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Chapter 18: Genies and Magicians
"He was last seen in the vicinity of the magic store!" Cyborg said, speeding through an intersection. He was talking into the Titan's yellow com that was in Beast Boy's hand, who was sitting next to him.
"All right, then." Robin's voice was firm. "You know the drill with this guy."
"You mean don't run into his wand?" Beast Boy asked. "Because, dude, that thing is nasty."
"We all know what he's capable of," Raven said, her voice static-filled through the com. Her dry voice and the com didn't seem to mix together.
Beast Boy noticed. "Rave, there's something wrong with your voice."
"Really? Because from up here, I can't hear a thing besides the wind and your voices."
"Oh yeah? From in here I can't see a thing besides the car's windshield and the com!"
"Give me that." Cyborg snatched the com out from Beast Boy's hand. "You got anything else besides that, Rob?" he asked, ignoring the death glares the changeling was sending him.
"We'll get through it," was Robin's only reply. "Just – aagh!"
Starfire was the first to respond worriedly. "Robin? Is everything all right?"
"Snakes, snakes! I can't stand snakes!" was the only reply they got before the com abruptly shut off.
"Since when?" Beast Boy asked, confused.
"Good question, BB. But not one we'll find an answer to—"
His car buddy cut him off. "Dude, watch out!" Beast Boy grabbed the wheel from his friend and jerked it to the side, narrowly missing a mailbox that was innocently sitting in the street.
"What the hell was that?" Cyborg cried, too surprised to berate Beast Boy about touching his baby. He stopped the car abruptly, twisting around to see the mailbox still sitting there. "A mailbox in the middle of the street?"
"Maybe we should keep driving?" Beast Boy suggested, getting a creepy feeling.
"No way." Cyborg checked the street signs. "We're close to that magic store. Mumbo might have done something here."
"This isn't Mumbo's style. He's more flambi," Beast Boy argued.
Cyborg stopped in the middle of opening his door, staring incredulously at Beast Boy. " 'Flambi'? What's that?"
"You know! He likes being big!" Beast Boy got out of the car, meeting Cyborg's eyes over the roof.
"You mean flamboyant?" Cyborg closed the door, locking the car with a beep.
"Yeah, that!" Beast Boy agreed, nodding.
Cyborg was spared from having to lament at Beast Boy's deplorable vocabulary when the mailbox suddenly developed arms and a ferocious mouth where the letter drop entrance was. Razor sharp white teeth added to the stunning effect.
"What the hell?" was all Cyborg managed to say.
Beast Boy's "Dude" wasn't much more eloquent.
The two Titans had no chance to say anything else as the mailbox attacked with a deluge of letters. And if you try to say that they're wimps for screaming and dodging, you haven't felt the pain of a paper cut.
"I hate envelopes!" Cyborg shouted, shooting his sonic cannon left and right and incinerating dozens of envelopes.
"Since when?" Beast Boy shouted back, dodging under a nearby Lexus as Cyborg's sonic cannon blast went too close for comfort. "Watch it!"
"Since now!" Cyborg shot back, sending two dozen envelopes to meet their maker in tree heaven. With the path momentarily clear, he immediately aimed at the mailbox, hitting it with pinpoint accuracy.
The bluish-white blast smashed into the possessed object and sent it flying down the street. When it finally crashed into a lamppost, it was blackened and looked quite normal – if dented. All the letters flopped down to the ground, giving the impression of a hailstorm.
"Is it back to normal?" Beast Boy asked, peeking out from under the car. He sneezed as paper particles went up his nose. "Ew."
"As normal as it gets," Cyborg confirmed, turning his arm back to normal. "What on earth was that?"
"I dunno." Beast Boy made his way to Cyborg's side to stare at the remnants of what had used to be an innocent mailbox. "I wish we could find out, though."
Green smoke started to swirl around their feet and a soft and seductive voice said in a rhythmic voice, "So you have wished it, so it shall be!"
The two Titans' eyes bugged out when a beautiful green-skinned black-haired woman with red eyes materialized out of nowhere; a wicked smile was curving her red lips. She had no legs but a long shimmery blue tail that reminded them of Danny's tail in ghost form. Her only clothing was a blue bra and pieces of jewelry on her arms. A faint glow surrounded her form.
"Who're you?" Beast Boy blurted.
The woman stopped smiling to frown. "You can see me?" Her voice echoed slightly. There was a small beat before she grimaced in realization. "The wish was to find out what happened. Ugh. But who cares. It's not like you can stop me." The wicked smile was back on her face.
Cyborg and Beast glanced at each other, not sure what the woman was talking about.
The half-robot took the incentive to step forward and take an offensive stance. "Who are you?"
The woman's smile widened if that was possible and her red eyes gleamed malevolently. "Who am I? I'm Desiree"—her hands glowed green—"the genie. And you two have just fallen underneath my spell."
Cyborg and Beast realized they were in deep trouble when the street below their feet began cracking and the sewage pipes emerged with horrible deformities.
Who knew a gorgeous woman could cause so much trouble?
"Aargh! Snakes!" Robin was currently in a bind – pun intended. Green slithery snakes were wound around his torso, arms, and legs. They were hissing something fierce.
He was so busy trying to free himself from the icky things that he almost missed the sudden appearance of the villain he had come to stop. Only the crazy high-pitched laughter of Mumbo alerted him to the presence.
"Mumbo!" he snarled, stopping his struggles to glare at the wizard.
"You look to be in a bind, Robbie!" Mumbo said jauntily, twirling his black wand through his fingers. He had a large hooked nose and a mask similar to the one Robin had. His black top hat and magician's cape completed the ensemble. His light blue skin was the only oddity. "Mayhap you could use some help?" He burst into laughter at this as if he had told some crazy joke.
Robin's only response was an inarticulate roar as he whipped out his staff and gave it a swirl. He fully intended on taking Mumbo down, snakes or no snakes.
"Ah ah ah…" Mumbo waved a long gloved finger. "Abracadabra!" With a swish of his wand and an evil smirk, the staff Robin held turned into a long snake.
"Agh!" Robin let go of the snake without thinking and it flew towards Mumbo's open hand, where it promptly turned into a staff again.
"Nice staff!" Mumbo cackled, twirling it so fast it was a blur. "But it'd be better like this!" He gave the staff a tap with his wand and it turned into a beautiful pink flower. "Flower?" he offered Robin, who was getting redder by the second. A virtual volcano was storming above his black hair.
"Mumbo…" Robin growled. The volcano that had been storming suddenly erupted. "That's it! You're going down!" Heedless of the snakes still on his body, Robin sprinted towards Mumbo, fully intending on taking the mad wizard down with his bare hands.
All Mumbo did was cackle and drop the flower to the ground. He paused, still grinning maniacally, to swish his wand and say, "Mumbo jumbo!"
Robin realized that the ground beneath his feet was giving way just before he felt someone grab him under the arms and save him from an untimely demise. A look revealed it to be Starfire. "Thanks," he grumbled, still stewing.
A second later the snakes glowed black and unraveled from Robin's body. The doer of this marvelous deed was revealed to be Raven as she undid the spell with a mere wave of her hand. "You looked to be in a bind," she commented dryly.
"I hate snakes," was all he said.
Starfire turned around, Robin still in her hands, and faced Mumbo Jumbo. The villain was on the streets and glaring up at the three Titans. Behind him lay the remnants of the street where Robin would have plunged to his doom.
"That's strange," Raven said slowly, her violet eyes taking in the damage. "His spells aren't normally this destructive."
"He could have killed Robin!" Starfire exclaimed angrily, her green eyes flashing.
"I think that was the aim." Raven drifted by Robin, brushing a hand along his arm and wiping off something white. "Those snakes were poisonous. You're lucky they didn't bite you."
Robin couldn't repress a shudder even as his eyes narrowed. "He's going down," he promised in a low voice.
As they were talking, Mumbo had been fingering his chin with his wand. Just as Robin had promised vengeance on the wizard, he swished his magical stick and aimed it at the trio.
"What is he doing?" Starfire asked. "He did not even – oh!"
Her exclamation was mirrored by Robin (although Raven emitted a mere grunt) as they all glowed green and plummeted to the ground. They landed heavily and Robin tried his best to soften the fall for his girlfriend. Once they were sure they had no broken bones, they rolled to their feet and assumed battle stances.
"What was that?" Robin demanded.
"I cannot fly!" Starfire said agitatedly, jumping up and down. Raven came to the same conclusion after she jumped up once only to come back to the ground.
"Answer me!" Robin demanded again, stepping protectively in front of his flightless girlfriend. "What did you do to them?"
"Me?" Mumbo said innocently. "Absolutely nothing! People can't fly, you know. Perhaps they've gone a bit"—he lowered his voice—"loco." He expressively twirled his finger by his temple in the sign for "crazy".
"Funny. I'd say the same thing for magic," Raven shot back, lifting a glowing black hand. On cue, the blocks of the demolished street behind Mumbo levitated.
Robin took out a spare staff and gripped it tightly in his hands. Starfire's hands were covered by green orbs. Before Mumbo could act, the Tamaranean had flung the orbs in his direction. The blue-skinned magician cackled madly and, with a sweep of his robe, disappeared from view. He reappeared a short distance away, completely unscathed.
"You have just witnessed the magnificent Mumbo Jumbo teleport!" he announced grandiosely. "You shall now see his next great magic act!" Grinning maniacally, he twirled his wand. "Abracadabra!" The unearthed sewer pipes glowed green and began snaking through the air, spewing brown water everywhere.
Starfire gasped. "That…is not normal."
Raven narrowed her eyes, making a mental note of the green color the pipes had glowed. "No. It's not."
Robin's eyes were flicking from pipe to pipe as his quick mind calculated any options available to them. The rocks were still floating around them. "Raven…what are you planning on doing with those rocks?"
Raven shot him a look, raising both hands, which were glowing black. "This." With a yell, she swept them downwards, unleashing the rocks towards the insane magician.
"Raven!" Starfire gasped.
"If he's trying to kill us, then I don't have any problem with retaliating in kind," Raven said grimly. "Unless you want to die?"
Starfire didn't answer as she was busy dodging a rampant sewer pipe that slammed into the street where she had been standing. Robin dove to the ground and rolled to his knees, sprinting forward under another sewer pipe. Raven's attack had simply seemed to set off the sewer pipes.
Raven put up black shields that the sewer pipes bounced off of, her violet eyes narrowing in on Mumbo. The man was completely unfazed by her violent attack. Before Mumbo could do anything else, she had sunken through the street. Two seconds later, she rose from the street in a swirl of black.
Before she could do anything, however, a sewer pipe attacked in a split second, knocking right into her and flinging her into a building. Black enveloped her, cushioning what would have been a grievous blow.
It didn't stop Starfire from fearfully exclaiming, "Raven!"
Mumbo cackled gleefully. "You should be more concerned with yourself! Ridikkulus!"
Ignoring the blatant Harry Potter rip off, Robin and Starfire scrambled for cover as dangerous knives shot towards them. For the record, that was so not funny. Starfire managed to roll under a Buick. Robin was more unfortunate as a stray knife buried itself in his calf.
"Aargh!" His high pain tolerance allowed him to hop forward a couple of steps before falling down and gripping his leg. He pulled the knife out with a squelch, applying pressure as he did and grunting in pain.
Starfire crawled out from beside the car. "Robin!"
Mumbo wasted no time in waving his wand and sending another wave of knives towards a hapless Starfire.
Raven, recovering from her earlier bout with the wall, saw her plight. "Starfire, watch out!"
Starfire turned her head at the warning, eyes widening at the hail of sharp and very shiny knives headed her way.
After leaving the tower, Danny and Wulf had to fly over the city in search of the ghost that had set off Danny's ghost sense. They wasted fifteen minutes doing so without a trace of the ghost. Danny had swept through the streets and buildings, leaving Wulf to more sedately inspect the areas where he was.
When the two met up again, they both had to admit that they couldn't find the ghost or any trace of it.
"I wish I hadn't fried the Fenton Finder," Danny complained, sighing. He scratched the back of his neck, green eyes scanning the rooftops.
From his place on a roof, Wulf barked out a short stream of Esperanto. Danny listened and furrowed his brow thoughtfully. "Use my ghost sense to track the ghost?" He smiled wryly. "Why didn't I think of that before? Thanks, Wulf."
Wulf grinned wolfishly, saying, "Welcome."
Although he had never done this before, Danny closed his eyes in an effort to find his center, that cold spot where his ice powers dwelled. Since his ghost sense was an extension of this power, he hoped he could use this to find the ghost. A sense of coldness flashed through him for a moment before he just knew where the ghost was.
His eyes snapped open. "Got it. Come on, Wulf!"
Without thinking, Danny bolted off. He didn't see Wulf's dumbfounded blinks after the black and white blur that had disappeared in the blink of an eye. He knew where the ghost was and was headed straight for it.
Beast Boy and Cyborg had their hands full. Despite her feminine look, Desiree was no piece of cake to deal with. But then again, Cyborg reasoned, neither was Jynx. At least she was on the good side now. The same couldn't be said for Desiree.
"Why are there enormous rats?" Beast Boy screamed, scampering up a light pole to avoid being chewed up by the rats that were the size of go-karts. He was an animal-lover but some things went only so far. For him, giant mutated green versions of rats broke that limit.
Cyborg blasted five rats away from him in quick succession, stifling a gag at how they looked. It was enough to give anyone nightmares for months.
For her part, Desiree was smugly floating in the air, admiring her handiwork. She'd been aiming for the green changeling when she cast the spell but couldn't complain about the effects.
"Cyyyybooorg!" Beast Boy shrieked, promptly turning into a raven and flying off the pole to escape some particularly acrobatic rats.
"What?" Cyborg snapped, busy with his own pests. He had clambered on top of a Ford Expedition and was fighting from there. He looked disgruntled at the form Beast Boy had taken. "That's real nice of you! Thanks for leaving the dirty work to me!"
The raven gave a loud croak and morphed into a Tyrannosaurus Rex. The giant dinosaur stomped into the midst of rodents and began squashing them.
Desiree frowned and raised a hand. It glowed green and Beast Boy glowed in response, suddenly shrinking to a third of his size. Needless to say, he was now just as big as the nearest rat. His eyes bulged and he morphed back in time to dodge a snap of sharp teeth.
"Not cool!" Beast Boy screamed in a higher-pitched voice.
Cyborg noted in alarm that his miniaturized friend was about to become rat food as another green rat that was missing half of its face began to pounce. "BB! Behind you!"
Beast Boy failed to turn around in time. Cyborg thought he would have to see his best friend be eaten but a black and white blur zipped through, snatching Beast Boy from the jaws of death – pun intended.
The blur solidified to reveal Danny Phantom, his hair windswept and with Beast Boy in his arms. "Is it just me or are you smaller?"
Beast Boy ignored the question in favor of gratefully exclaiming, "Dude! You saved me!"
"No prob." Danny narrowed his eyes at Desiree, who had widened hers upon seeing the half-ghost appear. "I didn't know you liked rats, Desiree. You always struck me as the kitten type."
"Phantom…" Desiree clenched her hands into fists.
"So she is a ghost?" Cyborg asked, stopping his attack on the rats.
"She's a genie ghost," Danny explained, letting Beast Boy drift to the car Cyborg was one. The half-robot raised his eyebrow at the impressive feat of telekinesis. "Did either of you wish for rats or something?"
"Just BB," Cyborg said. "That's when we saw her."
"I didn't wish for rats!" Beast Boy protested indignantly. He barely came up to Cyborg's waist. "And even if I had, I wouldn't wish for such giant ones!"
"That was me," Desiree proclaimed, a sinister smile on her face.
"Then I suppose we'll have to take care of that," Danny declared, a hand gripping the Fenton Thermos. He uncapped it and pointed it towards Desiree. "I wish you'd go in the thermos!"
There was a long drawn out silence as Desiree remained motionless and Danny kept pointing the thermos at her. After a moment, the only sound was that of a dying rat as Cyborg kicked it off the car and into a light post.
Danny frowned. "Why didn't that work?"
Desiree smirked. "You cannot trap me with that wish!"
"Could've fooled me," Danny muttered, capping the thermos. "Wasn't that how I caught you the last time? And the time before that?"
"Specific wishes that deal directly with me I am not allowed to grant," Desiree said, grinning evilly. "But I can cast spells of my own."
"If that's the case," Danny said, "then I'll have to deal with you some other way!" His hands flared a bright green.
Just as Desiree conjured a large baseball bat behind him, Danny teleported directly behind her, blasting her in the back with an ecto-beam. The attack smashed her into a building ten feet away. The baseball bat disappeared.
Cyborg was having trouble of his own. "Danny! Little help here!"
"On it!" Danny landed on the street and turned to the side. He whipped around, a stream of ice arcing out from his hands. The ice sheet froze the rats and the car the Titans were on. Cyborg blasted off a stray rat and Danny finished the job with an ice blast that froze it solid.
"Those are the biggest and ugliest rats I have ever seen," he declared, casting an eye over the carnage. He was a bit disturbed at how much ice he had managed to generate but shook it off.
"You said it," Cyborg agreed, sliding down the Expedition onto the street. Beast Boy did the same but slipped and fell flat on his back.
Their attention was distracted by Desiree emerging from the rubble of the building Danny had shot her into. Her red eyes were gleaming angrily. "You'll pay, Phantom!"
"Sorry. I left my wallet back home. Do you take credit?"
Saying nothing, Desiree shot a wave of gleaming knives towards Danny. Sparing half a thought as to why she'd conjured knives, Danny teleported behind her with a mere thought, pushing her down into the street with a gloved hand. His eyes caught sight of a burn mark on her back and he frowned, remembering the earlier attack. Had his ecto-beam been so strong?
A second later, he was distracted from this thought by a torrent of sludge that erupted into the air from his right over a building. An awful stink began permeating the air.
"Ugh! What is that?" Beast Boy groaned, clapping two hands over his sensitive nose.
"If I had to guess, that'd be the sewer pipes," Cyborg said, looking over. "I think that's where the others are. Mumbo must have done something."
Listening, Danny didn't react in time to Desiree phasing through the street. He had no time to turn around before what seemed like a giant snake enveloped him in its coils. A quick glance upwards confirmed it: it was an enormous boa constrictor about twice its normal size. Sam would have a bone to pick with Desiree if she could see this.
Desiree hovered in front of him. "Tied up, Phantom?"
Danny smirked, eyes flaring. "Hardly." He concentrated briefly, building energy in his chest, and then released it in a large burst, incinerating the snake and throwing the genie ghost backwards. His eyes flicked over to the area where the other Titans were supposed to be and he zipped over to Desiree, grabbing her before she could react and dragging her into the air. The action took place in a second and left Cyborg and Beast Boy blinking as they tried to discern his location. His voice caused them to look up.
"I'll meet you over there!" Danny pointed with his head and flew off, a dazed Desiree in tow.
Beast Boy and Cyborg glanced at each other.
"Okay. What just happened?" The green changeling blinked owlishly.
"Danny just whooped her butt. That's what happened," Cyborg said, folding his arms.
They were distracted with the arrival of a panting Wulf, who slid to a halt in front of them and took a spill. The action made them consider a conundrum: with Beast Boy so small, how were they supposed to traverse the slippery ice?
It took Danny less than a second to arrive at the place where the sludge had erupted from. He let Desiree drop, knowing that her status as a ghost would prevent any grievous injuries. With his burden gone, he quickly assessed the situation.
The cause for the eruption was the dislodging of a large sewer pipe that was positioned directly before Starfire. Imbedded in the pipe were dozens of knives. Robin was lying next to another pipe and was clutching his leg. Raven was the only one standing in the open and was facing a blue-skinned man in a tuxedo and top hat. Danny had to assume that this was Mumbo Jumbo.
A half-formed plan quickly popped into his mind and he created an invisible duplicate, knowing that Danny #2 would interfere when needed. Then, five seconds from when he had dropped Desiree, he landed on the street in front of Robin, feet set out in a battle stance.
"Danny!" Robin sounded surprised. "What are you doing here?"
Danny glanced at him, taking in the calf that Robin was clutching. "I was going after Desiree but saw that fountain of sewer water. I figured you guys might need some help."
Robin half sat up, a hand on the sewer pipe next to him. "I thought you were just supposed to deal with the ghost?"
Danny shrugged, keeping an eye on Mumbo. "She's over there." He pointed to the ghost, who was shaking her head and glaring at him. The effect was lessened by the sludge she was covered with since he had dropped her into a giant puddle.
Mumbo took that opportunity to shriek at Desiree. "What are you doing here? You were supposed to deal with the others!"
Disgruntled, Desiree floated over to him, going intangible to let the disgusting water slide off onto the street. "I did. Then he interfered." She shot Danny a baleful look, to which he responded with a cheeky wave and grin.
"Who is he?" Mumbo demanded, shooting Danny daggers. Though not literally, Danny could see him backing that glare up with the ammo necessary.
"Danny Phantom," Danny said before Desiree could. "I think you owe the city a couple dozen rats."
"Those rats were of my own creation," Desiree ground out.
"Like I said, I see you more as the kitty type."
The comments had the Titans glancing at the two ghosts in confusion. Only Mumbo seemed unaffected. In fact, steam was pouring out of his ears and his face was quickly turning red.
"I thought blue skin turned pink?" Danny asked Robin, who simply shrugged in response.
"You told me that you could handle them!" Mumbo shouted, jabbing his wand at Desiree's chest.
"And so I did," Desiree retorted, shoving the wand away.
"Then why are you here?"
Desiree scowled furiously, glaring at Danny. "Why do you think?"
Mumbo followed her eyes to also glare at the white-haired half-ghost. "Him? He's even scrawnier than the bird boy!"
Danny raised his eyebrows, not taking the insult personally. Although he was scrawny for his age, he had grown and was by no means as weak as his figure suggested. In fact, even his human form had grown stronger under training from his parents. He suspected Mumbo was just saying that to rile him up.
In the meantime, Starfire had crept over to Robin to inspect his wound. She was still shaking from the attack but thanked Raven's timely interference with a pipe. She brushed off Robin's protest and looked at the hole in his leg, brows furrowing in concern when she saw it was still bleeding.
She tore off a strip of Robin's cloak with ease due to her super strength and began applying a tourniquet. In a quiet voice, she caught Danny's attention. "Friend Danny, Robin is most grievously injured."
Danny didn't look back, wary eyes glued onto a still arguing Desiree and Mumbo. "Can you fly off and get him help?"
"I cannot. Mumbo Jumbo cast a spell."
Danny narrowed his eyes, looking at the wand the magician was again poking at Desiree's chest. "What are his weaknesses?"
"Snap the wand and he returns to normal," Robin said.
Neon green eyes stared at the wand. That ugly black and white plastic looking stick was the root of Mumbo's power? While he'd heard that a magician got his power from a wand, Danny hadn't expected for that to be so literal.
Catching sight of Raven, who was edging behind the two quarreling villains, Danny decided to distract them so she could do what she wanted to. "Hey, Mumbo!" When he'd caught his attention, he smirked and continued, "I was wondering what kind of a name is Mumbo Jumbo. Did your mom really hate you or something? That's gotta be the dumbest name I've ever heard of and believe me – I've heard some dumb ones. Party Dude really took the cake but I have to say that Mumbo Jumbo is a close second."
Mumbo growled threateningly, his eyebrow ticking angrily. "You know what, kid," he said slowly, gripping his wand tightly.
Danny raised an eyebrow, taking a slight step back in anticipation. "No, I don't."
"You're dead!" Mumbo roared, whipping his wound in a fancy figure eight. "Jingulo kadabra!"
An eight composed purely out of fire formed in mid air and hurtled towards the startled half-ghost and the two Titans behind him. Danny snapped up a green shield without a second's thought, feeling slight vibrations as the fire attack hit it. With an exhale, he switched to ice and immediately filled the vicinity with steam. He used the distraction to turn invisible and carefully maneuver over to where Mumbo was.
Without warning, he was flung to the side by a powerful gust of wind that swept away the steam and revealed Raven wrestling with Mumbo. Sparing a thought to wonder why Raven was wrestling with the magician, Danny was distracted with Desiree trying to hit him with a baseball bat.
He ducked under the swing, grinning impishly. "Strike!"
Desiree bared her teeth and transformed the bat into a giant sword. The sharp blade hacked through the air and towards Danny. The half-ghost turned intangible in the nick of time, letting the blade fly through him. Instinctively, he flung out a hand and stopped the blade in its tracks.
'What?' Danny peered in confusion at the sword. It wasn't glowing but he just knew that he had used his telekinesis power to hold it still. But it was under Desiree's control so how did he manage to stop it? Judging from Desiree's furious and perplexed look she was thinking the same thing. Shrugging the mystery off, Danny flicked the blade towards the genie ghost with another thought.
Desiree was hardpressed to turn the blade into an innocent feather in time before it sliced through her. Granted, the feather was humongous but it was still innocent compared to the sharp sword of before.
Taking advantage of the off-guard ghost, Danny dashed forward, only to be hit by a gush of water that slammed him into a sewer pipe jutting out from the ground. "Ow!" He almost plunged into the darkness below the street but stopped his plunge with a pain-filled grimace. Shaking it off, he zipped around the baseball bat that Desiree had just whacked at him.
He saw Mumbo trying to cast a spell at him and Raven now throwing a chunk of rock at the magician. Apparently the wrestling hadn't worked out too well for her. The entire scene seemed to occur in slow-motion as he flew around the bat. It continued to act in slow-motion as he tackled Desiree and threw both of them into Mumbo before Raven's rock could hit him.
Time seemed to speed up as Danny had to stop his forward trajectory. He caught sight of Mumbo's wand behind Desiree and pushed forward to reach for it. It brushed against the tip of his gloves before he was pushed off by Desiree's ghostly tail. He landed on the street on his back with an oomph but rolled to his feet and pushed off, demolishing the already ruined street he had pushed off.
Before either villain could react, Danny had slammed into Mumbo again and wrenched the wand from his grasp. "I'll take that," he said, slightly breathless from the several close shaves. Jumping backward from the stunned magician, Danny snapped the wand in two before being hit by an ecto-beam from Desiree, who had now resorted to regular ghost powers in her frustration.
The attack threw him to the ground and made him hit his head against the street. Dazed and with stars bursting in his head, he didn't see Desiree's hands flaring a bright green in fury.
Raven had recovered from the shock of seeing a black and white blur tackle Mumbo and Desiree in the last couple of seconds and then decisively take Mumbo – now an old man – out for the count. The whole incident had transpired so quickly she hadn't blinked once and exhaled five times. Judging from Robin's and Starfire's stunned expressions, they were similarly affected.
She'd just seen Danny snap the wand in two before being hit in the side by Desiree's green beam. Therefore, she was also able to see Desiree about to attack Danny further when he was dazed from the head blow. Reacting quickly, her black magic enveloped the ghost and forcibly drew her away from the ghost teen.
"Witch!" Desiree bit out, glaring at her.
"I could say the same," Raven retorted calmly. "But in much nastier language."
Desiree was still glaring at her when three new arrivals came on the scene. From the air, Wulf landed on a relatively stable portion of the street with Cyborg and Beast Boy on his back. The two climbed off, gaping at the mess.
"Looks like a giant mole went through and dug up everything," Cyborg managed to say after closing his mouth.
"A giant mole?" Robin asked, helped over by his girlfriend. She had regained her power of flight with the snapping of Mumbo's wand.
"Don't ask," Cyborg said firmly, shivering slightly.
"That's why I un-shrunk!" Beast Boy exclaimed, pointing at Mumbo, who was trying to sneak away. "His wand was snapped!"
"You shrank?" Robin and Starfire simultaneously asked.
Beast Boy shrugged as Cyborg shot a net from his hand and captured Mumbo before he could escape. With that problem taken care of, they turned to Raven, who still had Desiree in her magic. Danny was slowly sitting up, his face pale.
Desiree sneered at them. "You fools!"
"Enlighten us," Raven bade. "Why are we the fools?"
"I'm a genie," Desiree said, grinning evilly. "I thrive on magic!" Cackling madly, her body glowed green and absorbed Raven's black magic. She correspondingly grew three times in size. Wulf growled threateningly in response.
"Well, damn," was all Raven said.
Desiree cast her red eyes on the Titans and ghost wolf. "Now you shall face my wrath!"
Before she could carry out the threat, there was a sudden crackling and green electricity arced around her. "Aargh!" she shrieked, convulsing with the attack. Her hair frizzed madly and she shrunk back down to normal, collapsing onto the ground.
The Titans looked at Danny, who was just getting up and uncapping his thermos. It glowed bluish-white and sucked in Desiree.
"If you didn't do that, who did?" Robin asked, confused.
Danny smiled, hooking the thermos back onto his belt. "Technically, I did do that." A second Danny materialized next to him and grinned before evaporating into a green haze and being reabsorbed into Danny. "Or my duplicate did. I thought that might come in handy."
"Why didn't you do that before?" Cyborg demanded. "It would have saved us a lot of grief!"
"And rats!" Beast Boy added.
Danny blinked. "It's not like I've always had this power. Besides, I don't like relying on one trump card. It might not always work."
"It's worked so far," Beast Boy argued.
"But he's right," Raven said. "Becoming a one-trick pony is never a smart idea."
"What she said," Danny said, pointing at her. He looked over at Wulf. "There you are, buddy."
"Tro rapide," Wulf said. ("Too fast.")
Danny opened his mouth in surprise. "Oh. Sorry. But you're all right?"
Wulf nodded while Raven walked behind him. "We should be asking you that. How's your head?"
Danny shrunk away from her. "Fine. I heal quickly. Besides, I've had worse. I'm more worried about Robin."
For the first time, Cyborg and Beast Boy registered the makeshift tourniquet around Robin's leg and the hole in his calf.
"Is that made from your cape?" was all Beast Boy managed to ask.
"We did not have many supplies," Starfire defended. "But Danny is right: Robin requires the medical aid. He cannot have the tourniquet on for too much longer."
As the team doctor, Cyborg took a quick critical assessment of Robin's condition. "She's right. He's too pale. How much blood did you lose, Robin?"
"I'm fine," Robin said defensively.
"The puddle of blood beside that pipe says otherwise," Danny pointed out. "You don't want that wound to get infected."
"That said, I don't know how we're supposed to get to the tower to treat that in time," Cyborg admitted, looking around at the mess. "My car's a wreck and I don't think Rob's bike is any better."
"It's under the street," Robin acknowledged reluctantly.
"I could teleport you all there," Danny offered, rubbing the back of his neck. "That wouldn't take a second."
"I notice you didn't teleport while saying that," Raven remarked.
Danny flushed. "I've already gotten used to it. Sort of comes with the job."
Raven acknowledged that fact. As someone with dangerous powers, she knew how important it was to have a handle on any new ones that happened to crop up.
"I'll take that offer," Cyborg accepted, glancing at Robin's blanched expression.
Nodding, Danny reached for Starfire's shoulder and Cyborg. "Anyone else who wants to just needs to grab on."
"I'll make sure this guy is taken care of," Raven said, nodding towards Mumbo, "so you guys go ahead."
Beast Boy and Wulf latched onto Cyborg and Danny respectively before the ghost teen disappeared in a flash of green light. Left alone, Raven gazed contemplatively at a nervous Mumbo Jumbo.
She was quite sure Danny couldn't fly so fast before…
THERE'S A BONUS SCENE!
Thanks to Hyperpegasi, Kung-fu Blaziken, hypersreak, Leo112, stick fight3, Copa-Phantom, Midnayuki, fadedphantom, SpartanCommander, Anonymous, alienvspredator5, Garnet Sky, Ookami-242, Junior's Wifey, skyhorse32, bug349, Lady-x-Exorcist, kirara the great, Truefortune, Hinata28h, seantriana, and Evillevi for reviewing the last chapter!
Anonymous: Thrilled you liked it! I tried my best to make it plausible.
Truefortune: It's updated now! :)
What could have happened if I felt like it fit with the universe...
"They're almost at the finish line!" Beast Boy gushed, his fingers digging into the couch. Raven had moved in order to spare her arm the agony.
Then, all of a sudden, the video game abruptly shut off. The screen flashed black and then turned on again to an emergency news broadcast.
An announcer with squinty eyes and a really big mouth stood there behind a desk with Jump City in the background. The Titans stared at the man's sudden appearance, only to gape even more when screams sounded and two cars crashed into the newsroom, completely demolishing the background but leaving the man unruffled.
The man began speaking. "We interrupt your program to bring this emergency news broadcast. The dangerous criminal Mumbo Jumbo has escaped and is on the loose."
Behind the man, Danny was woozily getting up and shaking his head. Cyborg wasn't in much of a better state. When they'd recovered, they stared in confusion at their new surroundings. Danny fell over when two pictures popped up over his head. One was of an innocent looking balding guy and the other of a blue-skinned masked man with a devilish grin and black top hat.
The announce continued without missing a beat, "Caution is advised. The criminal is considered armed and dangerous."
Robin grabbed the remote control, unsure of what he should be doing. "Danny! Cyborg! Are you two all right?"
"I think this is the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me and that's saying a lot!" Danny responded, squinting at the announcer in the foreground. "Does he even know we're in here?"
"Probably not," Cyborg said. "Think you can get us out of here?"
Danny looked thoughtful for a moment before giving a decisive nod and grabbing Cyborg. That was the last thing the Titans saw before the screen faded to black. Before they could bring themselves to worry, Danny and Cyborg popped out of the screen, both of them looking rather frazzled.
"Hey!" Danny said cheerfully, only his mussed up hair revealing what he had just been through. "Wild ride, huh?"
The other Titans simply gaped at him. That was one way of putting it...