The Sidekick Strike
Chapter Nine
DISCLAIMER: No, none of the characters are mine. And for those of you who actually cared, Altador lost to Krawk Island. (wails loudly) That's it! I'm going with the Lost Desert! Take THAT. XP Oh, and Neopets isn't mine either. Just so you know...
Warning! Insanity ahead! Not that the whole thing isn't insane, but really, this is where the influence of the sixties show may start cropping up again. I hope nobody kills me; this is really the only way I could explain things semi-logically. (snorts) And most everything I said about the Roma is true (yes, I actually did research, people), although you can pretty much guess what ISN'T true. THAT was inspired by too many Disney movies, as Wally will point out...
Neither Batman nor Flash could bear to watch the unfolding battle before them—if you could call it a battle, that is. It was more like a massacre. It was clear that both Kid Flash and the Boy Wonder were giving it all they had. But both were already tired from the night's events (whatever those may have been), and with people like Superman and Wonder Woman all trying to beat their brains out, well, it was nice knowing them.
"Let them go, Joker!" Batman boomed over the sounds of his own sidekick's screams. "You want us, not them!"
"Perhaps, but a couple of extra bodies never hurt anyone. Besides, they know of my top-secret plans! Can't let them get away now, can we?"
Trying to ignore the sound of Superman's fist as it hit Kid Flash square in the nose, Flash put in threateningly, "You heard him! Leave the boys alone! You know they haven't got a chance!"
"Ah, but that's the beauty of it!" countered the Joker.
What the Flash wouldn't give to punch him right in the stomach! And everywhere else, too!
Well, after what seemed like an eternity of bloodshed, the Joker apparently grew tired of watching the teens getting beaten to a pulp. He snapped his fingers once again, and the Justice League withdrew.
It wasn't a pretty sight. Kid Flash and Robin were lying on the ground—the first face-up, the other face-down—unmoving, barely conscious, and so obviously in pain. Actually, they both looked pretty much dead. The vision scared their partners, perhaps more than they would have liked to admit.
"Looks like you learned a very important lesson—never talk back to your elders!" the Joker declared merrily. "Now are you going to give me the pendant or not?"
Kid Flash just groaned in response. Joker gave him a none-too-gentle kick in the ribs to get a better answer, but only got a louder and more abrupt groan.
"I swear, Joker… when we got out of this, I'm going to make you pay for that," Flash growled.
"What do you mean, 'when' you get out of that? You mean 'if'!"
"No. I mean when."
"So much for pessimism," Batman uttered, just loudly enough for Flash to hear.
"Things have changed. This is war."
"My sentiments exactly."
After the two heroes had finished declaring unconditional war against the Joker, the clown himself informed the boys that they had five minutes to change their minds before he would come back.
"And next time, you won't have a second chance! See you later, boys!"
With an evil laugh, he was gone, followed by the five hypnotized Justice Leaguers.
The very second that their footsteps died down, Kid Flash sat up rather stiffly—startling his senior partner, who hadn't thought he was conscious enough to do that—and gave Robin a nudge.
"You okay, Wonder Boy?"
Robin just groaned, but eventually managed to prop himself up on his elbow and threaten, "'Boy Wonder' is one thing… but putting it in reverse is quite another. So don't ever call me that again. Or else."
"He got that line from you," Flash told Batman with a smirk.
"Yup, he's okay," added Kid Flash.
With a series of groans and weird faces, the boys somehow managed to get themselves to their feet. Not bad, all things considered.
"Are you alright, Robin?" Batman asked. Or, as far as Robin was concerned, 'interrogated'.
"Oh, sure. I was just captured by the Joker and had most of the Justice League all on my back at the same time, pounding me as if I were pizza dough. But I'm just fine, Batman, just fine."
"Yup, he's definitely okay!" Kid Flash grinned.
"Oh, shut up. Hey, what's that?"
Once again, Batman was forced to crane his neck to see what the boys were talking about. Turned out that Robin was pointing to a little table in the corner of the large attic, and on that table was a thick brown book. It looked very old.
Kid Flash walked (or rather, limped) over to the table and began to examine the volume. Robin wasn't far behind, although by the time he was by his friend's side, the Fastest Boy Alive had already tried to open it with no success.
"I think it's locked," he said gloomily.
"Hey, look at the cover," Robin instructed suddenly. Pointing, he decided, "It seems to be a lock of some kind. Now if we could only find out what fits in it…"
Robin glanced around, hoping to find the object, but Kid Flash just kept staring at the funny shape his friend had mentioned. It looked familiar…
"Hey, Rob! You got that pendant with you?"
Without a word, the Boy Wonder pulled out the Joker's charm and handed it to Kid Flash, who stuck into the engraving on the cover of the book. There was a click, and it opened instantly.
"Nice!" Robin grinned. "You're good!"
"You aren't so bad yourself," replied Kid Flash. "Gee, this thing looks like… like an ancient spell book or something…"
Flipping through the volume, his face clouded over as he failed to recognize the words.
"Or maybe it's just instructions on how to install ancient satellite dishes. In ancient French. Here, Robin, you take a crack at it."
Kid Flash slid the book across the table so that the Boy Wonder could get a better look at the funny writing. He instantly broke into a wide smile at the sight of the old familiar language.
"I think he's got it," Kid Flash observed.
"You bet I do!" Robin cried excitedly. "This is Romany!"
"Who's he?"
"It's not a person, for gosh sakes, it's a language. My dad was Rom and taught me a little bit before he… well, I've been studying Rom for an extra-credit project at school. I think I remember enough to read this stuff…"
"Where's Romany?" Kid Flash interrupted after about ten seconds.
"Hm?" said Robin, only half-listening.
"Well if there's a Romany language, there's gotta be a country to go with it."
Robin sighed and rolled his eyes, then said rather sarcastically, "Well, if you wanna use the more popular version, then say gypsy!"
"You're half-gypsy?"
"Oh, brother… look, I'll talk to you later, okay? Sheesh…!"
Batman and Flash waited patiently while Kid Flash waited impatiently for Robin to finish reading the first page of the book.
"Look, I hate to rush you," the other boy interrupted again after a while, "but we've only got about two minutes left before the Joker comes back. And I don't know about you, but I don't fancy being used as a punching bag twice in one night."
He rubbed at the bloody scratch on his arm as if to emphasize the point.
After a second, Robin finally announced, "Well, KF, you were right. It does seem to be a spell book."
'KF'? Flash thought wonderingly as his nephew beamed.
"It seems that these spells were originally used against the Germans back in the forties," Robin went on. "The Roma people were one of the many groups who were persecuted by the Nazis during World War II—like the Jews, they were often killed or sent to concentration camps. So some Roma men got together and created these spells to help defend themselves."
"Cool…" Kid Flash breathed, not realizing that he had just been fascinated by a free history lesson. Then, with a grin, he added teasingly, "Wait, let me guess: Holy "Bedknobs and Broomsticks"! Am I right, or am I right? Haha!"
Robin just glowered. He didn't appreciate being made fun of.
"Well, if you've finished acting like the idiot you are, then I can tell you my theory." Kid Flash stifled his giggles long enough to glare back at Robin, who just continued, "We've both figured out that the Joker is using hypnosis and a magic pendant to hypnotize the Justice League, right?"
"And that wacko song, remember?"
"Of course. So I'm guessing that he somehow dug up this book, found the hypnosis spell, and got the bright idea to use it for his own evil purposes!"
"And if there is a hypnosis spell," Kid Flash reasoned, "there's got to be a counter-spell in here somewhere, too, right?"
"KF, I love the way you think!"
The two teens smiled and high-fived each other, then winced in pain before going back to the book, searching frantically for the counter-spell that would save the Justice League.
Meanwhile, the two elder heroes would have been exchanging surprised glances, had they been in the position to do so. They had always known that their sidekicks would someday be expert enough to function on their own, but… so soon?
"They're good together," Batman observed, keeping his voice lower than usual. Last thing he needed was for Robin—or, heaven forbid, Kid Flash—to overhear the compliment. They'd gloat for life.
"Yes," Flash agreed. "Looks like we've been holding them back more than encouraging them."
And Batman agreed. He had no choice; he was tied with the Lasso of Truth, for crying out loud! But, he wondered, would they be able to find the counter-spell and make it work before the Joker returned?
Me: Yeah, I know, fairly large stretch of the imagination, making Robin and Kid Flash alright after all that, but as you can see, it was necessary. Bear with me here.
Dick: FAIRLY large stretch?
Me: (glower) Anyway, I just noticed something cool.
Dick: Uh-oh... (sighs) Okay, what is it?
Me: Flash's secret identity is Barry Allen, right?
Dick: (unimpressed) Oh, really.
Me: Well, ya know the Bee Gees? The full name of Barry Gibb is Barry Alan Crompton Gibb. Sure, it's spelled differently, but it sounds the same. That's weird.
Dick: (still unimpressed) Uh-huh. Go do the replies, TAP.
Me: Okay... HEY!
Dick: Ha, ha! Gotcha!
Me: (grumbles stuff that would get her reported unless she changed the rating)
Reviewer Replies
Yourperfectdisaster-Thank you for reviewing ,and the guys say thank you for being worried about them! Apparently they're under the impression I don't care, and they're glad to hear someone does. :P
Tasha Teh Fox-I have yet to start watching Justice League again, and since I think it just ended (?), I don't think I will anytime soon. I still have the episode that made me stop (Grudge Match). Anyway, I'm glad you like the story, and thanks for the luck with the Altador Cup! I need it...
Lil kany-Robin's my favorite, too! I'm happy you are enjoying my story, and I hope you continue to enjoy it! The next chapter is the last one, so let's hope it's good!
crybug-Really? That's cool! You're welcome (wish I could see the cartoon series...). And I'd also like to say how sorry I am that Terror Mountain lost. I know exactly how THAT feels... :(
SarahC4321-Good! I'll be waiting to hear what you have to say... maybe we could hire people to kidnap the DC executives and force them to give us the characters instead? Anyway, of course I appreciate your reviewing! I love it when people review more than once per story! It's cool!
CosmicEssence-Yippee! Thank you! Priceless? Whoa... I've never written anything priceless before... (tries not to let it go to her head) Thanks again!