Chap. 19

Teen Titans Version 2

Police are trained to deal with any and all types of crimes and disturbances. They are shown mentally and physically how to deal with criminals and their methods. Granted, in Jump City that definition of how to deal can vary considerably. In its heyday of crime, the city was home to a variety of criminals with many strange and devious methods. Some of those methods were terrifying in their scope and magnitude of evil. Others were simply strange and simple-minded, but no less effective in their means. But in the years since that heyday, most of those criminals have been imprisoned, reformed, or simply vanished. Understandably, with them gone the definition in crime in Jump City returned to what could be called 'normalcy.' But occasionally, the past is shown to us again in a blinding flash, to remind us of it's power and how it can truly affect the present. Right now, one of the past criminals was reminding the present police force of how much easier things were now then they had been.

"Well kiddies, looks like Fluffy is a bit too much for you." Mumbo cackled, as he watched his monster rabbit violently push the police force back. "But don't worry, I'll make him disappear. I still deserve my payment for the show though." Smiling, he held out his hat and with some effort, dropped the large bag of jewels on top of it. For a second the bag stayed there, looking like an overblown water balloon. But then there was a sucking noise from the hat, and the bag suddenly vanished into its depths. Returning the hat to his head, Mumbo blew a kiss to the captive police, and began to bound off, his prize in hand, or in this case, on head. "Oh, and I think Fluffy should stay with you a bit longer. He's such a problem to get into the hat." Mumbo yelled back as he gleefully made his escape.

But when he turned back to mock the police, Mumbo took his eyes off what was right in front of him. He turned around just in time to crush into the hard, blue form that hovered in the air before him. Mumbo fell back to earth, becoming tangled in his cape on the way down. Angrily, he got to his feet and near tore his cape through getting it off his head. But his anger became surprise and a bit of fear when he looked up and saw the armored Nightstalker floating above him. "Oh no, not you. I thought you were gone." The magician moaned. Indeed, the bat's appearance had been missed in the city, as the crowd that had been observing the robbery turned their full attention to the old hero. Even Fluffy and the police stopped what they were doing to watch the exchange. Nightstalker however, noticed none of it and focused only on Mumbo. "Well, you know how it is Mumbo. You never write, you never call, I wanted to see how you were doing. Funny, you weren't where I left you. Unhappy with jail?" the bat asked, as he floated back to the ground. "They simply don't appreciate a good show when they see it." Mumbo answered back. "Well don't worry. When you get back, I'm sure you can change their minds." Said Nightstalker, as he drew his sword, and began to advance on the evil magician.

However, Mumbo's sense of self-preservation overwhelmed his sense of surprise. Whipping out his arm, he drew forth an amazingly long scarf from his sleeve and sent it hurtling towards the bat. 'Stalker tried to slice through it with his sword, but each time he cut it, it simply pulled itself back together. Before the bat could formulate a new plan, the scarf wrapped around his arms and pulled them together, forcing his to drop his sword. But it didn't end there. The rest of the scarf then shot downward, wrapping his legs together and then pulled his backwards. 'Stalker fell to the ground, his arms and legs wrapped together as the scarf tied itself into a neat little bow. "Well it's been nice visiting with you again, but I can see you're all tied up." Mumbo sneered as 'Stalker struggled to free himself. The magician turned to leave, but again found himself walking into an armored figure. "Still using that old trick Mumbo?" Lightweaver asked, as she fired a blast of light at the magician, knocking him back.

As she advanced on the figure of Mumbo, 'Weaver turned the Lightblade towards the prone form of her husband and sliced through his bonds. With great haste, Nightstalker got to his feet and grabbed his sword. Joining Lightweaver, he said, "Let's not mention that to the others, shall we?" "Hey, you owe me now. Don't start making demands." 'Weaver answered back. "Now then Mumbo.." she said, turning back to the magician, or so she thought. But Mumbo had vanished. "Oh crap, please don't tell me he escaped." Nightstalker cried as the two of them looked around. "Well, I was going too, but if you really want an encore." Mumbo suddenly yelled from behind them. The two Knights whipped around to see Mumbo standing next to the massive, drooling form of Fluffy. "Sic 'em boy!" Mumbo yelled gesturing towards the Knights. The rabbit let out a mangled cry and took a huge leap in the air. The Knights quickly turned their weapons on the creature, but it twisted in mid-air, dodging the blasts easily. "Jesus Christ!" both Knights yelled, as it's huge shadow came down on them. They tried to run, but the rabbit landed on top of them, pinning them down. As it's teeth-filled mouth attempted to bite through the Knight's armor, they tried to beat it back. "Where's the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch when you need it?" 'Weaver cried, as she dodged another bite from the creature.

Mumbo laughed at his old foes' predicament, and then drew out another playing card from his sleeve. Pulling out his wand, he waved it over the card, yelled out the words, "Hocus-pocus!" then stepped back as the card grew to the length and width of a surfboard. Leaping on top of it, Mumbo rode the card through the air to make his escape. But he barely got a few feet off the ground when the card was suddenly bombarded by rocks that cut through its surface and caused it to wobble back to the earth. Leaping off the damaged card, Mumbo looked around for the source of the problem, only to see Terra standing in front of the crowd, more rocks floating around her. "Well, they're just coming out of the wood work today." Mumbo said. "We're not the only things." Terra said back, as she suddenly sent the rocks hurtling through the air towards Mumbo. But the magician just took his hat off his head and grasping its brim, widened it until it was big enough to catch all of the rocks within itself. Mumbo then shrank it back down, but pulled it out vertically until it was size of a cannon. Grinning, Mumbo slammed the back of the hat, causing the rocks to fly back out in a wave at Terra and the crowd.

But Terra didn't falter. She knew that she couldn't stop the rocks in time on her own. But that didn't mean that she couldn't use something else to do the job. Eyes glowing, Terra brought her arms up hard. As she did so, the ground began to rumble and shake, as it drew upward into a large shield that the rocks impacted harmlessly against. "Gee, I didn't think Slade trained you do that." Mumbo yelled back, as he readied the hat for another shot. "Yeah, but things change." The armored being called Groundquake said from behind the magician. Before Mumbo could turn, the Earth Knight suddenly brought his hammer around in an arc, forcing the hat out of Mumbo's hands and shooting it towards Terra. The girl caught it effortlessly, and bringing it around, she pointed it at Fluffy. "Hey ugly!" she yelled out causing the huge rabbit to turn to face her. "Time to go home!" she yelled, as a vacuum of air began to originate from the hat. Fluffy tried to resist, digging his paws into the ground. But it was all for naught, as the magic hat's power drew the huge rabbit back into it.

"Where do you armored freaks come from?" Mumbo yelled, as he drew out his wand and turned to face Groundquake. But before he could start to cast a spell, 'Quake grabbed his wrist and with a powerful grip, caused the magician to drop the wand. "Well, I'm from New York," the dog replied, looking straight into the magician's eyes. "But here's a trick from parts unknown." As Mumbo watched, the hand grabbing his wrist suddenly changed to stone, and then began to stretch out and grow until it was big enough to entrap his entire body. Groundquake lifted him upwards, just as his wrist began to stretch out as well, until Mumbo was suddenly hanging over the crowd, trapped within a giant stone fist.

"So tell me again how this guy was a handful?" the dog asked, as Terra and the others rejoined. "I would, but that's not him." Lightweaver said. "What are you talking about?" 'Quake asked. "For one thing, his body parts don't fall off." Nightstalker said. Groundquake looked up and saw that indeed, a pair of arms and a leg were falling down to the ground from his enclosed fist. "What the hell?" he muttered, as his stone fingers began to unclench. As the fist slowly opened up, the figure inside was revealed as…. "A doll?" Terra said in surprise, as the stuffed Mumbo doll inside the fist finished crumbling to dust. "But then where's the real Mumbo?"

But as Terra asked, the hat in her hand suddenly began to shake. Surprised, she dropped it. As the heroes watched, it righted itself on the ground and then, with a burst of confetti, Mumbo shot out of it. "Oldest trick in the book, kiddies!" he yelled as he suddenly pointed his wand at the group. "Abracadabra!" he yelled out, as a burst of magic shot out of his wand and hit them. There was a blinding flash, and when it vanished, the heroes found themselves…. Well, stuck. The ground beneath them had been changed into some kind of strange sticky substance, which their feet were firmly plastered to. "What in the hell is this?" Groundquake yelled, as he struggled to pull his feet out. "Still think he's a pushover?" Nightstalker asked, as he struggled to free himself as well.

"Well, unless there's somebody else who wants to take me on, I think I'll be going." Mumbo said, as he placed his hat back on his head. "Pity too. You four gave me more trouble then anyone has in years. It was almost like the old days. But I suppose I can't expect too much from three freaks and the fallen Titan." He said with a sneer. Turning around, Mumbo saw that the police force was starting to reorganize itself from the rabbit attack. "I believe it's my cue to exit. Thank you, you've been a lovely audience." But at that, Terra just smiled. "What's so funny?" Mumbo asked, knowing that the smile was probably a bad sign. "Who said we were your audience? Haven't you ever heard of a warm-up act?" "What are you talking about?" the magician snapped. "Let's just say the past has a funny way of coming back." Terra said. Before Mumbo could form a response, someone in the crowd yelled, "Look, up there! It's them!" "Can't be, they'd be too old!" "Well, who do you think it is? It has to be them. They're back! They're really back!" A chill went down Mumbo's spine, as he realized what was happening. Slowly he turned and looked at the rooftop that had captivated the crowd's attention. A rooftop on which, five figures stood tall, outlined in the sunlight…..

Sorry guys, but you'll just have to wait a bit longer. Don't worry, it'll be totally worth it.