Titans In A Strange Land
A/N: I just went to Disneyland with several dozen friends to celebrate the birthday of one of them. We had a theme and ran away with it…Disney character gender swap! Pick a character opposite your gender and go to town with the interpretation. This is pretty much a fictionalised (character wise at least) account of what happened. Our Maleficent actually looks like what I'd picture an adult Damian Wayne looks like…only shorter…lol
Iris dashed into the office next to her and Damian's and grinned. "Okay you two aren't busy at the moment," she said to a startled Tim and Tam. "Lian's twenty first is coming up and she wants to have it in Disneyland."
"Good luck getting Damian or your brother to cooperate," Tim teased.
"We're planning this all behind their backs so when the time comes, they're out-voted a million to one," Iris smirked.
"How much of this has been planned?" Tam asked.
"Quite a bit already," Iris replied. "And there's gonna be a theme." She grinned as Tim and Tam both raised curious eyebrows at her. "Gender swap! Pick a character opposite your gender and run with it!"
"Dibs on Zazu from the Lion King!" Tam declared.
"I love you," Iris laughed. "I thought I was going to be the only animal character. I'm doing Nemo," she twirled her finger in her fiery locks and waggled her eyebrows.
Tim closed his eyes and leaned his head back in thought. "The three fairy godmothers in Sleeping Beauty…one of them wears red…"
"Flora," Tam and Iris replied.
"The one who gifted her with beauty," Tam added
Tim waved his hand at the two women and said that he'd be Flora. "Chris will be happy then. He's doing Tinker Bell," Iris added. Tim and Tam laughed out loud. "And Damian will be Maleficent, whether he wants to be or not."
"That is so perfect it hurts," Tam gasped between laughing fits. Iris continued telling the other two of the plans and added that the following weekend, the team would have an official planning party at the Tower. There, they would let Jai and Damian know in no uncertain terms that they were playing along, or else.
The following weekend, Chris, Jai, and Lian arrived at the Tower and Jai immediately became suspicious when he spied his parents chatting with Roy and Donna. "You're up to something," he accused Lian.
"Yep. Deal with it," Lian dismissed and went to greet her father.
"I detect evil afoot," Damian murmured as he came to stand next to Jai and Chris.
"Oh yeah…this ought to be good," Jai muttered. Chris fought to keep from laughing out loud at the pair of them.
Lian went to the centre of the room and got everyone's attention. "Okay folks, here's the deal. My twenty first is coming up in five weeks and we're all going to celebrate it in Disneyland!"
"Bullshit," Jai stated.
"Hell no," Damian added.
Lian rolled her eyes and held her hand up. "All in favour, say aye." All but two hands went up. "You're out voted, so tough shit."
"We just endured Disneyworld last year and you're going to turn around and make me go through this?" Jai accused his sister.
"Shut up," Lian told him. "I need a Mulan to my Li Shang and you're it."
"Huh?" Jai gaped at her. "Mulan?" he asked, pointing to his chest.
"And for those who don't know, that's the theme for this shindig. Gender swap! Pick a character opposite of your gender and run with it," Lian declared.
"Pre or post army?" Jai asked.
"Whatever floats your boat," Lian replied.
"I could be convinced," Jai murmured. "Of course I'd be more on board if you had picked Shan Yu," he added. Lian glared at Sin.
"Someone beat her to it," Sin smirked, buffing her nails on her top.
"So it's you and me against her?" Jai asked, pointing at Sin. Lian nodded.
"Traitor," Damian growled playfully.
"Don't worry, D. We picked the most sinister, evil, bad ass for you," Lian smirked. "Maleficent."
"Who?" Damian asked.
"The reason Sleeping Beauty has a plot," Barbara laughed. "And that I would pay to see."
"No kidding, right?" Tam grinned.
Tim saw the look on Damian's face and smirked. "I might be able to make this worth your while," he offered.
"Doubtful," Damian retorted, folding his arms across his chest.
"I'm going with one of the fairy godmothers in Sleeping Beauty who is nowhere near as powerful as Maleficent."
"The character chosen for me is your superior?"
"Well not in morality, but yeah," Tim replied.
"Done," Damian agreed.
"That was easier than you thought it would be," Dick commented.
"Nope. I knew that once I gave him a detail or two, he'd take the bait," Tim grinned.
Dick's hand shot up. "As the only Roma in the room, I've got dibs on Esmeralda!"
"Need a Quasi?" Barbara volunteered.
"You offering?" Dick grinned. Barbara nodded. "I have my Quasimodo. Thanks Babs," he said and leaned down to kiss her cheek.
"Getting you into a skirt has never really been that hard, Grayson" Roy commented. Barbara howled in laughter as Dick glared at Roy. "I'm just saying," Roy smirked.
Cerdian leaned towards Milagro, Traci, and Jaime as Roy and Dick had it out. "I'm not at all familiar with any of these characters," he pointed out.
Milagro chuckled and held up a hand. "No problemo, Ese. All we need to do to you is add a little make up below your left eye."
"There's a female character, who has snow white hair, blue eyes, and happens to be Atlantean," Traci giggled.
"And royalty," Jaime added. "And has magic powers."
"I'll show you the movie later," Milagro promised. "Trust me, you'll love Kida."
"I take it, you'll be employing that hat of yours for the Mad Hatter?" Garth asked Donna. Donna Troy had found a leather hat perfect for the character years ago and had customised it.
Donna nodded. "Uh-huh…who are you thinking of doing?"
Garth smirked. "Ursula."
Traci snapped her fingers and looked at Cassie and Donna. "Okay Amazons, here's the deal. For you ladies, I know my choice can be kinda personal, but I call dibs on Hades. So how about it? We kiss, we schmooze, and we all go home happy," she said in a fair impersonation of the character.
"She would be the perfect Hades too," Cassie laughed.
"She would," Donna agreed.
"Just know that I was already planning on Hercules," Cassie told Traci.
Characters were decided upon and Lian explained the premise of her idea. "Spot on costumes won't be allowed but something in the spirit of, is okay." Plans were made and arrangements set in place. The weekend of Lian's birthday rolled around and they spent the morning getting ready for a day at the park.
"Do you need to employ glitter?" Damian asked as Iris touched her tongue to her upper lip and made up his eyes.
"Wait till you see what I did to Chris," she promised. "And we are done!"
"I need to see this…whoa," Lian gaped. Damian had on black slacks, a black button down, with a plum coloured vest and tie. Damian shot her a withering look as he tucked a black pocket square into his vest. "Oh my God, how perfect was that choice?"
"Right?" Iris grinned. "Gimme a second here," she added and dashed off to change into her outfit.
"Where did you find an orange and white striped dress?" Lian laughed. She adjusted one of the sleeves on her black and white Chinese style tunic.
"Cute right?" Iris agreed, and did a twirl.
Jai came out and frowned at the red sash in his hands. "Can one of you two tie me o…god damn," he gaped at Damian. "You sure you want let him loose looking like that?" Jai asked his sister.
"It's terrifying?" Damian asked.
"No. You're drop dead gorgeous," Jai admitted. The door to the adjoining room opened and Chris poked his head in.
"Wow!"
"Please tell me I don't require wings?" Damian pleaded, spying the green wings Chris was wearing.
"Maleficent is too evil for wings," Kon assured him. "I could hear this down the hall and needed to check it out."
"Looking good Megara," Lian grinned. He was wearing a loose lavender shirt and jeans with a pair of sandals. Cassie had sprayed temporary purple hair colour into his black hair.
"Wait'll you see Herc," Kon winked. "She glittered the hell out of your hair," he added to his kid cousin. Chris was wearing black jeans with a black shirt and green vest and tie.
"And I come with pixie dust," Chris grinned, holding up a vial of glitter.
"You did Tim up too?" Kon asked Iris. She nodded and he took off to see his friend.
"That works," Tim admitted, as Tam stepped out in a white top and skirt with a sheer duster in tie dyed blues.
"I'm digging the orange fishnets Irey found," Tam admitted. "And you are absolutely gorgeous," she added. Tim had on black slacks, a black vest and tie, with a red button down. "Need a hand getting the wings on?" she asked and he accepted. The door opened allowing Kon in to admire his friend.
"Nice. I see Irey had a theme in mind when it came to fairies," Kon grinned. Tim accepted a pair of long linen scarves from Tam and draped them loosely around his neck.
"I have to admit, I like it," Tim agreed.
"Does she need help with Damian?" Tam asked.
Kon shook his head no. "He is beautiful. I mean wow!" He leaned back to look down the hall when he heard a door open and raised an appreciative eyebrow. Jason Todd was wearing a form fitting black suit with a white shirt and black tie.
"I've already got the naturally occurring skunk stripe, so who else would I be?" Jason asked. "Tam please tell me…thank you," he added as she tossed him a zip lock bag with accessories.
"You'll find a dalmatian tie pin and a dalmatian print fuzzy cuff in there, Cruella," Tam teased as Jason ripped open the bag and put on the various bracelets and items Tam had provided.
"You're a doll, Tam. Captain Cass Sparrow is almost ready too," Jason informed them, sliding on a pair of red fingerless gloves.
"Did you and Babs have to tone Cass down?" Tim asked.
"And Dick," Jason replied, fastening the last of the spiked cuffs Tam had provided onto his wrist. "They were both a little too perfect with their outfits."
Tam snapped her fingers and pointed at Jason. "Ian made the map pendants for Dick and Babs…I think he still has them."
"I'll go and get them," Jason offered. He headed down the hall to the room he knew Cerdian would be in.
"Damn Ese," Jaime chuckled when he opened the door to Jason's knock.
"Dory to Irey's Nemo?" Jason asked, as he took in Jaime's look.
"Yup," Jaime replied. He closed the door behind Jason and went to put on a pair of yellow sneakers and yellow fingerless gloves. "And done!" Jaime had on a pair of black jeans and a blue tee with a black shirt left open over the tee.
Jason stared slightly slack jawed at Cerdian as Milagro finished putting the final touches on his face. "Damn." Cerdian was wearing a loose pale denim shirt over a dark blue tank top with a darker pair of jeans.
"We had to tone it down a bit," Milagro admitted, as she put the final touches on Cerdian's facial tattoos.
"And Hades," Jaime chuckled, jerking his thumb towards the bathroom.
A wolf whistle came from the direction of the bathroom and Jason had to laugh. "Looking good Cruella," Traci commented. She had on a mini skirt and crop top in dark grey with a gauzy wrap pinned to her shoulder with a skull pin. Traci's hair had light blue highlights throughout it to complete the look.
"Not too bad yourself Hades," Jason chuckled. "Anyway, you apparently…that's what I came here for, thanks," he added as Cerdian wandered over and held out two necklaces he'd made. "How accurate are these?" he asked, noticing the detail Cerdian had put into them.
"The streets, river, and bridges are spot on," Cerdian admitted. "I drove myself nuts putting them together too, because I wanted them to be perfect."
"They'll love them," Jason admitted, admiring the intricate pendants.
"Babs' is the silver one and Dick's is the gold one," Cerdian added, rooting around with his toes under the bed looking for his flip flops.
"Traci, can you tie me up?" Milagro asked, handing over a corset.
"Not too snug, I assume?" Traci added, as Milagro adjusted the flowing green vest she had on.
"Hell no," Milagro agreed.
Jason snapped his fingers and pointed at Milagro. "The dude in Tangled." Milagro had a white shirt on under the vest and brown slacks and boots.
"Got it in one," Milagro grinned. Jason said he'd see them in a bit and after thanking Cerdian for the pendants, he returned to the suite he was sharing with Cassandra, Barbara, and Dick.
"Courtesy of His Royal Highness, the Prince of Atlantis," Jason stated, handing the pendants over to Barbara and Dick.
"They're beautiful," Barbara commented. She slipped the hand knotted cord over her neck and tucked the pendant into her top. She was wearing sage green leggings with a bright green tunic dress over it.
Dick fiddled with his mobile for a moment as he pulled up a picture of the pendants from the movie. "They're perfectly spot on," he grinned.
"Ian said that he went nuts making sure that they were," Jason told them. Dick slipped his on and tucked it into the half unbuttoned white shirt he had on. He was also wearing a pair of purple trousers and had a beaded sash tied around his waist for a belt.
"Cass, are you…you have the stagger down too?" Barbara asked
"Of course, Darling," Cassandra teased. She spied her plastic pirate sword and slipped it into the sash around her waist. Cassandra's costume was a form fitting version of Jack Sparrow's.
Downstairs outside the lobby, several of the Titans were gathering. "How many pirates are we going to have for this shindig?" Kara asked, admiring Lorena's interpretation of Captain Hook. Lorena had a red velvet corset top on with flowing sleeves and black pants and boots.
"A few," Lorena replied, slipping her mobile into her bodice. "How did you get your hair to look like Rufio's?" Kara had dark hair with streaks of red shot through it. It matched the black and red outfit she'd put together.
"I had Garth magic it," Kara replied. "He figured out how to do it and not short circuit the whole Kryptonians and magic not mixing thing," she added at Lorena's questioning look. She turned her head towards the door as she heard others arriving.
"That's so cool," Lorena grinned as Donna and Roy came out to join them. Donna had on her hat along with a black skirt and boots. Her top was violet and she had a black waistcoat on over it.
"It's not like I could do Robin Hood," Roy smirked.
"No. But you do make a dashing Merida," Kara admitted. Roy had on a loose dark green peasant's shirt with dark green jeans. He had a large Celtic knot belt buckle as well as a Celtic knot design on his bow and arrow quiver props.
"Hey Roy? What is your daughter's problem that she insisted on gender swapping?" Wally asked as he and Linda joined them. Wally had on a white shirt with the sleeves partially rolled up and a pair of teal trousers, while Linda had on dark jeans with a red belt and a cropped white top.
"She's Jade's kid…nice Ariel!" he laughed when he got a good look at his old friend.
"You make a smoking hot Eric," Donna complimented Linda.
"So says the equally smoking Mad Hatter," Linda replied. She suddenly gaped and pointed behind Donna. Donna turned and grinned as Garth headed over to join them.
"I love how you implied the tentacles!" Donna gushed, fingering the lightweight trench coat Garth was wearing.
"Mila had a ball putting this together for me," Garth chuckled. "The moon…good choice," he added, noticing the tarot card Donna had tucked into the brim of her hat.
"The card of madness," Donna winked. "Mila made this for you?" she added, admiring the coat.
"The coat and the shirt," Garth replied. They were primarily black, with a lavender trim on the top of the tee and lavender sleeves.
Cassie and Kon joined them and Donna praised them for their outfits. "And the funny thing is that the relatives love that flick," Cassie smirked. She had on a bronze colour mini dress with a blue cardigan and sandals.
"Oh my God…Mom you babe!" Jai declared when he saw his parents in their outfits.
"Thank you Honey, oh you're cute," Linda told Jai. He had on dark leggings with a Chinese style tunic in various shades of green. He shook his head and gave her a look before something poked him in the back.
"Hi Sin," he muttered.
"Hey yourself," she smirked. She stepped out from behind him and slid her toy sword back into her belt.
"Somehow I don't think Huns wore corsets," Linda teased, admiring the costume Sin had put together.
Sin shrugged. "I was told to tone it down a little."
"She looked a little too spot on with the fur trim," Mia added as she and Connor Hawke joined them.
"Elsa and…" Linda asked, pointing first to Connor and then Mia. Connor had on jeans and a light blue shirt. Mia had applied a very fine glitter to his hair to imply frost. She was wearing darker jeans with a lighter blue top and boots. Like some of the other sword wielders, she also had a toy sword.
"John Smith," Mia grinned. She looked around and did a head count. "Where are Tarzan and Jane?"
"Court and Bart went over to get the tickets. They're waiting for us at the park," Roy told her.
Bart and Courtney were easy enough to spot near the main entrance to the park. Bart had on dark green cargo pants and a yellow shirt, while Courtney was wearing a russet coloured tee with brown cargo pants and a loincloth. She had a little toy gorilla poking out of her backpack. Bart handed over a credit card Tim had lent him as Courtney began handing out tickets.
"Here, they gave us this for you," Bart told Lian, handing over a large badge that read Happy Birthday on it. Lian thanked him and accepted a permanent marker from Iris to write her name in the space provided.
"I still say that the parents should have brought their little ones," Jason grinned.
"You just wanted to dress your nephew up as a prop," Tam snorted. Jason gave her a duh look.
"Nina's barely two months old, Mate…not happening," Traci added.
"You'd have been left to reign them in, if we had," Bart smirked.
Tim's face scrunched up in laughter. "Admit it, they'd have made cute dalmatian puppies."
"You're almost as twisted as your crazy ass brother, Ese," Jaime scoffed.
"They would have been cute," Courtney agreed. "But Alia's with my folks in Nebraska."
"So where to first, Lian?" Roy asked after everyone made it through the gate.
Lian raised her arms above her head and pointed up. "Pirates of the Caribbean! And we are singing sea shanties!"
"The line's not that long," Barbara commented when they got to the attraction. "There's twenty nine of us, right?"
"Yes," Damian told her and did a double count with Iris to make sure. "There are twenty nine of us."
"Gypsy boy and I will go up and make sure we can get a boat for all of us," Barbara stated, and patted her wheelchair. "We'll just wait for you guys to go through the line."
"We might be taking up two of them," Dick told his wife as they got to the area for handicapped guests.
"Hi, we're with a rather large group," Barbara told the attendant. She offered to let them cut the line and Barbara and Dick waved her off. "We'll wait for them, the line's not that long." The attendant let her co-worker know that Barbara and Dick would be waiting for their group to meet up with them before getting on.
"There's twenty nine of us," Dick replied, when asked about how many they were waiting for and pointed to where they were.
"Is there enough chlorine in that water?" Cerdian winced as they got closer.
"There is," Garth agreed, and reached into his coat to retrieve a water bottle to hand to his son.
"Thanks Dad," Cerdian said. Garth acknowledged him with a nod as he took a long drink from his own bottle.
"You two okay?" Linda asked. Garth and Cerdian nodded that they would be fine.
"The chlorine fumes are a bit thick for us underwater types," Lorena added. "Not so bad for me, but then I'm not native born like they are."
"The venting's good then, because it doesn't seem like it," Jason commented, taking a deep breath through his nose.
As they got to the front of the line, the boat ahead of the one they would be taking still had a few empty seats. "How many of you are there?" Roy asked the young couple behind him.
"There's three of us," the young woman replied and placed an arm around her little sister. Roy whistled and indicated to his teammates to let the trio go ahead of them.
"Thanks!" the little sister of the woman said.
"Okay, this is us," Dick said and lifted Barbara from her chair and easily got onto the boat with her.
They pulled forward slightly so the rest of their group could join them. The got settled and the boat lurched forward. Lian and Roy started singing about drunken sailors and soon almost everyone else was singing along. Connor Hawke was howling in laughter when the disembodied voice of one of the attendants came out through a skull asking them to keep it down. They quieted down slightly until about the middle of the ride where animatronic pirates were singing the song that they'd been asked to tone down. They silenced as they came near the end. Jason had slipped in next to Barbara at the beginning, at the end he lifted her out and set her back into her chair.
"First gig of the day and we're already being told to shut up," Jai laughed.
"This trip is officially a success!" Lian crowed.
"So are we going to have lunch first or do the group pic?" Tam asked, indicating Cinderella's Castle.
"How are you three holding up?" Lian asked the trio of speedsters.
"We can do the picture and then lunch," Wally told her.
There was a high school band getting their photo taken and they had a few minutes to wait. While they were waiting, Lian demanded that she get a picture of Chris, Damian, and Tim together. "I need a fairy picture!" Lian got her mobile out and Donna took out her camera. Damian folded his arms across his chest and gave them a perfectly raised eyebrow as Chris and Tim hammed it up for the camera. "D, I'm worried that you have this evil thing down pat," Lian grinned.
"It's in the blood," Damian smirked. Donna got one more where Damian got in between Chris and Tim as if separating them. Lian nearly choked at the pout on Chris' face as Tim made a fist at Damian.
"For somebody with a loathing dislike of all things Disney, you've definitely got the character down pat," Donna told Damian.
"Yet another reason we decided on Maleficent for him," Iris piped up. "Damian just be yourself while we dress you up a bit."
"Okay gang, we're up," Cassie called out to the others.
The park photographers commented on their outfits and asked what the occasion was. Lian said it was her birthday and they wished her a happy birthday before taking several shots with the castle behind them. "Now in character!" one of the photographers suggested and was handsomely rewarded.
Pirates and warriors drew toy weapons and menaced each other while a god hammed it up in front of a demi god and her human interest. Cassie fought the urge to laugh as Traci playfully flirted with Kon. Atlantean sorcerers eyed each other menacingly, while a pair of fish hammed it up with a mermaid and his human princess. A hatter did card tricks with a pair of gypsies while a trio of fairies and an ice king squared off against each other. A psychotic socialite eyed up the plumage of an unamused hornbill.
Bart had a sketchpad out and was drawing away furiously when Courtney leaned her head back and gave a famous call. She got a loud round of applause from the photographers, her teammates, and many of the guests lingering around awaiting their turn in front of the castle.
"I've got a photo pass, so I'll get the copies and email them out later," Donna offered.
"Take a bow Tarzan, because that kicked ass," Milagro complimented Courtney. She laughed as she doubled over in a deep bow for her audience.
"The veranda of the café's pretty empty," Bart pointed out and they made their way over for lunch.
Barbara told Dick what she wanted as she wheeled over to one of the larger tables to hold it. Cerdian offered to get his father something as Garth said that he'd sit with Barbara. "Something vegetarian, if they have it."
"Okay. If not, I'll ask that they put the steak on the side of the steak salad," Cerdian suggested.
"Whatever looks good, Honey," Linda told Wally. She grabbed a seat at an empty table next to Barbara and Garth and the three chatted as the others got lunch. "Did anyone else notice how the photographers went nuts when they told us to get into character?" she asked. Garth and Barbara howled in laughter and said that they had noticed.
Cassandra was the first one out and she placed a tray down in front of Barbara. "Dick told me what you wanted."
"Thanks Cass," Barbara said.
"And I heard what you told Dad," Jai said as he settled in next to his mother. Linda thanked him and waited with Barbara before they were joined by more of the group before eating.
"Ian got side tracked, Papi," Milagro stated as she handed over a salad to Garth.
"Thank you Mila," Garth told her and dug into his lunch. Cerdian joined them a few minutes later and Milagro handed over the side of steak from Garth's salad.
"Eating meat doesn't screw up with your powers the way it does with his?" Barbara asked Cerdian, indicating Garth.
"Nope," Cerdian grinned, rubbing his hands together in delight.
"You're familiar with the two sides of magic? Order and chaos?" Garth asked Barbara. She nodded. "Traci's mostly chaos magic, while I'm mostly order magics. Ian's an almost perfect blend of the two."
"So anything that would screw up either one of us, has no effect on him," Traci added, taking a seat at a table next to Milagro.
"You wanted to hit Space Mountain towards the end of the night, right?" Chris asked Lian.
"Yeah. I figure make it one of the last rides of the night," she replied.
"Whoever is doing Space Mountain later tonight, give me your tickets so I can go and get the quick passes," Chris piped up. He accepted tickets from almost everyone and took off to get the passes.
"Babs, you're a mobile charging station, right?" Kon asked as he checked his mobile. "I forgot to charge my phone last night."
"I most certainly am," she confirmed. She reached into a pouch on the side of her chair and pulled out two portable charging devices.
"Thanks," Kon said and plugged his mobile in to be charged. Several others took the opportunity to recharge their mobile devices while they had lunch.
Chris returned a short while later with the passes and handed them out. "We have the window between ten and eleven tonight," he informed them.
"Oh that's plenty of time to screw around then," Lian stated.
Donna looked at the available space on her camera's flash drive and frowned. "Jai, how many spare micro drives do you have?"
"A dozen, why?" he replied.
"Can I swap you out for a blank one?" Donna asked, and Jai handed over a high capacity drive. "Thanks Sweetie," she said as she swapped out the drives.
"No problem," Jai told her. He downloaded the one she'd handed him onto his tablet and wiped the memory clean when he was done. "And here's yours. I can download and wipe them for you if you like?" he offered.
"I like that plan," Donna agreed and tucked the spare drive into a pocket in her waistcoat.
"Okay gang, what's next?" Mia asked when they all finished eating.
"What the hell is Star Tours?" Courtney asked, looking at the map she'd picked up earlier. Several of the science fiction fans immediately perked up and gladly told her what it was.
"And it's wheelchair friendly," Barbara pointed out, checking out the information on her tablet. "Same as before? I get them ready for us?"
They all agreed and headed for the thrill ride. Once inside, Barbara made her way to the front and told the attendant that she was part of a large group and that she'd just wait until they showed up. Several times while in line, they got separated and let people go ahead of them until they were all together again. They were next and Barbara was able to settle in without any assistance. The ride was a 3-D thriller and almost all of them loved it. Sin however found it disconcerting and it made her nauseous.
"Little Sister?" Connor asked, as Sin held her head to try and still the dizziness that overcame her.
"That's my first time with 3-D," she murmured.
"Here," Courtney offered. "3-D makes me sick sometimes too," she said, handing Sin a tablet for motion sickness and some ginger ale to down it with.
"I've got dehydrated ginger too," Traci offered. Several of them took her up on the offer and Sin gladly accepted the remainder of the small bag. Traci assured her that she had more. A few of them felt at least slightly queasy after the 3-D ride.
"Why don't we vege down by the lake there while folk's stomachs settle?" Kon offered. They found a spot that was relatively deserted and relaxed in the early afternoon warmth. Sin meditated while the others chatted and planned out their next stop. After a few minutes she began to feel a lot better.
"You okay?" Mia asked when Sin sat up and stretched.
"Better," Sin replied. "I'll skip the roller coaster though," she chuckled.
"You can keep me company while they go tearing through the Matterhorn then," Barbara stated.
Next to the roller coaster they found a wall blocking off a ride undergoing refurbishment. "Jaime, Irey!" Donna demanded and pointed to the characters painted on the wall. They got several photos of the two posing next to their painted characters.
While they waited for their friends, Barbara offered to help Sin handle 3-D. "In our line of work, you will come across it again."
"True," Sin admitted. "I guess it would be better if I can handle it instead of wanting to heave up my guts."
"We need to go back on this thing before we leave tonight," Kara declared once they all joined up with Barbara and Sin. "So where to next?"
"I'm gonna kick the old man's ass at Astro-Blasters," Lian stated and smirked up at Roy.
"Ha! Dream on!" Roy told her.
"Tell me there's popcorn available somewhere in this joint," Tim laughed, folding his arms across his chest.
Several other marksmen picked challengers as they made their way over to the themed ride. "We need photographic proof of the winner," Cassie declared as Roy and Lian lined up to get on the next two man cart.
"Done," Lian stated and slipped in followed by Roy. It took the pair a shot each to get the hang of the comically shaped guns before the challenge went down. Father and daughter wasted no shots as they trundled through the course. Their score screens lit up and startled them both at the end. "You're kidding?" Lian muttered, as she snapped a photo of the scores.
"We tied?" Roy huffed.
Lian scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Whatever."
"What the hell?" Roy asked as an attendant marched purposely towards them.
"You both got the highest scores we've ever had on this ride!" the attendant cheered.
"You're joking," Roy told him. He assured Roy and Lian that he wasn't and pointed to a high score board.
"We smashed that," Lian stated, looking at the previous record.
"What's the hold up?" Tam asked as Roy and Lian were whisked away for a moment.
"They blew the previous high score out of the water," Kara chuckled, as several others in the group were whisked off for a moment
"They tied too apparently," Kon added.
Chris looked over at the high score board and laughed. A picture of Lian and Roy popped on screen with their scores. Lian had her toy sword aimed for Roy's heart, while Roy was drawing his toy bow and aiming an arrow between Lian's eyes. "That's parent child bonding right there!"
"Li Shang and Merida aren't from the same time period are they?" Cassie mused.
"They're not even from the same side of the planet," Jai scoffed.
"So Jase, Jaime, and the Arrows wiped out the old high scores?" Cassandra mused.
"By a mile," Wally smirked.
"So who sucked at it?" Iris asked. Lorena, Garth, and Cerdian raised their hands.
"We're colour blind," Garth offered.
"We couldn't make out half of the targets," Cerdian added with a laugh.
"I've developed Atlantean eyesight over the years and was just as blind as those two in there," Lorena shrugged.
"Oh my God," Linda exclaimed inside the shop that the ride exited into. Barbara wheeled over to her and her eyes grew wide in delight at what Linda had found.
"I need one, gimme!" Barbara added as Linda reached for a travel mug with seagulls all shouting 'mine' on it. Linda handed one to Barbara and the two cackled as they went to pay for them.
"I sense that their stock of those mugs is about to be wiped out," Connor mused. Sin howled in laughter as several of their teammates went to get travel mugs or regular coffee mugs with the amusing design.
"Dare I ask how much help Kahji was with your score?" Milagro teased her brother when he joined them after getting his picture taken for the score board.
"Nada," Jaime beamed. "That was straight up Cholo talent." Traci gave him a sceptical look and held a hand up behind his back over where Kahji resided on his spine.
"Hnn, it was too," Traci stated. Milagro was subtle as she used her ring to confirm Traci's report.
"Papi will be so proud," Milagro congratulated.
"The bug cheated for you," Mia teased.
"Nope," Jaime told her. He looked up and saw that he was directly under Lian and Roy. "Hold up, they're the only two I didn't beat?"
"Kahji's napping, believe it or not," Traci added for Mia.
"System restore," Jaime corrected.
"And it registers as a nap when I feel for it," Traci replied.
"I'm getting snooze too," Milagro said, glancing at her ring.
"How alive is that thing?" Mia asked.
"We have no idea," Jaime admitted. "Sentient enough that you can forget that he's an alien weapon of mass destruction." He glanced over his shoulder and playfully rolled his eyes as he mimicked yapping with his hand. "To quote," he coughed and jerked a thumb behind his back. "I am a highly advanced sentient construct with no biological definition of life."
"That's alright Kahji, we like to think of you as living," Traci purred and scratched at Jaime's back.
"God damn son of a bitch," he muttered softly as the scarab reacted in pleasure to Traci's ministrations.
"That will never not be funny," Mia laughed.
"So you're just naturally a good shot?" Jason asked, having overheard most of the conversation. Jaime nodded and Jason smirked.
"We're going on a munchies run and then do some shopping," Bart said as they reconvened outside.
"Hold on a minute," Roy said and glanced at his watch. "You wanted to hit the French Quarter for dinner, right?" he asked Lian. She nodded. "Why don't we all meet up over there at seven for dinner?" he suggested. They all checked their watches and agreed to meet up at seven before splitting into smaller groups.
Jason was bored and decided to tag along with Bart and Courtney for a while. They found a food court and Bart got two large order of fries while Jason and Courtney agreed to split one between them. Afterwards they wandered into the main shopping area of the theme park and hit one of the first stores they saw. Jason saw a wall of plush toys and smirked. "I've got a photo op for you two," he purred and held up one of the toy dalmatians.
Bart was nearly doubled over in laughter as Courtney took a few shots of Jason stroking the toy menacingly. "Do you have to make that look so sinister?" she asked as she checked her pictures.
"The Cruella pics wouldn't have been as bad if you guys had brought your kids along," Jason stated.
"They'd have been worse," Courtney retorted.
"Exactly," Jason agreed with a wicked grin.
Near the lake, Lian was with Roy and Donna as they wandered towards a shady area to watch the steam boat paddle by. "So how does twenty one feel?" Donna asked.
"Great," Lian replied. "Just don't ask me how I got this far, because I have no idea." Donna looked to Roy who was looking at Lian in surprise.
"I never told you?" Roy asked.
"Nope," Lian replied. "I'd have asked, but I figured you'd offer up the details when you were ready."
"Let's go over here," Donna suggested, finding a quiet out of the way bench. "You know how your dad was a wreck right?" Donna asked. Lian nodded. Donna hugged herself and sighed. "I felt so heartbroken for him and for you that I prayed to the gods." Donna went on to tell Lian about the gods hearing her and offering to answer her prayers.
"She ropes me into going to Themyscira with her and that's where they had everything ready to bring you back to life," Roy told his daughter. Donna and Roy took turns explaining the events that took place in a darkened temple on the Amazon's island home. "Once I knew you were alive again I pretty much lost it," Roy added. "I don't remember much after that."
"You fell into Demeter's arms and wept your thanks and joy into her lap," Donna told him. "I did the same on Persephone's shoulder," she admitted. "Afterwards we took you to my quarters and you slept for nearly two days straight."
"I vaguely remember being on Themyscira with you two and Dad looking a little older," Lian murmured.
"I knew it was you when you instantly cracked a joke about me being shot for being on no man's island," Roy chuckled. Donna leaned her head back and laughed fondly at the memory.
"So let me get this straight," Lian said, looking at Donna and Roy in disbelief. "I raised enough hell in the afterlife, that the gods said screw it and brought me back to life?"
"Pretty much," Donna replied.
"No wonder you were a mess," Lian murmured, hugging her father.
"That's all the in the past," he told her.
"Thank you for caring enough about Dad to do something," Lian added, hugging Donna tightly. Roy hugged the pair of them to his chest and they enjoyed the moment for a bit. "Okay, enough of this melancholy shit, this is supposed to be the happiest place on Earth," Lian stated after a while.
Donna howled in laughter as Roy playfully shoved his daughter. "You're horrible," he accused.
"So are you. You were supposed to let me win at Astro-Blasters," Lian playfully retorted.
"You're both horrible, but I love you anyway," Donna told them hugging Lian around the shoulders and kissing Roy's cheek.
Garth and Cerdian had found a shaded area to sit and people watch for a while. "I never told you about any of this stuff when you were growing up, did I?"
"A little here and there," Cerdian replied. "But nothing that prepared me for this."
"Amusement parks like this, is one of the few things I was never able to fully understand about the surface world," Garth mused. "Even now, I still don't quite get it."
"If it's any consolation, none of my team can explain the concept either…and they grew up with this stuff," Cerdian offered.
"Well if the surface dwellers can't understand it, who are we to try?" Garth chuckled.
"You're playing along nicely," Tam commented Damian near a haunted house.
"It is Lian's birthday. I'd be remiss if I didn't," Damian replied.
"You still said no when it was brought up," Dick reminded him.
"Gut reaction," Damian smirked. He made a polite cough and continued. "Granted I am grateful that I was over ruled."
"Seriously?" Barbara asked.
"How are you grateful?" Tim asked in disbelief.
"It has given me an opportunity to add merit to my long standing argument, that this company is little more than an evil cult," Damian purred. He laughed as his family playfully smacked him.
"Damian has a very fair point," Cass defended as she joined them with some drinks.
"Thank you," Damian smiled and nodded to her.
"You're welcome, dork," she playfully slapped him to the amusement of the others.
In the shopping area, Cassie, Kara, Kon, and Chris were wandering around trying to figure out what to get Martha. "Did Grandma suggest anything?" Chris asked.
"Cinderella has always been her favourite movie," Kara supplied.
"Maybe find a little Cinderella's castle for her?" Cassie suggested.
Kon pointed to a smaller shop. "We might try in there. I can see a lot of porcelain and ceramics." Chris slipped his wings off so he wouldn't accidentally knock anything over and they headed inside.
"This would be too much, wouldn't it?" Cassie chuckled, indicating a large ceramic copy of the castle.
"We'd have to make a stand for that thing and who knows where we'd put it," Kara laughed.
"The barn," Chris suggested. "It's about the only place that it would fit."
"I found it," Kon murmured. He held up a delicate porcelain replica of the castle that fit nicely in his palm.
"That looks like a Lladró piece," Cassie stated, gingerly lifting it up to check the bottom. "It is."
"Lladró?" Kara asked. Cassie looked up and saw that all three Kryptonians were giving her a puzzled look.
"Very, very high end porcelain," she explained. "Like Tiffany, only in porcelain."
Kon found a shop keeper and asked about the sculpture. He asked if the woman would get him one in a box and turned to his girlfriend and cousins. "How about we split it four ways. Seventy five each?"
"That's about right for a piece that size," Cassie murmured, doing the math in her head. Kara and Chris agreed. Cassie paid for the piece as the three cousins said that they'd pay their share later back at the hotel.
"We're giving this to Babs to hold for us, aren't we?" Chris asked as Cassie gingerly tucked the box away in Kara's backpack.
"Oh yeah," Kon agreed.
Connor, Mia, and Sin were wandering near Adventureland when they spotted Roy, Donna, and Lian in the distance. "I always wanted to come here as a little girl," Mia mused as they decided to join the trio near the lake.
"I didn't even know that such a place existed to be honest," Sin admitted.
"I did but it never interested me as a kid," Connor shrugged.
"Yeah, well you two didn't necessarily grow up like normal kids," Mia pointed out.
"How many in our group actually did?" Connor countered.
"He has a point," Sin piped up.
"Yeah that's true," Mia admitted.
"But?" Sin suggested as they got closer to the bench with Donna, Lian, and Roy. "Where does it specifically state that you ever have to grow up?" she drew her toy sword as Lian drew hers and the two had a mock sword fight.
"We should have had you dress up as Peter Pan," Roy teased.
"Who?" Sin asked.
"Oh my gods," Donna groaned, letting her head fall back.
"Okay, even I know that one," Connor stated. "I think we need to bring Little Sister up to speed…"
"On everything," Lian laughed.
"Duh," Mia muttered.
The Reyes and West families were near the front of the park doing some shopping and enjoying coffee drinks. Lorena Marquez had decided to tag along with them and was glad when they'd found the coffee shop. "The one thing they don't have in Atlantis," she mused.
"Tell me about it," Milagro scoffed. "I don't know how those two survive without it."
"Garth was never a coffee fan," Wally offered.
"He is now," Lorena and Milagro replied.
Iris gasped and pointed at one of the window displays. "Traci! Look!"
Traci spied the little Hades plush that Iris had spotted and grinned. "We're getting one for Nina," she told Jaime.
"Should we have even bothered getting her baptised?" Jaime asked jokingly.
"I'm perfectly accepting of your Catholicism," Traci stated primly. "And it won't screw up with her abilities as she gets older."
"How old is Nina now?" Linda asked.
"Nine weeks," Traci replied.
"You bounced back fast," Linda complimented.
"Remind me to bend your ear about motherhood later," Traci said, before excusing herself to dash in and get the toy for her daughter.
"You guys are lucky," Linda told Jaime. "You just had the one. We had twins," she added, pointing to Iris and Jai.
"Why are you still pointing at me?" Jai asked.
"Because you were always the pain in the ass," Linda smiled sweetly at her son.
"Is Nina sleeping through the night yet?" Wally asked.
"Muchas gracias a Dios," Jaime sighed in relief, holding his hands together in prayer. "Apparently she takes after me on that one," he said.
"Mama said Jaime was sleeping through the night by the time he was a month old," Milagro added.
"Unlike somebody," Jaime smirked at his sister.
"I was a preemie with complications, I had an excuse," Milagro dismissed.
"I damn near flunked second grade because of the lack of sleep," Jaime laughed. Milagro backhanded him as Lorena laughed. "It was nearly spring break I think by the time she finally stopped screaming in the middle of the night."
"Dude? Eight months?" Jai asked.
"Yeah, but she was a close call," Jaime admitted. "She didn't come home until she was nearly two months old."
"Whoa," Linda gaped.
"Hence the name Milagro," Traci offered as she met up with them again. "It's the Spanish word for miracle."
"I guess we got lucky then," Wally told Linda. "Jai was the cranky one but not for that long."
Iris smothered a giggle as Jai sagged and glared at his father. "Irey was the pain in the butt when they began teething though," Linda reminded her husband.
"Oh my God she was," Wally groaned. Jai perked up and smirked at his twin.
"Miss perfect wasn't so perfect after all?" Jai grinned.
"Not when it came to teething," Wally admitted.
"Shut up, Jerk," Iris hissed, smacking Jai on the arm.
Lorena glanced at her watch as Linda scolded the twins. "Hey it's a quarter to seven," she piped up. "You guys want to start heading over to dinner?" The two families were the last to arrive and made their way towards the back of the outdoor dining area where the rest of them had secured enough tables.
"Jason did you have to?" Barbara groaned when Courtney showed her the pictures from the store.
"Of course," Jason smirked.
"Oh hey!" Tam grinned, digging through her backpack. "I got these from Bruce. They're from one of the foundation's fundraisers." She pulled out a paper bag and began handing out little green sticks to everyone.
Jason twisted the top and it lit up a bright green colour. "Oh cool!" Milagro exclaimed, as she used a trio of the sticks to hold her hair back.
"I've got a ton of them," Tam said. A small group of teenage girls at a nearby table asked if they could have one each and Tam gladly handed them several each. They thanked her for them and asked Tam what the deal was with their costumes.
As Tam talked to the teens, Damian slid the end of one of his sticks into cuff of his shirt. "Donna, how about this?" he asked, holding his hand up to block the actual stick but letting it light his face an eerie green colour.
"Hold that pose," Donna grinned and got out her camera.
"For a professed hater of all things Disney, you're really rocking it," Iris teased. Damian shot her a dirty look out of the corner of his eyes as Donna took several pictures.
"D beat you in the menacing picture department," Tim told Jason.
"Maybe…maybe not," Jason smirked and reached into a bag he had with him. He pulled out three dalmatian plushes, each one slightly different and placed them on the table. "Teejay, Alia, and Nina," he said, indicating which plush was for which missing infant.
Tim howled in laughter as Jason used the toys to ham it up for Donna's camera. "You're an ass," Tim said when Jason handed over the plush he'd bought for Teejay,
"And you love me for it," Jason replied as Tim thanked him for the gift. "Okay that one's Alia's," he said handing over the least spotted one to Bart. "And this is for Nina." Traci thanked him for the toy and tucked it away in her bag.
"Dress up like that for Halloween and I might just give you a Chinese Mexican dalmatian to carry around with you," Traci offered.
"Done," Jason told her, snapping his fingers as he did.
Donna finished taking pictures and handed her camera to Garth for safe keeping. "I'll be right back," she told him and went inside the restaurant. She returned a few minutes later with a sly smirk on her face and went to retrieve her camera.
"You're up to something," Garth mused, handing over the camera.
"Maybe," Donna teased.
"Not maybe…you are," Garth stated. "I know you too well, remember?" Donna conceded that he did and leaned down to kiss him on the cheek.
"Holy crap, you're kidding?" Lian exclaimed when a waiter came out a few minutes later with a large birthday cake.
"Donna and I ordered this for you a while back," Roy told her.
"Thank you," Lian sniffled and hugged the pair of them. They sang a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday and Lian blew out the candles. "We were already told to shut up before we ever started the first ride, so my wish has already came true!" she laughed. The cake was cut and Lian made sure everyone had a piece. She even gave people sitting nearby a piece each as she had nowhere to put the leftovers.
"Okay, we have a couple of hours yet before our window on Space Mountain," Chris said as they began getting ready to hit the rides again.
"Thunder Mountain!" Lian cheered.
They broke up with the majority of them heading for Thunder Mountain. Linda had decided that she would hit Space Mountain as her last ride and opted to hang out with Barbara. Donna tracked them down after the roller coaster and laughed as she showed the two a video she got of the group on the roller coaster.
"I was sitting near the exit with Garth and we were watching for the train that they were on," Donna explained. "Tam made it easy with those glow sticks."
"I see what you mean," Linda chuckled.
"Are they singing mushroom, mushroom?" Barbara asked as the video showed a train of glowing green sticks zip past. Donna laughed and said that they were.
"They're going to hit the Matterhorn again," Donna informed the other two women. "Try and see if they can time it with the fireworks."
"There they go," Linda stated, pointing to a large collection of green glowing sticks dancing across the park.
"I love those things," Barbara chuckled as the trio headed towards the roller coaster that the main group was heading for.
The line was short and moving fast and the group decided on a second run. Traci sat out that one to join Linda, Barbara, and Donna hanging out near the exit. Traci removed the wrap she had on and tied it around her waist. Digging into her backpack, she pulled out a hooded sweater with a skull design on the back and put it on. "It is a bit chilly, isn't it?" Linda commented, rooting around her bag for a jacket she'd brought with her.
"Just a wee bit," Traci agreed. "Oop, here you go," she added as Garth joined them. She handed over a pair of earplugs and warned him that the fireworks would be starting soon.
"Thank you," he told her and slipped them in.
"We gave Ian a pair already," Traci told him and he nodded.
"Oh wow!" Linda exclaimed when the first of the fireworks went off. Donna glanced around and noticed that it was dark enough that no one would see her lift off the ground to get a better shot of the show. Garth looked up and saw that she was easily hidden in the foliage of the trees as she filmed the show. "I can't see her," Linda stated.
"I can and she's still well hidden," Garth assured her.
On the roller coaster, the train came out of a cave just as a massive shower of coloured explosions lit up the sky. Lian pointed and grinned at the show as they zipped back into the mountain again. Their ride ended and they all made their way to where their friends were waiting for them and watching the show. "Where's Donna?" Lian asked. Garth pointed up and only the ones with enhanced vision were able to spot her.
"She's filming it," Kon said before letting his attention drift back to the fireworks.
The fireworks ended in a grand finale and Donna chuckled at the whistling and applause from her group as she drifted back down to them. "I got everything but the opening barrage," she said as she checked her footage. "Including a train-load of green glowing sticks." Lian hugged her as she glanced at the screen on Donna's camera.
"We've got about twenty minutes until our window for the quick passes on Space Mountain," Roy said, checking his watch.
"Food," Wally groaned.
"There's a food place near the entrance of the ride?" Courtney pointed out, indicating her map.
They made their way over and saw that most of the tables were abandoned. They grabbed an area near the entrance to Space Mountain and settled in as the ones who wanted snacks went and got them. Barbara offered to watch over bags and backpacks as they wrapped up and got up to get in line. Courtney stayed with her and claimed that she'd been terrified of the ride as a child. "I think I was like seven or something…I have bad memories of it," she explained.
"There's an hour wait?" Jason marvelled. "This late at night?"
"Hence the quick passes," Chris said.
"I did a bit of research and saw that it would be our best bet," Tim added.
The passes let them get onto the coaster in about ten minutes. Lian and Jai were in the front of the train and Lian practically bounced in glee as they got underway. "Oh I'm gonna feel this one," Jai muttered as the train dropped off the edge and they quickly built up speed. Lian couldn't see anything in the dark but she could hear her friends and family hooting and hollering as the coaster tore through the track. Lorena was near the back of the train and spent most of the ride laughing as she could see the taller members of the group duck instinctively.
"You guys were nowhere near close enough to getting your heads smacked on anything," she told them once they got off.
"Instinct," Cerdian defended. Even though he'd been able to see in the dark just fine he'd ducked quite a bit.
"Smack your head on enough doorways and you learn to duck," Jason added.
"You okay?" Linda asked Jai when she saw that he was holding a hand over his abdomen.
"Yeah I'm fine," Jai assured her. "I can just tell where my gall bladder was six months ago." He explained that the g-forces had tugged on the scar tissue in his abdomen. "Wee! Tug…wee! Tug," he mimed.
"You do have a bit of excessive scar tissue in there," Kon said, looking into Jai's stomach.
"And I've been feeling it all day," Jai chuckled.
"It doesn't hurt does it?" Wally asked in concern.
"No. It just feels weird as hell," Jai assured his father. "I swear I'm okay. It's just getting used to the feeling is a little odd," he added when his parents gave him sceptical looks. Mia overheard a bit of the conversation and stepped in on Jai's behalf.
"You forget about it for a while and then you feel a tug and you want to cover it up with your hand to make sure nothing rips open, even though it's long healed," Mia stated. "I still do it sometimes and mine's been out for a few years." She lifted the hem of her shirt to show her scars. Jai thanked her as Wally and Linda shared a look.
Linda shrugged after deciding that Jai was okay. "I guess I don't get thrown around as much as you guys," she added, having never felt the sensation Jai and Mia were referring to.
"It's your damn fault I'm feeling this in the first place," Jai teased his mother.
"Keep it up, smart guy," Linda playfully warned, holding her hand up as if to backhand him.
They met up with Barbara and Courtney and decided to head back to the hotel as the park was closing soon. As they walked, Lorena spotted a young woman dressed as Wendy from Peter Pan. "Tink, Rufio!" she called out after asking the woman if she'd mind having her picture taken with some of them. Chris and Kara both laughed and joined Lorena and the young woman, who said her actual name was Wendy.
"My folks named me after the character," she chuckled.
Wendy's friends laughed along with several of the team that were taking the pictures as the quartet hammed it up for the camera. They thanked Wendy for playing along and introduced themselves before bidding Wendy and her friends a good night.
The team made their way back to the hotel and went to change out of their outfits or set up the after party planned in the rooms the current band of Titans were in. Lian had stated that she didn't need any gifts as everyone's presence on her special day at the park was gift enough. Hardly anyone had listened and one of the tables in the party room was loaded with gifts.
"You're first legal drink," Roy said, handing over a glass of Lian's favourite rum and coke.
Lian glanced at Milagro and puzzled for a moment. "We weren't legal in Mexico were we?"
"Nope," Milagro chuckled.
Lian settled on one of the beds against Chris who was leaning against the headboard, as the presents were handed over to her. "I love this box," she said when she was presented with a simple koa wood box. "This has to be from Ian," she added when she opened it to find a beautiful handmade set of jewellery. Cerdian had also made her one of the map pendants when he'd overheard her a few weeks earlier state that she would love one. "Thank you," Lian told him and gave him a kiss on his cheek.
A second jewellery box was handed over and it contained a pair of diamond studs. "From Tim and me," Tam told her. Jai laughed after scrutinising the lid of the handmade box.
"Deciphered it, I take it?" Tim smirked.
"Huh?" Lian asked and looked at the lid that had binary code painted on it.
"Happy twenty first birthday, Lian," Jai and Tim said in unison.
"Oh my God that's adorable!" Lian laughed. "Thank you." She gave Tim and Tam a kiss each and handed the box over to Barbara to see. Barbara laughed at the clever design. Traci smirked when she saw what the next gift was that was being handed to Lian. "Traci and Jaime…has to be!" Lian exclaimed when she saw a small quartz crystal skull tucked into the small gift box. "I love it!" she added when Jaime confirmed that it was from them.
"Pay up," Traci teased her husband and held out a hand towards him. Lian roared in laughter at the look Jaime gave Traci as he slipped her a twenty dollar bill.
"Oh," Lian murmured in awe when she opened up her next gift. "Sin?" she asked, handing over the bowl when she noticed characters etched into it.
Sin scrutinised the characters scratched into the bottom of the small jade bowl with a dragon relief. "That's a Liangzhu piece. It's over a thousand years old." Lian looked at the wrapping to see if she could find a name.
Garth held his hand up. "I found that in an ancient shipwreck not long after you were born and decided that I'd gift it to you on your twenty first birthday," he told her. Lian launched into his arms and hugged him tightly as she thanked him profusely for the priceless gift.
"How did it survive…?" Lian asked. Marvelling that Garth still had it after it all this time.
"I had it in safe custody," Garth assured her, glancing at Dick.
"It's beautiful, thank you," Lian murmured and kissed Garth's brow.
"Thanks for screwing it up for the rest of us," Kara teased Garth as Lian settled back on the bed next to Chris. He laughed as Lian playfully kicked Kara and said that he hadn't screwed up anything.
"Don't you people put name tags on anything?" Lian asked after opening her next gift to find a beautiful mineral specimen inside.
"Nope," Milagro smirked, buffing her nails against her shirt.
"Alright, what is it?" Lian asked.
"A carbonaceous chondrite meteor I found out in the Ort Cloud that contains someone's birthstone in the matrix," Milagro replied.
"Those are diamonds?" Lian gaped, spying the clear crystals sparkling throughout the specimen. Milagro nodded. "This is why having superheroes as friends, kicks ultimate ass!" Lian stated as she leaned over to hug Milagro.
"It is handy," Connor admitted, handing over another gift to Lian. "And this one's from me," he chuckled as Lian looked for a gift tag.
"Thank you," Lian grinned. She opened the gift and her jaw dropped in awe. "Seriously, thank you," she murmured, picking up the small, delicate, jade Buddhist prayer wheel.
"You're welcome," Connor grunted when Lian latched onto him in a bear hug.
"We're going to have to redesign my specimen wall at this rate," Lian told Jai and Chris as she opened up the next gift that was a large tourmaline crystal in the matrix. "Kara Kent! Thank you for marking it!" Lian laughed when she saw the first gift tag of the night. Kara laughed as Lian hugged her and thanked her for the gift.
"Thank you for being a rock nut and making gift giving easy," Kara chuckled.
Lian pointed to each gift she'd received so far and nodded. "True, since everything has been a rock in some form or another," Lian agreed.
"Told you," Wally teased Linda as Lian opened their present.
"Oh cool!" Lian exclaimed. "Wait…fossilised water?" she asked, handing the agate geode over to Cerdian.
"Yep, about a shot glass full," he told her, handing the geode back to her. Lian tilted the geode in different directions to see the water drain through the small cavity in the centre. It had been cut just so that the water remained trapped inside.
"Thank you so much," Lian gushed, hugging Wally and Linda. "I didn't have any before now."
"I didn't know there was such a thing to be honest," Linda said, hugging Lian tightly.
"Neither did I," Wally added. "But Jai mentioned it once and then we spotted that in a natural history store."
"You do pay attention," Lian teased Jai.
"Yes I do and this from me," he added, handing over his gift.
"You really pay attention," Lian gaped in delight. "That's a beautiful moonstone specimen," she added, holding the large crystal up for everyone to see. Roy coughed and Lian shot him a dirty look out of the corner of her eye as she kissed Jai in thanks.
"You'll probably need to clear your throat again in a minute," Chris teased Roy as he handed over his present to Lian. Like Jai, he knew what Lian's favourite stone was.
Lian opened it and looked over at Roy. "Cough…I dare you," she threatened, pulling a moonstone necklace out of the small gift box Chris had handed her.
The others laughed as Roy coughed loudly while Lian planted a kiss of thanks on Chris' mouth. "Ignore him," Barbara chuckled. "This is from Dick and me," she added, handing over another gift.
"Is it Baltic?" Lian grinned when she saw the carved amber scent bottle the couple had given her.
"Czech," Dick replied.
Lian considered for a moment before her eyes lit up. "I don't have Czech amber, thank you!" Lian hugged and kissed the pair in thanks while Jason and Cassandra shared an amused look.
"From Cass and me," Jason said, handing over a gift bag.
Lian grinned at the small amber rabbit and Cassandra folded her arms looking to Dick and Barbara. "That's Baltic amber," she said before Lian could ask.
"Who knew I just had to wait until my twenty first birthday to get two samples of the finest amber on the planet, thanks!" Lian laughed, hugging Jason and Cassandra. "Okay…amber, anyone else? Nope, next!" Lian laughed.
"Properly acquired so as not to offend any deities," Kon winked, handing over his gift to Lian.
Lian ripped open the wrapping and pulled out a lava rock with peridot crystals in it. "From which volcano?"
"Kilauea," Kon replied.
"Madam Pele won't get angry?" Lian asked as she hugged him.
"Nope, and I know that for a fact," Kon assured her.
"She's actually quite nice," Cassie added, handing over another present.
"Really?" Lian asked. "Oh Cassie," she murmured, taking out the small marble relief of the goddess Artemis. "Thank you so much," she gushed, hugging the Amazon.
"You're welcome," Cassie told her and hugged Lian back.
Mia handed over a box larger than most of the ones Lian had already opened and said that it was from her. "Oh wow! Wait, that's spinel," Lian commented as she spied the gemstones set into the silver base of the ornate glass Mia had given her.
"I have no idea what that is, but I figured that I'd stick to the rock theme," Mia told her as the two hugged.
"Don't ask her to explain it please," Chris pleaded.
"You can tell me later," Mia told Lian and laughed when Lian punched Chris' shoulder.
"Add me to that list," Sin stated, handing over her present.
"Oh hold up," Lian gaped, taking out a small green stone dragon. She dashed into the bathroom to look through the stone in the harsh light of the bathroom. "Where did you get this?" she asked as she returned to the main room.
"Nepal and I have no idea what the stone is," Sin replied.
"Chrysoprase," Lian told her. "The most valuable form of chalcedony and a bitch to come by."
"She really knows her rocks?" Jason asked.
"Oh yes she does," Roy commented.
Lian thanked Sin in Chinese and handed the dragon over to Barbara to set aside with the rest of the gifts that Lian had already opened. "You took advantage of your Atlantean attributes, didn't you?" Lian asked Lorena when she opened her gift.
"Of course," Lorena grinned. Lian held up a small jar of emeralds Lorena had collected from various shipwrecks. "I'm Mexican and I'm giving them to her, so don't give me any grief," Lorena teased Jaime and Milagro in Spanish.
"It's totally cool that you're gifting them to her," Jaime replied in Spanish.
"Yeah, not like the bastards that stole them in the first place," Milagro added.
"Gracias," Lorena told the siblings.
Lian glanced between Lorena, Milagro, and Jaime and shook her head. "No clue," she admitted and thanked Lorena for her gift.
"Bart and I took advantage of our powers for this one," Courtney said, handing over a lacquered box.
Lian opened the box and gaped before wiping at her lip. "Jesus I drooled," she laughed. "Holy crap, where did you guys find this?" They had given her a fossilised ammonite.
"Antarctica," Bart replied. "Granted I'm not quite as talented as you at identifying minerals, but I'm pretty sure that that's agate that created the fossil."
Lian nodded. "Green agate fossil from Antarctica, crosses off three things on my wish list in one piece," she said. "Thanks guys!" she hugged them tightly and kissed Bart's cheek.
"Three things?" Roy asked.
"Green agate. An agatized fossil, and it came from Antarctica," Lian rattled off.
"She is ridiculously easy to please, isn't she?" Damian teased.
"That you even came, is present enough, thank you," Lian told Damian as she accepted his gift. "You're kidding?" she gaped when she opened the small jewellery box and spied the ring inside.
"Diamond is the stone for April, correct?" Damian asked.
Lian nodded and slipped the infinity band onto her right middle finger to rest next to a white diamond one she already had. "You've got every colour in here," she gaped at the rainbow of tiny stones set into the ring.
"I confess that it was Iris' suggestion," Damian said when Lian hugged him and thanked him for the ring.
"The one he gave me still owns that one," Iris teased, handing over another gift.
"I dunno," Lian mused, eying the blue diamond engagement ring Iris wore. "Rubies in a feldspar matrix? Where on earth did you find this?" Lian asked as she held up the specimen.
"Believe it or not, that stuff is just laying around on the ground in Greenland," Iris told her.
"I know that," Lian grinned. "This is from Greenland?" Iris nodded and Lian hugged her tight. "Thanks Irey! You need to shoot me over there for a rock hunting trip some time." Iris promised that she would as Lian turned to accept a gift from Donna.
"It's related to what we told you earlier," Donna told Lian, as she held up an Amazon goblet made of gold.
Lian teared up and hugged Donna. "Thank you," she whispered over and over again.
"I'll bite," Roy said as Cassie studied the goblet.
"It's engraved with the symbols of Demeter and Persephone," Cassie explained.
"Gotcha," Roy said around a lump in his throat.
"There's a story here?" Cassie guessed, handing the goblet over to Barbara to set aside with the other gifts. Lian nodded and asked that Donna and Roy tell it.
"Let's just say that I'm eternally grateful to the both of them for giving both of us a second chance," Roy said as he finished up the story of Lian's reanimation. "Last few," he added, holding out a gift for Lian. "From Jade." As Lian accepted the present, Roy gave Donna a pointed look that suggested he'd be thanking her for her intervention later.
"We really need to redo that wall of mine," Lian sniffled, holding up a small willow carved of lavender coloured jade.
"Yeah we do," Chris agreed.
"Second to last, from Dinah and Ollie," Roy said handing over an ornately wrapped parcel.
"And they still managed to keep in the rock theme!" Lian laughed. She held up the box to show off a crystal decanter and wine glass set. The stopper on the decanter was silver set with red cabochons of carnelian.
"And last but not least," Roy chuckled handing over the smaller of the two he had for her.
Lian laughed and leapt into his arms when she opened the first present. "A lump of coal for Christmas and one for my birthday! You're the sweetest, Daddy!"
"Your girlfriend's a nutcase," Wally chuckled at Jai.
"And?" Jai retorted. "Tell me something I don't know."
"And this is from me and some folks you might know," Roy said handing over a long slender wooden box.
Lian swallowed hard when she saw the ceremonial pipe that lay inside the box. "Daddy, I can't accept this," she gasped.
"There's a whole settlement in Arizona that says you can," Roy told her. The smoking pipe was simple and elegant as she lifted it reverently from the box.
"Ah-sheh'heh," Lian choked. "I never thought in a million years that I'd ever own pipestone. Let alone in a ceremonial pipe."
"Carrie says that if anyone deserves a treasure like that, it was you," Roy told his daughter.
"What's pipestone?" Cerdian asked.
"It's sacred to Native Americans," Lian explained. "Legend has it that there was a great flood in the ancient times."
"The blood from the victims swept up in the flood, collected and solidified to become pipestone," Roy added. "Prayers offered on a pipe made of pipestone are lifted directly up to the Great Spirit."
"That explains why you can feel the power emanating from it, clear over here," Garth said.
"Yeah you can," Traci agreed as Cerdian nodded.
"They're certain it's alright for me to have this?" Lian asked Roy.
Roy nodded. "The only condition is that you wait until you're on the reservation to use it for the first time."
"That I will do," Lian promised, setting the pipe back inside its box and closing it. Roy accepted the box and set it with the rest of Lian's presents. "Thank you everyone for the loot, not that I asked for it. You guys coming here and celebrating with me is more than enough!"
"Like you're going to get away with turning twenty one and the five of us not giving you something to remember it by," Dick scoffed. Roy, Wally, Donna, and Garth all laughed and gestured to Dick.
"Ditto from your current teammates," Iris added.
"And the rest of us," Kon chuckled.
Lian laughed. "That D and Jai didn't need to be threatened with death to come along was more than enough, but thank you all."
"You have all the evidence catalogued?" Jai asked Damian.
"Of course. And there's more than enough to sufficiently close the case," Damian replied as Jai moved over to sit next to Damian with his laptop.
"Evidence?" Lian asked. Jai held up his laptop and Chris howled in laughter. "You're seriously going to pad your cracked theory at my birthday party?" Lian snorted.
"Why not?" Damian smirked.
"Let them have this one," Tim laughed. "They did participate…willingly no less." Iris disagreed and smacked the pair of them on the back of the head.
Lian shook her head at the pair before asking for a refill of her drink. It was well after three in the morning when the party began to wind down. The following morning, they all wandered over to a greasy spoon that Mia swore was a treat and great cure for any hangovers.
A/N part II: the costumes each character was wearing…these match what most of the bunch I went with wore, though there were way more of us than in this story.
Tim – Flora, Damian – Maleficent, Donna – Mad Hatter, Lorena – Hook, Kara – Rufio, Chris – Tink, Jason – Cruella De Vil, Garth – Ursula, Wally – Ariel, Linda – Prince Eric, Tam – Zazu, Mia – John Smith, Dick – Esmeralda, Babs – Quasimodo, Traci – Hades, Cassie – Hercules, Kon – Megara, Jai – Fa Mulan, Lian – Li Shang, Sin – Shan Yu, Bart – Jane, Courtney – Tarzan, Cerdian – Kida, Iris – Nemo, Jaime – Dory, Cass- Jack Sparrow, Milagro – Flynn Rider, Roy – Merida, Connor - Elsa
