_ Chapter 11_
Gar was not whelmed, nor was he asterous or turbed or any other words that Nightwing had come up with over the years. Both his teammates were down for the count and here he was, fighting this unrealistically large wild cat. Although many unnatural things came with the hero job, so Teekl's size was relatively normal. He now had a few seconds to choose between the following: run away from the cat to try to stop Klarion from hurting his teammates, or inflicting enough pain on the familiar to hurt Klarion enough that he couldn't hurt his teammates.
Before Garfield could enact either of these two plans, M'gann's bioship flew into view and landed nearby. Klarion's smirk faded from view as he heard the sounds of the rest of the team charging into action. Gar could not express how relieved he was when both Miss Martian and Superboy, along with Wonder Girl, rushed to take on Teekl.
"Thanks, Sis!" he called out as M'gann moved Gar out of Teekl's attack with her telekinesis. He wearily fell to the ground, panting. He hadn't realized how strenuous fighting the familiar was until the reinforcements had arrived.
"You okay, Beast boy?" She looked over him with a concerned look in her eyes before throwing a few trees at Teekl.
"Just tired," he murmured, trying keep his eyes open.
"You can rest, we'll cover you," Superboy stated. He grabbed Teekl's paw to prevent him from swiping at the sleepy shape-shifter.
"Thanks."
Ember tried sitting up but Klarion put a foot on her injured shoulder to keep her down, causing the Ebony to grunt in pain.
A birdarang, wing-ding, and a female speedster then came flying towards the witch-boy at high speeds. Klarion looked over his shoulder, a frustrated look on his face, and made another portal in front of him. Both projectiles and the speedster went through the portal and came out of a new portal that appeared behind him. Zoey looked around in wonder, seeing the enemy behind her.
"The other speedster fell for the same trick," Klarion taunted. He then took his foot off of Ember so that he could better fight the heroes who had just arrived.
"Hey Ember, you alright girl?" Bumblebee asked, flying down beside her.
Ember replied, "I'll live, yeah." She propped herself up with her uninjured arm.
Bumblebee kneeled down to help the girl as Blue Beetle started attacking Klarion from above, using giant "staples" to try and pin Klarion down. He succeeds, as one lands on the Lord of Chaos, trapping him on a tree.
Before Klarion could teleport out of the staple, a shrill yelp resounded through the forest. Wonder Girl had used her lasso to tie up Teekl and Superboy jumped up to retrieved the scientific instrument from the beast's catlike jaws. Batgirl had then threw batarangs at the trapped creature, which released a shock upon landing. That, combined with Blue Beetle using his sonic blast on Teekl, weakened Klarion.
Klarion screamed. "No!" he shouted, upset that they were hurting his familiar. "That's animal cruelty!" he chastised.
"Shut up already!" Zoey commanded, about to run at him again.
"Come on Teekl, it's time we go. I lived, I loved, threw a tree at a speedster… overall it was a nice playdate with you kids. Ta ta!" Teekl then turned back into his smaller, more domesticated size. And with that, the two were gone.
"Superboy, did you procure the piece?" Nightwing questioned with authority, kneeling next to Impulse. He felt the boy's wrist for a pulse, sighing in relief when he felt one. Everyone was alive, that was good.
"Yes, somebody might want to wash it off or something," Superboy said, staring at the part they had yet to get the name of. It was covered in spit from a magical cat and getting his hand coated in it.
"Will this still work?" Batgirl asked, taking the part from Superboy and examining it.
"Eh, it's made to be nearly unbreakable. Saliva won't do any harm." Nightwing gathered a stray wing-ding. "Mission accomplished, let's head out."
Ember stood up with the help of Bumble Bee and Zoey. Wonder Girl carried Impulse bride-style to the ship, his weight was nothing with her super strength. A sleeping Gar could be heard snoring as Superboy carried him over his shoulder like a sack of beans.
Impulse felt like someone had banged his head against the door half a dozen times as a battering ram. His fast healing abilities didn't mean he was invincible. The kick Klarion had given to him was painful. He woke up to the chattering voices of Gar and Zoey. He couldn't quite hear what they were saying, so he sat up a little and opened his eyes.
"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" he asked.
Zoey turned to look at him, her eyes gleaming and her cheeks red from laughter. "Gar was just telling me about the biggest blackmail I am ever going to get on Elle."
"Aw can't you guys just give it a rest?" Elle mumbled as she leaned against the armrest of her seat, trying to get a quick cat nap. Her shoulder had now been cleaned and gauze peeked out of the tear in the modified Robin costume.
Impulse felt a small grin tugging his lips, "Which part? The continuous flirting or when he asked her to marry him?"
"You didn't tell me he asked her to marry him!" Zoey's boisterous laughter boomed through the bioship.
"Yes! He literally went down on one knee, all solemn like, and was like 'Ember, will you marry me?'"
"What the heck is wrong with villains these days?" Robin wondered out loud, "First Catwoman, then Talia Al Ghül, now…this."
Nightwing overheard Tim's comment and giggled off to the side.
"Wow, only thirteen and already getting boys," Batgirl teased Elle who blushed at that.
"Ellie," Zoey called out, holding in her laughter.
"What." Elle snapped back.
"I ship you guys,"
"What?" Connor asked in confusion.
"Do you want to know what your ship name is?"
"No, frankly, I do not."
"Elliron!"
"Good one!" Gar grinned. The rest of the team was minding their own business pretending they weren't hearing this.
"Zoey," Elle warned, "That's not happening. EVER."
"But you need to get married and have an Elliron baby!"
"Yes," Bart smirked, nodding in agreement, "For the shippers, Elle."
"Alright you guys, enough of this," Nightwing stated.
"Thanks." Elle glared at the others. "It wasn't like that was the most embarrassing thing to happen on that mission, you know."
"Uh, it kinda was." Impulse nervously grinned.
"Oh, so I just didn't find out that the enemy of speedsters were trees?"
"Trees?" Zoey asked before remembering Klarion's last words, "He threw a tree at you?"
"Yup, knocked him out. Twice."
"Come on, that's the classic 'throw an object at the speedsters' trick. That's basic stuff!"
"Come on, tell me you didn't fall for the same trick!"
"Of course not, because I have enough brains not too,"
"Really? I didn't know you had any at all," Elle commented with a sarcastic drawl. Joking, of course, but she didn't let on that she was.
"Shut up!" Zoey stuck out her tongue at Elle.
"Approaching Mount Justice," M'gann informed over the clatter of talking.
"Alright, I can't wait to get a good night's rest!" Zoey said, yawning.
"Not yet, we have to debrief first," Robin replied.
"Ugh, that's gonna take forever!" Bart groaned in disappointment.
"Yeah, last time we got out of debriefing because you guys showed up," Gar complained, "In fact I think Nightwing totally forgot about it."
Batgirl smirked teasingly at Nightwing who quickly replied, "No I didn't,"
"Suuure," Barbara said, still smirking. Oh, how she loved to tease him.
The bio-ship landed into the hanger and the door opened out, allowing everyone to leave the bio-ship.
"Clean up, we debrief in two minutes."