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“Take it off!” he whispered screamed.
“I cant!” Cap whispered back, just as freaked out as he was.
Grabbing him by the collar, Flash hissed out “I don't care if you’re comando under there or whatever, but you need to take that thing off right now or that demon is gonna catch us and then we're both dead!”
“And I don't know if you understood me right but I’ll repeat myself. Because I didn't say ‘I won't’, I mean ‘I literally physically can't!’” Cap stressed, eyes frantic as he looks behind the man to their impending doom.
And well…Shit. They’re fucked.
You’re probably wondering what the heck is happening, Well dear old Wally will tell you. You see, he’s not having a good day, and is probably about to die. Let him explain.
It all started earlier that day when he and some of his old titan teammates were hanging out at a carnival. It was one of those rare days when they had nothing to do in both their adult lives and hero ones, even rarer for them to all be in the same city, let alone planet. So Dick, Kory and Victor and him were hanging out by the carnaval games winning prizes like the mature, responsible adults they were.
“This thing is rigged! Dick, give me 5 buck’s, I'm trying again” Wally said, glaring at the carnie that was giving him the most slimy smile he has ever had the misfortune of seeing, and he's seen the Joker.
Dick stifles a laugh and hands a very impatient Wally a 20, God Wally loved his friends. always having his back. Though it seemed Victor had other plans as he unfairly decided that it was about time he ruined his fun. With a hand on his collar and a decided “Nope” leaving the taller’s lips, Victor dragged a very stressed Wally away from the fishing game.
Writhing on his hold, Wally let out a stream of“No, wait Vic, Please! Just one more turn, please. I need that giant monkey plush. Vic please let me go! I’ll be good, I swear!” and so on.
Ignoring their eldest friend, Victor leveled a disappointed glare to a sheepish Dick. “A 20? Really dude. It’s like you're trying to waste money”
“Hey, who am I, if not a supportive friend.” Dick said dramatically, paying no mind to the giggling Kory next him as he continued “ If Wally wants to waste his time spending money on a useless endeavor-” “HEY!” “Then I am more than happy to stand at his side funding it.”
“You mean let Bruce fund it” Victor snorted.
“Tomato Potato”.
“No-”
“Oh look.” Kory said excitedly to her friends “They have a magic show starting soon”.
Being let go, Wally could see that there was indeed a magic show being set up by a tent. Looking at the sign, It read, ‘Ibis the Invincible with his assistant Taia, shall perform magical and mystical tricks, the likes you have never seen’. Well they sure seem bold, that's for sure.
“Raven told me about them. Her and Gar saw one of their show’s a while back. She says that they are very powerful sorcerers” Kory says, leaning down next to Wally reading the sign.
“‘Powerful’ huh? You’re saying they’re real magicians?” Dicks said curiously looking at the tent with interest.
“Raven vouched for them. And I see no reason to doubt her”.
“Well, I see we’ve found what we're doing next” Victor said, probably happy He didn't have to watch Wally waste a depressing amount of money getting scammed. Which, rude.
Grining, Wally yelled “I’ll get us the snacks!” While waving the 20 and rushing into the tent leaving his friend behind to buy the tickets.
*
*
*
By the time they paid and got to their chairs, The show had begun. It went off without a hitch, each trick being more impressive then the last, their experience only being amplified with the knowledge that magic was real. About 5 cotton candies in and halfway through the show the assistant Taia, went onto the stage with a grim look on her face and whispered something to Ibis in the middle of the act. His face paled for a moment, but as quickly as it happened, It was gone. With a forced smile and a wave of his wand, he ends the trick early and clears his throat.
Now much more alert, the group of heroes exchange wary looks as they focus on what the man has to say.
“It seems an old friend of mine has gotten into a bit of trouble, so we're gonna summon him here quickly.” He said steadying himself.
He quickly snapped his fingers and Taia came back onto the stage in a hurry with a blanket and a determined look. It is clear to the heroes that whatever is happening at the moment is very much real, and to be ready for anything.
With a shaky smile from the performers, they both hold the blanket up, covering whatever is going to appear behind them for the crowd's view. With a wave of his wand and some flare for the crowd, they both drop the blanket to reveal-
“Oh shit” He heard Victor murmur beside him.
And oh shit was right, because the man on that stage was none other than Captain Marvel. A very battered Captain Marvel. Damnit.
Before the heroes could get up to help, they were noticed by the wizards sharp gaze and teleported backstage. They could still hear the loud cheers and applauds of the crowd but still had no clue what was going on.
“Damnit Cap. You just had to get kidnapped by wizards, and on my day off too no less.” Victor hissed, speeding off towards where he heard the crowd.
“Huh, I didn't know they were friends” Starfire said as the heroes made quick work of changing into their suits and following their friend.
“Those two have always been close,” Wally said “No one in the League really knows why though, and I’ve never asked.”
It takes a while to find the stage and catch up to Victor, but when they do, The now clad Nightwing, Starfire and Flash see Cyborg being stopped from going on stage by Taia. And he looks pissed. Maybe he should have asked why he's so close to the Captain.
“Let us through.” Cyborg gritted out through his teeth to the shorter woman.
“And cause a panic in the people? No, just wait a minute so we can get him off stage without fuss.” Taia said sternly, not backing down.
“Look here lady,” Cyborg said, getting visibly more agitated as he gets closer to the woman “I don't know what you playing but I’m not just gonna stand her while you-”
“Your friend is safe!” Taia hiss in a low tone, looking back to the crowd that was still cheering. Seeing a hero be summoned in the middle of a magic show in Jump city would do that to people. “You will see him after we get him backstage, but for now it's best if you guys aren't seen”
Which, fair. Seeing a hero be summoned to a show was one thing, and probably part of the act. But seeing a bunch of agitated heroes run on stage ready for a fight while the Captain looks so beat up is another.
Cyborg looked like he wanted to protest but stopped, as if realizing something. Slowly, he calmed himself down so as to not cause a scene.
Looking at Taia again, he said “You know who he is.”
The woman, looking undeterred answered with a simple “Yes”
That was all it seemed it took to get Cyborg to nod and fully calm down as he looked out onto the stage. Nightwing and Star gave him questioning looks, but Flash had no clue how to answer them. Back on stage Flash could see that the captain had taken a forced bow as the crowd finally calmed down. It also seems like he just realized his appearance, but luckily for him so did Ibis.
“I see that trouble has left you in an unfortunate state,” Ibis said amused.
Cap on the other hand let out an uncomfortable chuckle as he tried to comb out “Uhhhh yeah. Some uhh guys where playing a little ruff is all.”
Tuting, Ibis shook his head, “That has no place here! Get out of here! Only well groomed people are allowed on this stage” The man said dramatically pushing the Captain towards the curtain.
The crowd cried in disappointment and laughed as The Captains was pushed and consequently, them. Noticing them, the man let out a surprise “Oh” as Taia dragged the Captain and consequently the rest of the heroes into the backstage makeup room.
Shutting the door, Taia let out a sigh as Marvel asked “Since when do you guys do magic shows?”
“Since Zatanna told us it was a good vacation idea. Now what happened, why do you look like this?” Taia asked, wasting no time in grabbing a box of what looked like potions.
“I would like to know that too actually” Cyborg said, crossing his arms and raising a brow.
Oh dang Cap’s in for it now.
Groning, The man let himself fall onto the much too small couch “Ok, don't get mad.”
“To late”
“Don't get mad,” the man said a bit more forcefully, “Ok so you know how sometimes I go to hell?.”
And…Wally didn't even know how to even begin unpacking that.
“Yesss” Cyborg said warily.
“Well this time I was investigating a group of demons that have been attacking a bunch of heroes.”
“What?” Nightwing said, going into the patented interrogation mode most Bats go into. “Why are there no reports on this? Surely the League would have noticed.”
“They have. Dark that is. John came to me a week back saying a few of some lesser known heroes have been turning up at hospitals, and he asked me to go and check out a lead in hell while he gose check out some cult in Star City.”
“And I'm guessing that you found them.” Nightwing grimaces.
“Ding ding ding” Cap said apathetically.
“Are the heroes ok?” Star, ever the caring soul, asked the hero as she helped Taia bring a couple of potions towards the man.
“2 of them are in critical condition, and the others are in bad shape but will live.”
The distant look on his face told him all he needed to know about how serious this could get. A look he could honestly relate to on an uncomfortable level. Which brings him to his own question,
“Why not let the rest of the League know about this” He asked as he watched the guy down 3 weird looking bottles of something.
By the look on his face, it wasnt that pleasant. But to much of his and his friends surprise, whatever he took seemed to heal whatever scraps he had and fixed his suit right up. Which, again, weird.
Breaking him out of his thoughts was the Captain as he answered “The JL Dark normally takes care of these things relatively quickly and typically don't need assistance with magical things like this.”
“And yet John called you.” Cyborg countered back.
“Honorary member Cy, I am a wizard you know.” Marvel said, now much lighter that he wasn't in such a haggard state.
“How do we stop them?” Nightwing asked.
“Not sure. I could probably send them back to hell and be done with it, but I don't think there's an easy way to do that quickly. And I don't think trying to destroy them will be much easier.”
“We could ask Raven, she knows more about this than any of us do” Star suggested quickly. “Do you know where these demons are? Do any of our friends need to be on the lookout?”
“Not unless they are in costume. These guys are tough, But don't recognize anything that isn't in a suit as worth attacking..”
“That's good-”
Star froze. Actually, many of them Froze. Looking around he saw both Starfire, Cybore and the Captain tense up. That wasn't good.
“I’m getting my husband and getting the civilians out of here” Taia says quickly, opening the door and looking back to the rest of them “You guys get the demons out of here without being noticed, and kid” she said, stern gaze on the stilled man “Don't break our tent.”
“Yes ma’am” He said with a shaky nod.
Satisfied, the woman rushed out to find her husband.
“Aren't they magic?” He mumbles, “Wouldn't it be better to have their help?”
Chuckling, Marvel said “ I think she wants to make sure their covers don't get blown before helping us, they are on vacation after all.”
And honestly, fair. It's only his day off and he was a bit upset it ended so quickly. Well, it was fun while it lasted at least.
Him and the others run out to look for the demons, only to be assaulted by the sight of at least 6 of them with their gaze locked firmly onto them. Damnit.
“Why are they here!?” He yelled as he dodged a demons attack
“They must have realized I got away and sent a few earthbound ones after my last known location” Marvel explained, as he punched one in the face.
“How did they know you were here?” He asked.
“Geez Flash, I don't know, maybe it's the fact that the Captain just appeared in front of a crowd of like 100 people with internet access” Cyborg yelled as tried to avoid the demon's assault.
“Screaming isn't helping” Nightwing yelled as he threw a few battaranges.
“Fighting isn't helping!” Starfire added, saving Nightwing from an attack and flying him out of there, “we need to retreat and call for backup”
“Well how do you expect us to do that? They aren't really gonna let us go now are they.” Flash yells up to the flying duo.
“Not when we look like this.” Nightwing called back “remember what Cap said? They only attack the costume. That means-”
“Scatter,” Cap Yelled. “Go find clothes while I hold them off. And go get back up.”
Flash didn’t need to be told twice as he ran off and quickly found three fourths of his friends' clothes. Wally quickly grabbed the clothes and tossed them to the flying duo. Flash just knows Dick is having a good time up there.
Running back he saw Cyborg catch up to him still not disguised. “Flash! Run me out, my civis won't be able to hide me so I need you to get me as far away from here as possible.”
“Can do!” Flash said as he quickly ran Cyborg to the outside of the fair.
God he's heavy
“I’m gonna go call for backup” Cyborg said, reorienting himself.
“Yeah, that's good, I’ll-” Flash stilled.
“ Flash?”
“Cap doesn't have any clothes!” Flash said frantically.
“No,Wally, wait!”
But Flash didn’t get to hear the rest as he ran back in.
Logically he knew that Marvel can hold his own. But the memories of how he looked when he got teleported told him it was better to not risk it. He didn't even know Cap could get so hurt. Not to mention that these guys are specifically after him.
Grabbing a clown suit, Flash quickly ran back inside to find the Captain in the middle of a 1v6. He hears the Captain yell “Shaza-” as he tackled the man out of the fray.
“What the- Flash?” Marvel yells confused.
A screech from the demons behind him has Flash grabbing Cap’s cape and booking it out of there dragging a very miffed Captain Marvel behind him. Flash could only go so far dragging the man while they were being chased so he made a quick turn into a stack of crates and forced Cap down. God the man was heavier than Cyborg, how was that even possible?. The demons that were hot on their tail entered the area and saw no sight of them. Good, that gives him time to change and make a run for it.
Tossing the clown costume into the floundering Captain’s arms, he gives him a confused but pointed look. “Flash- What-”
“Change” Flash said seriously as he kept an eye out for the circling demons.
Hopefully Raven or Zatanna were on their way. Preferably not John. He knows it wasn't technically his fault, but Flash totally blames the man for this.
“Flash, I can deal with this on my own, just go back to the others and get help” Cap said, shoving the clown suit aside.
“And let you get hurt again?” Flash said, getting more agitated the longer this took. “Uh uh. No way, whatever your trying to do here is clearly not working”
“I had it handled” Marvel bit out annoyed.
“You looked like you just fought a deer and lost! Seriously man, I didn't even know you could get hurt.”
And, yeah. That's true. In all the time Flash has worked with Marvel in the League, he has never seen the man even remotely close to injured. So to see him so battered all of a sudden kinda sent him into a protective loop he didn't understand. He knows the Captain is qualified to deal with these things, he’s magic for crying out loud! But Flash knows better than to risk it, and what kind of teammate would he be if he left him alone with these guys?
“Flash you don't understand, I can't.” Marvel said, as if it was the most logical thing in the world.
“Is this like an identity thing? Cause if it is then let me tell you man, I’ve already seen your face”
“No, Flash, its-”
They still as a demon walks right by the crate next to them. Flash thinks that's their cue to leave.
“Take it off!” he whispered screamed.
“I cant!” Cap whispered back just as freaked out as he was.
Grabbing him by the collar, Flash hissed out“I don't care if you’re commando under there or whatever, but you need to take that thing off right now or that demon is gonna catch us and then we're both dead!”
“And I don't know if you understood me right but I’ll repeat myself. Because I didn't say ‘I won't’, I mean ‘I literally physically can't!’” Cap stressed, eyes frantic as he looks behind the man to their impending doom.
And well…Shit. They’re fucked.
“...You can't take the suit off?” Flash asked stunned, trying to process what he just heard
Sighing, Marvel forced Flash down a little lower to avoid a demon's gaze. “Technically speaking no, I can't.”
“How does that even-”
“Magic.”
“Right. Yeah, of course” Flash mumbled.
Think, How can Flash get Marvel out of here if he can't get rid of his suit? Which by the way, he has many questions about. He looks back to the clown suit to see if it could fit over the suit, but no dice. It would have already been a tight fit before. Now with the added cape and bands? No way. Maybe he could run Marvel out? No, the man is too heavy for that. And considering the fact Marvel is already a pretty fast guy, he's guessing the only reason he got Cyborg out was because they were too focused on their target. Did they just have to wait it out until backup arrived? Would he even be able to get away if they aren't focused on Cap? Setting them loose out of the tent isn't a good option either since they don't want to cause a panic or lose sight of them, so keeping them in the tent was the better option. But if they stay here then they’re just putting themselves at more risk.
As Flash’s thoughts ran a mile a second trying to come up with a way out of this situation they found themselves in, Marvel was sitting stone cold still next to him. After a few seconds, Flash was broken out of his thoughts by The Captain's voice.
“You’re not going to let this go are you?” Marvel said contemplatively
Confused, Flash blinked back at him “What? Let what go?”
“This thing you’re doing. Not getting away. You do realize that you’re in much more danger then I am right?” Marvel said, sounding genuinely upset.
“Hey listen here tough guy” Flash said, moving closer to the man “I may not be as big or as strong as you. And I may have no clue about this magic thing. But what I do know is that these things are dangerous, and there's no way in hell I’m just leaving you behind with them. Even less so when I saw that they could hurt you.”
Marvel stayed quiet, studying him before letting out a shaky breath.
“Flash, do you trust me?” Marvel said suddenly
“What?”
“Flash, I don't have time to explain, but right now, for what I'm about to do, I need to know if I can trust you, so do you trust me?” Marvel pleaded
“I-” his eyes, they spoke of something serious and important. That whatever Flash was about to say he better make it count. “Yes I trust you. Of course I do. Marvel, You are one of the most genuine people I know. You're strong and kind and have always done what's best for the safety of the world, I do, and hopefully will alway trust you.”
And he meant it. Every word of it. He might not be as close to him as Cyborg was, but Marvel was his friend. He was a good hero, sure, but more importantly he was a good person. If Flash had to trust someone, he would trust the Captain.
With a shaky nod, Marvel gave him the most grim smile he has ever seen on the man “Good, hold onto that trust tight. And for what it's worth, I trust you too.”
Flash didn't get the chance to respond as Marvel yelled out a word he didn't quite catch in the following boom of thunder and lightning that filled the room.
In a blink, Marvel was replaced with the form of a teenage kid with eerily familiar eyes blinked up at him. And when he smiled up at him, a few too many things started to realign themselves in his head.
“Cap?” Flash said slowly
With a grim smile, the teen gave him a grim smile that didn't give him any hope. “Heya Flash. How about you change out of that costume so we can get out of here.”
He gave himself exactly 3 seconds to process and accept the new information before changing out of his suit and giving the shorter man his hand to help him up.
“I wouldn't be too opposed to that, I think I’m done with the fair for the day, you?
Grabbing his hand, Marvel gave him a more genuine smile as he got to his feet jokingly answering, “Aw man, I just got here.”
The Demon ran into the room at terrifying speeds, and even though Marvel didn't show it, he still felt his hand flinch in their grasp. Lucky for them, the beasts ran right past them not giving them much thought as they searched the crates and barrels.
Inching their way out, Wally ran pulling the smaller man out of the tent and into the chaos of police tapes and sirens that surrounded them. People were screaming in confusion and police were doing their best to have control of the situation.
In the mess that was everything, he saw Raven casting a spell around the tent with the help of Ibis, and his wife was next to him. Wally was about to run towards them but was stopped by the grip still holding his hand. Besides him, he could see Marvel looking off to another direction. Following his gaze, he saw Constantine being chided by a couple of their teammates. Probably for not telling the others about the demons. In the group he could also see Cyborg, looking at him with a bleak expression to him and the teen beside him.
Right. Teen.
Looking at him fully and pulling him a bit out of view, he could see that Marvel looked wrecked. The shine in his eye was no longer there and his trademark smile was replaced with an anxious frown. It was clear the kid didn't want to be seen. Wally faltered on what to do for only a second, but seeing the slowly quickening breaths of Marvel and the stern head stake he got from Cyborg, there wasn't much of a choice on what there was to do now was there.
Crouching down, Wally offered the kid his back. “Hop on”
Breaking out of his head, Marvel turned to him with a soft “What?”
“They haven't spotted us yet. If I speed us out they won't see us.”
“You're…helping me…” Marvel whispered out in awe.
Oh and if something didn't just break in Wally right then.
Chuckling Wally responds “Well I doubt either of us wanna deal with them at the moment, and I thought since you just got here and not all of the games are closed yet, We could probably play something before suiting up and getting back to work, yeah?”
The implications are there, the intentions and promise under the light word. ‘I know what’s going on, and I promise I won't tell anyone’
Laughing, the kid gets on Wally back. “Yeah that sounds fun. Though it's been a while since I’ve gone to a fair, and my past experience haven't been the best”
“Well we just can't let that stand now can we?” Wally said getting up, earning himself another laugh from the teen. “Trust me Marvel, This place might be a scam artist's dream, but stick with me and I’ll teach you all the right tricks.”
“Billy”
“Hmm?”
“My name. It's Billy”
Oh. ‘I understand what you’re doing, and trust you’. That’s what that means
“Well Billy, Let's get out of here before the Bat catches us for slacking off”
The two smile at each other, running into the crowd and getting lost into the sea of people laughing and joking as they go. Today was a bit of a mess, and there's still a lot Wally wants to ask Billy. But right now as he watches his friend win that giant monkey plushie for him from that evil carnies hands, he knows that things can wait, and for now he should just enjoy their time before they must put on their masks again.