Disclaimer: I do NOT in any way shape or form own the Lord of the Rings, or any DCU heroes. Lord of the Rings is the property of JRR Tolkien while Robin, Batgirl, the Teen Titans and all related character are the property of DC Comics. This story is simply in homage of their work.
Chapter 2
Look Who's Coming to Dinner
Merry Brandybuck gave a small gasp of breath as consciousness returned to him as did the memories what had happened earlier.
"I swear, I'm going to kill you Pippin…" he groaned as he rolled over, and opened his sharp green eyes. Unfortunately, opening his eyes seemed to be about as useful as keeping them close. Wherever he was now, it was dark. Dark and rather damp. Blinking a few times, Merry began scanning the area in the hopes of figuring out where he was.
It was a cavern. A very big and very scary cavern. For a split moment, Merry thought he had somehow landed back in the Mines of Moria, but as his eyes adjusted to the dark, and upon closer inspection, he realized how wrong he was. This cave was like nothing he had ever seen before. It was massive, and filled with thing he couldn't even begin to describe. Massive metal objects with thousands of blinking multi-colored lights. Metal tubes that descended from out of the roof down through the floor. There were multiple Metallic staircases going up and down in all directions. And bats. Merry felt his heart jump as he stared up at the stalagmite covered ceiling as he saw dozens of leathery winged bats.
Merry slowly pushed himself to his feet. He had no idea where he was. What's more, he didn't see any sign of Frodo, Sam or Pippin. The entire cave seemed completely empty save for the flying rodents high above him.
"Where am I?" he whispered to himself.
He took a hard look around himself. He needed to find a way out. But which way did he take? This place was almost as complicated look as Minas Tirith and Moria put together. The stairs were leading in every direction, and there were doors and vaults everywhere. This place looked like the ultimate fortress as far as Merry could tell.
Before Merry could decide on a course of action, the silence of the cave was shattered by what sounded like the roar of a very ferocious animal. Giving a muffled yelp, Merry immediately threw himself behind a large… thing with blinking lights. The roaring continued uninterrupted for several moments, growing louder. Then a horrible screeching sound joined the roar, before both suddenly fell silent.
Nervously, Merry moved towards the edge of the platform he was standing on and stared over the edge. He could see a platform roughly 5 levels beneath where he stood. On it was what looked like a long, sleek metallic wagon, only without any horses drawing it. The top of the wagon slid open and he could see some… thing climbing out, as the platform began to rotate, until the wagon was pointing down where it had come in.
Unsure what to do, Merry remained rooted to his spot and tried to make out what was going on down there. He considered going down to the level before him, he began to hear light footsteps on one of the metal staircases, followed by someone talking. "…Arrived safely at the Tower."
Merry noted that the voice was rather crisp and deep, yet very kind sounding as well. They seemed to have an accent slightly similar to Merry's, though much classier sounding. He seemed to pronounce every word with perfect clarity, much like the elves would.
"Excellent," replied the second voice. This one was far different from the first. Darker and more gravely, it sounded much more like an animals growl that a human's voice. It frankly sent a shiver right up and back down Merry's spine and he hairs on the back of his neck to stand up on end. "It seems he's grown more comfortable with the new 'Wing's controls."
"Yes, well he has been working in the simulations for weeks now," replied the second voice, after which there was a small pause. "Sir, there is something that I wish to speak to you about in regards to him."
The two voices were no longer walking up stairs, Merry realized. They had reached leveled ground on the platform a few levels under Merry's current spot.
"What is it?" asked the second voice.
"I've been starting to grow a bit more… concerned about him recently. Particularly after what happened to him two months ago with the League of Assasins and—"
"What about it?" asked the second voice a bit sharply. Merry winced at the tone, but the other voice apparently wasn't remotely detoured by it. If anything he sounded rather annoyed and weary as he answered.
"He's been having nightmares about what happened, nearly ever night. I don't believe that he has fully… how did he put it…? 'Gotten over' the incident. In the past week alone, I've heard him thrashing in his sleep constantly, crying out her name."
There was a long silence, in which Merry could only assume the second speaker was digesting the information. Merry felt somewhat guilty about listening on what was clearly a very private matter, especially in regards to person who was having the nightmares, but Merry's hobbit curiosity wouldn't allow him to not listen.
"These nightmares have been occurring regularly?" asked the second speaker finally.
"Ever night for the past month."
"He hasn't said anything about it."
The first speaker chuckled softly. "Not surprising sir. You've often been returning back from patrol long after he has retired for the evening. And to be frank, he can be nearly as private a person as you are, if not more so. Frankly, had he said anything to you, I'd have been rather shocked."
"What do you suggest?" asked the second speaker, sounding almost accusatory.
"I know how you feel about such things, but perhaps it would be best that he speak to a therapist," replied the first speaker. "In light of the last year with him losing his father, Miss Stephanie as well as young mister Kent, I'm worried that this betrayal might be one push too much for him. As mature and control as he can be, I don't think it wise that we overlook this sir."
The second speakers fell silent again, apparently lost in their own thoughts before at last responding. "Alfred, I understand what you are saying, but the security dangers—"
"I am aware of that," interrupted the first speaker, whose name was apparently 'Alfred'. Merry frowned. Why did that name sound familiar? "But the other day I spoke with Master Richard and suggested someone who helped him with… err… a recent case of his. He informs me that she would be more than willing to offer her services again if asked."
Merry could hear them walking again, this time away from him. He looked over the edge again, and saw a pair of shadows heading towards the massive tube that was going up into the cave's ceiling.
"Alright. I'll talk to him when he comes back," said the other speaker, grimly.
As Merry leaned over the edge a bit more, he gave a stifled gasp as something flew down in front of him. One of the bats had decided to make a dive past him. Feeling his heart stop in his chest, as the cave had suddenly become deathly quiet. Even the bats were no longer screeching with the exception of the one who had narrowly avoided hitting him.
"What have I gotten myself into?" Merry whispered fearfully to himself.
"That's a very good question," said the deep growling voice. Only instead of being two levels below him, it was now coming from right behind him. Slowly, Merry turned and his eyes widened in horror as he finally saw the owner of the voice.
Tall, and dressed in a flowing black cape which had settled down around him on all sides, Merry stared as the face of a creature with piercing white eyes and horn-like ears growing from its head. Before Merry could move the creature lunged at him, grabbing him by the scruff of his cloak. To this, Merry did the only thing he could think of doing.
He screamed.
"…and BOOM went the factory," said an exuberant Dinah Lance, throwing up her hands in emphasis as she leaned back in the co-pilot seat of the Aerie-II helicopter which was currently flying high over the massive city of Metropolis. With her fishnet-clad legs propped up on the dashboard, Dinah then put her hands behind her head of blond hair and gave wide grin. As the Justice League of America's Black Canary (2.0 as she was sometimes called by her friends in the JSA), Dinah had seen and done quite a bit over the years. Yet despite all the pain and horror and crummy-boyfriends, she still managed to hold an air of child-like energy no matter what happened. It was one of the reasons she had always been considered one of the more popular members of any team.
"Hey now girl, what have I said about feet on the equipment?" warned the blond-bombshell pilot, Zinda Blake, though better known in most aviator circles as Lady Blackhawk. Dinah gave a sheepish grin and pulled her knees up to her chest. "Do that again, and you're going to have to flap your own wings to get home."
Dinah stuck out her tongue playfully at the other women, before continuing her conversation over her earring com-link. "I tell ya Babs, I love the sight of burning drug-labs."
"And I love the thought of burning drug-labs," replied the electronically masked voice of the Oracle. Despite the words sounding like a computer has spoken, Dinah could still hear the approval from Barbara Gordon. "Good job girls. You took them out in record time."
"We do try," Dinah smirked with exaggerated modesty. The truth was, despite her appearance of energy, Dinah felt completely spent. The Birds of Prey had spent the last two weeks tracking down assorted meth-labs in Metropolis who had been targeting the local junior high schools. Four kids in the last month had died from their product. So far the Birds managed to track down and destroy 5 of the 8 labs. "How are Huntress and Gypsy doing with their lab? Any fireworks yet?"
"No fireworks yet. Helena is still… wait hold on," Dinah was but on hold as Oracle was no doubt directing her two other agents in their mission. After a moment had passed, Oracle's reconnected her link. "Sorry about that," said Oracle sounded a bit tense. "You aren't going to believe this. Helena got herself captured… again."
Dinah dropped her face into his hand and laughed. "That's the second time in the last three months. I'm starting to think she's doing it on purpose."
"Well how else do you meet a man in our line of work," grinned Zinda. "Well… guys that aren't all fruity."
"Zinda, it's been over a year since we told you Creote was gay," Oracle sighed. "Get over it."
Zinda gave a small pout as she adjusted the dials on the copter's console. "Well what do you expect Skipper? See, this is what I hate about this decade. Every swell and studly guy I meet is either married or a Nancy-boy or both. How's a woman supposed to get a man these days?"
"Preaching to the choir, sister," said a fourth voice, belonging to Helena Bertinelli AKA the Huntress. There was a slight echo to her voice, and she seemed to be struggling against something.
"I decided to patch everyone in, so I don't have to keep switching com-links," explained Oracle.
"So how's things in the clink, Hel?" asked Dinah playfully. "They give you a strip search yet?"
"First off… that's disgusting BC. And second, the service here sucks," responded Helena with a sigh. "They won't even give me bread and water."
"Helena you've only been there for an hour," said Oracle knowingly.
"Sure, but still, it's the principle of the matter," Huntress defended.
The girls laughed, as Dinah looked out the window of the helicopter in time to see the Daily Planet building looming beneath them. She gave a small wave down at the building in the hopes of catching the attention of one of her favorite reporters, should he be using his x-ray vision.
"So where's Gypsy while you're playing damsel in distress?" asked Zinda, with a tinkling laugh.
Huntress gave an indignant scoff. "I do NOT do damsel in distress…" she defended.
"Says the woman handcuffed in to a lead pipe…" muttered Oracle.
"And she's going to set up the hit, while I do the distraction," Huntress continued, ignoring Oracle's jibe. "Speaking of which hold that thought. I have to play sick so I can get one of those guys to come in here."
"Oh, not that old trick…"
Huntress whimpered softly. To which the three other women blinked and then laughed. "Oh that was pathetic…" chuckled Oracle.
"Well she is supposed to be sick Skipper," said Zinda reasonably.
"Not arguing, but she sounds more like a constipated cat," Oracle said, unable to mask her grin.
A blood-curdling moan filled their collective com-links.
"Okay, never mind!" groaned Oracle, while the others covered their ears.
Huntress mewed again, and the next sound the three other Birds heard was two bodies striking the ground.
"You know, it never ceases to amaze me how that old play seems to work," Black Canary commented. "My mom used to use it all the time."
"Well it never ceases to amaze me that Helena is using that trick," laughed Zinda. "I thought she was supposed to be the 'hit first, ask questions later' one in our group."
They could hear Huntress picking the locks to her handcuffs. "Hey, why question what works?" she asked. "So O, where do I go now?"
"Gypsy is two floors above you," Oracle replied, and they could hear the hum of a holo-projector working and the clicks of a keyboard. "Take the first hallway down to twenty yards and you'll find an out of order elevator."
"Understood. Well, if you ladies will excuse me, I've got some ass to kick." And with that, Huntress cut her connection with them.
"I don't know what's scarier," said Oracle, lightly, "the fact its been almost two whole years since Hel joined our team or the fact she's starting to act more like you Dinah."
Dinah gave an evil laugh and put the tips of her fingers together. "I'm a baaaaaaaaaad influence… Soon, you will all be exactly like me."
"Oh, there's a pleasant thought," grinned Zinda.
"Speaking of influential behavior," said Dinah lightly. "How's those reading lessons with Sin going Babs?"
Dinah thought fondly of her new 'foster daughter/sister' who she had picked up during her time of training this last year. Sin was a small girl of Asian origin, whose life was more a less rather simple. She had been born and raised in a small village in the middle of Korea, where she had been trained to become the next 'Lady Shiva'. Dinah had come across Sin, when she herself was training for the same position and when she left, decided to take the girl with her. Since then Sin had become a daughter/sister of sorts for the entire Birds of Prey team. Almost like a mascot of sorts.
"I gotta say, for someone who's been living in the equivalent of a third-world country, she's doing rather wall," Oracle said in an impressed tone. "We already got through the ABC's. She's picking it up a bit faster than…" But the name she had been about to say, died immediately on her lips. Neither Zinda nor Dinah needed to ask.
Cassandra Cain had been Barbara's own 'foster daughter/sister'. During the time that Gotham had been turned into a No Man's Land, Barbara had come across a girl much like Sin. Trained to fight and little else. Barbara had taken Cassandra in, given her a home, and given her love that she sorely needed and even given Cassandra something that was very dear to her. The mantle of Batgirl. Barbara, who had once been the first Batgirl, had chosen Cassandra to continue her work. And truth be told, Cassandra had been very good at it.
And then nearly three months ago, Oracle had received a police report from Gotham saying that Batgirl had been killed, and that Robin was supposedly responsible. No one believed that of course. It was no secret that they had been lovers, nearly on Superman and Lois Lane level. It turned out though, Cassandra had joined the dark side, and it had all been a set up.
The fact that her 'daughter' had betrayed them all was a very sore spot for Barbara. She was nearly as sore about it as Robin had been, if the gossip-mill held any validity.
"What's your E.T.A. Blackhawk?" Oracle asked, falling immediately back into her 'commander bat-mode'.
Zinda shared a sad look with Dinah, as she responded. "We're descending onto the roof as we speak, Skipper."
"Understood," responded Oracle. "When you get here, refuel the copter and get on stand-by. Huntress and Gypsy might—What the hell!"
"Oracle, what is?" asked Dinah urgently, leaning forward in her seat.
"There's some kind of light in the center of the Lair! What it is though… My system can't even get a beat on it. I'm not sure—Damn!" Oracle cursed loudly, and suddenly the connection went dead.
"Zinda…!" Dinah shouted.
"Already, touching down Canary," said Zinda quickly. Sure enough, a second later they felt the copter-land hard on the rooftop of their base. Immediately the two women jumped out and were racing towards the stairs, leading down into the main apartment. Neither of them knew what to expect. Oracle's computer system was the absolute best on Earth, as well as several alien worlds. She could hack her way into nearly any computer on earth, and he satellite scanners alone could locate a grain of sand in the Pentagon.
Together Lady Blackhawk and Black Canary burst through the doors leading into Oracle's Lair, Dinah falling immediately into a judo fighting stance, and Zinda holding her favored handgun. For the most part, everything looked normal enough, with the exception of Barbara Gordon lying sprawled on the ground. Nearby her was an electronic wheelchair that had been knocked over.
"Babs!" shouted Black Canary as they both rushed to her side. Together the two women stood her chair back up, and helped the redheaded computer genius back into it. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Babs said rubbing the side of her hand and adjusting her wire-rim reading glasses on the tip of her nose. "Got knocked over by the force…"
"The force of what?" asked Zinda, still holding her gun ready.
"There was a beam of light that grew bigger until it… well, it kinda… went 'boom'," Barbara said.
"Boom?" Dinah repeated, unable to help herself. "Is that the technical term?"
"Focus, Canary," Oracle said in what was known as her 'Batgirl' voice.
Dinah took a breath and stared around the room. "Well whatever happened... everything looked to be in order. Any idea what caused the... um... boom?"
"I don't know," said Barbara. "My system didn't pick up anything out of the ordinary. It just happened. I didn't have any warning whatsoever."
"That's odd," said Zandia. "Ain't your system supposed to be completely foolproof?"
"Supposed to be, yes," said Barbara as she began rolling herself towards the center of her lair. "I just wish I knew what happened exactly. The light emanated from this point and… oh!"
The three women froze as they found themselves staring down at something Barbara had been told stories about, but never thought she would ever see for herself. Laying spread eagle, with a light brown hair on both head and feet, as well as pointed ears was a child-size person.
"It can't be… Oh my god it is… It's a hobbit," she realized almost instantly.
"A… who-bit?" asked Zinda.
"A hobbit. They're small, elf-like creatures from a place called 'Middle-Earth'," Barbara explained, wheeling closer towards the fallen form.
"How do you know this?"
"Cassandra…" Barbara paused, and frowned. "…Batgirl and Robin told me about them."
Dinah hadn't been listening as Barbara explained things to Zinda. Instead she had moved closer to the fallen hobbits and brushed back his dirty blond hair with her gloved hand and gave a small smile. "You know… He's kinda cute," she observed.
"Same to ye Miss…"
Dinah gave a very un-heroic 'yipe' as the hobbit's green eyes fluttered open and he gave a very weak smile. Oracle and Lady Blackhawk would have laughed had, they not been so concerned for the hobbit lying in their command center. The Hobbit however quickly realized what was going on and began scrambling away form them.
"W-Who are you?" he demanded, reaching for a small sword at his waist.
"Calm down. We aren't going to hurt you," said Oracle soothingly. "We just want to help. Are you alright?"
Frowing uneasily, and swaying slightly, the Hobbit gave a reluctant nod. "Yeah… I think I'm fine," said the hobbit. "But who are you and where…? OH MY!" The hobbit froze as he took a moment to look more closely at the three women surrounding him and his face suddenly turned so red, he looked as if he were about to pop. "Ye're not decent! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to… Please forgive me!"
"What? What's he talking about?" asked Zinda rather taken aback. She looked at Dinah, and Barbara and finally herself, before shrugging. She thought they looked perfectly fine as far as she was concerned. After all, she had been wearing her Blackhawk uniform since World War II and no one had complained. At least not to her face.
Barbara frowned for a moment herself, not entirely certain what the hobbit was going on about until; she looked over at her partners. At that point, she threw her hand over her mouth to stem the laughter threatening to bubble over.
"Dinah… Zinda… Think about what you're… what WE'RE wearing…" Barbara hinted. According to Robin, Middle-Earth was the equivalent of the Middle Ages. And thus, Black Canary's body suit and fishnets, along with Lady Blackhawk's very tiny mini-skirt, would not exactly be looked at, as the proper modest garb of women as far as a hobbit would be concerned. Barbara herself was wearing jeans and a spaghetti strap shirt, which could probably be seen as indecent.
"I don't… Oh… OH!" A look of realization hit Dinah like a ton of bricks, as it did Zinda. Looking at Barbara, all three of them attempted to hold back the laughter that was threatening to escape. Oh this was going to be fun… How were they supposed to explain mini-skirts and fishnets to someone who normally saw women in fully length gowns?
Thankfully that minor detail was interrupted, when Pippin took another look at Barbara. "Err… um… yer chair has wheels on it..."
"Tactful, ain't he?" said Zinda with a grin.
"Yes, it does," replied Barbara, slightly awkwardly. From the look on Pippin's face, he had never seen a wheelchair before. Ignoring Zinda's jibe, she began to lean forward in her chair so as to speak to the hobbit, face to face. She thought better of it though, when Pippin's face turned an even darker shade of red, and she realized how her chest was being positioned. Feeling her own cheeks turn flush, Barbara sat back up, straight.
The hobbit looked quizzically at Zinda, before turning towards Dinah in the hopes that perhaps she could explain. As their eyes met, he blushed slightly. Feeling rather embarrassed, at looking at such a beautiful woman who was only half-dressed if that much, he took to examining the room, which was filled with computers, and 3-dimensional holographic display images of assorted people and buildings and assorted other 21st century devises. "What is this place…?" he whispered.
"It my home," replied Oracle. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Barbara Gordon. And these are my friends, Dinah Lance and Zinda Blake." Barbara noticed that the Hobbit frowned slightly as if he recognized their names. "What's your name?" she asked.
"Peregrin Took, but everyone calls me 'Pippin'."
"Did you say you're name is 'Pippin Took'?" asked Oracle, her green eyes widening even more, as her photographic memory began to go into over-drive. Even Dinah looked surprised as she too recalled the name.
"Umm… yes," said Pippin, taking another moment to stare at the bizarre chair the redheaded woman was sitting in before he looked at Dinah with a confused expression. "Do I know ye?"
Barbara shared a glance with the other two women. "Kinda… We have mutual friend."
"We do?" Pippin asked. "Who?"
The courtyard of Alcatraz Prison looked like a war zone. Walls were shattered and the guard towers were collapsing. If it weren't for the chaos, once could wonder how much the city of San Francisco put into their repair budget. Especially with all the metahuman disasters that it came across. But what did they expect when they had one of the world's top metahuman prisons sitting in their Bay?
Today's most recent disaster was thanks to the metahuman criminal cell known as the Fearsome Five. Or rather the Fearsome Three, at the time being. First there was Psimon, the telepathic/telekinetic powerhouse with the see-through skull, followed by Jinx, the scantily clad mystic. And finally there was Mammoth, the bulking juggernaut. The three of them had decided it was time to break-free one of their missing member, the gothic mutant and sister of Mammoth, Shimmer, from Alcatraz.
The once famous symbol of the 20th century penal system had been re-opened as a high security metahuman federal prison. But before making for the cellblock with held their psychotic fourth member, they had decided to have some fun and cause wreck some havoc.
"This is an insult to my many skills," muttered Psimon, has his translusent skull lit up with psychic energy. He managed to disarm the many prison guards of their weapons before telekinetically throwing them in all directions. "My powers were granted to me by Trigon the Terrible himself, and how I do use them? I used them to constantly break out my so-called 'teammates' to help an organization of criminals who are constantly in wars with themselves. The Fearsome Five were supposed to be made for gander things than this."
"Oh quit your bitching, Psimon," said Jinx, as she place a hand on one of her hips. "If I have to hear that 'I got my powers from Trigon' stories one more time, I'm going turn your head into a bucket of popcorn. And until we do another recruitment drive, it's the Fearsome Four, egg-head."
"I want my sister," grunted Mammoth loudly over his bickering teammates. "I want Shimmer back. I want her back NOW. You said we would get her back." It was always odd to hear the giant man talk like a bitter child, but unlike his companions, Mammoth had never fully developed mentally.
Jinx gave an overly dramatic sigh and patted Mammoth once on the shoulder. "There, there Baran," she said in a voice that didn't match her soothing words. "We'll get to your sister soon enough."
"Exactly. And look at that. We're at her cellblock. So… can we get this over with?" asked Psimon, as he jutted his thumb at the prison wall. Mammoth smiled under his shaggy orange beard before breaking into a run. He raised his fist so as to punch the wall, yet before he could a beam of pure sonic force blasted him down. The giant of man crashed head first into the ground, creating a ditch with his face.
Immediately Psimon and Jinx spun around in search of the source. Standing atop one of the undamaged walls were six individuals, five of which were teenagers.
"The Teen Titans. Why am I not surprised," sneered Psimon.
Robin the Teen Wonder stood in the forefront, his black and gold cape draped over his body and giving him an almost sinister appearance. To the left of him stood a large black man, who honestly was more metal than man. The left side of his face was robotic as were his arm, his legs and much of his torso. The Cyborg, Victor Stone gave a dark scowl, and his red robotic eye flashed. Besides him was a girl slightly taller than Robin, in a blue and orange costume. Rose Wilson, the Ravager held a katana sword in her left hand, and her face was hidden behind a blue and orange mask, which had only one eye hole on the right side. Crouched in front of her, was Kid Devil. Eddie Bloomberg's blood red skin clashed brightly against the gray stonewalls and his glowing yellow eyes sparkled with excitement. As he smiled a whiff of flame and smoke flashed from between his lips. To Robin's right stood two more young girls. The first was a very shapely blond, clad in a pair of jeans, and a red sleeveless shirt, with a golden eagle on the chest. With her golden lasso hanging at her waist, Wonder Girl (AKA Cassie Sandsmark), crossed her arms and was floating a good two feet off the ground. Besides her stood Rachel Roth, the Titan better known as Raven. Clad in a blue cloak and hood, adored with a rube broach, she stared down indifferently at the three metahuman villains before them.
"I don't know why you would be surprised, Psimon," replied Robin, reaching into his belt and pulling out a foot-long cylinder. He gave a snap of his wrist and the cylinder expanded into a four and a half foot bo-staff. "You make an obvious attack on Alcatraz in broad day light, knowing full well that the it's right in our backyard…" he jutted his head towards a island only a few miles out from the city. On it stood a large building shaped like a giant 'T'. "What did you think was going to happen?"
"THIS!" shouted Psimon has he telekinetically grabbed a large rock of debris and sent it flying towards the group of heroes.
"TITANS TOGETHER!" Robin shouted as he fired off a d-cell line onto a neighboring rooftop. Wonder Girl and Raven immediately took off into the air, while Ravager jumped onto Cyborg's back as he jumped high into the air. Kid Devil made a jump as well and used the bat-like wings under his arm for glide to safety.
Cyborg, Ravager and Kid Devil immediately went for Mammoth. Cybrog's arm morphed back into his sonic cannon and a wave of sound blasted down at the villain. Unfortunately, despite his low intellect, Mammoth had great reaction time and managed to dodge the blast. But he had not managed to avoid Ravager as she dropped onto his shoulder.
"Hey there handsome," sneered the former-villain, raising her sword. "How's 'bout a haircut?" She then brought her sword down into Mammoth's back, which brought a snarl of pain. Mammoth began reaching back, in a desperate attempt as grabbing Ravager who was far too quick for him.
"Yo, Eddie!" shouted Cyborg, "Let's light 'em up!"
As soon as Ravager got clear, Kid Devil jumped in front of their enemy, reared his head back and opened his mouth as a massive flame shout out, engulfing Mammoth. Mammoth screamed in as his beard and hair caught fire and began running around wildly trying to put himself out. He was so pre-occupied that he didn't not Cyborg raise his sonic cannon arm and fire one hundred forty decibels. Mammoth was sent flying through another wall headfirst. He did not get up.
Meanwhile Jinx had risen her hands to fire a hex at Cyborg's turned back when suddenly a cord of golden rope wrapped tightly around her wrists. Jinx's eyes followed the cord back up to Wonder Girl who was floating a good 8 feet off the ground, wearing a very stern look. "Look, just make it easy on yourself and give up. I don't want to—" Wonder Girl said, as she crossed her arm and the silver bracelets on her wrist reflected the summer-sun.
"Hurt me?" Jinx finished mockingly. "Quite a high opinion you have of yourself. No wonder Superboy liked you. An ego to match his own." Cassandra's face flashed momentarily with rage, causing a bolt of lightning to shoot down the golden lasso and into Jinx who howled with pain. After a moment passed, the lighting subsided, leaving Jinx kneeling on the ground panting in pain as whiffs of smoke floated off her body and baldhead. Yet much to Wonder Girl's surprise, Jinx began to laugh in-between gasps of breath.
"Struck a cord, eh?" Jinx asked, turning her eyes up towards Wonder Girl. "Good." Then without warning, her eyes flashed with magical power, as fired a beam of purple mystical energy shot forth at the teenaged Amazon. Wonder Girl raised her arms and shielded herself, successfully using her bracelets to knock the energy aside.
"Umm… Hello? Bracelets blessed by the Gods? Trained by Wonder Woman… any of this ringing a bell, baldy?" Wonder Girl asked as she twisted in midair and dive-bombed the mystical villain.
"Um… hello? Powerful, evil mystic?" Jinx fired a hex-bolt at the earth, and the stone floor nearby rose and formed a fist that struck Wonder Girl hard in the stomach. She was sent flying up several feet, before coming to an abrupt stop and holding her stomach. "And of that ringing a bell, Wondy?"
"Achem…" Jinx spun around, to see Raven standing a few feet away from her. As always, the empathic Titan was completely covered in her blue cloak and hood, giving her a sinister sort of appearance. Her face covered in shadows, one could barely make out her violet eyes, which almost seemed to glow. Never being one to quip and fight, Raven suddenly spread her arms out and black smoke erupted from her robes, as a massive wave of black energy flew from her body. Raven's Soul Self took on the shape of a great bird of prey and struck out towards Jinx and immediately engulfed her.
A blood curdling scream could be heard from within Raven's Soul Self and a moment later, the black energy flew back into Raven's body while Jinx lay curled up on the ground, her eyes wide in horror. Landing nearby, Wonder Girl continued to rub her slightly bruised belly, suddenly thankful she had decided to go with a full shirt costume instead of her old belly-shirt one a year ago.
"What did you do to her?" Cassandra asked, looked uneasily at Jinx's quivering form.
"You… probably don't want to know," Raven replied, with an apologetic smile.
"You're scary sometimes, you know that?" Wonder Girl asked. "Cool, but scary."
Meanwhile, with his cape billowing like the wings of his namesake, Robin cut his d-cell cord and curled his body into tight ball. Executing two rolls in mid-air, Robin landed in a low crouch before Psimon. Slowly he rose to his full height and stared defiantly at his opponent.
"I still owe you for Blüdhaven, Wonder Boy," Psimon said with a sneered. "And this time there's no Superman to save you."
"Who says I needed Superman then or now?" Robin shot back.
"You're cocky now, boy, but lets see how you do when you've got the mental capability of a turnip." Psimon's translucent skull began to glow with psychic energy, but his air of superiority faded. "Why can't I…"
Robin reached up and pushed up his black hair, revealing a small quarter sized devise stuck on his forehead. "A little devise a couple of friends came up with. It's an electro-magnetic disruptor. Keeps you outta here." Robin tapped the side of his head and gave a very Batman-like smirk.
Narrowing his eyes Psimon began firing telekinetic bolts towards him. The Boy Wonder broke into a sprint narrowly dodged the attacks, before tossing a pair of black marbles at the villain. The marbles immediately exploded and covered the immediate area in black smoke. Coughing Psimon began to stumble backwards, trying to find a way out and keep Robin in sight. Unfortunately his with his sight blocked by the smoke and his telepathy useless, he never noticed where Robin had gone until he felt a soft tap on his shoulder. He spun around just in time to get a roundhouse punch across the face. There was a sickening crack as his head snapped to one side, after which he collapsed to the ground.
"Dude, sweet take down," said Kid Devil as he scampered towards Robin on all fours. "I always thought that guy had a glass jaw."
"Is it just me or was that way too easy?" asked Ravager as she leaned up against a pile of rubble, as she examined her fingernails in a bored manner. Nearby the remaining guards from Alcatraz were exiting the prison nervously, unsure if it was safe to arrest the Psimon and the others. "I thought these guys were supposed to be tough. Didn't they like, kick the Outsider's ass like a year or two ago?"
"We take down a group of super-powers that other heroes had problems with in record time, and you're complaining it wasn't more difficult?" Wonder Girl asked with a roll of her eyes. "Just when I thought you couldn't get any crazier..."
"You got a problem with me Barbie?" shot back Ravager, as he hair trigger temper livened up.
"…We've met before right?" asked Wonder Girl. The Sarcasm was simply dripping from her words.
"Oh boy… Here we go again," sighed Kid Devil.
"Whose turn is it to break them up this time?" asked Cyborg, rubbing the human side of his head.
"1… 2… 3…" Robin began.
"Not it!" he and Cyborg managed to say a second before Kid Devil.
"Not… Oh damn…" muttered the demonic-looking Titan.
"Now with that settled… Raven, think you can teleport us all back to the Tower before the girls start re-enacting an episode of Wendy the Werewolf Stalker?" asked Cyborg as he rotated his arm, examining the slight damage done to it. "Rae?" Turning, Vic's human eyes arched up he caught sight of Raven with her hood pulled back revealing her long black hair and her narrow face twisted with strain as if she were trying desperately to remember something.
"Raven, what's wrong?" asked Wonder Girl, placing a hand on Raven's shoulder.
"Something… coming," Raven said softly.
"Well, that's not vague, is it?" muttered Ravager as she crossed her arm, looking completely untroubled by the empathic Titan's pain. Wonder Girl shot her a murderous glare. "Is she done or would she like to add an 'I sense as if a million voice cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced' while she's at it?"
"I never thought you were a Star Wars fan," said Kid Devil, unable to stop himself, despite looking at Raven with worry.
"Ravager, shut up," growled Robin at the same time. He swept past her. Reaching Raven he placed a hand on her other shoulder and tilted his head concernedly. Whenever Raven got like that, there was always something wrong. "What is it? What do you sense?"
"Trigon…" Raven muttered.
"What? Did you say Trigon?" said Cyborg, an almost unnoticeable pang of fear in his normally controlled baritone voice. Robin could hear one of his weapons preparing to load up somewhere in his body. He couldn't blame Vic for being nervous. Tim could still remember the news reports from New York when Trigon had almost managed to take control of the earth, had it not been for Nightwing and his team of Titans. But Trigon was dead. His own daughter had destroyed him in both body and spirit.
"I can't explain it…" Raven whispered. "But… I sense a power… No… it's more of flare… and it's coming!"
Suddenly there was a sound like a clap of thunder. The Titans all spun around drawing weapons and falling into fighting stances as suddenly a beam of light shot down from the sky. The beam suddenly grew bigger until at last 5 feet in diameter. All the Titans rose tried to block the light with their hands or capes. Then as sudden as the beam of light appeared the light exploded brightly, the force sending each of the Titans stumbling backward before it then vanished. Everyone rubbed their eyes and blinked fervently so that to clear their vision.
"What in Hera's name was that?" gasped Wonder
"It was a doorway," replied Raven.
"How do you…" began Ravager, her one eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"Umm… Guys… check that out," said Kid Devil, staring down at the spot where the beam of light had been. Everyone froze as they saw two small bodies lying in the street. The first who had a thick mope of brown hair, lay curled up into the fetal position while the second one whose hair was a dark blond lay spread out facing. Neither looked any bigger than a child, but their faces looked much older. Oddly enough, their feet were bare, and covered in thick brown hair and a pair of pointed ears could be seen beneath their curly mops of hair. Both were dressed in similar silk and wool clothing, with a heavy grayish-green cloak wrapped around their shoulders shoulder.
"What the fuck is it?" said Ravager, drawing her sword and aiming it at the throat of the fatter of the two creatures. Without warning, a black-gloved hand shot out and grabbed her wrist so tightly, she was nearly forced to drop the weapon.
"Put that thing away, Wilson, NOW," growled Robin as he forcefully pushed her aside and stepped towards the huddled bodies. Ravager looked ready to argue, but she recognized the defensive growl in his voice. It was the same voice he used whenever she had made a crack about Superboy or worse, that chick that used to be Batgirl. The last time she had made that mistake, she had ended up pinned so painfully against a wall by her throat that she though she would never be able to swallow solid food again. As such, she thought better of debating his order and returned both swords to their sheaths on her back.
Robin meanwhile knelt down next to the bodies and his expression softened as he rolled the brown haired one onto their back.
It couldn't be. It had been over a year and half. But there was no mistaking who it was.
"I don't believe it," he whispered. "Frodo? Sam?"
TO BE CONTINUED…
Reader's Response
Batfan7: Thanks for the review. But as you could see in this chapter, the better question is where WON'T the Hobbits show up?
Alia G.L.: Bwahahaha! Yes, I am. Thank you so kind for noticing. And you're very correct; this can't be good. Not for anyone, except the loyal readers.
Iudex Acerbus: Glad you approve. Indeed, he was a very great one who got removed far too quickly. And that is only one of the many reasons why I'm still depressed with Young Justice getting cancelled even after all these years. And yeah, poor Tim is definitely in need of heavy drugs or group hugs (…there goes the RENT sound track playing in my head again…)
Nathurra Alertra: Thank you. I know, it was a shock, but this is the start of something very terrible. And unfortunately casualties are expected. He will always be remembered though.
Corral Skipper: Well, DC said they're going to send Cassandra back to square one, and she's confirmed as being shown in an upcoming Teen Titans story, so lets all keep our fingers crossed.
Ladyofthebookworms: Indeed you are correct. Comic writers do love have thing about messing with characters. It's expected though. After all, it would get boring if there were no evil drama. Though it would be nice if more writers could do those ideas in a better fashion than 'oh look, they're just randomly evil now', like SOME writers did…
Special Thanks to: Theo Gary, trecbo, JME2, Sandt21, Angelic.Dark
