Arc 3 : Avengers Assemble!
*Phantom, go intangible!*
*Thanks, Artemis!*
"Avengers, they're communicating in-verbally somehow! Like-like some kind of hive mind!"
Robin, hearing the words of the Red Tornado-like robot that he's fighting, sends the news over the Mind-link. *Guys, the robot's finally figuring us out! Make sure they don't get Miss M.!*
*Do not make it obvious!* Aqualad shouts, using his water bearers to strike at the armor-wearing blonde with a war hammer. *They will target her specifically!*
*I'm already protecting her!* Superboy growls. *Are you saying I'm not enough?!*
*Get 'traut, SB.* Robin cackles as he finally manages to get on the robot's back and complete the hacking process he began earlier, jumping off before he crashes with it. *I'm just saying four hands are better then two.* He runs towards where the half-Kryptonian and the Martian are. *Besides, you look you're having a hard time with big, green, and ugly.*
*You guys do realize I can take care of myself, right?!* Miss M. punctuates her her words by telekinetically throwing a tree at the same creature her boyfriend is fighting.
*Well, yeah.*
*I'm sorry, Megan. I wasn't trying to say that. I just...*
*It's okay, Conner. I understand.*
*Hey, if the lovers' spat is over – * Kid Flash breaks in. *– I could really use some help with Miss Ninja Lady over here!*
Robin snickers and changes course to the speedster and the red-headed assassin that reminds him quite a bit of his sister, Black Bat. *You sure know how to pick them, don't you, KF? First Lady Shiva*, then Miss Martian, then Artemis, and now another assassin!*
*Oh, shut up, Bird Brain!* Everyone can hear the flush that's taken over his cheeks.
*What's this I'm hearing?* Artemis says. *Are you cheating on me, Baywatch?*
Phantom quietly laughs across the 'link. *Dude, this is awesome.*
*I know, right?* Robin says. *Duck, KF!* Robin uses his best friend's back as a spring board and launches himself at the assassin.
*Thanks, Rob.* The older teen charges her while she's distracted (not 'tracted, not 'tracted at all) by the Boy Wonder. *And I'd never cheat on you, babe. You'd beat me to a pulp if I tried, and then you'd be sad you ruined this perfect face.*
*Uh-huh, keep telling yourself that, West.*
*What's that supposed to mean?!*
*Everyone, please,* Aqualad says from where he's trying to drench a blonde man wielding a war hammer that spits out lightning every once in a while. *Focus. We have to get away from these people and regroup. If we can't get back to our home dimension ...*
Apologies fill the Mind-link, and the Team focus back on their opponents.
Robin and Kid Flash hang back for a moment, circling the assassin.
*So, got a plan, Boy Wonder?*
*Not yet. We can't wear her down, she's definitely had a bunch of formal training, and taking her by surprise is a no go either. We would have gotten her with my joining you. But, she seems to be a regular human, so if we can overwhelm her...heavy on the "over"...*
*Right.*
THOOOOM!
The loud noise freezes the whole field for a moment, especially when it's followed by the faint sense of pain across the Mind-link.
Robin looks out of the corner of his eye to where Phantom had been fighting what appeared to be the strange adult's team magic user. The teens knew that ghosts were weak to magic, but they had been the only two left after everyone had paired up with an opponent, and Phantom had refused to switch with anyone.
"Phantom!" Miss M. shouts out loud even as she grabs her head and falters in the the air under the pressure of trying to keep the ghost's pain from filtering to the others.
*I-I'm okay, Megan. Just used another of his illusions to get behind me. Again.*
With the reassurance, Robin returns his attention to the assassin and starts their fight anew.
In their minds, Phantom continues. *I'm going to need to pull one of my bigger moves to beat him. In fact, it will be a great distraction. If you guys can get your own new friends in the same place, I can catch them all at once and teleport all of us somewhere else. It'll have to be close by, cause I can't go somewhere I haven't seen, but I can give us enough of a distance to get away.*
*Do it.* Aqualad orders.
*Right, K.F., time to be your most annoying.* Robin can't help but to say.
*Dude, I was about to say the same thing to you!*
Robin's honestly a bit surprised how easy it is to gather their opponents in one spot. Even the green rage monster is maneuvered into position.
The team jumps back and watches as Phantom's white aura flashes. He collects a large ball of green ectoplasm in his hands, then releases it. The energy immediately takes a familiar draconian shape, roaring as it circles the group of antagonists.
*Come close to me!* The ghost shouts.
The teens quickly reach him, and Robin feels a twisting sensation in his gut before the world dissolves into a swirl of color and the feeling of moving at great speed as the ground disappears from beneath his feet.
It only lasts for a moment as everything settles back around them, only now they're about three blocks away from the park they'd started at.
*We need to move quickly.* Aqualad says. *Phantom, do you have the energy to phase us into the sewers?*
*Not at the moment.*
Robin looks at the dead teen. He's sweating a little, and while ghost don't need to breathe, he seems to be panting.
*I'm still maintaining the Ecto Dragon. I've never done it from so far away before, and with those people attacking it...*
*Right.* The Atlantean says. *We need to find –*
*Uh, Kal, hate to interrupt,* Artemis says even as she goes against her own words, *but there's a manhole right behind you.*
It doesn't take long to find themselves running through the horrid smelling sludge underground, and Robin thinks back to what got them in this mess.
It had started out as a simple mission. They were charged with investigating a sudden influx of magical energy on some small farm in Ohio. They, the team minus Rocket, who had been doing her thing with Icon, had gone.
They had discovered Klarion the Witch Boy in an old barn, and had walked right into his trap.
He captured Zatanna first, using her as a battery for his spell. They were all knocked out in the casting of it.
When they woke up, they had found themselves minus one sorceress in training, and in a different dimension that was so far away from their own that it didn't even have a Justice League in it.
That was four days ago.
Ever since, the teens had been looking for a way home, and, not long afterward, on the run from this world's superhero team, the Avengers.
Robin, in between the fights and flights that followed, had managed to get a bit of research done. Unfortunately, all he'd had at the time for was their names.
Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, the Hulk, Black Widow, Thor, and Loki.
This was their seventh confrontation with them.
Why don't they just turn themselves in, you ask?
Well, let's just say they got off to a bad start and leave it at that.
Anyway, now they were on the run yet again, with no idea where to go, and how to get home.
They continue through the sewers for a while, until they reach an outlet into a river. They settle down there and immediately set up watch, with Superboy facing inward to the underground maze, and Aqualad facing outward to the river, while everyone else tries to get some sleep.
(Hey, if "inward" is another way to say "in", "outward" another to say "out", "afterward" means "after", and "toward" another way to say "to", then why does "ward" mean to guard against?)
Robin, tired as he is, takes a few minutes to go to sleep. He wonders how his family is. They're probably going crazy looking for them. He hopes none of the others blame Batman for this, but he knows that they most likely will, especially his brothers, who have a tendency to blame Bruce for everything bad that happens, whether it's his fault or not.
~! #$%^&*()_+
The next day was filled with more sewage travel, hacking into an ATM for some money to buy food, M'gann shape-shifting into a nondescript person to actually buy said food, and yet more sewage travel.
As the sun begin to set (which they can only see because they're at another outlet) on their five day here, they all know their luck avoiding this dimension's heroes is coming to an end. To prove it, Superboy stiffens.
"They're coming," he says
Aqualad nods as everyone stands. "M'gann, link us up."
The buzz of the Mind-link enters his head.
*Everyone online?* the Martian asks.
With the group's affirmative, they turn as one to confront the adult team they can see coming towards them across the river.
*Robin and Kid Flash, I want you both to handle the sorcerer. Phantom, I want you to take care of the robot and the female assassin. The rest of you are to stick with the pairings from last time.*
They obey their leader, once the adults get close enough, charging those they had been assigned to.
Robin follows his best friend to the armored magic user, who's obviously a bit surprised by the change in opponents, but still levels his spear at them.
"You mortals do not stand a chance against me," he says.
Robin cackles and blends into the shadows as K.F. taunts him with some childish insults.
The Boy Wonder sneaks into a good hiding spot and waits for the man to be completely distracted with the Speedster, then drops down on him right as the sun sets.
BOOOMM!
~! #$%^&*()_+
(AN)
And that's chapter eight with a little cliffhanger that you'll have to wait for next week to be resolved.
Thank you all for reading. Don't be afraid to review and send me your ideas. It really makes my day.
TheFishKing : Thank you for the ideas. I actually started planning the ball chapter right after your first suggestion, which will be with (Spoiler Alert), but I don't think there will be any chaperons. Lastly, have you been reading my notes? I could have sworn I didn't post them.
*A n adventure before the show that probably will not be farther explained, like the prank mentioned in chapter one
See y'all next week.