Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice all rights go to their respective owners.
Note: Sorry for the long wait... been incredibly busy.
We are closing in to the end of the story. I'm hoping to be finished somewhere around 50-55 chapters :D.
A Unknown Place. 5:30 AM, Monday
Wallace finished his apple and held it up to Connie
"Applecore?" he asked
Baltiminimore?" Connie replied
"Who's your friend?" Wallace asked with a sly smile
"Him." Connie said pointing at Richie
Wallace threw the apple core at Richie and it hit him in the back of his head
Richie turned around and threw a stone at Wallace, hitting him between the eyes.
Wallace smile and rubbed the spot the stone hit him as he sat down next to him. "Where's Agni? I thought he would be here by now..." he said picking up another apple from a basket and taking a bite
They heard sounds of galloping horses and Agni came into view with Roy next to him.
"Bout time yer here, dark elf." Connie said also munching on a apple "We wanna play some Spiritball but ye have been takin ye own time I see."
Agni dismounted from his horse and patted its head. "Sorry We ran into a group of goblins on the way. They were trying to use the sewers as a route under the city." he said tossing a apple at his horse who caught it and began to eat it.
Connie tossed his core, stem and all into his mouth and dropped his shield on the ground. "Well lets play then." he said
Agni flinched when he saw him eat the core "How many times do I have to tell you not to do that? You do realize they make fish poison out of an apples seeds, right?" Agni said
Connie shrugged "A little poison puts hair on yer chest. It's perfectly healthy... unless ye are that fish."
Agni rolled his eye and dropped a sword from his back. "Well lets play then." he said. Agni jumped into the pegged arena along with Richie, Connie, Wallace, (elven) Roy , Arty and Kal.
A game began with Agni one one side with Richie and Wallace and the others on the opposite side.
Richie spun on top of the pegs, dodging in coming spiritballs and firing his own. He narrowly got hit by one and was knock off balance almost falling off the edge into the water. Wallace dashed over to him and grabbed his hand before he went over and spun him around. Arty several balls that almost hit them sending them both over. Agni took the moment to take down down Connie who was concentrating on trying to send a ball through the hoop near Agni. The dark elf's hair whipped about as his arm struck out catching the ball and deflecting it out of the arena. Agni left the goal post and ran down the pegs dodging spiritballs left and right. Richie met up with him halfway through and was launched into the air by a joint effort of Agni and Wallace. He flipped over everyone and almost clear over the arena. Richie grabbed the goal post and flipped back into the field.
"Hey not fair!" Connie shouted
"Whoa did you see that? He was like; up and then he was like out then in then it was just like: Whoa!" Kal said
"How about try stopping him?" Roy shouted
Richie arms flashed and several spiritballs went through the post.
"And that concludes this game gents." Agni said
"No it doesn't we are still standing." Arty protested.
Richie and Wallace threw a barrage of spiritballs at them and with the advantage of surprise Kal, Connie and Arty dropped into the water.
"You were saying?" Agni asked sweet
"It sounded somefin like 'ye chatin bastard!'" Connie said spluttering in the water.
"How how did we cheat?" Wallace asked helping them out of the water
They continued to argue as Agni chuckled and jumped from peg to peg to the ground and brushed some dust out of his clothes. He walked over to a wooden cabin they had erected and went to open the door.
"That was a good game, Agni." said someone behind him
Agni spun around to see Superman descending from the sky with Green Arrow in his hand. Agni sighed and sat down on a chair.
"What do you want?" Agni asked, there was nothing formal in his voice, it was just cold and suspicious.
"Is that a way to greet a friend, Agni?" Oliver said when he touched the ground. "We just came to talk"
Agni stood back up and went to go inside "The answer is no, I am not returning to the cave or the Team." he said opening to the door to the cabin
"That is one of the things we wanted to ask," Superman admitted "but there are other things we need to know."
Agni nodded and turned back around "How much trouble is he causing?" Agni asked smugly offering them chair, he was sort of happy that they couldn't handle Abaddon without him.
Superman sighed and sat down "A lot, he seems to know that you are no longer with the team and has been doubling his attacks all over the country."
Richie walked up to them with a soaked Arty, who had a frown on her face as she wrung out her hair, he sat down the wooden railing they had erected next to the house and said "And I guess that every time there is an attack one of those big flying things are seen nearby?"
Superman nodded "A large plane, correct."
"What do you know?" Oliver asked
Agni shrugged "Well I know how to tie my shoes and count by 5s, I also know ever single move he will try to make and all of his techniques-"
"So will you help us?" Superman interrupted
"But," Agni continued "I know what it is like to be betrayed when you trust a certain few people with a secret and they go behind you back and almost kill you. Now, I have school to go to, so please refrain from bothering me."
They watched as Agni went into the cabin and return a few moments later wearing jeans and a long sleeved shirt. He nodded at them and walked off.
Superman watched him walk away and sighed again. "Is he really that angry?" he asked the Ranger who were all getting ready themselves.
Richie nodded "There are three things that can REALLY anger Agni; hurting those who are close to him like me or I assume Zatanna, hurting those who are innocent and the third thing is one then angers him the most; trying to enter the astral plane. There is nothing else that angers him more than that."
"But why?" Superman asked
"There is a good reason." Roy said slinging his bow on his shoulder and a mask on his face. "But I don't think he would be happy if we told you."
"And by not happy he means Agni will kill us if we do." Arty said placing a amulet around her neck and she suddenly grew several feet and several features on her face changed.
"You don't mean that literally... do you?" Oliver asked
"Think what you want, human." Connie said, he was 5'6 and his beard was gone.
Back in the Cave Anna was getting ready to go to school. She was going with Robin since there wasn't really anywhere else to go and everyone thought it might be a bad idea to send her with Agni and Zatanna,
She brushed her hair, got dressed and walked into the kitchen to find M'gann was sitting there with Conner and Robin.
"Good morning everyone..." she said sitting down and helping herself to some toast.
"Mornin!" Robin said cheerily "Have a good nights sleep?" he asked
"As good as I could." Anna said
Conner glared up at her for second and got up saying he was going to school early.
Anna sighed and pecked at her food "He's angry to isn't he?" she asked
M'gann nodded "He isn't quite happy he can't use Agni for a punching bag anymore..."
"I know this isn't the greatest time but um... what exactly did they do to you when they left?" Robin said
"You can put it this way; If we don't get home and see Master Bruce or Master Clark, I'm no longer a Ranger..." she said slowly "Or a miracle happens." she added
"I'll make sure that miracle happens." Zatanna said coming in and sitting down in front of her. "I may not like what you did but Agni is a stubborn idiot and I'm going to bring him back."
"It doesn't matter to me, he isn't going to bring me back, I broke the rules and I'm going to live with me consequences." Anna said
Robin put a hand on her shoulder "Don't worry he'll let you back in, even if we have to tear him limb from limb first."
Anna chuckled weakly and stood up "Well we better get to school. We don't want to be late."
Robin nodded and followed her out whispering a thanks to Zatanna. Zatanna smiled and picked up her bag to get ready to go as well.
"What are you going to do?" asked M'gann curiously
"I'm going to negotiate with him." Zatanna said mysteriously
"With what?" M'gann asked slightly confused
Zatanna reached into her pocket, took out her want and gave it a twirl.
"Oh..." M'gann suddenly understanding what she was going to do "You are going to force him to return?"
"I sure am." Zatanna said picking up her bag
"And exactly how are you going to threaten him." M'gann asked
"I'll figure out how later." Zatanna said waving goodbye as she ran out
Agni was at his locker when she reached school, he was chatting with a girl she recognized from her gym class. The girl waved goodbye when she saw Zatanna coming down the hall. Agni himself sighed and turned back to is locker and inserted his bag.
"Greetings, Zatanna." he said in a formal tone.
"I'm surprised you're actually here, I thought you wouldn't come." Zatanna said opening her locker as well
Agni shrugged "This place has too many bullies... I promised myself that I wouldn't leave in till I cleared them out and of course I wanted to see you." he said facing her
"Hey, Agni!" some said as they walked past him. Agni waved back.
A few more people said hello to him as they walked past, this confused Zatanna.
"Why is everyone so nice to you?" Zatanna asked as he took her books and they walked to class.
Agni shrugged "What can I say I'm very likeable." he said
Jarred, their first friend, scuttled up and pulled Agni aside and whispered something into his ear. Zatanna muttered a spell under her breath and turned her ear towards them.
"-and there is another bully down the hall harassing some of the other freshman." Jarred was saying "Do you want me to distract her for you?"
Agni's eye glanced at her for a split second "She isn't exactly happy with me at the moment, so no I'll think of something."
Jarred nodded and said out loud "I'll meet you in class then. We have English in about..." Jarred looked at his watch "10 minutes."
Jarred ran off and Agni turned back around to Zatanna. "I got to go do something... over there. I'll meet you in class with your books." Agni said
"Okay... you better not be late." she said
A surprised expression flashed across Agni's face for a second, but then he smiled and dashed off.
Zatanna rolled her eyes and silently followed him down the hall. She turned the corner and Agni was still holding her books as he fought hand to hand with a guy that was obviously bigger than him.
"You know," Agni commented as he gave him a good jab to the chest "you could be a good fighter one day." Agni tripped and landed on his back.
"Still a tough guy ain't ya? Even when you loose fair fight?" The bully said
Agni rolled his eye and kicked him squarely in the crotch, he lifted his arms and books over onto the floor behind his head and flipped himself up.
"What in the gods name made you think I was going to fight fair?" Agni asked whacking him in the face.
Thy guy felled to the ground in pain while Agni brushed invisible dust off of his clothes. He turned around and ran off towards the class room just as the bell was ringing.
Agni had slipped into class and was handing Zatanna her books when the teacher walked in. Jarred was sitting behind them scribbling something down in a notebook, ignoring everything that happened around him.
"Where were you?" Zatanna whispered as the teacher began talking.
Agni pretended to be fascinated by Shakespeare and shushed her.
Zatanna poke him with her pencil making turn around and face her.
Agni sighed "I was doing... stuff." he said
"What kind of stuff are you talking about?" Zatanna asked with a look of mock curiosity
Agni studied her face for a moment and sighed again "You know... don't you?" he said slowly
Zatanna nodded "Batman said you shouldn't... oh yeah... I see."
Agni shook his head "It has nothing to do with what Batman said or hasn't said. I hate bully and I won't stand around if they are around."
Zatanna opened her mouth to retort but the teacher cut her off
"Zatanna, Agni... is there anything you would like to share with the class?" the teacher said as everyone's head turned towards them
Agni nodded and stood up "Sure I was going to announce this at lunch but here is just as good; I'm going on a bully crusade. Any bully I see or hear of, will be personally beaten by me... no exceptions." Agni sat back down and focused on the blackboard "So lets continue learning about this guy named Shake Spear."
The teacher looked stunned as everyone else began talking and whisper to themselves a bout Agni's proclamation
"Class, class!" the teacher called gathering her wits about her and clapping her hands to get everyone's attention "Please ignore what Agni has just said; its probably just a prank to get attention, because if he really does go around beating people up he will be suspended immediately."
Agni rolled his eye and took out a pencil and looked at distastefully
"What's wrong now, Agni?" Zatanna asked
"I wish I could use a feather..."
By lunchtime the school was buzzing with Agni's new, Agni wass getting complimented and glared at alike throughout the rest of the day. Zatanna disliked his new found fame and her being known as the "Bully-Hunter's" girlfriend (even though she didn't exactly contradict it)
Jarred got all the information he could about the all the bullies in the school and handed it over to Agni.
For the next few days they were busied with fighting bullies (Agni), keeping tabs on bullies (Jarred), and trying to keep Agni from getting expelled (Zatanna). The count of bullies began to shrink over the days as Agni's crusade continued
A few days later as they were packing up to go home Agni turned to Zatanna and said "You know, we haven't spent much time together since I left the team... how about I walk you to the big shiny tube thingy?"
Zatanna smiled and agreed to let him walk her to the Zeta-Tube.
They enjoyed most of their walk in silence, listening the the slight breeze flowing down the streets and the birds singing hidden in trees.
"Uh... Zatanna?" Agni asked hesitantly
"Mhm?" Zatanna murmured looking up at him
"Well uh... correct me if I do this wrong but I... uh... would like to know if you are free by any chance on Sunday? There is something I would like to give you..."
Zatanna laughed at Agni's uncomfortably stuttering and smiled "Is the great Blackranger asking me on a date?"
Agni groaned "I dislike that word... I'm asking you... well yeah I guess you can say that."
They reached the hidden tube and stopped
"Well then," Zatanna said taking her bag from Agni's shoulder "I am inclined to except but under one condition."
Agni nodded "I'm listening..."
Zatanna's wand slipped down her sleeve into her hand and was pointed at Agni's head, the tip shining bright blue
Agni stared down the wand, seeing the runes he engraved on it a little to close then preferred. "I'm listening intently..." he said slowly making no movement except for his breathing
"You're coming back to the cave... and you are going to stop this nonsense and forgive Batman and Robin for what they did." Zatanna said bravely watching Agni's fingers twitch as something appeared beneath his fingerless gloves
"Or?" Agni asked, he could feel his hunter instinct telling him to bash the wand aside and take out the threat but he tried hard to ignore them
"Or I'm going to turn you into something VERY unpleasant." Zatanna said noticing his eyes flicker to a completely black state and back to their normal red.
"You are going to make me return right now?" Agni asked.
"You are going to swear upon your life that you will come back" Zatanna whispered, her wand was flaring brightly in his eyes almost blinding him
Agni nodded "Fine. Then I swear by my name-" Agni began to say,
A low whistling sound echoed down the alley they were in as a small dart hit Zatanna in the neck. Her wand flashed a bright blue light blinding Agni taking away his vision completely. The drow was on the ground as he heard two more darts hit the wall where he just was. He couldn't see anything but his elven senses allowed him to move around freely as if he could. Agni felt Zatanna's pulse to see if she was alright. She was paralyzed...
Agni's hunter senses took full control as he snarled and whipped his head around to where he her noises coming towards him. He could he several people coming towards him, one large and three of medium build. Short blades flew from hidden sheaths in his jacket as he leaped at the incoming attackers. A bullet hit him the the shoulder but nothing mattered to the hunter, there was only one thing on his mind; hurt those who hurt Zatanna. Agni easily dispatched the first three. His sight was slowly returning to him, he could see a blur of colors around him. Disoriented, he he tried to steady himself on the wall and return his vision to normal. He heard a muffled scream and he turned around to see someone drag Zatanna into a van
A a punch directly to his face.
He felt a dart pierce his skin and his body went rigid
Another pair of footsteps walked up to him
"Well, looky what I have here! A dark skinned fantasy person with a habit of messing up Abby's plans." said a creepily cheerful voice
Agni's vision slowly returned to him and his eyes were looking at what he thought was the ugliest face ever
The face was pure white with dark red lips, green hair and insane black eyes.
"We have been lookin for you for quite a long while..." the Joker said heaving the paralyzed Agni up and throwing him against the wall "Mister Abby is willing to pay quite a lot for you...and its 'bout time we caught you..."
Agni glared up into the Jokers ugly face and muttered something
The Joker ignored him and continued prancing around the alley flailing his arms about dramaticaly "So," he said coming back to Agni "Do you know what a moi is going to do to you? I'm going to hand you over to Abby and we'll all live happily ever after...NOT" The Joker laughed insanely "I'm going to introduce you to a good friend of mine!" The Joker reached into his jacket and removed a large piece of metal "Crowbar meet Agni, Agni meet Crowbar! You too are going to be spending lots of time together in the very near future with the help of yours truly!"
Agni felt something being tied around his feet and hands.
"Anyhoo," the Joker continued, waving his crowbar around like a conductor in front of Agni's face, "I was told to give this to you so you won't be doin any of than hocus pocus on me." The Joker took out a shiny blue gem and tied it around Agni's neck
Agni's found he was able to speak and move his head a bit, he looked up at the Joker and smiled "You must the Joker... I'm honored to meet someone who has caused the Justice League so much trouble."
The Jokers smile grew bigger when he heard this "Don't flatter me."
"I really am a fan of your work... the explosions mostly." Agni continued, feeling his legs come back to him
"Really? Which one was your favorite?" The Joker asked suddenly taking interest in him and crouching down in front of him
Agni smiled, his eyes flickered to where his swords were on the floor and he stood up. "I would love to say and chat but I really have things to do." Agni said leaping head first first over the Joker and landing in a roll in front of his swords.
The Joker turned around and began yelling at his goons "Well, stop standing there and get him!"
The dark elf's swords flashed for a split second taking down several goons. Agni proceeded to fight his way to were Zatanna was tied on the ground, it wasn't quite easy for he still had the after effects of whatever poison the Joker hit him with. He had almost reached her when he felt something sting his neck. Agni's hand pulled out another dart from his neck. He stumble a few feet and collapsed on the floor.
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