Note: I'm incredibly sorry for the long wait on this chapter. I actually had it mostly written and just needed to be slightly edited, but I snuck into the Cartoon Net Work HQ to test out my ninja skills and try to steal the rights for Young Justice. Long story short I was caught and was in jail for these past few weeks… I wrote this on my arm and had to copy it onto the computer when I got out. So forgive me if it's slightly choppy
Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice… trust me. I tried… and failed
Robin's jaw dropped
After returning to the cave with Anna, Richie, Zatanna and Agni, Robin decided to give the place a quick look over for Batman. Even though he was sure there were no more dark secrets Agni could be hiding, he thought being thorough was safe.
He had walked around the woods for a bit with Anna. They had found a small pond not far from the cave and hat sat by it for an hour before returning to the cave for some food. Batman would be satisfied, the only thing off he could find there was that all the animals were black.
As they returned they found everyone else already sitting around several table eating.
"'Bout time yeh here!" Connie shouted, waving a large foaming mug around
Robin grinned at the enthusiastic dwarf and took one of the empty seats. "What's on the menu?"
"Just 'bout anytin." Connie said "Agni's got it all 'ere!"
The meal wasn't long. Everyone finished quickly so they could continue looking around before having to return home and face the wrath of their mentors.
Agni had strangely disappeared after the meal. At first Robin thought he might have walked off with Zatanna, but he noticed the magician playing around with Beowulf. So Robin walked over to Zatanna and asked her where Agni was.
She had just shrugged and pointed towards some trees "Most likely in his armory. Or hiding near the pond."
Everyone perked up at that
"Agni has an armory here?" Richie asked excitedly
"That would explain what he does with the weapon's he always is taking." Kaldur muttered
They all tromped off after her as she led the way through a few trees to where Agni was possibly hiding.
"Agni?" Anna called as they neared the entrance
They was a silent pause before they heard loud shuffling and what sounded like several drawers being slammed shut and wards being whispered over them.
"He's not here!" Agni's obvious voice called from within.
"You don't actually think we're going to fall for that, do you?" Roy asked with a sigh
"We're coming in." Zatanna shouted
There was another pause as before she opened the large sheet hanging over the door
"I'M NOT WEARING ANY PANTS!" The dark elf shouted desperately
Anna pushed Zatanna aside and ripped the sheet off the entrance "You don't have anything I haven't already seen, Agni." She said
Everyone filed into the large entrance room, past Zatanna who was glaring at her counterpart.
"Wow." Was all Richie managed to say.
Agni shot out of one of the adjacent rooms and halted them "Everyone out. Now."
"Dude… you have got like all sorts of awesome stuff in here." Kal said
"I also have personal things in here." Agni protested as everyone tried to slip by him
"We won't take anything." Richie said trying to placate Agni "Even if the gods only know what you need enough weapon's to arm a large army for."
"Arm a large army?"
The Grim Ranger sighed as everyone swept past him into his armory. He really didn't care if they took anything. It was if they found what he had hidden there was his problem.
During his long stay at the Cave Agni found little to do. So he spent most of his time remodeling his Armory. It was now several rooms large with weapons, armors, magical items and other random things on every available space.
He sighed and walked around, Bloody and Red Arrow were near his bows, checking out his numerous bows, some magical, some not. Connie was standing in one of his armor rooms, inspecting a small suit of plate mail.
Agni walked down the hall, seeing Kaldur flipping through a few books he had in his magic room, while Kal was looking at his collection of wands and magical staffs. Anna was in a different room, holding a large mace spiked in her hand.
He walked away quickly before she looked up at saw him.
The dark elf walked over to a chair and collapsed in it praying to any god that could hear him. He had secret things in there he didn't need anyone finding.
Thankfully an hour later he managed to get them out without them finding anything they shouldn't.
It was sundown in the Astral Plane when Agni finally decided it was time to try and open a portal to get them home. Everyone was getting increasingly tired even when they weren't doing anything.
"It's because this is a different plane of existence." Agni explained "It is much like how Beowulf tires when he's with us on the Material Plane for any extended periods of time."
"Why does Zatanna not tire like we do?" Kaldur asked
"When I began to come here a lot Agni set up a…" Zatanna turned to Agni guessingly "What did you do?"
"I set up what I guess you would call a connection. It took immense magical power out of me to do so since you're not native to this Plane or its Guardian like me." Agni answered
"Can we please go home now?" Human Roy grumbled "This place feels unnatural."
Beowulf turned to the redheaded archer and growled
"No offense to you, Beo." He added quickly, wincing at the bears big teeth
Agni smirked and waved his hand to open a portal.
Everyone stared in front of him for several seconds.
"Out of order?" Robin asked jokingly
Agni gave a small hiss and tried again
After several seconds everyone began to see a small distortion in the air and a small purple portal began forming.
"This should take us straight to the cave." Agni said, exhaustion washed over him
"You know if you just gave me the spell I could have opened it." Anna muttered
"I wouldn't do that if my life and soul depended on it." Agni retorted
The cleric stuck out he tongue at him and stepped into the portal
"I should have opened it into the bottom of a volcano…" the dark elf muttered as everyone but Zatanna went through
"You coming?" she asked him
Agni nodded and gestured "Ladies first."
"YOU PUSHED THEM OFF THE HELICARRIER WHEN YOU HAD NO MAGIC LEFT?!" Superman roared
Robin sighed. Batman, Superman and Black Canary had being yelling at Agni for the past hour at how reckless he was during their last mission. Well it was mostly Superman and Canary, Batman was standing behind them silently watching next to Wonder Woman who was clearly confused at what the problem was.
"I STILL MANAGED IT!" Agni screamed back, frustrated beyond anything he knew
"And it was that or we would go crashing into the ocean with little to no chance of surviving." Richie added in hopes to calm them down a bit
"We were on our way to save you." Superman thundered
"All the good that did us!" Agni spat "We fought Abaddon and his minions off alone with near no magic power and complete exhaustion. If I didn't do what I did no one would still be here. Zatanna almost died, Anna and Richie were both magically exhausted, I was shot through the leg at least twice, and no one had any other way of getting off the crashing stupid flying piece of metal."
"That is no excuse." Black Canary scolded "It was a risk you shouldn't have taken."
Agni forced himself to calm down before he flipped out. It helped greatly that the Team and Rangers were looking at him comfortingly. At least they didn't blame him. The soothingly feelings that he felt coming from Zatanna is what kept him from trying to murder the Leaguers that were in front of him. He looked at her with gratitude and she smiled back encouragingly
"He did what he had to do." Batman said suddenly "I understand that."
Superman spun around and glared at the Dark Knight "You can't be okay with what he did."
"I probably would have done the same Superman." Batman said "It is a pity they didn't capture Abaddon but overall… It was a job well done. The President is okay, we found out more about who Abaddon is working with and no one is permanently hurt. Except for maybe your pride in being able to save everyone."
Superman huffed embarrassedly
Agni dropped to one knee and bowed "I thank you, Master- Batman." Agni cursed himself and the near slip. The rest of the Rangers followed Agni quickly and said their thanks.
Batman eyed the dark elf carefully and told them to get up "I've told you to stop doing that."
"Forgive me. It is a habit."
"And a sign of respect." Wonder Woman spoke up "You should be honored that warriors like them do that."
Superman sighed and ran a hand through his hair "How are you guys feeling?"
"Everyone is pretty much fine except Agni who is magically empty." Anna the White Cleric answered "Nothing more than a few bruises on the rest."
"Then your next mission will be in the next few hours." Batman said "Be in the Mission Briefing room by then."
Everyone began filing out of the room but Agni stayed behind at Batman's request.
Batman held up a dark piece of cloth and handed it to Agni "You know what this is correct?"
The Cursed Shadow looked at it carefully "It is the remnants of one of my cloaks."
"And have you notice how the rest of the team are all injured, even if slightly, but you are completely fine physically?" Superman asked
Agni paused and looked at the four Leaguers "Can I trust you three?"
"Of course you can, Agni." Black Canary said
"There are four of us." Wonder Woman muttered
Agni paled thinking he offended the Amazonian and dropped to his knee to beg forgiveness.
Several minutes later after apologizing profusely and being lifted back onto his feet by superman, the dark elf paused and looked at Batman "Throw a batarang at me."
"What?" Superman asked astonished "You are joking right?"
Agni shook his head seriously "I'm not."
Batman hesitantly threw a batarang at the Grim Ranger who threw out is arm so it would graze his skin.
"Look…" Agni said slowly
The four adults took a step closer and looked at Agni's arm. His long sleeved modern shirt he was wearing was ripped cleanly but his arm showed nothing more than a barely noticeable white mark like he'd just itched his arm.
"When I was fighting Deathstroke his sword cut through my cloak, he was using a Drow sword or it would never have done that, but it didn't do more than scratch me. It worries me somewhat because I am not sure what that means."
"But when you were shot it pierced you skin, right?" Batman asked
Agni nodded "Possibly went straight through it. Hurt like a bitch."
Superman arched an eyebrow at Agni's language but ignored it "So what are you saying?"
Shrugging and laying the ripped cloak on the table "I am not sure."
"Can I take a blood sample?" Batman asked
Agni looked at the masked hero suspiciously "You won't use it to make some kind of dragon warrior will you? Then proceed to try and take over the world?"
"Of course not."
Agni pushed up his sleeve and stuck out his arm "I don't exactly like how you do it, but I rather not ask Anna and get her involved."
Batman sent Superman to the medic bay and had him get a blood syringe. After taking some of Agni's blood he promised to show him the results when he returns from their next mission.
Two hours later…
Zatanna smiled and sat down next to Agni who was sitting on his meditation amt in his room.
The magician looked around the room her boyfriend resided in. Its walls were Persian blue with several paintings and weapon's hanging off of them. There were a few shelves in the corner with several scrolls and books on them. In the middle on the room laid a dark grey carpet with the Ranger Symbol on it., next to it was a mahogany desk that was littered with more scrolls and writing quills. She could never read what Agni wrote down, he always told her it was just his daily reports that he would have to hand in to the Guild when they returned.
Zatanna felt a pang in her heart as she thought of the Rangers returning. They had only been around for a few months but she couldn't think of what it would be like without them
Looking around again she gazed at the two closets in the corner of the room. The smaller one of them held the few clothes he kept and the other held the never ending amount of weapons he seemed to have on him at all time.
Something Zatanna was getting used to was, people asking her what she saw in Agni. She herself had thought the question over many times.
He was kind and careful. He would go way out of his way to do anything for her. At times it could be annoying, but mostly it was sweet. He made her breakfast every morning. Lots of times he would demand to make her other meals for her as well. He never expected anything back from her. He seemed to just enjoy her company. Not to mention he was handsome in his own mysterious dark Elven way. His purplish skin and white hair might be a little odd but it was one of his more defining features. He was funny in his own snarky way. Sarcasm was something he had a firm grasp on. He didn't get many of her jokes but that just chalked up to him not understanding almost anything about her dimension. Revolving doors still confused him.
Agni wasn't without his quirks. He was quite eccentric really. He grew up alone and not loved so he was still unsure about any form of physical contact. He had just gotten used to holding her hands a few days prior. She still felt his pair of mythril knuckles suddenly appear on his hand whenever he tensed or thought something (or usually someone) was dangerous and of course there was still the fact he disliked any kind of public affection. He would get exceedingly depressed during certain times.
Agni suddenly took a large breath and released it slowly while opening his eyes. He looked over at the raven haired girl next to him and a small smile spread across his face
"Greetings, Zatanna." He said
Zatanna looked over at him and smiled back. "Do you know how to greet people without saying that?"
"I say salutations sometimes…"
"Don't you ever say things like 'hey' or 'how's it going'?" she asked
"That's considered disrespectful in my dimension. You may say it to your friends and whatnot but not to those you respect and honor."
Zatanna giggled at Agni's seriousness and gave him a small kiss on the cheek "So you respect me?"
"And honor." The dark elf added
Agni stood up and held out a hand to Zatanna who promptly took it and was lifted to her feet.
The Grim Ranger stretched his sore limbs for a moment and looked around. "I find my room lacking in something…"
"A bed?" Zatanna offered jokingly
"I would have no use for it…" Agni replied seriously "You know I don't exactly sleep."
Before she could answer there was a light sound of someone appearing behind them. Zatanna arched an eyebrow at Agni who ignored it for several seconds.
Spinning around quite suddenly, several daggers shot from somewhere in Agni's sleeves and pinned a small figure against the wall.
Richie squirmed uncomfortably literally nailed to the wall. In his hand was a cylinder that a dagger had pierced and was letting out a small whine as the air drained from it.
"Heard me?" Richie asked merrily
"You're slipping, Richie. I heard you Shadow Jump. What would Master Bruce say if he knew you weren't in top notch?"
"You know you aren't supposed to mention Batman's counterpart's name in front of me." Zatanna said
Agni shrugged "No one remembers anyways."
Richie squirmed again; the daggers had Magic Repressing runes on them, so he couldn't Shadow Jump out of them.
"Well I was here to tell you that the quest is in half an hour and you need to get ready for it. I was also to ask if you still want to go even though you are pretty much magicless."
Agni thought for a second "Nah I'll go. I need something to stab."
"I thought you said you would try to stop killing things that aren't from your dimension?" Zatanna asked
"I have. I aim to maim now." Agni said cheekily
The weapons closet's doors were flung open as Agni tried to decide what weapons to go with. He picked up a tomahawk and one of his crossbows.
"To the mission room?" Zatanna asked, having magically changed into her costume.
Agni picked up his cloak from his desk and threw it on, causing it to ruffle dramatically as it blown by the wind.
"I really need to learn that spell." Richie muttered
"Later Richie." Zatanna said walking out of the room followed by Agni
"Hey! What about me?" Richie yelled "Agni? Agni! Zatanna!"
The dark elf walked down the halls, ignoring Richie cries for help
"Did he really think I was going to forget he tried to injure me with that abysmal tin can that unleashes that unholy high pitched noise?"
"I don't think he was going to injure you." Zatanna replied laughingly as they turned the corner and walked through the kitchen "That cat does seem unnaturally loud."
"He might have enhanced it with his stupid Hieroglyphs." Agni muttered, pushing open the doors to the cave and entering with several large strides
"Way to make an entrance." Robin chuckled as Agni stood next to him
"It is one of the first things taught to me when I became Captain. Appearances and attitudes are very important." Agni answered, his cloak flowed in the air as he took his spot next to Kaldur, Kal and Robin
"What spell do you use to make your cloak ruffle like that?" Robin inquired "I think Batman might use the same one."
Agni cracked a smirk but it vanished as Batman walked in.
"Team. Rangers." He greeted as he walked up to the holographic screen. He stopped and gazed around. Not all the team was around, which was expected since some were still recovering from the U.N. Ball. Miss Martian and her counterpart with off with J'onn doing some extra training, Conner and Connie were off trying to get Superman to help them out with their own… "Where is Red Arrow?" he asked "And Nightwing?"
"Red Arrow and Bloody Arrow are in the training room practicing their arcane magic." Kaldur supplied "They said they would rather sit this one out."
"And Richie is currently pinned to my wall with several Magic Repressing daggers for trying to make me go deaf with that stupid tin can."
"Bullhorn?" Wally asked
Robin nodded "I wonder why he needed one…"
Human Roy came stomping in with a scowl on his face, behind him Elven Roy came with a tired look.
"What's wrong?" Robin asked
"He still can't manage to do any proper magic." Bloody Arrow said
"That is the reason I want him to go." Batman said
Richie suddenly appeared with a sour look on his face. He glared momentarily at Agni before standing next to Robin silently
The Dark Knight moved his hand across the hologram and a map came up. "You are going to Tibet."
"It's really cold there right?" Agni asked
Batman nodded confirmation and continued "There has been an increase in Light activity there. You are to find out what they are up to. Aqualad you will be in charge of this."
Kaldur nodded and smiled while Agni hissed 'Yes!' behind him
"Agni you'll be taking Red Arrow to see a certain monk I know. I want him to check out what's wrong with him. You can take a small team with you just in case."
Kaldur almost chuckled when he heard Agni groan
An hour later on the frozen mountains of Tibet.
"I do something incredibly reckless, I show no remorse over it, and I complain! But no! I still have to lead!" Agni was complained reaching above to grab Nightwing's hand and pull himself up.
"He does have a point…" Robin muttered as his counterpart helped him up a particularly hard spot on the mountain.
They were scaling a mountain in a freezing blizzard. The location they were told to go to was just at the top of the mountain. They weren't going to try to teleport just in case they missed went tumbling down the frozen mountain.
Agni was first complaining that they had to turn his cloak white so he would blend in with his surroundings and was now complaining that he had to do anything that required more than bare minimum responsibility.
"How much farther do we have, Robin?" Agni asked as they reached the top
The Boy Wonder opened his holographic watch and looked at the map. "Just a few more yards and we should find him."
Agni nodded and they set off in a quick pace.
It only took them a few minutes before a small temple was in sight. They doubled their pace and hurried to it. They reached a large golden plated door and stopped.
"So should we knock or sneak in?" Bloody Arrow asked
"I think this is a waste of time… we should just go to the rendezvous point and help Aqualad." Red Arrow argued, bitter that he actually had to go see some stupid old monk on top of a far away mountain to find out what was wrong with him.
Before they reached a decision the door suddenly swung open and a bald young man wearing kill-me-orange robe smiled at them
"Welcome! Come, Come, the master has been waiting. Waiting long." He beckoned, guiding them in.
Inside the small temple were about twenty-four monks all going about their daily activities. They seemed to disregard to cold and snow and were wearing short robes that left much of their bodies exposed.
The heroes and Agni were led into the largest building quickly. Their cloaks were taken away from them and left to hang in front of a blazing fire.
The young monk, who had let them in, shuffled into a large room where a old bald man was sitting with his back to them. A small stick was leaning against him. He got up slowly and turned around to face them. A large smile spread on his lips.
"Lu Tze?" Richie asked in surprise
Agni turned around and without another word walked out.
"I assume you might have already met me… or one of me." Lu Tze said apologetically "I am going to have to ask your forgiveness and ask which one you met."
"We met the one who used to Guard the Astral Plane." Robin answered, wondering where Agni was.
"Ahh yes…" Lu Tze muttered "I haven't seen him in a long time, but no matter, that not is for now. I have been expecting you."
"Yes we've been told by about everyone monk we've pasted." Red Arrow grumbled
"Yes, well they can be enthusiastic at time, especially when strangers come upon out little temple." Lu Tze replied, waking over to them "So, why don't you tell me why you are here?"
"Cursed Shadow was supposed to do that…" Robin said "No one else is very sure what is wrong with him."
There was a loud rumbled outside and several shouts. The heroes looked around for the source of the loud rumbling.
"What's that?" Bloody Arrow asked, looking for something to grab onto to stable himself.
Lu Tze grinned amusedly "That sounds like an avalanche."
The rumbled grew louder in the next few seconds and everyone became slightly worried
Snow suddenly came rushing through the roof, covering them up to the waist (or in the Boy Wonders case, up to the shoulders) in snow.
Roy looked up in surprise as a bit more fell on his head.
"I think now we know what it was." Robin muttered, climbing out of the snow
Lu Tze's head popped out of the snow a few feet away from them "Yes I dare say we do." He said
Agni came walking back it with an annoyed look on his face
"Where were you? Did you cause this?" Red Arrow accused
"Banging my head on the mountain."
"And why was that?" Bloody Arrow asked
"How about you guys argue and help me clean up now?" Richie suggested while writing several Hieroglyphs in the air.
In a few minutes everything was cleared and the roof was back to normal thanks to Richie and Robin's magic.
"So now that that is out of the way, why have you come to see me?" Lu Tze said
"Roy here is having trouble with his magic. We need your help to figure out why." Agni said
"Well come here then, Roy. Let me take a look at you."
Red Arrow hesitantly stepped forward and stood in front of the old monk.
Lu Tze stared at him for several moments before looking away towards Agni.
"You know what it is?" he asked the dark elf
Cursed Shadow shrugged "I have theories, but no actual proof."
"What do you think it is?" Roy asked licking his lips nervously
Lu Tze was silent for a moment before motioning to Roy to come closer. Quickly and unexpectedly he poked to fingers at Roy's forehead, they stayed like that for nearly a minutes before Lu Tze released him, knocking him down.
"What was that for?" Roy demanded, standing up indignantly
"The answers you seek will soon be upon you." Lu Tze answered gently "That was just a way of unleashing them. As for the magic within you… I think I might have helped you out with that."
Roy looked dazed for a moment and nearly stumbled, he blinked uncertainly. Images began to flash before his eyes. Pain erupted in his mind as it suddenly cleared and became sharper and stronger.
"You had several mind blocks on you." Lu Tze said "I released them for you, but I have to warn. You might not be happy with what you find."
He fell to the ground panting his companions dashed up to him and helped him up.
"Kaldur…" Roy rasped "He needs help."
"Yes he does." Lu Tze agreed
They helped Roy up and began to leave.
"Hold on a second." Agni said suddenly "If you are Lu Tze, where's your beard?"
Lu Tze sighed and reached into his robes pulling out a large fake white beard.
"Why… in all the gods fucking names… do you have a fake beard?"
"Because most people in this dimension expect monks and spiritual figures to be bald and wear orange robes."
Agni spun around and walked out
"Where did Cursed Shadow go?" Roy asked now able to stand up properly and the headache that hit him was clearing up
There was another loud rumbling similar to first one.
"I think he's banging his head against the mountain again…"
A little while later
Agni gripped onto the wooden sled for dear life. He let out an un-manly yelp as his sled went over a large chasm and barely made it to the other side
Lu Tze had given them wooden sled to get down the mountain with, in hopes they would reach their comrades before anything too horrible happened.
Before they left the fake beard wearing monk pulled Agni aside. Reluctantly, the dark elf went with him, just to see what stupid and cryptic words of wisdom he had. Lu Tze had said some worrying things to him.
(Flashback)
"Agni…" Lu Tze had started slowly "I have something to tell you… you might not want to hear it."
"Out with it old man." Agni said, glancing over his shoulder to where his companions were getting on to the sleds.
"I see your end is coming…"
"What do you mean 'my end is coming'?" Agni questioned
Lu Tze sighed "I am not sure… what I do know is that your journey is coming to an end. Thus is what the spirits told me." The monk stared at the horizon with a sorrowful look "It will happen in a few days."
Agni sighed and stared at the far away mountains in silence for several moments, ignoring the freezing winds whipping through his cloak he sighed and pulled his hood off to run a hand through his mane of hair. "I see…" he said slowly
"Don't worry. It does not necessarily mean your death. I actually truly doubt it would mean your death."
Agni looked at him blankly "It does not matter…"
Lu Tze nodded sagely. "Then I have one last piece of advice for you. Treat every day like it's your last day. Do not fret over the small things."
Agni had sighed again and nodded his head at the monk's wise words. "Thank you Lu Tze…"
The monk clasped Agni on the shoulder and watched the dark elf walk back over to the sleds.
(End of Flashback)
Robin and Richie had already mastered had to steer and the two Arrows were managing well enough. Agni on the other hand was zooming all over the place, nearly colliding with them on several occasions.
"Turn right here!" Robin yelled as his sled suddenly swerved right
Everyone else followed him except for Agni who somehow managed to swerve left before going in a wide arc and almost knocking Richie off of his sled
"Watch out!" Richie yelled
"Gods please forgive me for every single bad thing I might have ever said though or insinuated against any of you. I only want to survive this ride so I can go and slap Lu Tze with his own stupid stick later." Agni prayed
The ride wasn't too long and before they knew it they reached their rendezvous point.
"Contact Team Alpha on the radio." Agni said
"Radio is down, Cursed Shadow." Robin said, trying to get his communicator to work
"Our psychic link is also not working." Richie said muttering several words to his ever-changing-color Ranger Ring "There must be a strong Psychic in the vicinity."
Behind them, Roy stumbled, holding on to the edge of his sled to hold himself steady.
"You okay Red Arrow?" Bloody Arrow asked
"Their inside… getting attacked by… something. I can't tell they're moving too fast." Human Roy answered
"That's never good." Agni said "Okay, new quest, Rescue Team Alpha…"
Agni motioned Robin to look around the corner.
"Three hostiles, all of them are down. Possibly dead." Robin whispered
Agni nodded and all five of them rounded the corner and walked up prone bodies on the ground.
Cursed Shadow bent over one and flipped it over. He cursed and stood back up, flipping his hood over his face as his cloak suddenly turned back to its normal black state
"What is it?" Red Arrow asked worriedly
Agni looked up with a sour face hidden behind his empty hood
"Shinobi."
On the other side of the complex
Kaldur ducked behind a large crate to take cover from a volley of knives and daggers. Artemis rolled behind him, shooting several arrows from her bow. She had a cut just below her eye and was bleeding from her arm.
"They were expecting us." She hissed firing off several more arrows that didn't hit their targets
"It was an ambush." Kaldur said, creating a water shield with his Water-Bearers. "We need help. Call in Team Beta and see if they can help us."
"Can't. They scrambled the signal." Artemis replied
"Erif pihw!" Zatanna chanted, battling the many foes attacking her. "Liah fo erif!"
"We need Robin and Agni for this!" Kid Flash growled, speeding by them with his counterpart "We aren't cut out for this."
Kid Zoom nodded and ducked hastily under a swipe from a sword "Let's hope they get here soon."
Arty cursed as they dodged her Lighting Stone and charged at her. She didn't have any of her melee weapons on her, but before her attacker got to her a yellow blur bashed into it.
Wallace held the limp body in his arm and pulled his knife from its ribcage. "You okay beautiful?"
"Fine." Arty grumbled, ignoring what he called her.
"Stay safe." Wallace muttered, zooming away.
Their mysterious attackers were renewing their attacks with re-found ferocity.
Kal spun his trident in an arc, sending large icicles at the attackers, covering Artemis giving her ample time to take several out with her arrows.
"More are coming our way!" Kaldur shouted "Everyone get out the east tunnel, Artemis, Waterboy, cover our retreat."
As the team began to move down the halls they felt a feeling of impending doom around them.
They ran on for several minutes until they hit a dead end.
"Oh shit…" Wallace, the barely audible sound of the ninja behind them could be heard.
"I could have sworn we came this way…" Kaldur said before turning around
"We make out last stand here." He said surely
The rest of the heroes turned around and got ready. Arty planted several traps around the hall and Kal made large spikes of ice to impede their advance.
Just as their foes were about to enter the room, smoke flooded the place.
Several explosions blew through the place, blasting the unexpecting ninja. Arty's arrows did their job but it wasn't much.
Then two loud cackling laughs echoed throughout the room.
The ninja seemed confused when what seemed to be several of their own began attacking them. An eskrima stick wielding one of them suddenly took down several of his comrades.
Another one, holding a boa staff suddenly flung several large deadly pointy knives at his teammates, downing more.
Many arrows shot into the room, hitting the ninja in the back, taking them by surprise.
The smoke was beginning to clear out a little room when a dark figure, holding a large scythe appeared in the middle of the ninja.
"I am naught but shadow on the wall…" The Cursed Shadow said slowly, his scythes doing a large sweep in front of him, "and a curse to my enemies. Rangers, remove all hostiles from the vicinity... with extreme prejudice."
Several minutes later
The Grim Ranger pulled his scythe out of the shoulder blade of a ninja, ignoring his deafening screams.
"I really hate Shinobi." Agni muttered, spinning his scythe in a circular motion, taking an arm of another ninja
"Remember that blonde kid from the academy?" Richie said, standing behind him while finishing off the last few.
Agni nodded and dropped the scythe, watching it disappear into his shadow "It was fun to have a fair fight, I guess."
"I'm good with the sword." Richie complained, returning his staff to his utility belt
"Not enough to put up a real challenge to me though." Agni responded "You are better with that staff of yours."
"I am glad you guys are here." Kaldur said, coming out of cover "I was a bit worried for a moment."
"I hate Shinobi." Agni said again "They're annoying with all their flashy attacks and stupid knives."
"What kind of ninja has flashy attacks?" Robin asked mystified "Doesn't that negate the whole point of being one?"
Agni shrugged "I'm not a ninja, don't ask me."
"Yes you are." Nightwing said "We both are technically."
"I am an arcane archer. I shoot arcane arrows. I sometimes use arcane magic. I am not a stupid man who runs around in skin tight black clothes punching and stabbing people in the face for money."
"Instead you shoot them in the eye from the other side of the city after you rob them blind… for money" Bloody Arrow said, walking up with the other Arrow leaning heavily on his shoulder
"Yes. Exactly." Agni muttered before rushing over and helping Roy
"It's here…" Red Arrow whispered, slowly getting to his feet
"What is?" Kaldur asked, worried about his friend
"I don't know!" Roy said desperately "I just know it will hold the answers."
"Answers to what?" Artemis said
Before Roy could answer he double over, clutching his head. He didn't seem in any pain so no one touched him.
"Down the hall, take a right then left. You'll need to blast open the door and it's at very far end." He said suddenly
At Kaldur's orders, everyone set off following the directions; they ran for several minutes before coming to a large room. In front of it were three figures.
Standing tall with a pistol in one hand and a sword with a greenish hue was Deathstroke. Next to him stood someone in a dark brown robe, it was not visible who. The last person standing there was Klarion the boy witch.
"My my… I was expecting the Justice League after how quickly you tore through those shadow ninjas." Deathstroke said.
"Hahaha!" Klarion laughed "It seems we only get to play with the little babies this time." He licked his lips in anticipation
"Let's just get this job done and leave." The last person said
"Psimmon." Artemis growled, raising her boy with a notched arrow, not forgetting what happened last time they met him.
"It seems the Martian and Kryptonian and their counterparts are not with them. This should be easy." Slade said,
"And fun!" Klarion added cheerfully
Looking curiously at Agni, Slade chuckled and raised his pistol "Ready for round two, Drow?"
A small hiss escaped Agni's mouth and he gripped the handle of his chokutō. "Whenever you are… old man."
Kaldur looked from Agni to the three villains in front of him. It was obvious a fight was inevitable. "Curse Shadow, take care of Deathstroke. Anna, Zatanna take care of Klarion and Nightwing, take care of Psimmon." He muttered
Elves heard what he said exactly and told those who didn't happened to have enhanced hearing.
"Agni, I'm leaving you in charge." He continued
Cursed Shadow groaned audibly much the amusement of the villains.
"I think he might be feeling sick." Klarion laughed "Maybe we should put him out of his misery?"
Red claws appeared in thin air and shot towards Zatanna. At the same time where was a loud bang followed by the sound of metal bouncing off metal.
Agni slid his sword slowly back into his sheath. "I practiced that for hours." He said smugly "Seems it was a good idea."
Everything slid into chaos after that.
Deathstroke leaped at the Grim Ranger, firing several bullets at him. They clanged of his sword that was whipped out with implausible speed.
There was an explosion next to them as Zatanna cast a large fireball spell, it collided with the witch boy's shield, erupted and sending everyone flying away.
Nightwing was the first back on his feet. His staff suddenly shot to full size in his hand and he jabbed its end into the chest Psimmon.
Kaldur and the rest of the heroes dashed by the battle and down the hall, following Red Arrow's directions.
They ran straight into another group of ninjas and tore through them quickly continuing down the hall to whatever it was that was hiding there,
Agni's red blade knocked the green blade away with ease. He regained his offensive stance and dashed at the mercenary.
"My mentor would be disgusted with you." Agni growled, lunging his sword at his mentors counterpart "You would throw in with this scum?"
Deathstroke ignored him and shot several more bullets from his pistol.
A loud laugh exploded from Cursed Shadow's mouth as he deflected them with his red blade. "You have forgotten what it is to be a mercenary. You are nothing but a mere tool to them, one that will be disposed of when it grows rusty."
Deathstroke sneered at him and unleashed a furry of attacks with his Drow made sword. Cursed Shadow had trouble keeping up with them, but managed not to get hit.
Agni, certain that he couldn't get injured by swords any longer, foolishly began to use a style suited for two weapons, using his left arm instead of a another sword or his tomahawk.
Slade managed to push Agni back, slamming him into a wall. Agni's chokutō clattered to the ground at his feet. Deathstroke swung his sword at the dark elf's head, to kill him.
The Grim Ranger raised his left hand to catch the blow. Thinking it wouldn't hurt him, he positioned it so it would hit his arm and bounce away instead of sliding down his bracer and possibly hurt him.
The sword cut straight into Agni's arm, leaving a deep cut right below his elbow. Agni's eyes widened in the pain and he smashed his other hand into the mercenary, pushing him several feet away.
"Not if I take a seat at their table." Deathstroke said confidently, closing in again
"Like a lowly mercenary like you or me could ever take a seat at their table. In their eyes we deserve nothing more than the scraps that fall from it." Agni said, cradling his bleeding arm. He picked up his fallen sword.
Deathstroke didn't answer as he jumped over a large whip of pure fire as it shot at Klarion who was still laughing hysterically.
Anna waved her wand in the air and acid came shooting out of it, towards the witch boy, who just teleported away with a laugh. The acid melted through part of the wall, showing several rooms filled with weapons behind it.
Psimmon was having a much harder time with Nightwing. The boy hadn't even given him the chance to take off his hood.
"It's time to end this." He growled standing up and pulling his hood off.
A ripple tore through the air, hitting nearly everyone in the room. Nightwing went flying back. Deathstroke crumbled to the ground. Anna and Agni didn't manage to bring up their shields and fell to the ground as well.
Zatanna did though; she was only thrown across the room into a wall. She stood up and saw everyone on the ground.
On the far side of it. Agni moaned. His aura suddenly appeared. Not its usual dark purple but a dark furious red with purple streaks. She could see his nails suddenly grew longer and pointed and he snarled inhumanely.
She looked at him worriedly "Agni?" she asked
Agni's body slowly got up and looked at her. His face was nearly the same except for his eyes.
His eyeballs had turned pure black and his irises bright yellow.
"Guess who." He said a large grin spreading on his face
Roy was getting hysterical at the visions he was seeing. He kept crying out it wasn't true as they helped him walked. Every few feet he would collapse and seeing something sending him further into panic.
Kaldur smashed the head of another ninja and rand own the hall. The speedsters could be seen every few seconds taking down several ninja before disappearing in a blur again.
"Wallace, scout out ahead." Kaldur commanded
With a nod, the Elven speedster set off down the halls. Everyone else trudged behind them. The few ninja that kept coming at them were dispatched quickly by Artemis and Arty.
It wasn't long before they came to a large set of doors. They huge and probably about five feet thick made out of steel.
Wallace was busy pressing every single button on the control pad next to them. They could hear the sound 'error' every second.
"Can't get through?" Kaldur asked. The shake of Wallace's head answered his question.
"I must have tried every possible code at least twice." He grumbled "It refuses to let me in."
"Arty, can you create an entrance for us?" Kaldur asked
Arty took out her sling and fitted in a glowing red stone. "You might want to move back then." She said with an evil smile on her face.
Everyone back away a decent distance and Kal and Kaldur created a huge shield of ice.
There was a bright fiery red explosion behind it. Within the sound of the roaring flames they could hear Arty's laughter echo throughout the room.
The shield melted from the extreme heat until the room was filled with steam, making the two Atlantians sweat heavily and nearly pass out.
They hobbled inside the room they had just blown into. The steam was rolling into it like a heavy mist, obscuring their view of what was inside.
Kal swept his trident, turning the steam into water allowing them to see into the room.
Inside were hundreds of pods. It reminded Wally and Kaldur eerily like the way they found Superboy. All of the many pods contained something inside of them. Keeping them in a coma.
"He's over there." Roy whispered pointing across the room before collapsing unconscious.
"Agni?"
"He's sleeping right now." Agni's body said
"W-who are you?" Zatanna asked
Agni stood up and cracked his neck. He stared at his arm momentarily as it suddenly healed itself as good as new. He looked up at Zatanna and cocked his head.
"Why do I think I know you?" Not-Agni asked curiously "I feel like you're important to me."
Zatanna gazed at Not-Agni hesitantly "It's me Zatanna."
Not-Agni nodded "Right… the one bonded to the other guy."
"What other guy."
"You know, the dark elf likes to shoot his little arrows at things." Not-Agni explained
"Agni?"
"Is that his name? I thought it was Belirhac'yrd…" Not-Agni appeared to be puzzled
"Well it is…"
"But you just said it was Agni…"
"It is too…"
Not-Agni stared at her "You stupid mortals… so confusing."
Before she could answer, Psimmon stepped forward to them, preparing another mind blast.
The air rippled again aimed at Agni and Zatanna. Not-Agni was unfazed by and stepped in front of Zatanna shielding her from the blast.
"Hmmph… that tickled." Not-Agni said, staring at Psimmon. "You're annoying. Go away. I don't like cowards who use psyche attacks. "
Zatanna covered his mouth with her hands to keep herself from laughing at the nonchalant way Agni (or whoever it was that was in Agni's body) was acting
"You dare speak to me like that? I'll teach you…" Psimmon stared into Agni's black eyes "Simon says, tell me your secrets."
Zatanna gasped as they locked as and stopped moving. She blasted a spell at Psimmon but it rebounded and hit the unconscious Nightwing who groaned.
She stared at them for a few moments. Neither of them moved more than their breathing.
After a few seconds Psimmon collapsed, panting heavily on the ground.
Not-Agni tilted his head and looked at the fallen Psimmon "You are a funny man… Maybe I won't kill you."
"Y-y-your mind… W-w-what are you?" Psimmon said, gasping for air.
Agni's foot lashed out, clocking him on the side of the head and sending him through a wall.
"Why, I'm a dragon of course." Agni said disdainfully "Do I look like a dwarf to you simpletons?"
Zatanna glanced at Not-Agni alarmingly "You're a dragon?"
Not-Agni looked offended "What did you think I was, one of those annoying pixy's?" he snarled, annoyed.
The raven haired magician shook her head quickly "No no not at all… I was just surprised…"
The dragon gazed at her peculiarly "I really would prefer to kill you, but I don't think I will." He sighed "If I did I bet the elf would be angry. Hmm… maybe I should anyways… nah."
Zatanna seemed relieved "Why not?"
"You amuse me." Not-Agni said with a shrugged as he looked around at all the strewn bodies on the ground.
The magician glared at him indignantly
"Don't give me that look." Not-Agni warned "I might still decide to eat you."
Sounds of running caused Not-Agni's ears to perk up. He opened his mouth and took a deep breath. Zatanna peered at him curiously, noticing his tongue was, oddly enough, forked.
"Several people are coming this way. I can smell at least thirty." Dragon-Not-Agni said "I will humble them. Pitiful mortals dare think they can take a dragon. Troublesome it is…"
Zatanna looked increasingly alarmed. She did a quick analysis of her situation.
All of her normal companions were down and would probably stay that way for quite some time,
Her magic reserves were a quarter empty already,
And she was stuck with an arrogant split personality of Agni would was contemplating trying to eat her.
Know how the gods hate Agni?
Well they must hate her too…
"So uh… Agni." Zatanna said, breaking the silence.
"My name isn't Agni." Someone-Who-Very-Clearly-Did-Not-Like-The-Name-Agn i growled "I was born Belirhac'yrd I will die that name as well."
"Belir," Zatanna started again "Is Agni going to wake back up?"
Before Belir answered, several ninja stormed the room
A feral roar erupted from Belirhac'yrd's mouth as he suddenly dashed forward at blinding speed.
He smashed into the first ninja, his arm cackling with fire. It suddenly took the shape of a large drill, as he pulled his arm back. He jabbed his hand into the chest of a second ninja, replacing his chest with a large whole.
Zatanna whipped out her wand and large whips of fire surrounded her. They began lashing out at the ninja who were pouring into the room. She tried to ignore the blood that was splashing around Agni as he, literally, tore through their foes.
Belir spun with grace that was… draconic, slashing large gashes through his enemies, his other hand ablaze with fire, killing many more.
Quite suddenly in the middle of gutting someone with his claws, he saw a flash of gold hit the ground. He blasted away any ninja that were near him and dove after it. He reached down a picked up a gold coin that must have fallen off a ninja off the ground.
"Shiny!"
The dragon held the coin fondly and rubbed it against his face
"Nice gold... I like gold… its shiny. I like anything shiny." He said to himself. A ninja foolishly leaped at him in hopes of impaling him while he rubbed his face against the single golden coin. Belir's hand shot out, knocking the sword away, his coin spun into the air as his other hand smashed into the irrational ninja's face. As the ninja fell, Belir stuck out his hand and the coin fell promptly into it
"Stupid mortal ninja tried to take my shiny…" the dragon growled "Get your own shiny!" Belir leaped into the air, fire exploding off of his back into the form of wings, keeping him aloft in the air. He swooped through the large room, blowing fire from his mouth and slashing the ninja with his large claws.
Zatanna stared with wonder at her boyfriend as he landed in the midst of several ninja. He smashed his hand powerfully into the ground
A shockwave of fire blew through the room, incinerating all the ninja close to him. Zatanna cast a shield to protect her from the blast.
When she lowered the shield she noticed all of the ninja were laid against the wall, many were groaning in pain.
She quickly checked the Anna and Nightwing. They were both fine, just a little burnt.
Belir cracked his large clawed knuckles and chuckled to himself. "That was quite enjoyable. You fight admirably for a human." He said
"Thank you?"
Belir took another deep breath and looked around. He walked to the other side of the room and moved several of the ninja's bodies. He reached into a pile of rubble and grasped something.
He withdrew his hand; in it was Agni's chokutō.
"Wow…" he muttered, staring at it with awe "Such power in such a little thing."
Zatanna flinched as he waved it around much like Agni did with whatever caught his fancy
Several more ninja poured into the room.
Belir grinned, showing two rows of sharp teeth. "Fall before me."
Kaldur opened the pod containing something he couldn't believe.
The small body of his best friends fell into his arms with a moan.
Kal looked over his shoulder worriedly. He glanced at Red and Bloody Arrow then back to the red-headed boy in his counterpart's arms.
"Daaaaaaayum…" he said "This stuff just got crazy, dude, kinda like what happens when you smoke the wrong stuff and begin seeing flying pink elephants. That kinda messed up."
They fled the room quickly with the boy in tow. Red Arrow was still out like a light and was being held between Bloody Arrow and Robin, who were both in complete shock.
They sprinted back to where they left everyone else to fight off the villains. When they entered the room… it's enough to say they were quite surprised.
The first thing they saw was Belir, fire was rolling off the sword in his hand, shaped like a large drill. It was stuck in the body of a ninja. He yanked it out mercilessly and laughed to himself
"Agni?" Kaldur asked worriedly.
Zatanna looked up at him wearily, her large fire whips died out behind her as she stood next to Agni.
"He's not exactly here right now." She explained "This is his split personality who has taken Agni's birth name, Belirhac'yrd."
"You can bow before me now." The dragon announced as he sheathed the chokutō in the sheath that was attacked to his waist.
"You have got to be kidding me…" Wally said "As if Agni wasn't already stuck up, now we have to deal with a pompous personality who thinks he's a dragon."
Artemis groaned next to him and face-palmed "Open mouth, insert foot."
Arty turned around and smacked Wallace upside the head. The Elven Speedster yelped and demanded why she hit him
"Because Wally is too far away and you're basically the same person. He just said the stupid thing first."
Belirhac'yrd's eyes narrowed at the speedster and before anyone could intercept him, he had his clawed hand gripped firmly around the ginger haired hero's throat.
"You dare speak to a mighty dragon like that? I could squash the life out of you without even breaking a sweat, mortal."
Robin thought quickly and dashed forward "He did not mean it, great dragon. He was just jealous of you awesome and whelming might."
Belir seemed to think over what Robin said. He must have agreed because he dropped Wally onto the ground. Then he looked down sheepishly and picked him up, placing him on his feet.
"Then I'll accept an apology, human. Even if only since that fool of a Drow, Agni, likes you."
"There is no way-" Wally started before his foot was stomped on by his best friend. He yelped and finished his sentence quickly "I cannot beg enough forgiveness from you, Bell ear hawk yard."
Not-Agni-But-A-Split-Personality-Who-Liked-The-Nam e-Belir cocked his head. "You are a funny human… Do you know how to play music?"
Wally shook his head and Belir sighed in disappointment
"Where are Nightwing and the White Cleric?" Kaldur asked
"The two elves were knocked out shortly before Agni was, allowing me to wake up. I kicked that funny psychic through that wall over there. The one behind the pile of dead Shinobi. I hate Shinobi. They do not amuse me with their stupid pointy knives. It tickles and tickling annoys me."
On cue, Anna groaned and slowly sat up. She nudged Nightwing with her foot waking him up as well.
It took many minutes of explaining and calming down, before they let them talk to Ag-Belir.
"You can bow before me now." Was the first thing the dragon said "Does anyone have anything shiny? I like shiny…"
"How can we bring Agni back?" Robin asked casually "I'm sure he has lots of shiny that he would like to share."
Belir shrugged and flipped his coin happily "I would have to be knocked out I guess. Then he probably would wake up."
Anna nodded sagely behind him before discreetly sliding her emergency wand down from its holster in her sleeve.
"Bigby's Hand!" she whispered
A large ghostly yellow hand formed in the air behind Belir who was too busy staring joyfully at his coin. The hand balled up into a fist and clocked Belir upside the head, knocking him out… cold.
"Anna!" Zatanna screamed, dashing over to her fallen boyfriend.
Agni's-Body-But-Not-Necessarily-Agni groaned and slowly got up
"Whoever did that is in for a whole world of pain." Agni roared
"So, let me get this straight…while I was on ice; you found another Roy Harper, the sidekicks formed their own team, aliens invaded the earth, a fantasy version of the sidekicks came to this dimension by accident and Ollie grew that dopey goatee?"
"We try not to call ourselves sidekicks." Red Arrow said rubbing the back of his neck nervously
"You don't like the goatee?" Oliver demanded, rubbing his facial hair
"For the billionth time, we are not fantasy!" Agni protested "And no one likes that goatee Lord Oliver…"
"So missing the point!" Roy Harper said annoyed, from his hospital gurney
"Yeah!" Agni agreed "Lord Oliver with a full beard is a thousand times worse."
Roy glared at the dark elf "Who are you?!"
"Agni Amelani also known as the Cursed Shadow the Grim Ranger."
The young Roy ignored him
"You've both been talking around it all day… now I want answers."
"I veto that idea. Answers are never good." Agni muttered
"What happen to me? How can there be another Roy Harper and WHAT HAPPENED TO MY ARM?"
"Actually there are three Roy Harpers." Agni said indifferently "He was just too tired to come…"
"Not helping Agni!" The older Roy shouted before sighing "We wanted to wait until you were strong enough, but I guess the moments here."
"The moments passed!" one-armed-Roy said angrily "Get to it!"
"Definitely has his anger issue…" Agni murmured to Ollie who rolled his eyes at him
"What's the last thing you remember?" Red Arrow asked
"I've been trying to piece that together…" angry-one-armed-Roy said thoughtfully "I remember investigating a Lexcorp shell company, that we suspecting of smuggling weapons."
"And they caught you and knocked you out." Agni finished "nothing cliché there at all…"
Everyone glared at the dark elf and Oliver continued
"That's right…" he said sadly "They grabbed you. The thing is Roy, that was eight years ago."
"What?!"
"Lex Luthor and the light-"
"Possibly Abaddon too, depending on when he got here for the first time." Agni added
"-this criminal organization that he works with abducted you."
"And took your arm… dishonorable assholes." Agni said with a shake of his head.
"Why? To keep me from using my bow?"
Agni shook his head "Nah… There are so many high tech crossbows in this dimension you could manage to shoot one with your nose hairs."
"True, but the real reason was that they needed an endless supply of your D.N.A."
"Is that how Superboy was made?" Agni asked curiously, receiving yet another glare from Red Arrow
"They needed it to perfect their human clone."
"So that's what you are… a clone."
"Insensitive much?"
"Agni?"
"Ya?"
"Shut up."
"…fine…"
"In a matter of months I looked your age." Red Arrow continued "they programmed me with all your memories, skills and personality."
"I think he might be a bit angrier…" Agni said, observing carefully.
"Then they spoon fed me clues to your location. I thought I was doing detective's work, but in hindsight"
"It would have been better to call Batman. He is known as 'The World's Greatest Detective." Agni remarked
Roy nodded in agreement but listened as Oliver continued
"You had been missing for three months, I was going crazy so when I found you… I didn't question my good fortune. I thought it was the real you."
"Idiot mentor… no cliché at all either." Agni said sarcastically under his breath
"How are you taking this so easily?" Roy demanded from his clone
"Earlier today we were in Tibet… I don't know how to explain this, but a monk triggered something in me, giving me… visions of sorts. Every vision felt likes days to me, but in reality it was only a few moments."
"You took my place… you've been living my life, for eight years."
"Basically…" Agni said rolling his eyes. Like seriously, how was this all shocking? Now having him die and come back from that dead. That would be shocking.
Miles away from the hospital, a young orphan boy who was stealing tires off someone's care sneezed.
"He did almost die trying to find you today." Agni said "I helped him with that."
"Huh… but not you Ollie."
"I had absolutely no idea what they were doing." Oliver protested
"I don't want to cause anymore conflict between you two…" Red Arrow said "I'd understand if you never want to lay eyes on me again."
"I don't know… I like you. It seems t me you didn't do anything wrong."
"At least he didn't call you a clone or something like 'it'. That would have been REALLY insensitive." Agni noted
"And he… and you, found me." Roy continued "I can't blame him for this." Roy's features suddenly turned enraged and he leaped at Oliver "but I can totally blame you!" he screamed
"But Roy I-" Oliver tried to argue
"We were partners! Friends!"
"Family too…" Agni observed
"How did you not know I had been replaced?"
"In his defense, young Roy," Agni said loudly, trying to get Oliver out of hot water "I've known the third Roy Harper for nearly a hundred years and I could never tell the difference either. This dimension's technology stuff is really something."
"Even so, how could you leave me in Luthor's hands for TWO YEARS?"
"That is actually not all that long." Agni said in hopes to comfort him
Oliver hung his head silently
"How did I not see how useless you are?"
"That was just harsh…"
"Get out!" GET OUT!" Roy screamed at his mentor, pointing towards the door.
Agni sighed as he watched Oliver walk out silently. He waved to the boy in the bed and followed Green Arrow out quickly.
Oliver sat down in the hospitals chapel and clasped his hands sadly. He didn't hear Agni slide onto the bench next to him silently.
A few seconds later Red Arrow walked in
"Must be a curse isn't it? Having me for a mentor." He said sadly, staring at the ground. "Speedy, Red Arrow, Artemis even you Agni… all poster children for the stay away from Green Arrow club."
"They made public club? I thought it was only a small cult." Agni said in hopes to lighten the situation.
"I may have not shown it over, but I don't feel that way." Roy said
Agni nodded silently in agreement "I doubt Artemis does either."
"Trust me, I know Roy doesn't feel that way. You're a good man Ollie, so get back in there."
"And slap that stupid boy upside the head. Seriously, children are so disrespectful here…" Agni said solemnly "but either way, he needs you. Whether he knows it or not."
Agni looked up suddenly "I think I just felt his aura leave the building." He said suddenly "I'm not sure though because my magic has been acting wonky…"
Oliver and co burst into the hospital room.
"Roy,-" he started, but there was no one there.
The bed was empty, covers were thrown to the side and the window was thrown open.
"Heh…" Agni said "I really didn't see that coming. How the hell does a one handed boy successfully open a window and climb down a five story building?"
"Can you teleport us to where ever he is?" Oliver asked the dark elf
Agni shook his head, "I have no magical energy. I can take us through the shadows through."
"Fine do that."
"I'll warn you now. It's really unpleasant the first… hundred times." Agni informed them
"Doesn't matter. We need to find him before he does something rash." Roy said
Agni nodded and placed his hands on their shoulders. "You might want to hold your breath."
The three of them were spat out in an alley way not to far from where they were.
Oliver was tossed out first, he smacked into the wall before falling into a dumpster which swiftly closed its lid on him.
Not being his first time travelling that that, Red Arrow managed to flip in the air and land on his feet. He stood up and looked around, but saw no sign of his former mentor.
The Grim Ranger slowly elevated out of the shadow. He looked about for the counterpart to his Lord Oliver.
A dumpster to their left banged and the lid shot open and Oliver stood up. A wet teabag was hanging off his ear and he had what looked like a bowl of old tuna salad on his head.
"Should I have warned you about the exit?" Agni asked audaciously
"It would have helped." Oliver said dashing down the alley. "I used to keep several armories around the city, but this is the only one I still have from Speedy's days."
Roy dashed up to the wall and an eye scanner opened
Agni wasn't quite sure what happened next. First there were red lights. Then Oliver spouted out some kind of technological nonsense, then the door opened, then there was a grenade and without realizing it, Agni summoned a wall of fire that somehow protected him and the two heroes against the blast and falling glass.
Then he looked around the room he as in
"OhmygodsOhmygodsOhmygodsOhmygodsOhmygodsOhmygodsO hmygods. I think I died in that explosion and went to heaven." Agni gushed, rushing towards one of the display cases.
Roy was typing furiously on the computer's console "He went to Metropolis…"
"That is a nice rifle… I wonder how many rounds per second it shoots."
Olive looked up fearfully "He's going after Lex…"
"Wow… lots of grenades."
"How are we going to stop him?" Roy asked "He blew up the quickest transportation."
"I think I'm just going to borrow this rocket launcher… and this one… and those four too."
"Agni! We need to get to Metropolis."
"Should I call a cab?" Agni asked absently, staring at a large rocket launcher with hearts in his eyes
"Shadow-jump-teleport-move-travel –thingy us!" Oliver shouted hurriedly
"Damn… you've been holding out on me Lord Oliver… you are your bows when you got all this awesome stuff."
"I'll let you take whatever you want if we are in Metropolis in three minutes."
Agni's head snapped around "Seriously?"
"And the better stuff I have."
The dark smirked and waved his hand in the air.
The shadows around them leaped at them, pulling them into the ground.
The three of them rushed down the street as quickly as they could. Smoke was pouring off the top.
Just as they reached the garage door, Roy dressed in his Speedy clothes, walked out holding a briefcase.
"That's all? You settled for some money?" Agni asked astonished "There better be at least half a million golden coins in there."
"It's something even better." Speedy said He kicked open the briefcase, showing a large arm. "Satisfaction."
Agni's jaw hit the ground and he stared at the robotic arm, jealously pouring off him like smoke was off of the building that was now blazing. He looked over Speedy's shoulder to where smoke was pouring out of the garage as well.
"You think he has another one of those?" he asked desperately "Because I want one!"
"So, you're going back to being Speedy?"
Roy shook his head "Speedy died… this will literally turn me into a living weapon. I think the name is Arsenal better."
Agni nodded his head impressed "When I was younger I was called Armory."
"Let's get back to the cave." Red Arrow suggested
Agni waved his hand at them. "You guys go ahead. I'm going to go loot his tower."
"It's currently on fire…" Oliver pointed out.
Agni's eyes flashed black for a moment "I'll be okay"
"Oh wait…" Arsenal said pulling out a detonator "I still have this on me. Whatever I'll just destroy it."
Young Roy dropped the detonator on the ground and stepped on it.
There was a blood-curdling scream that followed an explosion.
Everyone stared at Arsenal scandalously
"…whoops..?"
Arsenal agreed to join the team and stay at the cave (after several long hours of convincing and Agni threatening to put him in a pair of cement shoes and drop him off the harbor.)
Batman scanned the robotic arm and deemed it safe. Agni who was pouting in his room because Batman refused to make him one and after spending two hours looting the whole Lexcorp building he didn't find one. He did though, find many other things.
"Hey guys!" he called sprinting out of his room into the living room where all the team and half the League was gathered "Look at what I found! It's called a Black-Hole Gun."
At the same time a batarang, a birdarangs, a kunai, four arrows, a rope, two ice needles, a throwing axe, a large battle hammer, approximately twenty four stunning spell-bolts, and couch cushion was thrown at him.
And over twenty people all shouted "PUT IT DOWN AGNI!" at the same time, causing the poor dark elf to flinch and get hit by thirty two different projectiles
The purplish skinned body was thrown through three different walls before smashing into steel blast doors and slumping to the ground.
A pair of black and yellow eyes looked up from the rubbles "Fuck me… that hurt."
Nightwing sighed and face palmed "We should have made a strategy for disarming him… Now we have to deal with Belir."
Draconic-Agni-That-Likes-The-Name-Belirhac'yrd walked over to them and smiled "I deem it allowable for you all to bow before me now… and give me something shiny before I eat someone."
"He's kidding right?" Superman asked hoping it was a joke
"No he'll actually eat somebody." Zatanna assured
"Is anyone going to explain to me what the FUCK is happening?" Arsenal asked
"We would if we knew what was happening ourselves…" Green Arrow muttered
An hour and several of Bigby's Crushing Fist to the back of the head later Agni was not sitting on the living room couch pouting while flipping a golden coin in the air.
"I can't believe it…"
"What now?" Arsenal asked
"I have a split personality that is draconic and a complete arrogant… dragon."
"Who has a fetish for gold." Red Arrow reminded
"Well I'm going to put the new arm on." Arsenal said
Everyone gathered around to watch, except for Agni who was still sulking.
Just as he took it out of the box Agni spoke up.
"Hey Arty?"
"Yes?"
"Can you cast a time stopping spell for about thirty feet around you?"
Before thinking clearly, Arty cast the spell, freezing Batman, Superman and the Flash in the time stopped zone.
Agni leaped off the couch, he flung into the air and with a wave of his hand everyone who was still able to move was restrained by shadows. Cursed Shadow landed right in front of Arsenal whose good arm was being held down by a shadow.
"Don't take this personally." Agni said picking up the robotic arm "But Batman will make you another." He patted the young boy on this head and turned to walk away
"Agni! Don't you dare!" Anna yelled "Eci-" before she could finish a shadow covered her mouth.
"Sorry, dear." Agni said "but I really want this. Look how shiny it is and everything…"
"Belir…" Zatanna warned
Belir's's eyes turned normal for a fleeting moment before back to their black and yellow again "He says he doesn't care."
Arty sighed and dropped the spell.
"Agni…"Flash growled mockingly
"Superman…"Belir growled
"Belir…" Superman growled
"Batman…"
Batman scowled "I am not going to do that. Now give Arsenal his arm back."
Belir hugged the arm and shook his head "No, my Shiny. The mortal should be honored in giving me this shiny thing that the elf says is a powerful weapon."
"It's not yours." Superman said, arguing with a dragon was like arguing with a spoiled ten year-old
"I'm a dragon… that's what we do. Take shiny that is other peoples shiny and make it our shiny, so leave me alone before you cease to amuse me and I kill you."
Batman and Flash both leaped at Belir at the same time. The dragon side of Agni deftly dodged both of them. Holding on to the arm with one hand, he waved his other causing shadows to leap up and catch everyone who wasn't tied up.
Belir made a sound in his throat that sounded similar to a purr and walked away with the arm.
"Wow…" was all that came out of Arsenal's mouth
"You have to give him props." Flash said "He really likes things that are shiny."
"Superman?" Batman asked
"Working on it…" Clark struggled for a bit "I can't move its some kind of magic."
"Flash?"
The Flash vibrated for a moment but wasn't able to move. "He's got me."
"Zatanna?"
"Esaeler su!"
The shadow dropped and everyone at once dashed towards Agni's room.
Batman was first, followed closely by the speedsters. He kicked the door in and rushed into the room.
Belir was sitting at his table, a saw in his right hand. He was sawing furiously at his left hand. Sparks were showering the room, after several seconds Belir lifted it showing there was nothing left of the saw except for the plastic handle and there wasn't a scratch on his skin
Batman held out his hand waitingly
Belir sighed and dropped the broken handle to the saw into his hand.
The Dark Knight glared at the half-dragon and dope slapped him with it.
"The arm. Now."
Agni blinked repeatedly, his eyes returning to their normal state. He looked at the arm longingly, but dropped it into Batman's outstretched hand.
"Forgot about the dragon skin?" Flash asked
"Don't mock me, human."
xxx
Note: This chapter was definitely fun to write. I have now introduced two particularly important people. Arsenal who is quite important and Belirhac'yrd, Agni's shiny loving, arrogant, draconic and ruthless split personality.
For those who don't know, the first side story is up. It's called Double Trouble. It's quite funny if I do say so myself. So go check it out on my profile page. The third chapter of it just went up. Or is going up right after this.
The next chapter will be the last lighthearted one before things get definitely grim and angsty. Also it will be the first chapter that will have a soundtrack. From now on every chapter will have a song at the beginning. Well actually it'll have a few of the lyrics and the name so you can hear the whole thing.
The next three chapters might be of monster length because I want to end this story exactly with 55 chapters. So if you dislike the length I'm going to have to ask you to forgive me.
Next time in the Chronicles of Another Dimension.
The prediction of Agni's death hangs over his head as he tries to make the most of what could be his lasts days. Of course he's going to take Zatanna out on the best date he can, but what else is he going to do?
With war hanging barely over their heads, there might not be much time left for happiness, but they're going to do all they can to make sure it happens.
Find out the extent of Agni's insanity, playfulness, love and companionship in the next chapter
"If Today Was Your Last Day"