A/N: This story is quickly growing out of hand ._O as per usual for my stories. More characters (Original ones and tweaked versions of cannon ones) keep deciding they want to chime in. So what I think I'm going to do is end this story and keep it as a short story precursor to a story more focused on this group that is forming in my head. But don't worry, if I do that I'll find a nice bow to tie it all up in and while I wont answer all the questions of Kyd Wykkyd here more of those questions will be answered in the fic I'm planning to follow up with. It'll be a few chapters yet before I can tie everything up in some semblance of order so you don't have to worry about this being the last chapter. Not yet ;)
"There's no sign of who he is," someone said near where Kyd was laying on the surprisingly comfortable bed. "It's lucky you found and brought him in when you did. With that much internal bleeding he would have surely died."
Kyd lay still on the bed and simply listened. He'd fallen asleep at some point and now that he was awake again he felt a bit better for it. Less tired and drained than he had at first. However, there was now the problem of the people in the room. "How did he rupture his spleen in the first place?" a smooth baritone voice asked, Kyd assumed, the doctor.
"Some sort of blunt force trauma is most likely. A punch or a kick. We see it in muggings sometimes. It might account for why he has no wallet or ID on him. But he should recover just fine, don't worry."
The injured boy heard movement and the sound of a door opening and closing. He waited for several minutes before opening his eyes and looking around. He hadn't taken very careful stock of the room before since he had been on some sort of drugs and very tired.
On the far side of the room there was a rather small window with a set of vertical blinds over it. The blinds had been pulled though, which meant that Kyd could see it was day. Kyd frowned, that would make it much harder to slip out of the hospital unnoticed. There was a large curtain across the other side of the room, blocking Kyd's view.
There was someone else in the room but behind the curtain so Kyd couldn't see who it was. It was the beeping sound, different than the ones coming from Kyd's own monitors, which let him know that someone was there. Kyd had to leave the hospital. The longer he was here the more chance he had that they would begin to question who he was. Questions that he couldn't answer. Master Klarion hadn't left him in the easiest of situations. Klarion hadn't exactly cared about being able to come up with viable cover stories when he snatched Kyd up several years ago and began to 'train' him.
Kyd had been left without a home, any sort of place to go, friends, family, and now not even the capacity to tell anyone or make excuses. Kyd would just have to take comfort in the fact that none of his friends had been taken as well. They would have been as miserable here as he was. Kyd shook his head and turned his attention to deciding how to best escape without arousing suspicions. He could teleport out but that would set off the monitors and the doctors would come rushing in. He'd have to find a way to delay them finding out that he was gone.
Kyd bit his lip and thought on the problem for a moment. He knew there were spells to replace bodies with clones so believable they even had pulses and what not. But he didn't know those spells. They were far too complex and even if he could come up with it he wouldn't be able to cast it without his voice. It wasn't something his mental spell casting could achieve. He was somewhat screwed if he couldn't figure out a way to get out of the hospital, preferably without arousing suspicions. If Klarion were around he'd just brute force his way out with magic. He didn't have to worry about remaining undetected. Kyd however did.
As he was thinking on the problem, a shrill voice slammed into his head painfully. Where are you!?
Kyd put a hand to his temple and bit his lip before attempting to focus enough to respond to the demanding question. The hospital… my spleen ruptured.
Well, get out! We have work to do!
Kyd winced again and rubbed his temple. Though Klarion didn't often communicate with Kyd this way he found it was always intensely painful when he did. Klarion had more power and training than anything Kyd could conceive of having but that only meant he was intentionally making the communication painful. Work like what, Master?
You'll find out when you get here! NOW!
Kyd sighed and sent his mental agreement. It looked like he wouldn't be worrying about escaping undetected after all. He quickly ripped the different needles and monitors off his body, causing the machines around him to scream in warning. Kyd ignored the alarms going off and the sounds of people running down the hall. He got up and dashed to the window though it was hell to do with his middle in bandages.
Kyd looked out of the window and spotted a roof down below. He focused and teleported just as he heard the curtain beside him being ripped open. He mentally cursed but didn't have time to worry about it. He teleported again as soon as his feet hit the ground. He didn't have time to hang around. That was sure to get him caught by someone.
As Kyd teleported and ran his way across town back towards his hideout, he heard sirens racing along the streets around him. He cursed and made certain to keep to the roof tops where he was marginally safer. Marginally because the roof tops were the Bat and Bird's territory and the only saving grace Kyd had was that it was daytime and not prime prowling time. He still decided to haul ass as much as he could though.
Thankfully, nothing tall, dark, and cowled came to interrupt him, so Kyd managed to get to the church without too much trouble. He was somewhat annoyed at the situation but he didn't want to feel Klarion's temper so he decided to not waste any time. He quickly pulled his bodysuit and cape back on before hiding his face behind the near featureless mask and cowl. His master hadn't really told him where exactly they were supposed to meet but Kyd could use a few processes of elimination to figure out what was most likely.
It had to be somewhere with a lot of magic, preferably of the darker variety. It had to be large enough to not completely collapse if Klarion got into one of his moods. And it was probably terribly inconvenient for Kyd to try and get into. It took a moment but then Kyd recalled the bar in Metropolis Chinatown. That would fit perfectly and lots of darker spell casters and magical item collectors tended to hang out there. If nothing else, maybe someone had seen Kyd's Master. Kyd sighed some behind his mask and teleported off. It would take a little bit of doing to get to that particular bar. But Kyd had sneaked into it before and he'd manage it again.
An hour later, Kyd was slipping into an upper story office above the club. The bouncers had, yet again, attempted to kill him so he'd decided that the best way in was the indirect way. Kyd closed the window behind him and stepped out into the hall. He could hear music throbbing through the whole building and the air was buzzing with magical energy. Kyd took a moment to close his eyes and focus. He could definitely feel the discord of several chaotic magical sources around but that didn't necessarily mean Klarion was nearby. It could have been practically anyone.
Kyd made his way down the hall and stopped at the landing that looked out over the flashing dance floor. Young hopefuls and other idiots danced around as though they were somehow impressing the mages that were drinking at secluded tables and booths. In reality, the mages couldn't care less about them but Kyd wasn't about to correct them. They wouldn't have listened even if they did take the time to try and decipher what he was trying to say. Kyd teleported to the entrance of the main room with a flicker of shadows.
A few people nearby gave him a curious glance but when their eyes found the symbol on his cape buckle they quickly turned away. Kyd spared them a quick glance and walked forward towards the more secluded area of the bar. He took a long moment to slowly look over the room but his search was interrupted when a familiar figure stepped in front of him. "Ahh, it has been so long since we last saw each other, Wykkyd. Lord Klarion should bring you by more often."
Kyd scowled behind his mask. He held up his hand and black fire spouted from his palm to form a writhing molten fireball. "My, my, so rude to an old friend."
"Brother Blood. Must you always annoy Kyd?" another voice called from a full table.
"I am just being friendly, Faust," came Blood's offhanded reply though he didn't look away from Kyd. A small smile pulled at his mouth and the deliberately sculpted mustache but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "It is Wykkyd who is being unfriendly."
"You know he doesn't like you," another voice commented.
Blood's smile didn't falter though something in his eyes changed to seem more menacing. "He should like me," he said causally before turning and walking back to the table he'd come from. Kyd watched his back and contemplated throwing the fireball in his hands at the bastard. Burn a nice hole right in the middle of his torso. With some effort, Kyd closed his hand and put out the fire. He didn't have time to get into fights with someone like Brother Blood. Instead, Kyd forced his attention to looking around some more.
"If you're looking for Klarion, he just left," Faust said from his seat.
Kyd scowled and glared at one of the outside walls. Of course he had. Kyd's lack of amusement wasn't lost on the mages. The teen had been mute practically ever since they'd known him so they had no trouble reading his moods, though his rarely changed much. Especially compared to Klarion's moods. When they did, however, they had the potential to be far more volatile than even his Master's. "He went to Gotham," Brother Blood supplied quickly. "Something about a tree that Poison Ivy is growing."
Several glasses and lights exploded violently, sending molten glass flying across the room and causing people to duck or shield themselves. The carpet under Kyd's feet turned black and smoldered as Kyd mentally ranted and raged. He had just come from Gotham! Klarion knew that! He could have just had Kyd meet him wherever Ivy was hiding! Instead he'd just assumed that Kyd would know where he was going! It was absolutely infuriating!
The carpet caught fire and the sprinkler system instantly turned on to try and put it out, soaking through everything in a matter of minutes. Many of the hopefuls or less impressive magic users fled as the freezing cold water showered down. "Kyd… you're watering down my drink…" Faust said holding up the glass that was steadily filling back up and becoming a fainter color of blue. "If you're angry go take it up with Klarion."
Kyd glared at the man even as the featureless mask he wore began to crack over the bottom. With some difficulty, Kyd forced his rage back and turned on his heel. As he stormed out, several other things caught fire or exploded. A vending machine even melted, spewing burning treats across the floor. Kyd didn't even wait to get to the front of the bar. He reached a large enough area and concentrated. The air screamed and black energy swarmed around him. With a noise like a thunderclap, Kyd teleported to his home though he was still in an incredibly foul mood.
It took all of a second to figure out where Ivy would be. The botanical gardens routinely hosted her whether invited or not. Kyd normally would have thought twice about storming into the greenhouse, setting some of Ivy's precious plants a flame as he did, but his rage was overriding his common sense. When he got mad chaos happened, which only ever snowballed outwards.
"My babies!" Ivy shrieked before lashing out.
Kyd disappeared as the heavy limb took a swipe at him and reappeared in front of his Master who was standing there beside Ivy. "Took you long enough!" Klarion snapped in his typical nasally voice.
"How dare you burn my babies!" Ivy yelled as she took another swipe at him. Kyd caught her arm and flung her arm off to the side. She needed to get over it. Not like she couldn't just grow more of the damn things!
"Now, now," a smooth voice interrupted before they could get to fighting further. "We shouldn't fight among ourselves."
Kyd turned to see Lex Luthor come in from a side room. "We have far too much to get done. But if you would be so kind as to put out the fires you started, Kyd?" he asked gesturing to the smoldering plants. Kyd begrudgingly waved a hand and dismissed the black flames. "Very good. Now, we should get started."
"We can't get started!" Ivy hissed, still clearly in a bad mood. "My baby still needs time to grow and Joker hasn't brought his end of the bargain yet."
Lex frowned some at that. "Well, I suppose we'll just have to buy ourselves some more time…"
"And just how are we supposed to do that?" Ivy asked in annoyance.
"Ooh ooh ooh!" Klarion said excitedly. "I have an idea…" he said turning to look at Kyd. Kyd didn't like the sound of Klarion's voice at all and had a feeling he was going to be forced to do something he didn't particularly enjoy doing.