Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice; I only own the Rangers and the plot.
Note: I am very sorry for the delay on this chapter! I have been without a computer for several weeks (my old laptop's backlight burned out) and when I have had a chance I've been preparing another Fic that will be released soon.
And yes I know this was supposed to be the chapter with the big Ball/Party and all that BUT because of the little time I've had to write lately I decided to put it off another chapter.
Oh and several more chapters have been updated with several changes, so you should go and read the first 10 maybe 11? Chapters.
Unknown Location at an Unknown Time
Abaddon sighed as he surveyed his surroundings. He was still in his full demon form in a hellish place. There was lava everywhere, screams of pain, large demons and balors sauntered around, large demon like vultures swooped down and tried to attack him but he knocked them away with his claws, big demons were eating littler demons, humongous spiders crawled around the wall of the large cavern he was in. He had died… again
Godsdamnit
Abaddon slowly walked up to a large castle in the midst of all the chaos. He had to bash a few lesser demons aside but that was the norm around there.
As the half-demon reached the large castle doors he could hear more screams of pain echo from inside. Oh just great… dad's in a bad mood. Abaddon thought to himself, halting before the castle great doors. Maybe I should turn around and go back to the materiel plane…
Just as he went to turn around he felt a heavy force lay on his shoulders, forcing him to enter into the castle. Against his will, Abaddon felt himself being forced down the long halls of the fortress into what seemed to be a throne room.
"I Hope you bring good news, Abaddon." A deep voice boomed
Abaddon looked at the throne cloaked in shadows, kneeling in front of the throne he sighed and tried to ignore the splattered gore and blood in the room.
"Not as good as I wish, my lord."
The room suddenly dropped several degrees and filled with a dark aura, making Abaddon choked his eyes water.
"WHAT HAPPENED?!" the voice demanded, filling the room with extreme killing intent.
The half-demon flinched and shivered a bit in the drop of temperature
"I lost again…" Abaddon said quietly
The room fell into a deathly silence.
"Was it the Drow, Belir'hacyrd Aleanth, the dracothrope?"
Abaddon nodded stonily
"Your failure is beginning to annoy me Abaddon."
Several thoughts popped into the half-demon's head. Mostly what his lord does to people who annoy him. None of them were good.
Abaddon gulped
The mysterious voice hummed, causing the room to vibrate slightly. "What should I do with you, Abaddon? I have supplied you with allies and resources, powers and even weapons… what else do you need from me?"
"It's not my fault, my lord, Agni… h-he has powerful allies as well."
"Who is this Agni?"
"It's the name Belir goes by." Abaddon said quickly
The shadows moved as the figure moved slightly on his throne. "I know his allies… they are nothing compared to the powers I gave you."
"He had a blood angel with him and he has somehow managed to become even stronger than the last time we met."
"I did not ask for excuses, Abaddon!" the voice yelled "You came to me asking for power and strength and in return, you would fulfill my wishes. WHY IS EARTH STILL NOT IN MY CONTROL? WHY IS EARTH STILL STANDING?"
Abaddon gritted his teeth in anger "There is nothing I can do! They just keep getting stro-" before the half-demon finished his sentence he felt a strong magical force grip around his neck and lift him into the air
"NO MORE EXCUSES!" the dark voiced roared angrily, he puffed angrily for several minutes before calming down and dropping Abaddon onto the floor. "This is your last chance, Abaddon. I want earth to be in flames before the summer is over, am I understood?"
Abaddon looked up with a small smile as he rubbed his throat.
"Understood completely… father."
Mount. Justice, 3:00 PM
Zatanna had just finished getting checked by her counterpart Anna. After their battle from earlier she was quite tired, and they still had another mission later on that night.
She sighed slightly as she replayed the battle from earlier in her head. A small tear slipped from her eye as she thought about the death of her and Agni's friend, Jarred, who turned out to be Agni's guardian angel or something.
Luckily the only one very hurt from their team was Robin, and he was not even hurt that bad. Agni had several bruises across her chest and back but he and Anna reassured her that they would be gone in a few hours.
Other memories popped into her head causing her to smile to herself. Her hand held up the necklace Agni gave her and the smile slowly grew bigger as she walked down the hall towards the training room.
"Hey, Zatanna! Nice necklace!" Artemis said "Did Agni give you that?"
The magician smiled and nodded "He gave it to me during our fight earlier."
Artemis looked at it admiringly "What does it do?"
"I'm actually not exactly sure." Zatanna said "It did boost my magical abilities and gave me excess to Agni's magic."
"I thought Agni only used spells for his arrows."
"He mainly does, but that doesn't mean he doesn't know others."
"So the necklace really only boosts your magic powers?" Artemis asked
Zatanna hesitated "Well… it does do something else"
"Well, tell me!" Artemis insisted
"When I'm wearing it, it's like… like I can see into his mind." Zatanna said slowly
"Like M'gann's telepathy?" Artemis inquired
"Not exactly, it's not like I can read his thoughts."
"Then what is it like?"
"It's like…" Zatanna struggled for the right words "Like I can tell his deepest feelings and emotions."
Artemis's eyes widened "That's a bit creepy isn't it?"
M'gann suddenly phased though the wall "Actually it's not."
"You really need to stop doing that." Artemis said, gasping at the surprise of her friend suddenly appearing next to them.
"Sorry." M'gann said "Richie and Robin must be rubbing off on me."
Zatanna grinned at the mention of the twin Dark Squires. The two pranksters were making things very chaotic around the Mountain. You could never know which door was booby-trapped or when you would wake up hanging upside down from the top beams in the cave roof or in the two speedster's case, waking up in a tomb of cement.
Zatanna came out of her thoughts to hear M'gann say"-I was reading a book about elven culture that Anna gave me. When I was looking at the Drow section it said something about dark elven men giving necklaces or rings to females as a sign of affection and uh…-"
"And what? Don't tell me it's a proposal." Artemis said
M'gann shook her head "It's a bit complicated."
"What is?" Zatanna asked
"Drow culture."
"How different could it be from ours?" Zatanna pointed out "Richie and Wallace are both elven and their culture is not much different."
"Drow culture is not like regular elven culture." M'gann explained "I had Agni explain it to me but he seemed to hide some things."
"What? Agni has secrets? I never thought I would live to see the day when Agni doesn't tell us something." Artemis said sarcastically
Zatanna smiled. Artemis had a point; Agni does have a lot of secrets. He was slowly getting better and not hiding things (could be because he really is a horrible liar).
"Drow cities are divided into families, like dwarven clans. Each family is ruled by a Matron Mother."
"A what?" Zatanna asked
"They're called Matron Mothers. They rule each family with an iron fist." M'gann explained "In Drow societies woman are the rulers. All men are second rank, even the nobles like Agni. They pretty much have to follow the women blindly, because if not they are tortured and usually killed as well. The nobles are the only ones who matter very much; if you're not a noble they don't treat you much better than vermin. Kinda like how green Martians treat the white ones."
"That's horrible!" Zatanna said astonished
"No wonder he hates them." Artemis said
"After Agni left the academy he returned to his birthplace and joined what was left of his family." M'gann continued "Everyone knew who he was. There were not many left of the Aleanth Family. Mostly women."
"So he left?" Zatanna asked beginning to take great interest in Agni's past.
M'gann shook her head "He stayed there for a while. He tried to redeem the Drow."
"I don't suppose that went well." Artemis said dryly
"They tortured him, beat him and made him an outcast." M'gann said sadly
"Knowing Agni… I can see where this is going." Zatanna said it pained her to know Agni had a bad background. Well most of them did, but Agni really got the short end of the stick.
"He did manage to get some drow to turn their backs on their ways. They left shortly before he did." M'gann replied
"I think he mentioned them before, he called them the Drow Brotherhood." Zatanna commented
"Then when he left…" M'gann paused dramatically "He killed everyone."
That left Zatanna and Artemis in shock
"Everyone?" Artemis repeated
"Just about." M'gann confirmed "He killed every Matron Mother, every cleric for the Drow's evil goddess and every noble."
"Jeez… that's kinda evil." Artemis said
"He had his reasons." Richie said suddenly standing behind Artemis.
"How did you- wait never mind that's a dumb question." Artemis rolled her eyes at the young elf
Richie grinned
"What do you mean by he had his reasons?" Zatanna asked
"What I mean is he didn't just go and kill them all for the heck of it, nor for the reason that they were all very stubborn in their evil ways." Richie explained
"Than what were his reasons?" M'gann asked
"I would be a bad friend if I gave out his secrets just because three cute girls asked me to." Richie said
M'gann smiled but Artemis scowled at the cheeky elf
"Now I'll just be going." Richie said turning to shadow-jump again
Zatanna blinked and Richie disappeared
"You have to admit," Artemis muttered "That is a cool ability"
M'gann nodded "Well back to the necklace."
"What does it symbolize?" Zatanna asked
M'gann hesitated "Remember I said females are the dominant sex?"
"Kinda hard to forget…" Artemis muttered
"Well, when a male give a necklace or a ring, like the one Agni gave you, it means… it means that he trusts you completely, and that he um… how do I put this, surrenders his will to you?"
The three heroines fell silent for a moment
"Drow are really weird aren't they?" Artemis commented
Shortly afterwards, Zatanna walked into the training room to look for Agni and Robin, inside the training room she saw Elven Roy trying to help Human Roy with his magic, Conner and Connie were hanging out with the two shape-shifters (they were listening to Megg'n play the harp), she didn't see where Rob and Rich were, but she could hear their crackles every few moments come from different places and Agni was sitting down meditating.
There were several rings of runes, some were bright red and others were a dark purple, surrounding the dark elf two arcs of red and purple fire arced over him. His usual pair of sunglasses was on his face, shielding his sensitive dark elven eyes from the bright lights.
Zatanna walked over to him and stood near the outer ring of runes. She suddenly felt a feeling of peace and happiness radiate out of the necklace.
"Greetings, Zatanna." Agni said without opening his eyes
The magician returned the greeting and sat down at the edge of the circle of runes.
"You seemed troubled." Agni commented, opening his eyes and looking at her
"I just had a short talk with M'gann and Megg'n." Zatanna replied
The dark elf sighed "What part of my past do you want to know about?" he said bluntly
"I was curious about the time you spent with other drow."
Agni frowned slightly "Drow? Ye gods why couldn't you have asked about the time I destroyed a village while being blind, or the time I set an orphanage on fire."
"You set an orphanage on fire?" Zatanna demanded
"It was an accident! Or at least that's the official story." Agni said defensively "But anyways, my time with the Drow is a long story…"
The necklace around Zatanna's neck glowed for a moment and she felt herself being almost pulled into it.
Everything was dark for several moments before she suddenly found herself what she thought to be a very big tree house.
Zatanna looked around confusedly for a moment before she saw Agni materialize out of the air next to her.
"Where are we?" Zatanna asked
Agni's face wasn't exactly smiling when he said "Shalkwood."
"And where's that?" Zatanna pressed
"It's the city that houses the Academy." Agni said sullenly "It's an elven city."
"Why did you bring me here? How did you bring me here?"
"To answer your question about me and other drow. I brought you here through the necklace into my mind." Agni answered
Zatanna answered she saw a movement out of the corner of her eye, she turned around to see a young Agni walk out of… a hollowed tree. A BIG hollowed tree.
The young Agni looked barely older than Robin and he wasn't clad in his usual cloak and hood. He was just wearing regular leather clothes with a bow and quiver over one shoulder and a sword over the other. He was walking very determinedly away from the tree, ignoring the shouting voices behind him.
Four people came out after him, shouting at him different things.
One of them was a blonde elf with a large blonde beard, green clothes and a bow and quiver; similar to Agni's slung over his back, which must defiantly be the Green Arrow of their dimension. The second looked like Doctor Fate (except he had a golden bucket on his head). A dwarf stood next to them, it took her a moment to realize who he was until the dwarf turned around and she saw the Super-Family symbol on his back.
The fourth person was someone she couldn't place at all. He was tall, elven and had a long sword in his belt. He seemed like the only one not yelling at Agni to stay.
"Common Belir, rethink this! There is no reason for you to leave!" Lord Oliver shouted, jogging to catch up with the young Agni
"Yes there is and you know it, Lord Oliver." Young Belir'hacyrd said, barely breaking his strides. "The Drow need to be stopped."
"Nabo and I fully agree with you, Belir." Wizard Fate said
Zatanna looked at the real Agni for a moment, "Did my father just refer to himself and Nabu separately?"
The older Agni nodded "Giovanni and Nabu get along quite well." He said
"But-"
"Nabu in your world is a fool. He chooses to control a mortal body instead of cooperating with it like the Nabu from my dimension does." Agni said cutting her off "The Nabu from my dimension is a demilich."
"Meaning?"
Agni sighed, he was getting used to having to explain things from his dimension "He cannot use his power unless he is attached to a mortal, or in this case an elf."
Zatanna nodded and turned her attention back to the scene happening in front of them. They had finally cornered Agni and were trying to talk him out of going
"Ye canna go alone, boy!" Superdwarf -Clark- shouted "Ye need help."
"I'm perfectly capable of dealing with my family alone." Agni retorted "That's what all of you want anyways isn't it? For me to go back to my evil brethren?" he spat towards the elf she still couldn't recognize
"I say we let him go." The elf said "Or better yet, let's just kill him right here right now."
Wizard Fate's eye's glowed bright yellow beneath his helmet as he glared at the elf "Stay out of this Lindir; it is none of your concern." Wizard Fate said viciously "Do not make me unleash Nabu on you again."
Lindir paled slightly, draining the bit of color he had out of his skin
There was of cackle of glee and Wizard Fate's bucket helmet glowed eerily green for a moment
"Oh do let me!" Nabu said cheerfully "It seems he did not learn from the last time I had to whoop his ass!"
"Well, I beg the differ." The elf –Lindir- said "As one of the Masters here I have all the right to be here! And I say we should kill this filthy Drow and then kill his brethren later."
Young Agni's hand was raised slightly over his left shoulder, gripping the hilt of his sword
Lindir snarled and placed his own hand on the hilt of his weapon "You think you are strong enough to fight me? The other Masters may think you're something special but I know you're just another nasty Drow. I'quelin Mori'Quessier naa ba Mori'Quessir"
Everyone there was shocked with silence for a moment
"Uh what did he say?" Zatanna asked the real Agni who was obviously quite angry
"It's one of the insults that people just don't say." He replied shortly
"What does it mean?"
"It translates loosely to 'Drow are only good dead'…" Agni said
Zatanna looked at Lindir with a look of disgust "He seems like a really big racist to me…"
"You have no idea…" Agni muttered
"Giov…" Nabu muttered breaking the shocked silence
Giovanni nodded slightly
A cackle of laughter sounded on the bridge they were standing on, echoing out of the Helmet of Nabu.
Lord Oliver took a step to the side and stood in between Lindir and Agni
"You're going to have to get through us first." Lord Oliver said
Superdwarf nodded his agreement and hefted his axe over his shoulder with a smile
Lindir looked at them for a moment, thinking of his chances of beating the head Wizard, Arcane Archer and Superdwarf, he didn't have a very good chance.
"Oh nonononono." A voice said behind him "He's mine."
A beam of gold hit Lindir in the back sending him flying down the bridge.
Agni looked horrified "Master Fate! You're not supposed to let Nabu have complete control!" he yelled "No offense Nabu." He added quickly
Nabu laughed insanely again "Do you know who made that rule? I DID!" he shouted gleefully "And what makes you think I'm in complete control? Giov wants this just as much as me!"
Lindir was up again and he dashed at Agni.
Superdwarf shot out from behind Lord Oliver and intercepted the elf.
"Stand down Lindir." Clark said "Ye have no chance aga'nst us alone."
"Alone, yes… you have a point, but what makes you think I am alone?" Lindir said, whistling loudly.
Several younger elves dropped out of hidden places in the trees and surrounded them.
The real Agni smiled "I remember this fight well…" he said
Zatanna looked at the young elves surrounding Wizard Fate, Lord Oliver and Superdwarf. They all glared at them with such hate.
"They all had something against Drow." Agni said quietly "They all had some family member or friend that died, or was injured or never returned from the war with the Drow. Even more of them had something against me personally for what my parents did."
"So Belir." One of the boys said "You still think you're strong enough to take us on?"
Zatanna noticed Agni stiffen slightly when he saw the boy
The young Belir's sword was out and in his hands before the boy finished his sentence "Enough you have tortured me Hilal." Belir said quietly "Now you will pay."
"Revenge is not da way, boy." Superdwarf muttered still blocking Lindir's way to young Agni.
"Kill the Drow!" Lindir shouted and the young elves charged Agni.
"Ooohhh fun fun fun!" Nabu shouted, unleashing a wide blast of his magic sending several of the attackers to the ground.
Several arrows whistled by the young Agni as Lord Oliver, now in full Emerald Archer mood, shot down several.
Young Agni himself shot forward at Hilal and lashed his sword at him. Hilal deflected it and unleashed several attacks of his own that were all stopped by Agni.
Zatanna watched the fight go on for several minutes. She watched Nabu with great interest. It was surprising how insane he was and how well he got on with her father.
After several more minutes Zatanna began to notice that more kept on coming to attack young Agni and the Masters.
It seems Nabu/Wizard Fate noticed that as well because he yelled at Agni to run.
Young Agni hesitated for a moment but nodded and sheathed his sword.
"Running already, Belir?" Hilal sneered, closing in on him
Agni shrugged and brought his fingers together "There are times to fight, and there are times to let those stronger than you fight for you." He said and he suddenly sunk into his shadow.
Just as the memory began to fade the real Agni pointed at Nabu who had his hands in the air and was causing massive waves of his magic to shoot out of him in forms of ankhs.
"We think Nabu might have a little problem…" Agni said "Like he might be insane… even more than me."
Zatanna smiled at Agni and his poor attempt at humor.
As the memories returned she saw Agni running through a forest towards large mountains at the distance.
"It took me several weeks to find the Drow." Agni said "They hid well after the first war."
The memories showed Agni entering a cave and slowly and cautiously walking down.
As the memories began to flash by Agni gave a running commentary
"I was welcomed back, kind of." Agni said as a memory showed him bowing before a female dark elf on a throne "The city was almost in ruins. The first war had cut our numbers down to mere thousands and we kept killing ourselves."
"Why did you return?" Zatanna asked as a memory of Agni getting scolded by his Matron Mother appeared
Agni sighed "I was hoping to get them to call a truce. I was hoping to have peace between all elves. Ye gods… I was so wrong."
A memory slowly appeared in front of them.
In a dark cavern several drow all sat around a large table. Their hoods were pulled over their faces even though they all knew who each other were. Agni sat at the head of the table eagerly trying to convince his brethren
"The Matron Mothers are fools." Agni hissed. "They will be the cause of our extinction. The evil ways of Lolth are our past."
"You might be right," Said a female drow "but the Matron Mothers are too strong for us to fight alone. We stand no chance against their clerics."
"Lolth's power is waning." Said a wizard from the far end of the table, "I-I can feel it… and so can the clerics. We are either losing her favor or she is looser her power as well."
"Then we should strike while they are still weak!" said a female from next to Agni "We are all of the strongest nobles of our respective families. We could hit them before they even knew we were there. Slyly and silently."
"Silently and slyly…" Agni repeated "Have we learned nothing? The old ways of the Drow are evil! We must not do it silently but rather do it loudly and painfully. Let them know their evil days are over."
"Belir'hacyrd has a point." Someone said. "They ruined us slowly and painfully, they should not go the same way. Out with a bang sounds more deserving."
Agni sighed as the memory faded leaving them in almost complete darkness. "My quest wasn't a complete waste of time. Some of them did leave. We created a group called the Drow Brotherhood."
"How did that work out?" Zatanna asked
Agni shrugged "Pretty well I guess. It works almost the same way as a regular family with only a few exceptions."
"Like?"
"Well we still have a Matron Mother and we still have nobles, but men have equal rights. The Matron Mother has to make all the decisions with the council and the Lord."
"The Lord?"
"The head male… me." Agni said slowly "I didn't want it but they forced it upon me for reasons like 'the whole rebellion was my doing' and 'I'm the only one the Matron Mother would listen to'…"
"Who was the Matron Mother?"
"I was getting to that."
Another memory began to appear around them
"Belir." Called a strong feminine voice from a throne at the end of the great room
"Yes Matron Mother?" Agni asked walking into the room and bowed.
"I have been hearing things about you…" the Matron Mother of the Aleanth Family continued "Is it true you are planning to revolt against the Matron Mothers with this vile Drow Brotherhood?"
Agni hesitated for a moment, he looked up at the others in the room. All of the nobles were there. There weren't very many of them.
When he first reached the Drow city, he was prepared to find out that all of Aleanth was wiped out and he would be, yet again, alone in the world.
Instead he found some family. His father's sister was the Matron Mother, his eldest female cousin was the head cleric of the city and his male eldest cousin who was just a few years younger than his eldest female cousin, was Weapon Master of the family. They hated him because of who his father had married and for being brought up by surface elves. Turns out it was against the will of the Matron Mother for his father to marry a dracopath. He had four other cousins, younger than himself (which wasn't very young though). They were kind to him, sympathized with him.
"Do not keep your Matron Mother waiting." Snarled his cleric cousin, gripping a whip on her belt
Agni looked up and glared at her, causing her to hastily let go of the whip. He glanced at his younger cousins; they were all with him in destroying the Matron Mothers.
He looked at his youngest cousin, a female of only 18 years old. She was by far the kindest to him even though he was a male. She slowly mouthed "Heed what you say" to him.
Agni looked up, his face was very blank as he said "I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Those rouges known as the Drow Brotherhood need to be tortured and killed."
"Wait…" Zatanna said "How could she have believed you? You're a horrible liar!"
Agni smirked "Am I? Or do I pretend to be a bad liar so when I actually do lie no one realizes it and use my bad lying to give out information when I am not suppose to?"
"Ahh… I see."
"You know, why dear, dear Belir." The Matron Mother said "Some are beginning to question your loyalty."
"Everyone knows who I am loyal to: myself and only myself." Agni declared
The Matron Mother smiled "And that is the loyalty of every drow, only to themselves. A worthy loyalty. But where do you second loyalties stand? With your brethren or with our vile surface cousins?"
"I am loyal to my family, to the family of Aleanth. The ancient family of dragons and warriors… and the occasional dragon warrior." Agni said
"Occasional dragon warrior… much like yourself no?" the Matron Mother asked
"If you so wish Matron Mother."Agni replied sourly
"That is good. You are to valuable asset to loose, but there is still a problem-"
Agni sighed inwardly, that old hag just had to be bothering him now of all times, he was supposed to be putting the finishing touches to his plans not having a battle of words with his evil aunt.
"Problem? What is it now? Don't you know I have better things to do then be bothered by you?" Agni snapped, stopping himself a bit too late.
Everyone in the room gasped and stared at him (or in the case of his eldest cousins they glared at him)
"The insolence of this one!" his cleric cousin screamed drawing her snake headed whip "He needs to be taught his place!"
"Preferably in the torture chambers." His other elder cousin added
Agni moved just in time to dodge his cousins whip and grab hold of her wrist, preventing her from lashing at him again and bending it painfully.
"Y-you dare attack a cleric of Lolth?" she sputtered as Agni twisted her wrist
"Lolth and her female clerics are damned to the lowest places of the abyss."
"Agni, let her go." The Matron Mother commanded
Belir growled and slowly dropped his cousin's wrist "Ever attack me again and I won't be so merciful."
His cousin whimpered and pointed her finger at him.
Agni roared in pain, his body felt like he was suddenly dropped into a pit of acid.
"You think you are powerful attacking a cleric of Lolth?" his cousin demanded "Well then let me show you true power!"
The memory faded again and Agni laughed
"What's so funny?"
"They fell perfectly for my plan!"
"You planned all of that?"
Agni nodded enthusiastically "Most of it."
"What was the plan?"
"The plan was we planted false information, actually true information, about me being the ringleader of the Drow Brotherhood. Then when I was called in, I was supposed to mislead them with my thoughts and flip out on my cousin."
"And the part where she tortured you?"
Agni winced at the memory "That's where things went a bit wrong."
Agni was hanging in shackles a few feet in the air. His weapons were gone; he was bleeding from several wounds.
*crack*
Several whips hit Agni's back causing him to cry out in pain.
"Your execution is tomorrow, Belir. We will make an example of you to show what happens to Drow who forsake Lolth."
"How long did they torture you for?" Zatanna asked worriedly, she had seen some of the scars Agni had on his back when she would help Anna heal the team.
Agni shrugged "Days, weeks, months maybe…"
The day finally came when Agni was to be executed. All of the city had gathered around the city's square to see it.
Agni was led to the square in chains, barely able to hold himself up. In the center of the square there was a large ceremonial table where they were going to sacrifice him to Lolth.
But yet there was only a smile on Agni face as he walked to his doom.
"Oohh! This is the good part!" the real Agni said cheerfully
Agni was shoved onto the table and his Matron Mother walked over to him, holding the dagger that was to kill him.
"Oh, please don't miss the heart." Agni said airily, like it might just inconvenience him. "I would prefer if you also get right to it and skip the whole 'giving him to Lolth' who should be damned by the way."
Another whip hit Agni's face and he grunted in pain
"That hurt… you bitch." He muttered
The ceremony carried on perfectly from then (possibly because they gagged him) until when they were to kill him.
They removed Agni's gagged and told him to say his last words.
A smirk crossed Agni's face
"Run."
A roar erupted in the town square, everyone turned around to see where it was coming from.
Somehow a balor was unleashed into the town and began tearing through the Drow in the square with its canine like mouth and claws.
Chaos erupted
Agni chuckled and brought his index and thumb fingers together in front of him.
Explosions suddenly erupted throughout the square killing many and covering the square with a dark heavy smoke.
Some Drow tried to stop and fight off the balor but it was in vain for the balor was to powerful for them.
Agni himself was still mostly tied to the table when his youngest cousin zoomed up to him and began setting him free.
"I told you to get out of here!" Agni hissed as he stood up
"I wasn't going to let you die here." She said defiantly
"To die here was my choice, now thanks for letting me out and get out of here." Agni said summoning his armor and weapons to himself, along with several flasks of healing potions. Agni pulled his bow out and notched an arrow in it with a grin on his face.
The arrow shot from his bow and hit one of the fleeing Matron Mothers, her guards around her turned around to meet Agni who now had his sword out and dashing towards them.
"Kill him!" the Matron Mother said
A cry of laughter escaped Agni's lips as he cut through the Matron Mother's guards.
"You thought that could stop me?" he said, plunging his sword into her heart and watching the light fade from her eyes. "You and all the other Matron Mothers failed our people and now you will all pay."
Out of the corner of his eye Agni notice a fireball fly towards him. He stuck out his hand and caught it, slowly absorbing its power.
"You people never learn do you?" he commented as he sprinted off towards another fleeing Matron Mother.
Agni smiled as he saw those memories. Zatanna on the other hand looked sick from the bloodshed so the memory faded.
"Sorry." Agni said apologetically "I forgot, you and the Team aren't used to bloodshed like that."
"So that's what happened?" Zatanna asked
Agni nodded "Yup. Long story short, those who left with me relocated to a different cave, closer to the surface."
"And that's it?" Zatanna asked
The dark elf nodded again "That's pretty much it, aside from me being the Lord of the Brotherhood. Which I didn't want." Agni added
Zatanna looked at Agni thoughtfully "You shouldn't have killed them all."
"I had no other choice, Zatanna." Agni said quietly "I had to kill them."
"Killing is never the right thing to do. You should have found another way." Zatanna insisted
"You don't know the drow." Agni retorted angrily "What should I have done? Put them in jail? Sealed their souls into my sword? "
"Maybe, but killing half a race because they were evil is well… evil itself." She argued back "So what, people hated you because you were one of them, that doesn't mean you had to kill them all to prove a point."
"I did not kill them to prove a point! I killed them because they deserved it." Agni said stubbornly
"No one deserves to be murdered no matter what they did!" Zatanna yelled
"I was tortured and beaten in the academy because of the evils my people did." Agni shouted back
"So you killed them because the surface elves were all racists?"
"You've lived your whole life in peace and security. Do you know what it's like to live not knowing when someone might try and kill you in your sleep, poison your food or attack you in front of your Masters, JUST BECAUSE MY SKIN IS A DIFFERENT COLOR? JUST BECAUSE MY PARENTS WEREN'T THE MOST GOOD OF ALL PEOPLE?" Agni shouted "My people were evil and wicked! They killed, raped, tortured and sacrificed everyone that came in their path and you dare say I killed them out of revenge for what surface elves did to me?"
Zatanna was about to say something sharp back to him when M'gann and Megg'n suddenly appeared next to them.
"You two okay?" M'gann asked
"We could feel anger radiated off of you both. Quite literally off of Agni, he burst into flames." Megg'n added
Agni looked at the ground "Sorry, I got a little angry."
Megg'n looked around at the memories that were revolving around them. "Let me guess, she didn't quite like what you did to the Drow?"
"Of course I didn't! He killed numerous innocents!"
Megg'n shrugged "No need to shout at me, I completely agree. He didn't have to kill them. But it was better he did."
"But-" M'gann began
"This argument is going nowhere." Agni interrupted "I did what I did and nothing can change that."
Zatanna nodded "You're right… I'm sorry for accusing you like that."
Agni smiled weakly "No it was my fault; I shouldn't be so defensive all the time."
Agni sighed and opened his eyes to see the Team all standing around him, staring at him.
"You know… I'm getting really tired of opening my eyes and finding everyone staring at me…" he said
Connie chuckled "Told ye he would say dat." He said ignoring Agni's glare
"Dude, what is it with you and suddenly spontaneous self combusting into flames?" Wally said looking at the burn marks around the circle of runes.
Richie mock sighed "I was just about to go get some water balloons…"
His counterpart nodded sadly "Would have been so much fun…" Robin said
Agni stood up and the runes and fire around him disappeared "If I wake up one more time and find everyone staring at me-"
"Yeah yeah we know, you'll 'set us on fire' or 'drop us into a pool of lava'" Artemis said
"He actually has done those things." Richie said cheerfully "Mostly to Wallace."
Wallace scowled "It wasn't funny."
"It was to the rest of the village" Arty commented
Agni sighed and cracked his knuckles "So who's ready for some training?"
Lex Luthor entered an elevator and pressed the button for the bottom level. As the elevator slowly went down he thought of the past few weeks.
Abaddon had shown up, talked big but did very little. Lex agreed to fund him with what he needed mostly out of fright. Abaddon was extremely powerful, almost at Superman's and had absolutely no morals what so ever.
The half-demon had kept on coming back for more and more recourses and every time he was still beaten. It was getting quite troublesome now.
The elevator stopped and Lex walked out into a large storage room. Unfortunately, Abaddon was already there waiting for them.
"You've kept me waiting long." Abaddon said with a scowl
"Then next time make an appointment and not just demand my presence." Lex retorted walking over to join him on a catwalk
Abaddon ignored his sass and pointed at a large plane like thing at the far side of the room "What's that?" he demanded
Lex sighed he knew where this was going "It's a Hel carrier."
Abaddon smiled wickedly "I'm going to need a few for tonight."
The bald man sighed again "As you wish, Abaddon."
Robin flipped over Agni's practice swords and hit him in the back with his eskrima sticks knocking him forward.
The dark elf rolled with the blow but dropped his twin swords and came up with his punch blades out.
"You know you stand no chance against me in hand to hand." Robin taunted
Agni smirked slyly "Oh I know," he said charging right past the young hero "That's why I'm going for your friend.
Robin dodged the dark elf and turned around to see him dash at Wally. "Kid Flash, get down!"
The speedster turned around and spun out of Agni's charge but ran right into Connie.
"Haha! Got ye now, boy!" he crowed swinging a hammer at the yellow clad hero.
Wally dodged left and smiled "Missed me!" he called
A stone flew out of the corner of the room and clocked him in the forehead. Smoke shrouded over him and he dissapeared
"And Wally is out!" Richie's voice boomed throughout the room, magically enhanced "That just leaves Agni, Connie and Arty against Robin, Aqualad, Zatanna and Red Arrow."
Superdwarfboy lifted his shield and deflected several arrows with a smile "Agni! Get der archer!" he yelled throwing several axes from his belt at Aqualad and dodging a spell bolt from Zatanna
The dark elf nodded and pulled out his bow. He turned to face the redheaded archer
"Fancy an archers duel?" he asked
Roy nodded and notched an arrow. "Ready when you-"
A rocked bounced off hit head and he slumped to the floor. There was a puff of smoke and he dissapeared
The dark elf smiled "I win." He said slinging his bow back over his shoulder.
"OOOOHHH." Richie yelled causing the elves to wince "Red Arrow is out by a dirty trick from our resident Drow and Homicidal Halfling."
"Isn't that cheating?" Robin yelled in outrage "He challenged him to a duel!"
"There are no rules in war." Agni shouted charging boy wonder again with a tomahawk and sword in hand
"Zatanna, find Arty!" Robin yelled
A blast of water flew by Agni and knocked Connie out of the makeshift arena.
Damn, Connie's out… Arty and I have no chance against the three of them. Agni thought
Agni backed away from Robin and smiled. "Arty, sacrifice!" he yelled before sheathing his sword
Before Robin or Kaldur could do anything hundreds of large boulders fell from the arena's sky and crushed all three of them.
"And the last one standing is Arty! Making the Rangers the winners! Woohoo!" Richie said.
The room shifted and there were back in the cave, sitting in a circle around Anna who had casted an illusion spell on them
"What was that last maneuver?" Red Arrow asked
"It's called Sacrifice." Richie explained "AKA The Last Option or The Last Stand."
"It was my idea." Agni said standing up and stretching his legs
"All I saw was Arty summoning boulders and crushing everyone." Zatanna said
Richie nodded "It's something we only do when we have absolutely no chance of winning. Our last stand, if you will."
"One of us will conjure, summon, cast or use an ability that will kill everyone in the battlefield." Agni continued
"So essentially it's suicide." Robin said
Red-Ranger shrugged "We would do anything to protect our world."
"Not true!" Wallace protested
Agni sighed "What would we not do?"
"Baby sit the Prince again…"
The Team looked at the Rangers curiously as they all shouldered simultaneously
"Do we want to know?" Artemis asked
All the Rangers shook their heads violently
"Trust me, if I had to babysit the Prince again," Anna muttered "the Empire can be damned; I'd go and join Abaddon."
"Isn't that a bit dramatic?" Zatanna asked
Agni shook his head again "No, if I had to babysit I would go join the Drow and help them take over the Empire."
"He can't be that bad…" Wally said but went quiet when he saw the looks from the Rangers "can he?"
"Don wanna talk about it…" Connie muttered, hugging his knees to his chest and slowly rocking himself "Horble memarys…"
A few minutes later the Rangers had recovered, everyone sat around and relaxed
"You guys know what?" Wally said breaking the calm silence
Artemis groaned "What is it Kid Dumbass?"
Wally ignored the insult and continued "You guys need Superhero names."
"Because seriously," Wally continued "The colored Rangers thing doesn't work and it sounds like you're ripping off the Power Rangers."
"The who?" Megg'n asked
"Ya know, the Power Rangers."
The Rangers stayed silent
"Go go Power Rangers!" Wally sang "Go go Power Rangers! Mighty Morphin Power Rangers!"
Connie's eye twitched
"Can I kill him?" Arty asked sincerely while glaring at the speedster who was still singing
"Please?" Wallace added
Agni shrugged "Not going to stop you."
Wally stopped and slowly backed away "You guys are kidding right? Right?!"
Robin watched Arty tackled him "Should we stop them?"
Roy snorted "I'm glad someone shut him up…"
"You know it's not a bad idea though." M'gann said thoughtfully "Especially if you're going to be staying here. You might even need real costumes."
Richie grinned "We already have those things."
Robin looked confused "I thought you're known as the Rangers?"
"That's our branch of the military." Elven Roy explained "Like there is the Justice League and the Young Justice League. There is the Justice Guild where we are from, and we are called the Rangers."
"But why Rangers and not the… Young Justice Guild?" Artemis asked
"A guild doesn't work like that." Arty said
"We were dubbed the Rangers because we do what rangers do." Elven Roy said
"Which is?"
"Protect." Agni said "We protect people, nature, animals… everything worth protecting."
"Quite righteous for people who murder without a second thought." Robin muttered, forgetting about their sensitive hearing.
Richie glared at his counterpart "We do not murder, Robin." He snarled "We've said this before. There is no "court" to take them to, we are the court. WE decide."
"Let's not get into this argument again." Agni said quickly
"Yeah," Zatanna said quickly after him.
"Why don't you tell us about your hero names?" Kaldur said quickly, aiding Zatanna and Agni to break up the tension.
Richie grinned and puffed out his chest "Nightwing, shadow of the night." He said, waving his hands in front of himself.
Shadows began to swirl around him, sucking him into a black vortex.
Everyone looked around for a moment to see where he went.
Elven Roy sighed and pointed to the beams on the ceiling, as a figure clad in a black body suit with a blue hawk spread on his chest and a small mask covering his eyes and cheek bones.
Robin's mouth dropped to the floor as he saw his counterpart "Best name and suite ever!"
Arty smiled widely and clapped her hands together. "Huntress, the-"
"Homicidal Halfling." Wallace cut it, earning a glare from Arty
"What it's not like it isn't true…" Richie said
Arty sighed as magical energy swirled around her turning her clothes dark orange and black, with a sword over her back and a pointed mask."
Kal stepped forward and grinned "I'm Waterboy, because like dude, I'm a boy and so totally into water."
Water shot out of his waterpack and covered his body for a moment.
As the water retracted, black metal armor was covering Kal's body up to his neck. "I don't really have one of those like, flashing transformations or stuff, but dude… this armor is so comfortable."
"Is it only me, or does that armor remind you of Black Manta?" Roy asked slowly
"The resemblance is undeniable… unfortunately." Aqualad muttered
Wallace walked in front of everyone and vibrated for a moment revealing a mixture of red and yellow clothes "I'm Kid Zoom the fastest-"
"-Prick alive." Arty said quickly
Everyone began laughing while Wallace scowled angrily "That is NOT funny!" he yelled when they began to quiet down "I don't even know where that rumor began because-"
"Moving on now!" Richie cut in "We don't need or want to know about your private life."
Elven Roy stepped forward as Wallace walked back (sulking) to his seat. "The Bloody Arrow, the half elven warrior." He said. There was a bright flash of light, everyone blinked a few times to clear the dizziness from their eyes. Roy was standing in front of them in red and black body suit almost the same as Red Arrow's but with several grenades strapped to his chest and a long sword on his belt.
"Bloody Arrow?" Human Roy asked "How did you get that name?"
"'E 'as a thing for shoot'n people in da eye." Connie said stepping forward. "Ah don't 'ave stupid clothes like dem." He said "I'm just known as Superdwarfboy, or better known as Berzerker."
Anna stepped forward "I am Anna the White Cleric, mistress of magic." She said as white magic twirled around her, turning her clothes into a short white dress with a plated mail chest piece and long white boots.
Robin's jaw hit the floor again and everyone snickered at his dumbfounded expression.
Megg'n stepped forward and smiled kindly "I'm Miss Phantom, the Aasmir bard." She said forming her clothes into a long purple and black dress with a hood to cover her head.
Everyone turned to Agni and looked at him.
"What?" he asked looking at him through his sunglasses
"Aren't you going to tell us your hero name?" Artemis asked
"I don't have one." Agni said simply
"Why not?"
"I'm not a hero."
Robin sighed "You're still going on about that?"
"Yup."
"Then do you have a… codename?" Wally asked
Agni nodded "Yes I do."
"Are you going to say it?"
"Nope."
Conner sighed "Just leave him alone, it's not worth it."
"Why aren't you going to tell us?" Zatanna asked
"It's against Master Bruce's rules." Agni said "Richie is going to catch hell for it."
"Is it me or is he the only one who follows Batman's rules?" Robin asked the Rangers
"He's the only one who follows because he's the only one who gets in trouble for breaking them." Bloody Arrow said with a smirk
"Aww common Agni, can't you break a rule just once." Wally whined
Agni snorted "Me just sitting here without my cloak on is breaking a rule, me sitting her without my weapons is against the rules, me sitting here-"
"Okay! We got it, you're breaking a crap ton of rules." Wally interrupted "Your Master Bruce guy won't even know."
Agni shook his head
"Please, Agni?" Zatanna pleaded
The dark elf glared at the ground and groaned "Fine…" he growled "But I'm blaming this on Wallace."
Wallace sat up and yelped "Why me?!"
"Because it's most believable." Richie said
"Is not!"
"Dude, do you like seriously think Master Bruce will believe us if we like… tell him that he did it because a girl asked him? Dude seriously like no one who knows him would believe that." Waterboy said
"What does that guy smoke?" Wally asked distastefully
"That's the weird thing…" Wallace muttered "He doesn't…"
Agni sighed and stood in front of everyone.
"I'm going to be in so much trouble…" he muttered
"It can't be that bad." M'gann said, but the look in Agni's eyes said the opposite.
The light in the room seemed to dim suddenly, shadows swarmed around him, creating a dark wall around him.
Laughter echoed throughout the room similar to Robin and Richie's but more like a sneer or a dark chuckle, as the room went almost completely dark.
"I am… A Cursed Shadow, the Grim Ranger..." Agni hissed, his voice bouncing around the room
"The Cursed Shadow?" Wally asked looked around in the sudden dark gloom "Because…" Wally heard a voice behind him and spun around and saw a pair of purple eyes staring at him "I am naught but a shadow on the wall." A gleam of metal appeared in the hands of the shadow "And a curse onto my enemies."
Wally screamed and the light returned showing Agni, in full a full blackish grey cloak standing over Wally with a large scythe in his hands and his bow and sword over his back.
Richie laughed and clapped "You really are too dramatic." He said cheerfully
Agni smiled beneath his hood and the scythe disappeared in his hands. "I find it fun to scare the daylights out of people."
The Team was shocked for a moment before they began laughing at Wally
"Hey, Kid Screams-Like- a-Girl-"
"Oh shut up!" Wally yelled "What is it with you guys and scaring me?!"
Wallace stopped his laughter for a moment to sputter out "Get used to it."
Everyone fell silent as Batman entered the room with a particularly pissed off look on his face.
"Time for the mission Batman?" Robin asked
Batman shook his head "I was interrogating Iivdril…"
Agni nodded "I figured you wouldn't get much from her."
Batman scowled "I didn't get anything from that Drow commander either."
"You guys caught another dark elf?" Wallace said in surprise
Agni nodded "We found him trying to flee."
The Dark Knight sighed "He's all yours Agni… as we agreed."
The Dark Elf smiled and motioned to Richie and Connie to follow him.
Everyone else followed Batman to another room where there were screens showing the inside of the interrogation room. There was a table with two chars on either side of it in the middle of the bare room. A dark elf was chained to one of those chairs. He was sitting idly twiddling his thumbs.
The lights dimmed again before flickering off. The screen went into night vision mode and turned green.
They could see Richie, Agni and Connie appear in the room. Agni was wearing his cloak and the large scythe was in his hand.
There was a loud swooshing behind them and the heroes turned around to see Wally and Wallace snacking on popcorn.
"What?" Wallace asked with his mouth full
Everyone just sighed and turned back to the screens
There was a gleam of metal in front of the bound elf and he shuddered
"Who's there? Show yourself!" he yelled into the darkness
A set of purple eyes appeared in front of him and glared at him menacingly
The dark elf screamed and squirmed in his chair
"You have failed the dark elven race." Agni hissed "Now you must die!"
"The Grim Ranger!" the dark elf screamed trying to move his chair away. He turned around trying not to look into Agni's eye and stared right into Richie's
"Nightwing!" he screamed
"Tell us what your Masters plans are!" Nightwing roared his voice suddenly deep and vicious "Or nothing will save you from our wrath."
Berzerker swung his little hammer and hit the drow on the arm, causing him to scream in pain.
Robin frowned when he saw what they were doing. "They're going to torture him…" he said angrily
Bloody Arrow nodded "There are times when you have to go to extreme measures. Is his comfort worth all the people who might die because of what Abaddon had planned?"
"Abaddon died and Iivdril is in our custody. Who else is there?" Robin argued
"There is always someone… always." White Cleric said sadly
Everyone turned back to the screen to hear the Drow shout "Okay okay! I'll tell you what you want to know!"
The lights flashed back on and the Drow began to calm slightly.
"What is your name?" Grim Ranger demanded
"Oh wouldn't you like to know, wouldn't you Cursed Shadow?" the dark elf sneered
Berzerker stepped forward and raised his small hammer but halted when the Cursed Shadow held him back.
"There is no need for that Berzerker."The Grim Ranger said quietly circling the bound dark elf "There are other ways of finding out who he is."
"There is no way I am going to tell you who I am!" The dark elf declared
The Cursed Shadow's hand shot out and grabbed the dark elf's neck "There are ways of finding out without you telling." He ripped his hand back, with a necklace with a large square amulet in his hand.
A cackled echoes throughout the room as Nightwing laughed "Of course the amulet… why didn't I think of that?" Grim Ranger tossed him the amulet and he began to read "Maelin'izdur of the family Haumon fourth family of the…" Richie went quiet and just stared at the amulet
"Of what?" Agni hissed "What city is he from?"
"The Drow Brotherhood."
Silence
"I see you have heard of us." Maelin'izdur chuckled "Then you know you better let me go, and maybe I will have some mercy."
Agni's hand lashed out and sent the elf and his chair across the room before turning around and looking at the cameras. "Rangers get down here!"
Before the Team could say anything the Rangers had already dashed out of the room and down the hall.
"I guess we should follow them…" Wally said "Right Batman? Batman?"
Everyone turned around and saw Batman wasn't there either
"He left to?"
Robin sighed "He probably left 5 minutes ago."
The Rangers sprinted down the hall and burst into the interrogation room only to see Batman was already there.
They stopped and looked back down the hall for a moment
"Weren't you behind us?" Elven Roy asked
"He's Batman…" Robin said coming up behind them.
Agni walked over to the dark elf, grabbed him by his shirt and hoisted him into the air. "What is your father's name?"
"The… late Jahsha Weapon Master of the Haumon family." Maelin'izdur said
Agni's grip suddenly went slack and the dark elf he was holding fell back down to the floor.
The dark elf looked up at him curiously "What? Did you owe him revenge or something?"
Richie's jaw had dropped as he continued to stare at the amulet "T-that can't be…" he said quietly
"What cannot be?" Batman demanded
All the Rangers were shocked for a moment before they all began to talk at once
"He must be lying there is no way the Brotherhood would turn on us." Elven Roy yelled
"What are you guys talking about?"Wally asked
"Why would they turn on us? We have been nothing but allies and friends to them!" exclaimed Megg'n
"Friends to whom?" Robin inquired
"I think he's lying!" Arty shouted above all the noise
"About what?!" Artemis shouted back
"Should I search his mind?" M'gann asked agni, who was staring at the elf on the floor through his hood.
"Are you guys going to continue ignoring us?" Wally asked them
"This is all kinda whelming…"Robin muttered
"After all dey went through wit Ag-Belir you wouldna dink dey would turn on us like dat…" Connie said
The dark elf on the ground sneered "You think that would be a reason for us to not turn on you? He killed Belir!" he shouted jerking his head towards Agni
The Grim Ranger suddenly exploded into fire as he grabbed the dark elf
"Do you not understand, you fool?!" he screamed, the fire eating through his cloak turning it into ashes on the floor "I AM BELIR'HACYRD!"
As the hood fell onto the ground in ashes Maelin'izdur's eyes widened in fear and pain "L-lord Belir?" he stuttered "Y-y-ye gods… we thought you were dead."
Agni's hand smashed into the dark elf's face sending him into the wall leaving a large dent. He leaped at him again but was caught by the arm in mid-air by Batman
"Calm yourself, Agni!" he said pulling the flaming Agni away.
Agni through him off and picked the dark elf back up "Who ordered you to join Abaddon?!" he yelled "WHO?!"
The dark elf gulped in pain from the searing fire from Agni's hand "I do not know M-milord…"
Anger was quite literally radiating off of Agni as he slammed the dark elf into the wall.
"It was Riddle!" Maelin'izdur screamed before slumping to the floor "He forcibly became the Lord when you disappeared…"
"Riddle? I neva 'eard dat name before…" Connie muttered
"He was brought up by humans." Maelin'izdur whimpered "He returned to us right after you left. He was so full of ideas and plans. He took over before any of the elders knew much about him."
Agni picked Maelin'izdur "What did he do to the elders and the Matron Mother?"
Maelin'izdur gulped and closed his eyes "We do not know… one day everything was fine, the next day all the elders and the Matron Mother were gone and I know not where."
Agni dropped the dark elf onto the ground and slumped up against the wall. "No… gods no…" he whispered "After all I did… we were finally almost accepted…"
"Uh… is someone going to explain to us what is going on?" Wally asked insensitively "I don't have all day to try to pry it out of you."
Arty spun around and glared at him, about to say something nasty but she was cut short when Artemis slapped him
"You are such an idiot you know that Wally?" Artemis yelled "You can see he is in pain and angry, and all you care about is yourself!"
The speedster held a hand up to his stinging cheek and stared at the floor "I'm sorry…" he muttered
Everyone looked at Agni who looked like he was on the verge of tears
"All the years… all the energy I put into it." He whispered to himself before glaring furiously at the dark elf that was still on the ground "And you all went along with him?! After all I did for you?" he yelled at the dark elf on the ground
Maelin'izdur looked up and whimpered again "Please… Lord Belir, we were lost without you, we were falling apart…" he said quickly, it sounded rehearsed and very insincere
"SILENCE!" Agni roared at Maelin'izdur "YOU ARE THE MOST WORST LIAR I HAVE EVER SEEN! AND I HAVE TO LOOK AT MYSELF IN THE MIRROR EVERYDAY!" Agni leaped at him, with his hidden dagger out
"Conner, hold him back." Batman commanded "Richie, Robin secure the dark elf."
"Uh… which one?" Richie asked
"Maybe one that Conner isn't holding down?" Artemis said sarcastically
Conner had grabbed Agni's hand in mid air and was busy pulling him away (kicking and screaming) from the still bound dark elf.
"Calm down Agni!" Anna said aiding by Conner by putting him in a paralyses spell
"I SPENT MY LIFE TRYING TO GET US ACCEPTED!" Agni screamed "AND THESE FOOLS WENT AND FOLLOWED A MORON THAT NO ONE KNEW!"
"Killing him won't solve anything!" Batman shouted to him
"But sure as hell will make me feel better!" Agni yelled back struggling under Conner's grip
"He just broke through my strongest paralyses spells…" Anna muttered in disbelief
"Agni does stranger things when he is angry." Richie said
Maelin'izdur had been safely escorted to a prison by the time Cursed Shadow had calmed down
"I'mgoingtokillthemI'mgoingtokillthemI'mgoingtokillthem." Agni repeated over and over while pacing the training room floor
"How bad is this?" Robin asked Richie who was watching his best friend pace the room.
"Last time he did this about something… we needed half the guild to keep him in place." Richie said, still somehow through all of this, incredibly cheerfully.
"He's that strong?" Red Arrow asked
Bloody Arrow shook his head "No, just stubborn as Lucifer himself."
Agni halted and sighed "Where is Iivdril?" he asked simply
Robin sighed and pointed to down the hall "Over there."
The Grim Ranger stalked off followed closer by the two Boy Wonders and Roys.
Iivdril heard Agni screaming before and grimaced to herself "Guess Agni found out…" he said to herself, knowing he was going to be coming for her next.
It was silent for a while; she assumed Agni was probably being restrained from killing the poor commander they caught. She would have tried to escape but she knew it wasn't worth it. There was like twenty over powered teenagers outside that room. She had survival instincts and they made sure she knew it was folly to even try to leave her chair.
Agni stormed towards her room but stopped short and waited for the others to catch up.
"Why'd you stop?" Richie asked looking curiously at the sly look Agni had
"I just had an idea…"
Iivdril sighed and squirmed in her chair. She didn't know much about these hero types but she knew the Rangers like Connie wouldn't have anything against smashing her fingers until she told them what she wanted, Anna wouldn't mind making her insides implode nor would Roy have a problem with putting an arrow through her eye.
And let's not even begin to think about the things that crazy homicidal Halfling would enjoy doing. Iivdril sighed again and flexed her arms against the cuffs and chains.
Even Belir… he wouldn't think twice about plunging his daggers or sword, or arrow or a bullet or a spear or… what the hell is wrong with that boy? He was like a walking armory … hey wasn't that one of his nicknames? It probably was…
Iivdril looked up; she could hear the sound of boots storming towards her. She strained her ears to listen carefully. There was at least two, but that meant nothing because she could rarely hear Richie's or Agni's footsteps.
Godamned ninjas…
The door blew open, literally BLEW.
Iivdril turned her head away from the shrapnel and closed her eyes. She knew what came next.
"IIVDRIL!" Agni roared
"Yes, my dear?" Iivdril replied
Agni's hand shot out and grabbed her by the shirt "I am going to kill you so painfully…" he hissed
Before Iivdril could reply another hand shot out from behind Agni and pulled him away
"You can't kill her Agni!" Robin said pulling him away aided by Richie
"Yeah Batman said not to." Richie stated
Agni struggled against their grips to attack Iivdril
"Ha!" Iivdril laughed "Good Cop, Bad Cop. You almost had me fooled for a moment."
The two Boy Wonders stopped for a moment "Are we the good or bad?"
Iivdril rolled her eyes "Don't act dumb, you're already stupid enough."
Richie raised an eyebrow "You do realize we are the only ones between Agni painfully murdering you right?"
Iivdril snorted "He wouldn't dare, he's just as much as a wuss as you two are."
Robin looked at Richie for a moment and they both nodded and simultaneously let Agni go.
Iivdril paled slightly as Agni raised his fist and smacked her across the room.
"You knew what happened to the Brotherhood." Agni stated
A cry of pain echoed throughout the room as Agni's foot rammed into Iivdril's chest.
She snarled and spat at him "Of course I did, I'm the one who helped Riddle."
The chair she was sitting in was suddenly jerked upright. And she turned her head to see Robin sorrowfully hold her chair straight
"You know it really would be easier for you to just tell him what he wants to know…" he said slowly
She felt stinging pain across her cheek as Agni slapped her "Where is Abaddon?"
"You killed him." Iivdril snarled
Agni sighed and slapped her again "You are correct, I killed him, twice. How is he coming back?"
"Like hell I'll tell you!" Iivdril yelled
Agni sighed and his hidden blade shot out from its bracer. "Fine, don't tell me." He said, running a finger down the short blade. "Is there any special way you want me to get rid of your body?"
Iivdril scoffed at him "You won't kill me." She looked towards Richie who was grinning. She turned her head towards Robin who was looking at the floor sadly "Y-you're a hero… you won't let them kill me right?"
"Even if I wanted to there is nothing I could do against them." Robin said letting her chair go and walking in front of her
Iivdril's eyes widened and she looked at them nervously "You're just trying to scare me right? Right?!"
The smirk on Agni's face didn't quite agree with her
The blade was coming closer and closer, in any moment he was actually going to kill her, she closed her eyes so she wouldn't see it kill her
She felt the blade pierce her skin and she cried out
The blade swiftly withdrew but the pain lingered and stung.
"Where is Abaddon?" Agni's voice asked harshly
She didn't answer for a moment… a moment too long.
The blade sunk into her shoulder but she kept her jaw clenched tightly. It twisted slightly causing even more pain.
Again the blade withdrew.
She opened her eyes slightly; she could see her own blood dripping off of Agni's blade.
"Going to talk?" he asked
Silence
A bolt of lightning shot from Richie's hand and struck her, pain erupted throughout her whole body, it was unbearable.
Richie sighed and placed his staff on her chest "You know what I'm about to do…"
Iivdril trembled as she saw his staff begin to cackle with lightning energy
"He is not immortal." She whispered "Every time he dies it takes him a short while to come back and he comes back stronger."
A burst of electricity shot through her body for several agonizing seconds. She screamed in pain until her throat was raw and painful.
"Tell us something we don't know."
"He his getting his powers from a god…" she muttered
"And?"
"He's planning the attack on the U.N. meeting tonight." She continued "But it's also a distraction."
"A distraction for what?" Robin asked
"He's sending a strike team to the… White House to take it over."
Agni smiled and pushed Richie's staff away "I assume you want a quick death?"
Iivdril nodded slowly
The smile grew bigger on Agni's face "That's too bad…"
"B-but I told you want you wanted to know!" Iivdril protested
Agni shrugged and turned to leave with Robin and Richie "Oh I'm not going to kill you." He said "I'm going to let Arty do that."
A look of fear passed Iivdril's face as Arty walked in cracking her fingers and cackling evilly "You are going to wish Agni killed you by the time I'm done."
Iivdril suddenly felt the world warp around her, sucking her into a abyss of darkness.
Lights suddenly shone in front of her, she blinked several times. All memory of pain suddenly left her body as her eyes focused on what was in front of her.
The Team and Rangers were all sitting around her with Batman and Superman in the back talking quietly.
"W-what just happened?!" she demanded glaring at Agni who had a VERY triumphant smirk on his face.
"Illusion magic and telepathy." Robin said cheerfully
"B-but the pain!"
"Telepathy." M'gann said
It suddenly dawned on her what had happened
"YOU TRICKED ME!"
Agni and Richie laughed
"You are certainly quick on the uptake."
"I SWEAR TO THE GODS I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" Iivdril screamed
Agni shrugged "Feel free to try!" he said merrily
Iivdril continued to struggle against her restraints as everyone walked out of the room.
"That was perfectly!" Anna shouted
"What can I say? I'm a genius." Agni replied
Roy snorted and patted him on the back "You keep telling yourself that."
"Even I couldn't have thought of something better." Richie muttered "And I'm the brains of the team."
"That was an unusually smart idea for him… and it had nothing to do with large explosions or fire…" Zatanna said thoughtfully before turning to Agni and pointing at him "What are you and what have you done to Agni?" she demanded mockingly
"What part of genius did you not understand?"
Superman chuckled "Common Team, time for mission briefing." He said directing them towards the briefing room."
"Still a genius!" Agni shouted as they walked in.
Hey guys! I have a challenge for you!
The First Person that can tell me who Agni is loosely based on will… get an internet cookie? (he's actually based on a mixture of two people.)
But the bigger challenge is…
*drumroll*
*crickets*
*sigh*
Whoever is the first to tell me whos powers Jarred's are based off of will be given the opportunity to create an OC for the sequel story!
Will it be a elf, human, dwarf, golem that aids the Team and their counterparts or an evil villain that will do all he can to thwart them?
So add it to your review or PM it to me :D
Next time in the Chronicles of another Dimension
The Team and Rangers go undercover (for the most part) to a fancy U.N. Charity Ball along with the Justice League
But party crashers are going to turn it into a chaotic battle unless the Team and Rangers have anything to say about it.
Find out what's Agni and Richie's reaction to find out they will be going with Wonder Woman,
How Agni tries to fly with his powers,
All about the Ranger's weapons and rings,
Alfred's Grand Chase,
Aquaman's true power,
and how well Agni can fly the batplane!
All in the next chapter "Party in Another Dimension"
Remember to Review!