy expressed.
"Trixie and Sam could whip their butts by themselves to be honest," Jake pointed out.
Danny flushed scarlet and chuckled as Randy started to laugh at the mental image.
"So?" Andam asked with a smile.
Jake, Danny and Randy grinned. "Sure thing," they answered.
"I mean we'll probably make the baddies wet themselves. Who wants to fight a dragon, a ghost, and a super awesome ninja? A total shoob, that's who."
Jake and Danny sighed and rolled their eyes in near synchronization.
Andam nodded to Canary. "We will allow it. We agree that this is a wise step to take. The last thing I will say though is this. If the Observants visit the tower to talk to you about Danny, don't believe a word they say."
Danny froze at the mention of the ghosts.
"Otherwise, if a ghost named Clockwork visits, then you are in good company."
"Who are the Observants?" Superman questioned.
"They are beings similar to us. They govern parts of the Ghost Zone, the mirror to this dimension. However, they don't do nearly as well a job as they used to."
Omina spoke up. "They are somewhat crooked now. They would rather see Danny or any halfa destroyed simply because they are neither ghost nor human. Clockwork on the other hand is Danny's guardian and will give better advice, even if he is not straightforward. Father Time can't give everything away after all."
"Father Time?" Batman pushed.
"Yeah…" Danny murmured.
"No spoilers and all that." Jake shrugged.
"Try to be on your best behavior, kiddos," The League and Team looked down to see a Shar-Pei giving the boys a look. "I don't want to hear about any shenanigans."
"You have so little faith in us, Fu dog!" Randy exclaimed and clutched at his heart. "That hurts me."
"Yeah, sure it does," Fu dog muttered sarcastically.
Artemis sighed and looked at Kaldur. "I'm going to need a long nap after this."
"I very adamantly agree," Kaldur replied softly.
Soon, both groups said their good-byes and departed on good terms.
zz
A week later...
"You're not pulling my leg?"
"Nope."
"You can't be serious."
"Totally."
Danny chuckled at the interaction before popping another salt and vinegar chip in his mouth. "We should just take them to a magical pub sometime. That should answer most of their questions."
Jake grinned. "Yeah, I think you'll be more likely to believe me when a Gnome actually throws a beer mug at your head."
"Nope. He still wouldn't get it through his thick skull," Artemis quipped before she sat herself on a chair within the circle everyone had set up. The members of the Team and the Secret Trio were in the living area next to the kitchen in the Cave.
Wally grumbled angrily.
"Oh this is so interesting. I wonder if some of the folk tales from Mars are true then," M'gann babbled excitedly.
Danny hummed. "We'd have to check the Ghost Zone. Sometimes if you can't find living proof of something, it's ghost can be pretty telling. Ghost Unicorns and Pandora's Realm were how I started to suspect there was more than met the eye."
"So long as we don't visit the Drunken Unicorn Pub again, I don't care what we show them," Randy muttered.
"What, still worried Helga is waiting to bust you up?" Jake grinned eagerly and Danny snickered.
"Shut-up, man! It's not my fault! I had no idea lady dwarfs had beards! She should be more understanding," Randy grumbled and trailed off.
Robin snorted and nearly choked on his soda.
Those with enhanced hearing were the first to look up and spot a fairy drifting down into their midst. The plump creature floated over to Jake. "So uh, I was told coming here was okay?"
"Totally cool, Petite. What's up?" Jake asked, leaning forward.
Petite coughed and pulled out a letter to read. "Says here that the Deer Women Tribe are having some trouble with a strange predator." She looked up at Jake. "Looks like you're going to Oklahoma, Jake."
Jake nodded and stood before stretching. He grinned at the Team as his two friends stood beside him. "Wanna come? Wanna see our world?"
"Once you go magic you never go back~" Randy murmured, wiggling his fingers in an attempt to be ominous.
"Dude, that's nearly insulting," Danny huffed and transformed, now floating a couple inches above the ground.
"That's why, you're going to ride with the Team in the ship while me and Danny fly," Jake joked.
"Ah come on!" Randy grumbled.
"Maybe when the Nomicon teaches you the art of flying, then you can carry your own weight," Danny expressed and shrugged.
"Shoobs," Randy muttered.
"Or you could all ride with us?" Kaldur asked, raising a brow in amusement.
"Ha!" Randy yelped and pointed at Danny and Jake. "Leader says we stick together! I win!"
"You are so embarrassing," Danny sighed.
"Says the Punmaster," Jake stated with a purposeful look at his friend, who then mumbled something under his breath.
"You like puns?" Robin asked with a giant grin.
"No! Say, no!" Wally shouted and desperately looked at Danny, but was greeted with a equally mischievous grin.
"Oh Robin, where have you been all my life?"
"Next to Batman."
"Touché."
"Come on!" Jake shouted, near the hanger.
The group of teens eventually migrated that direction and climbed aboard M'gann's ship.
zz
"So, now what?" Superboy asked as the group gathered around Jake.
"Patience, my friend. Gramps told me that the Deer Women Tribe live just over this hill. Follow me." Jake then transformed, fire whipping around his body as Randy slipped on his mask. The others and Danny were already in uniform. Jake gave a flap of his wings and was then sailing between the trees. Kid Flash was the first to catch up to him.
"You're pretty good at dodging trees for a big lizard," Wally teased.
"Ha ha, dragons can be pretty graceful you know," Jake expressed.
"Not as graceful as a Ninja!~" Randy sung out and flipped from tree to tree. Robin was having fun following right behind him.
"Trees? What trees?" Danny questioned as he flew backwards through the trunks with intangibility.
"Cheater!" Randy snapped and Robin cackled.
"Do you three always do this?" M'gann asked, flying alongside Jake.
"Yeah, we like to tease each other," Jake replied.
"You all seem like close friends," Kaldur expressed and leapt over a fallen trunk.
"Would you believe me if I told you we only met five months ago?" Danny asked.
"Heh, we formed our Team at about that time," Robin revealed.
"Destiny~" Randy chirped and flipped off of a branch with his scarf and landed on Jake, straddling his back.
"Yo! Give me some fair warning next time!" Jake snapped.
"Sah-harrie-" Randy gasped.
"You totally did that on accident, didn't you?" Danny asked with a cocked eyebrow.
"It burns…" Randy groaned.
"Boys," Artemis grumbled.
"I hear hoof-beats," Superboy spoke up as everyone came to a stop on the top of the hill. Below them, they all got a view of a large group of deer which had women torsos on top. They were also very beautiful.
"They're like centaurs, right?" Kaldur asked.
Jake nodded before he lead the group down the hillside. "Hey ladies. The Am. Drag has arrived."
The leader of the herd walked forward and bowed her head. She was the only one that had a large rack of antlers on her head. Her dark brown hair twined around the tree-like antlers and down her back. The antlers themselves has small buds, tiny leaves, and colorful blossoms covering them. "American Dragon, thank goodness you have come." She looked up and bowed. "As well as your old and new friends. The Deer Women Tribe welcome you all. I am Adoette."
"Thank you," Kaldur nodded to show respect.
Jake flared his wings, to make the creatures feel a tad bit safer than they already were. "What seems to be the problem?"
Adoette sighed. "It's terrible. Some werewolf-like beast has been preying on us. So far, no one has been hurt, but we're growing tired and sleep is becoming rare for most of us. It's only a matter of time before he gets past our defenses."
Jake furrowed his brows. "Okay, weird. Do you have anyone that saw him and could give more details?"
Adoette nodded and looked over her shoulder. "Dyani, come." Another deer woman walked forward. She had softer brown hair, was a tad smaller, and had deer ears peeking through her long hair. "Dyani, can you tell the American Dragon and his friends what you saw?"
Dyani nodded. "It was horribly ugly. I've never seen a werewolf so ugly. It had rotting skin, the largest canines I've ever seen, and blood red eyes."
"Rotting skin?" Jake parroted and then nodded. "Sounds like a vrykolakas."
"Gesundheit?" Randy snorted.
Jake shot his friend a look over his shoulder. "It's like an undead zombie werewolf-vampire-thing. Point is, their-"
"Shnasty?" Danny asked and gave Randy a grin.
"You're mocking me."
"Yep."
"The only weird thing is that they're generally only in Europe. I wonder what one's doing here?" Jake questioned aloud.
"I'd imagine we can figure that out after the zombie were-pire is taken care of," Artemis expressed.
"Normally I'd say it's an extraction mission, but vrykolakases are one of the few things that are just easier to destroy," Jake informed.
"Are they kinda like wraiths in that sense?" Danny noted.
"Yeah, their not all that sentient," Jake answered. He gestured with his head. "I'd say that best thing to do is spread out and look for a mound of dirt somewhere. It might look like a fresh grave."
"Why?" M'gann asked.
"That's how they sleep. They dig into the earth."
"Spooky," Randy commented.
The teens said goodbye to Adoette, Dyani, and the rest of the women, as they split into groups of three.
zz
Artemis. Kaldur. Randy.
"This is going to be nearly impossible. We're looking for a mound of dirt in a forest," Artemis spoke up. Randy was on her left and Kaldur, her right.
"All we can do is search for it. If we cannot find it, then we will have to guard the deer women through the night," Kaldur replied.
"Yeah. It'll come to us then," Randy added and twirled his sword in his right hand.
Artemis eyed the boy as he continued the repetitive action. "How many weapons to you actually have?"
Randy paused, bringing the hilt of his sword under his chin as he thought. "I don't know. I haven't counted them all. I'm not even sure I've used them all yet. Nomi kinda likes to hide things from me and the suit's magic so there's not really a limit per say."
"Can you even move the way you do without the suit?" Artemis ask with a bit of an edge.
Randy frowned slightly, one could tell by the slight movement under his mask. "Well, no. It's magic. It's always been magic."
Artemis was about to open her mouth, but Kaldur cut her off. "I believe Artemis is suggesting that it might be wise to learn techniques without the suit to aid you. I'm certain all three of you might benefit from it."
Randy seemed to consider the thought and hummed. "Jake has the most experience with fighting as a civilian, since Lao Shi taught him some things. Danny might know a couple things since his mom is a black belt, but it's just as likely that he doesn't." He grinned up at them. "And I have zero experience!"
Artemis grinned slyly. "You know who you should let teach you?"
"Who?"
"Batman."
Kaldur looked at Artemis in shock before he covered his face with his hand.
"Okay!" Randy replied, without a care in the world.
zz
Superboy. Jake. M'gann.
"So a dirt mound?" M'gann asked.
"Yeah, visually. Me or Superboy might be able to smell him though," Jake explained. He lifted his head and inhaled, flaring his nostrils. Jake then opened his mouth slightly and panted.
"What are you-" M'gann started.
"Using my nose and the glands in my mouth to try and smell or taste our undead friend," Jake muttered.
"He'll smell like a corpse, right?" Superboy questioned.
"Yeah man, pretty much."
"Great. I won't be able to get the smell to leave me for days," Superboy grumbled.
"Finally! Someone gets it! Danny has night-vision and can more easily sense vibrations and electrical charges in the air, but his other senses aren't as sharp. Randy's senses can be turned off like a flippin' light switch!" Jake exclaimed in exasperation.
Superboy grunted before a smile came to his face.
zz
Danny. Robin. Wally.
"I can only guess we're going to have a ruff time finding this guy."
"Yeah, totally might be a pain in the neck."
"There's still a chance we could have a howling good time."
"Yeah no need to be grave about this."
"I guess this were-pire is a real blood hound."
"Agh!" Wally cried out and whirled to face Danny and Robin. "If you two don't stop in the next two seconds, I'm going to loose my mind."
Danny and Robin looked at each other innocently and untroubled.
"Do you think he's weaker to silver or garlic?"
"Not sure. Maybe we need a silver stake that's been dipped in garlic residue."
"Oh, yeah. That should do it."
"That's it!" Wally grumped before he took off through the brush. "I'll search on my own."
Danny and Robin stopped walking when they heard Wally let out a cry of surprise and a loud thump resounded throughout their area.
"I think I found the freakin' massive dirt mound…" Wally grumbled through the mental link that had been silent until then.
Danny and Robin walked up to see Wally nursing his right shin next to a large dirt mound. Danny stepped forward and stuck his head intangibly into the mound and then pulled back out.
"Yeah-up! That's an ugly mutt."
"He on a snooze cruise?"
"Yeah-up."
"Great. Maybe this will be easier than we thought," Robin finished as everyone else slowly arrived.
zz
In short, it wasn't too easy. Jake was very easily able to burn it, but two issues arose from that. First he had to avoid hitting M'gann or getting too close to her. Second, the were-pire would just reanimate and pull itself together. Eventually Danny was able to freeze it, then Randy gave Superboy a ball from his belt and told the kryptonian that it was pure silver, Superboy threw it right through the thing's frozen chest, then Jake burned it's body to a crisp.
"He nearly cur-tail-ed our efforts to stop him," Robin quipped.
"Fur-tunately we prevailed," Danny responded.
"You're good."
"Thanks. You're not bad yourself," Danny replied.
Wally only groaned and the others sighed in exasperation. Randy snickered. "Ha, good one."
"Don't encourage them," Artemis grunted.
zz
A few weeks later…
"Wait, what?" Kid Flash whined slightly.
Batman frowned. "You need to deliver that heart. Everyone else is going to stop the machines that are creating unnatural snowstorms. Did you get it this time?" He then looked at the others while Wally tried to process what he'd been told. "Robin, Aqualad, and Phantom will go help bring down the first, Superboy and Wolf will help Black Canary and Red Tornado with the second, Artemis, Miss Martian, and Zatanna will take the third, Ninja will help the Leaguers on the fourth, and Dragon will go help other Leaguers with the fifth."
"It's the Am. Drag…" Jake murmured in disappointment.
"I doubt you will ever hear him call you that," Robin expressed. Zatanna snickered a bit at the thought.
"But Dragon is so generic."
"What's wrong with generic?" Ninja probed.
"You wouldn't know," Jake quipped.
"Save it for later, boys," Batman cleared his throat and spoke up.
"Who makes weather machines? That's like a saturday morning cartoon villain stunt." Danny joked to the group. He then turned and put a hand on Wally's shoulder. "Run fast and sure or something…"
"Thanks, I guess."
"Hey, buck up. You're saving a life. I exist for that kind of thing."
"Wanna trade?"
"Don't know if I could be fast enough and I don't want to risk Batman's fury," Danny chuckled. "Sorry, man."
Wally grumbled and nodded. "Fine."
"You know your jobs. Dismissed."
When the screen went dead, the teens scattered to get to where they were needed.
That was way more fun than I thought it would be. Jake and Randy also melded more with the Team and the DC world than I had expected them to. By the way, all hail the punmasters.
Tell me what you think.