Author Note:
I'm deeply sorry for posting this filler instead of an actual chapter. I just haven't had enough time to finish writing the next chapter and it's only half finished (It's at roughly 9k words). I 'm not sure if I want to break it up any more than I already have.
So for now you'll have to make do with this short flashback sequence I wrote a while back, but never actually did anything with. It gives a nice look at a few of the Rangers and what they were like awhile back within their own dimension.
Enjoy!
Interlude: What We've Been.
~~Broken Mirrors~~
Roy/Speedy/Bloody Arrow
Roy slipped through the shadows on the docks as he slowly made his way towards the warehouse at the far end. He'd be damned if he didn't manage to stop this smuggling ring that was bringing in dangerous substances into his city.
The guards never knew he was there. At least… not until an arrow entered their eye socket. Roy was well trained. Never miss, never wound unless specifically required too, just silent and quickly kill and move on.
He wasn't called Bloody Arrow for nothing.
As he neared the entrance to the warehouse he noticed a single guard at the door. Deciding against wasting any more arrows he carefully crept as close as he could to the guard.
This wasn't specifically a stealth mission. No reason for them not to know he was coming.
As he stepped out of the shadows and made towards the guard, he could see the nervousness on the guards face.
"H-hey you! Stop where you are!"
Roy ignored the warning and slid his long sword from its sheath. He preferred the bow to anything, but Ollie taught him swordsmanship. You have to know something for being up close and personal.
The guard barely saw it coming. Roy's long sword cut his crossbow into two and his long slender dagger slit open his throat. After sheathing his bladed weapons, Roy wiped a drop of blood off his cheek.
Ergh… disgusting.
The guards inside knew of nothing until he had already emptied half of his quiver. Bodies were dropping like leaves in the fall. His dagger flashed out twice for a couple who got to close. Blood pooled around his feet.
Ten minutes later he walked out of the warehouse and took several steps away.
He chuckled under his breath as the whole place went up in flames. A delayed Fire Arrow, one of his favorites.
He lifted his hand to his mouth and muttered his password to his Ranger Ring.
"This is Bloody Arrow reporting in." Roy sighed and began walking away from the crumbling warehouse "The quest has been a success."
~~Broken Mirrors~~
Kaldur/Water Boy
You would think it is impossible to smoke under water.
Well you're wrong.
Kal slowly swam through the waters around Atlantis, his pipe in one hand, his water bearers on his back and a trident in his hand.
He took a quick draw from his pipe and floated carelessly in his home waters. All was well. He deserved a nice break. Leading the Ranger's wasn't easy. He was going to need a replacement soon. Maybe Robin would be ready in a few years. Maybe he could get Master Bruce to add a few of the more exceptional students from the Academy. There was that Abaddon kid. He was somewhat annoying though. Or that Drow Belir'hacyrd. Dumb name.
Kaldur's ear twitched as he heard a cry of pain floating through the water. His pipe disappeared and he was off as fast as he could swim as fast as the eye could blink.
He reached the origin of the sound in two minutes flat. It wasn't difficult to see what it was coming from. There was a large boat just overhead, in waters that were off limits for those that lived on Land.
Pulling his Water Bearer out with his left hand he used the water to propel himself into the air in front of the ship.
He stood several feet in the air, supported by water, glaring down at the ship full of men daring to fish in illegal waters.
He cleared his throat loudly to get their attention. When all saw him he began speaking.
"Listen dudes… you are in my waters. Water that isn't for you. So like… get out."
The fisherman who seemed to be in charged seemed to get confidence in the fact there was only one Atlantean and twenty of his men. Weapons were out immediately and aimed at the lone boy
"You better get out of our way fish boy, or we're going to gut you like the fish you are."
Kal watched the fishermen disinterestedly. "Calm down dude! No need to get violent! Just listen, don't worry I won't hurt you."
The only answer he got was a harpoon come shooting at his face.
The water around him suddenly surged upwards, stopping its flight in midair just within arm's reach for him. Kal slowly reached out his hand to grab it. When his finger touched the cold metal the tattoos on his body quickly glowed and a wave of electricity suddenly shot down the iron chains.
Kal looked at them somewhat pitifully as he watched several fishermen scream from the sudden pain of having his electricity magic surge through their bodies.
"That was like totally the last warning."
Of course they ignored him… did they ever actually listen?
Kaldur rose closer to the water's edge until he was just ankle deep in it. He gripped his trident in both hands and carefully followed what his King had taught him.
A few moments later there was nothing more than many pieces of wood afloat around him and a couple of men trying to grab ahold of something.
Well, maybe he overdid that wave a bit. He really didn't expect that big shark to come out of it either, though it seemed quite happy munching on a few of the fishermen that dared enter its home.
With his work done Kal sunk back into the water, but not before giving the captain a sly wink as he tried to grab ahold of a floating barrel.
The fish swarmed around Kaldur as he began swimming away, thanking him for the rescue.
Speaking with fish was so cool…
After a few minutes the schools began swimming away, but one remained and looked at him gratefully.
"Thank you water boy. You saved me and my family."
Kaldur smiled and patted the small fish gently before it swam away from him.
It was only later that night when he finally retired into his room and prepared to go to sleep that it hit him.
"Water Boy... Shiiiiiit, man. That sounds awesome."
~Broken Mirrors~
Richie/Robin/Nightwing
Air in Gotham's nights was always cold. Robin gave a bit of a shiver as he watched over his city. He casually tossed a small wing shaped knife into the air and caught it before it plummeted towards the crowded streets below. Even now in the middle of the night Gotham still bustled with activity.
That was to be expected anyways. It was nearly summer solstice and everyone was hurrying to prepare for the great holiday. Bruce himself was overseeing some large preparation for Gotham's festival as he watched over the city.
Usually Barbra would be with him, but she had to go on some quest with Mistress Canary… they always left him out of the fun things.
Not that he minded anyways. They'd probably bore him.
It wasn't long before he was able to get in some action. Within seconds of hearing shouts Robin had bounded off his perch and soared gracefully through the air.
His acrobatic background was evident as he summersaulted and set fly to his grappling hook. Soaring down the wide streets was particularly enjoyable in the brisk late spring air.
It was only another moment before he landed with the midst of a large group of men attempting to rob a large rich man's carriage.
Robin, true to his bird name, sat perched on the top of the carriage, listening calmly to the screams of what was probably a rich fat man inside as the thieves tried to break open the door.
"You know if you used a crow bar it would probably open quicker." Richie said, composedly watching them.
The four thieves quickly back away and watched the young boy warily. He might not have been Robin for too long, (what has it been? Two years now?), but they knew who he was.
"How about you just go on and fly away little birdie. No reason for anyone to get hurt here." One of them said nervously. If the brat was here, usually the Bat was as well. No one wanted to deal with that. Wayne was supposed to be overlooking the festival preparations, wasn't he?
Robin counted four thieves. One axe, two swords and a bow. Shouldn't be too difficult, he might even be able to have fun with this.
"Uh… how about you guys… er get on the ground and drop your weapons?" he said, faking uneasiness. Best to throw them off guard now while he still could.
The four thieves seemed to gain confidence with his fake nervousness.
He assumed so because they shot an arrow at him.
Robin rolled across the carriage, landing on his feet near the front where a horse should have been tied to it. These guys planned somewhat better than your run of the mill thief.
That didn't stop Richie from flinging his knife at the one with a bow. His arrow cut through the air and sliced the archer across the front of his face.
"Whoops. My hands are a bit shaky… seems I missed." Robin said in a mocking voice.
He ducked under one blade, hearing in becoming embedded in the side of the carriage. There was also a shriek from the inside, but who really cares.
Another knife was in his hand as he dodged the second swordsman. His quickly planted his foot in the man's chest and used it as a springing board to launch himself back on top of the carriage and out of the way of another arrow. Without hesitation he flung the second knife at the axe wielder, placing it neatly into his thigh.
He then jumped off the carriage, over all the melee fighters and landed in front of the archer. A batarang made quick work of his bow string.
A loud cackled escaped him as the archer attempted to attack him with what was now just a large wooden stick.
He swept the man's feet out from under him and grinned as his head smacked against the stone paved ground. He turned in time to use his batarang to deflect a sword that would have relieved his shoulders of his head. He backed a few steps away and the batarang flew from his hand, hitting the second swordsman in the back as he struggled to get his sword free. He promptly collapsed to the ground.
A quick boot to the face made sure his would be decapitator probably wouldn't be awake for a while. Ignoring the groans of the axe wielder who was kneeling on the ground cradling his leg that had a knife jutting from it, he made his way to the carriage. He had just reached out to knock on its door when something felt off to him
A scream made him pause and turn around,
Exactly to see an axe making its trajectory towards him.
His back bent down so far low he could have sworn he felt his hair touch the ground. He looked up to see the cracking wood of the carriage door over him swing open as the thief removed his axe from the door.
The nauseating smell of urine emitted from the now open carriage, almost making Richie vomit right then and there.
But instead his mind was a bit more focused on the fact that the axe was heading in such a way it would probably slice him in half.
He would have been a moment too late if it wasn't for the black arrow that shot out of darkness and hit the axe's shaft, throwing its course off before hitting him.
Another arrow was right after it, this of shooting through the thief's chest, its red shining head sticking through two of his ribs.
The thief dropped to the ground with screams of pain as Robin stood up and looked around to see where it came from.
"You got careless." A sharp voice said from his right side.
Robin turned and peered into the darkness. Staring back at him was a pair of purple eyes. Everything else was covered in shadows. Whether naturally or by magic Richie didn't know.
"Yeah, I did. Probably should have taken him down first."
"Kill me now!" The thief screamed from the floor "Oh gods, the pain."
Robin sighed and crouched down next to the thief.
"You see now… usually I would kill you, but I don't believe in putting down animals. So I'm just going to let you stay here. While I go have a chat with my friend over there."
Richie stood up and made to walk off. Before he disappeared into the shadows as well, he dropped another knife in front of the owner of the carriage and with a wink, he was gone.
~Broken Mirrors~
"You know I had him." Robin said playfully, sitting within the shadows of an alley.
The mysterious purple pair of eyes next to him twinkled "I know you did. I was just bored."
"What brings you into my city? You know Bruce will try to kill you if he even so much as hears a peep from you."
"I'm here on business." Was all the answer he received and even that was in a particularly flat tone.
"I hope it didn't include killing anyone. You know I have to try and stop you if you did." Robin said seriously "I can't have mercenaries just killing whoever they want in my city."
"I haven't killed anyone yet."
"Yet?"
"Mhm…"
"Then when are you going to kill someone?"
There was a soft sound of rustling clothes and then a large explosion
"Now."
Robin stared out into the street. Fire shot into the air. About six blocks away there was a large town burning in purple fire, pouring off enough smoke to create another hole in the ozone layer.
"You son of a bitch! You were distracting me!"
Robin shouting, spinning around with a knife in his hand, prepared to skewer his friend.
But the purple eyes were gone.
Robin growled and pulled out his grappling hook
"I swear to Corellon himself, I'm going to kill that bastard.
~Broken Mirrors~
Con-El/Berserker
"Yohoho, Drink up me hearties Yoho!"
Con-el, Also known as Connie to his friends, or Berserker amongst the more battle drawn circles, was city in a bar. A large mug of mead in one hand was all he needed. Well… maybe he needed many. He wasn't a normal dwarf. He was an Azer dwarf like his father. He just didn't have all of the cool fire powers yet.
And it seriously wasn't his fault that some drunkard bumped into him. Really wasn't. The fact that he was on his eighteenth drink… yeah, that was his fault.
And his was his fault that that very same drunkard when flying through the bar.
And the wall behind it.
And the house behind that
The chaos that erupted after that also had nothing to do with him.
Seriously. Nothing!
Not the sixteen broken tables, eight broken legs, five holes in the walls, one third of the bar, and the dead guy.
"Really, father! Nuffin, whatsoever! I was just dere for a sm'll cup o' mead! I didna' do anytin to the dumb man that now 'as on'y seven toes!"
~Broken Mirrors~
Agni
Shadows moved, shadows swayed with the ever moving light of the world, but there was one shadow that only to a very trained eye that didn't
Well, better said, rarely.
But now was one of the times it did, it slowly moved along the shadows surrounding the nighttime roofs of a lonely manor, a good days travel from Glundorion.
Purple eyes scanned their surroundings expertly watching for even the most slightest of movements that weren't their own.
A slight glow suddenly came off of the black gemmed ring on his finger; it disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
The shadowed figure paused as he listened to his quest. It was pretty simple overall. Master Slade would have enjoy it.
Stupid Deathstroke… such an annoyance, making him go alone, but whatever. Someone had to stall the Guild
Agni slowly crept to the edge of the roof and peered down. The manor was large and sprawled around him.
Four guards. One with a bow, two with swords a fourth with an axe… that's way to simple. There must be more somewhere.
Agni gently climbed down the wall into the large open court of the many he was currently slipping into. He ducked behind a large bush as a patrolling guard strolled by and made himself as still as possible.
The guard glanced at the bush suspiciously for a moment before continuing his patrol.
Agni slowly exhaled. That was the fifth guard it seemed.
Okay if there's one patrolling this way there is probably another patrolling around the other side and a third at the gate and at least one more at the back gate. That makes a minimum of eight guards outside. From my sources there are another five inside. This still seems a bit too easy. No matter, I only have an hour until sunrise. I need to be in, out and well on my way to the rendezvous point before then.
Agni bow was notched with an arrow before he even finish his thoughts and a black arrow was in the air by the time he was. The guard holding the bow slunk to the floor with an arrow in his throat, giving one last scream of death.
The cloaked intruder cursed as he slipped his bow over his shoulder. He missed the guard's voice box. This was going to be trouble.
Almost immediately the patrolling guard doubled back and called out into the darkness, holding his torch high, casting light across the courtyard.
Agni quickly popped out of the bush, his hidden dagger already sliding out of his bracer. It left a faint trail of red across the guard's throat as Agni pulled the unsuspecting guard into the bushes.
He was to slow. He heard a shout from his left and the sound of pounding feet as light was suddenly cast upon his hiding spot.
With a curse sneering from his lips he quickly jumped out and dashed at them. His blade cleared its scabbard quickly and sunk through the chest of the first guard before he spun around and deflected an axe away from his head.
A evil grin spread across his face as he squared off against the last five guards.
Too easy.
~Broken Mirrors~
Windows weren't even trapped? What kind of criminal was this? This was amatureish beyond anything Agni had seen before.
The house was dark as he crept through it. Eight more guards fell to his blades as they hurriedly ran around trying to find the threat. It seemed his sources were a bit off.
After a quick search of the house he found it to be empty. The family that was supposed to be occupying it seemed to have fled.
That was what he thought until he found the hidden passage way behind the bookcase. Seriously did criminals have any originality anymore?
It was lighted up with several torches so there was no way for him to sneak in. He simply walked quietly, listening for footsteps and making sure his own weren't echoing off the walls of the narrow passage.
Around a bend was a large wooden door. In front of it was a guard looking particularly fearsome. Probably a decent enough fighter.
Agni never would find out. He might have been told to infiltrate sneakily, but if they already knew he was there, what was the harm of a big bang?
Agni winced as the loud noise hurt his sensitive ears.
Really big bang…
Making a mental note to add less explosive black-powder to his grenades as he slipped through what was a large wooden door a moment ago; Agni surveyed what was in front of him. The room had no other visible exits.
He sidestepped a simple sword thrust and backhanded the metal blade away. Whoever was holding it was barely a novice because it went clattering to the floor.
There was a shriek as Agni took another step forward.
Two children, probably about his age were hiding behind their mother back away into a corner while another older boy tried to lunge at him with a dagger.
Agni's own dagger came out and stabbed the older boy through the arm. Another metal blade clattered to the floor followed by a somewhat more masculine shriek of pain.
Agni casually glanced at a pocket watch. Twenty minutes left. Better hurry this up.
"Where is he?" he said simply, staring directly at the mother.
"Get out of here you monster! Leave us alone!"
Agni sighed. He looked at the mother with an annoyed expression underneath his hood.
And then promptly kicked the already bleeding boy in the ribs.
There was unmistaken crack as the boy screamed in pain and collapsed to the floor.
"I'll ask again. Where is he? You have exactly five seconds."
Agni slowly counted to five and waited for an answer. He received none.
He cleared the distance between them in two steps and now stood directly in front of the three cowering people.
"I'll ask one more time because I'm in a somewhat generous mood." Agni said "I don't like High Elves so this is probably going to be your last chance. Where. Is. He?"
Agni's purple eyes grew visible from within his dark hood and stared into that of the mother's. He could see clear defiance in them.
Agni audibly sighed and made them see stars.
His eye twitched in annoyance at the screams of the two other children.
Seriously… that's pathetic. They are old enough to not do things like that. They're probably even older than me.
"Now. I'm done being generous. Now is when I get angry." Agni said loudly, his dagger slowly slid from its sheath, glimmering red in the torch light. "I would have done this the easy way, but-"
"Move the goblet!"
Agni paused and gazed at the kid who spoke
"If you move the goblet to the other side of the dresser it will reveal a hidden doorway." The child explained quickly
Agni turned around to see a dresser that was hidden by the door as he entered. He mentally kicked himself for missing such a thing and walked towards it.
He took three steps before he heard footsteps behind him. He whipped around just in time to stop the younger boy from trying to stab him in the back.
Agni twisted the knife from the boys hand and kicked it across the floor. He held the boy securely for a moment as he wondered what to do.
He stared the boy in the eye and leaned in close to whispered into the boy's ear
"You might be a good kid, but that doesn't mean I won't kill you painfully. I'm going to let you go now so listen carefully. Your father is working for bad people. Really bad people. And it severely angering the good people. So grab your sister over there, possibly your mother as well, and get the hell out of here, because in about fifteen minutes this place is going to be stormed by the Empire, most likely the Shinobi because the Guild is too busy with more important things. Ninjas aren't known for their mercy so they are undoubtedly going to slaughter anyone that I didn't. So I suggest you get a going now. Head east for Glundorion. Maybe Gotham if you can make it. I would run fast. Leave your brother. He seems like an asshole, you're better off without him."
The kid nodded fearfully and within a moment he was gone with his sister and mother.
Agni dashed over to the dresser quickly, he was wasting too much time.
He carefully slid the cup over the dresser and held his breath, praying silently to himself that it wasn't a trap.
It wasn't. There was a click and a section of the wall slid inwards.
Agni smirked and made for the entry.
He paused for a moment and looked at the cup. It was gold and studded with several gemstones. He crept closer to it and eyed it carefully and gave a low whistle. Lots of gemstones. He carefully picked it up and it disappeared into his cloak. He nodded with satisfaction and dashed down the hidden passage.
~Broken Mirrors~
An hour later he stood on a hill a long distance away from the manor. Staring through a pair of magical glasses.
Shinobi were crawling all over the manor, searching for something very carefully.
Agni rolled onto his back and pulled a large scrolled out of his pouch. He opened it carefully and held it up to block the sun out of his face.
Another low whistle came from his mouth as he saw the battle plans for an attack on the empire. They were well laid out. Deathstroke was going to be very happy with having this. The Guild would pay enough for a nice long vacation for both of them.
With a satisfied sigh Agni rolled it back up and stood up. With a visible jaunt to his step he walked over to his horse and leaned against it.
On the ground next to it was a tall High Elf tied up and glaring at Agni with hatred.
Agni looked at the man impassively before slowly drawing his blade.
"You should not have tried to betray the Empire. What did you hope to get from it?"
The man didn't answer him, only kept on glaring.
Agni sighed again, this time less satisfactory. "What is it with your family and not answering my question? Do you have a death with?"
"I'll tell you nothing!"
Agni smiled "I don't need you too. You're useless to me now that I have the battle plans."
"You can't stop us! The Drow are on our side! They'll come for you!"
Agni took a step closer and crouched over the man. His left hand slowly crept up to his hood and he pulled it off.
The look on the man's face was pure fear.
"D-D-Drow!"
Agni nodded and his red eyes stared into the man's brown ones.
"Oh yes, I'm a Drow. How do you like them apples?"
~Broken Mirrors~
Agni slowly rode away from the now headless body of the traitor. The head itself was sitting comfortably within a sack inside of his portable hole. It's terrified expression still etched into its features.
A small smirk was on Agni's own face as he lifted his ring and mentally called his Mentor.
"What is it, brat? It better be good… I'm busy"
"The quest was a success. I got everything required."
"Oh? And how was the prize?"
"Master… We totally hit the jackpot!"
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