In this chapter, Gwen and Robin will fight Mumbo. It's been a short while since he's last been fought,
Who's going to win?
You'll have to wait and see…though I don't feel like making this a death fic.
Though I might kill off Ourabora. She's a monster.
They did kill off Trigon, after all. He got owned by Raven. Hooray for Raven!
Chapter 19: Slots of Fun
Mumbo flipped the slot machine.
"The tension is killing me!" exclaimed the magician.
Robin noted this wasn't the first time they fought him on the street.
The not-so-charming magician was rubbing his gloved hands together.
It stopped on cards.
Sure enough, some cards appeared in his right hand.
Inevitably, they had Mumbo on them.
"You're such a narcissist." remarked Gwen.
It was aggravating, to her at least.
"You fancy yourself a card shark?" asked Robin. Something told him he did. He did have a big ego, after all.
"I sure do!" exclaimed Mumbo. Perhaps it would be best if our heroes did not go swimming with him.
It would be best if they avoided being hit by the cards.
Chances are they were rather…pointy.
"Ow!" shouted Robin.
Indeed, they were sharp.
"You alright?" asked Gwen.
She would hate it if anything bad happened to the leader of the Teen Titans. She knew Batman would likely agree with her. The Joker wasn't going to whack him with a crowbar…right?
"I think so." nodded the boy. Luckily, he was a very resilient boy.
In retaliation, Gwen blasted Mumbo with magic.
"Ow!" exclaimed the man.
"I figured I would give you a taste of your own medicine." noted Gwen. She liked irony, she guessed.
"Well, I still have a few more magic tricks up my sleeve!" shouted Mumbo.
He decided to use the lottery machine again.
This time, it stopped on a bomb.
Some curtains appeared.
The next thing they knew, they were tied to a giant bomb.
Robin wondered how they had gotten tied to the bomb so suddenly.
Naturally, the fuse was lit.
"It feels a bit embarrassing being tied next to you like this." noted Gwen. Though something told her that her cousin had a similar experience.
"I know what you mean. But we need to escape." warned Robin. Before it was too late. Time was ticking…and so was the bomb.
"Got any ideas? I don't want to be blown to Kingdom Come." spoke the girl.
She could try using magic, but the rope was a bit tight.
Batman's sidekick nodded.
He had a knife.
Using it, he managed to cut them both free.
"Thanks." spoke Gwen.
She appreciated his help.
Fortunately, they escaped the bomb before it exploded.
"You escaped my giant bomb?" asked Mumbo. He thought he had them there.
"We sure did." nodded Gwen.
He was going to have to try a bit harder than that.
After all, Robin knew a thing or two about escaping death traps.
Robin tossed a batarang at the magician.
"Ow!" exclaimed Mumbo. Now he knew how The Penguin felt. Didn't he also wear a top hat? He didn't wear a face mask though.
"I'm getting better at fighting this guy, I suppose." remarked the boy. Before he had a monkey made out of him…literally.
Though perhaps it had to do with having a strong spellcaster of his own at his side.
It was good that he could be independent of his teammates.
He still enjoyed working with them though. Even Beast Boy. Though the green shapeshifter didn't always act his age, he would admit that.
Unfortunately, Mumbo used the lottery machine again.
This time, he stopped on top hats.
Sure enough, he decided he was going to hide among them.
Through shuffling them.
"I know one of them has to contain Mumbo…" noted Robin.
The only question was which one?
Unfortunately, he guessed wrong and got hit with a bomb.
"Ouch!" exclaimed the boy.
Perhaps he should have watched the hats a bit more carefully.
He wasn't seriously hurt, but the point still stood.
"Hahahaha!" laughed the magician.
"You do realize that you blew your cover, right?" asked Gwen.
"Uh-oh!" shouted Mumbo.
Gwen lifted the top hat he was in, and blasted him with magic.
"Ow! Darn it, I'm losing!" exclaimed the man. It seemed Robin's new sidekick was a powerful opponent.
"Well, I know you've already lost something." spoke the girl.
"Oh, what is that?" asked Mumbo.
"Your marbles." retorted Gwen.
"This isn't over!" exclaimed the man.
Mumbo flipped the lever again.
This time, it stopped on rabbits.
"That doesn't sound so bad." noted Robin.
Why was that part of the slot machine anyway?
"Be careful, rabbits are more dangerous than they look." spoke Gwen. They weren't defenseless from predators.
And besides, they multiplied.
"Huh?" asked the boy.
A rabbit leapt out of a top hat and started biting into the former sidekick.
"Aaahhh! Get him off!" exclaimed Robin.
He didn't think he looked like a carrot. He wasn't even orange.
Starfire was though.
Gwen summoned a purple hand to grab the rabbit.
She then placed him back inside the hat.
"Might as well send him back the way he came." remarked the girl.
"Thanks…I felt like I was a vegetable…" noted Robin. Though he grew up inside a city, not a farm. A farm would probably be a better place to live in than Gotham City though.
"Well, you wouldn't want Beast Boy to have you for lunch." admitted Gwen.
Mumbo flipped the switch again.
This time, it stopped on balloon animals.
Balloon animals began to attack Robin and Gwen.
"Am I in a circus or a zoo?" questioned the girl.
"Your guess is as good as mine." answered Robin.
Luckily, their inflatable adversaries could be popped with his batarangs.
And blasted away with magic.
"I feel like I'm at a birthday party." remarked Gwen.
Robin nodded in agreement. They were crashing Mumbo's party, that's for sure.
Their foe flipped the slots machine again.
"You know, maybe you shouldn't be so reliant on that." noted Gwen.
"Why not?" asked the spellcaster with the funny voice.
His female adversary cast a spell, and all of a sudden, each icon was Mumbo with stars across his head.
"Uh-oh." spoke Mumbo.
Shortly afterward, the slot machine fell on top of him.
"Outsmarted by a young girl." remarked the magician.
Back to jail he went.
Robin applauded her.
"I'm glad I thought of this…eventually." spoke Gwen.
Batman's apprentice nodded.
Luckily, Robin didn't get sucked into Mumbo's hat this time.
That had been awful.
And he was grateful Gwen didn't get pulled in either.
Though he did wonder what animal she would get turned into.
Maybe a dolphin? She was smart.
Mumbo dropped a spellbook.
"Interesting…" spoke Robin.
He didn't imagine himself as a spellcaster, but after seeing what Gwen could do with it, he was rather interested.
Maybe he could give it a try?
The next day…
Beast Boy woke up before Raven did.
"Man, that felt good." spoke the boy.
Though it felt a bit embarrassing sleeping with his female teammate.
Raven was still sleeping.
"I have to admit, she sure looks cute when she's sleeping." noted Beast Boy.
"I heard that." said the girl.
"Whoops?" asked the wild boy. It appeared that his teammate was close to waking up.
"But it's kind of endearing." noted Raven.
She stretched out her arms and opened her eyes.
"By the way, I think the bonding spell wore off." said the girl.
"Really?" asked Beast Boy.
Sure enough, he and Raven were separate again.
"Huh. I wasn't sure what to do from there." noted the boy.
"Well, I did find myself enjoying your company. But I wouldn't mind some alone time every now and then. Know what I'm saying?" asked Raven.
"I understand." nodded Beast Boy.
"Now you can go back to your room." spoke the girl.
BB nodded.
"I was planning to do some cleaning in there anyway." said Beast Boy.
"Really?" asked Raven.
"Well, I did find that it smelled kind of funny in there." noted the boy. Perhaps his friend had a point.
"I'll give you points for maturity." spoke the girl.
He went to clean his room.
And he came back a short while later.
"I've made progress!" exclaimed Beast Boy.
"Good." answered Raven.
Robin would be proud.
Speaking of which, he and Gwen seemed to be connecting well.
They seemed a bit similar now that she thought of it.
She heard Gwen was good at martial arts.
Maybe Robin and her could learn from each other?
She wouldn't rule it out.
Of course, she could probably tutor Gwen herself. If she didn't mind being in a room full of darkness.
"I'll go visit my room myself, I suppose." spoke Raven.
She decided to go visit her room…
…and let out a shriek.
"Aaaahhhh!" exclaimed the girl.
"What's wrong? Is there a spider in there?" asked the boy.
"Why would I be afraid of a spider?" questioned Raven.
"Ok?" questioned BB.
"Somebody stole the book containing Malchior!" exclaimed the girl.
"That's a bad thing, right?" asked Beast Boy.
"Yes. That is a really bad thing." nodded Raven.
"Is he the scary dragon?" questioned the boy.
"Yes, that's him. If he gets out, we might as well consider ourselves burninated." answered the dark girl.
Beast Boy gulped.
"I'm sorry, but Rorek isn't here to help us. Though it would be a great help for us if he was." noted Raven.
"I'm sure it would be." answered BB.
"Still, Rorek isn't the only one who's a wizard, is he?" asked the girl.
"Who is Rorek, anyway?" asked the boy.
Raven pulled out a copy of the book "Wizard vs. Dragon".
"Trust me, this won't take long." spoke the girl.
And indeed it didn't.
Rorek was described in the first chapter.
"So that's who he is. I should read books more often." answered Beast Boy. It might give him an edge against villains.
"Well, I did find that playing video games could be fun. But it wouldn't hurt you if you tried something different." noted Raven.
"Do you have any idea who could have taken it?" asked the boy.
"Well, I didn't make it common knowledge that I carried a book containing a malevolent dragon. So it narrows down the suspect pool." noted the girl.
"Good, because I don't want to drown in it." answered Beast Boy.
"Just as you don't want to be eaten alive and drown in Malchior's stomach acids." said Raven.
"Of course not!" exclaimed the boy. The very concept of that was scary.
Admittedly, being able to transform into magical creatures would even the playing field.
But she didn't want to risk a dragon attack on the tower if she could help it.
She could only imagine the destruction that would cause.
"I wonder who could have taken it." questioned Raven.
"I doubt it was one of us." spoke Beast Boy.
"I understand. But we should ask them if they saw anything." noted the dark girl.
"Of course!" nodded the boy.
She started with Starfire.
"Hey, Beast Boy and Raven! Can you do your comedy routine again?" asked the teenage alien girl.
"Alright, but we have something serious we need to discuss with you." answered Raven.
They couldn't forget that somebody had stolen a highly dangerous book.
Beast Boy transformed into a sheep. Naturally, his wool was green.
"I feel baaaaaad!" exclaimed the boy.
"Is it because you're separated from your flock? You need to watch out for the Big Bad Wolf…the three little pigs didn't have house insurance and look what happened." answered Raven.
"You two are awesome!" shouted the girl from outer space.
"I'm glad you like it." spoke Beast Boy.
"I will admit I will enjoy it. Maybe all we needed to do was work together." spoke Raven.
"I'm starting to see why you like darkness so much…" remarked the boy.
"Really?" asked the girl named after a bird.
"Yeah…it makes using some of my forms a lot easier." noted Beast Boy.
"I figured you would prefer it if your foes didn't see you coming." answered Raven.
"Yeah. Anyways, somebody stole the book containing Malchior!" exclaimed the boy.
"I remember him! He almost toppled our tower!" shouted Starfire.
"He sure did. I should have known something was wrong when he taught me dark magic. Some spells are banned for a reason." noted Raven. But he was so eerily charming.
"By the way, I heard some depressing news on the magic box." said the alien warrior.
"The magic box?" asked Beast Boy.
"That's the television." explained Raven.
"Oh. I remember now." answered the girl from outer space.
"What's this depressing news?" questioned the green boy.
"There are several girls in the hospital…" spoke Starfire.
"Really?" asked Raven.
She decided to check the TV to see what was going on.
Sure enough, there was a girl on a stretcher being loaded into an ambulance.
A paramedic was scratching his head.
"You think is Zombozo's handiwork?" asked Beast Boy. It looked familiar to some extent.
"Maybe, but you made it all too clear that he doesn't always target girls." noted Raven.
It did look like someone was draining the life from them though.
"Who could it be?" asked Starfire.
"I dunno, but we need to stay on alert for suspicious activity." warned Raven.
"Maybe I'll ask Cyborg if he's seen anything?" questioned the orange girl.
"I doubt he stole the book, but he could provide us with valuable information." noted the girl of darkness.
Meanwhile…
"Who do you think is responsible for all this, grandpa?" asked Ben.
He and his family had heard the news as well.
As usual, they were inside Max's van.
They spent a lot of their time there.
"I don't know, but it would be best if you don't place blind trust in others. You're not at fault for trusting Gwen and myself, but don't judge people before getting to know them." noted Max.
"Well, I found Starfire and myself to be kindred spirits despite not technically being the same gender." admitted the boy.
"I'm actually glad that you feel that way. She could teach you how to use your alien forms efficiently." answered Gwen.
"I could choose you as my mentor, but magic isn't my cup of tea." noted Ben.
"To each their own, I suppose." noted the redheaded girl.
Who could be responsible for hurting these girls?
Was it a man?
They should know that women weren't objects.
Trigon the Terrible had treated his daughter like a tool and look at what happened.
Suddenly, Gwen had an idea.
"I think Robin might make a suitable mentor for me…" noted the girl.
"Well, you don't have to be a plumber if you don't want to." answered Max.
"It's not off the table." spoke Gwen.
She decided to visit Robin.
"Would you be interested in helping me learn hand-to-hand combat?" asked the girl.
"Why not? You probably have a talent for it. But in exchange, would you be willing to tutor me?" questioned Robin.
"Sure…but with what?" questioned Gwen.
"Well, I found this spellbook…well, it used to belong to Mumbo. But I figured it would be better in my hands. But it would be helpful if someone who knew magic could help me with this. I could ask Raven, but she mostly keeps to herself." noted Robin.
Stepping out with Beast Boy had worked in her favor though.
Ironically enough, Gwen got the feeling that she and Robin were kindred spirits…just as Ben and Starfire were.
Perhaps Ben was right to be friends with that alien.
Together, they went to the tower.
Things just got bad, didn't they?
I imagine you know how trustworthy Michael Morningstar is.
You probably enjoyed the Mumbo fight though.
I had fun writing it.