2014-11-24 - Children's Gambit

After over a week, almost two, of study, Raven drew the group together. She explained, how the spell could be removed but it needed a key ingredient; something from the other person involved in the casting. Anything would do, so long as it was personal. Thus, a cunning plan was hatched.

Now. Raven sits in meditation, a circle drawn about her in chalk. She has everyone vaguely briefed, which is actually better than most of the Titans plans, but she herself has only the one job. Casting a summoning spell, she sprinkles cat hair about her with her eyes closed, letting it burn in the flame of the candles, and the lights dim in the room.

"This isn't....easy," her voice says as she begins to sweat from focus and effort. After a few minutes a shape shimmers in the center of the room, right in front of the big screen tv, shorting out the control for the game machine. It grows, then shrinks, and then with a laugh resolves into a familiar childlike boy. Stroking a cat in his arms. The lights stay dim, as if his presence caused them to lower, but in reality it's just a dimmer switch in the other room.

Chenda, in the same room to help watch for Klarion, gasps softly when she sees that shimmering shape in the middle of the room. But the laughter confirms what... /who/ it is, and her gaze hardens as much as a 9-year-old's eyes can manage. "Hello again," she says simply, watching Teekl closely. She hasn't forgotten what this cat can turn into.

Kara Zor-El says to Richenda before the summoning happens. "Okay, so we're all clear on our parts for this thingie, right?" She looks at Stature. "You shrink up to a teensy weensy itty bitty einy meiny weensy eensy size.... and we do that whole challenge thing to him at poker after Raven summons the doofus. Then you go on him and shrink him until he's too small to hold his stupid cat who's stupid and scratched me before." She looks at Richenda. "Then I take the cat and zoom to that frog thingie, and Nico said magic can't get him back from there. Then Richenda, you make the deal with him. Then we get to be our normal ages again." She pauses. "Then we beat him up?" She pauses. "Or not. Maybe."

Pacing back and forth is a girl that nobody here knows too well, but Kara insisted that she's trustworthy. About five foot six with dirty blonde hair in a ponytail and wearing a black one-piece bodysuit with some red patterning and a domino mask, she goes by Stature. And she looks nervous.

Upon the completion of Raven's summoning spell, Klarion become clear within the summoning circle. "Aw... how nice, a summoning circle. You know this won't actually hold me very long, right?" He pets Teek'l, who rests in his lap as he floats there before his feet touch the ground.

"Aw, you're gonna mess up my friend's artwork? But it's so /pretty/," Chenda rejoinders, the worst of her already coming to the surface: She does /not/ like this brat! She shadows a nervous glance at Stature, whom she's never known before today. "Ready?" she whispers under her breath.

"Actually, we were planning something a bit less involved," Stature says. She seems to steady a bit once Klarion is in the room, as if being in the presence of a supervillain is actually calming. Pulling a deck of cards out from the table and ruffling them in her fingers, she says, "The three of us heard you like a game of chance." She then slides the deck of cards into the circle with Klarion, giving a steady grin.

Raven crosses her arms, staying quiet. Apparently she does NOT play games.

Klarion smirks. "Sure. Except ..." He looks at Kara and snaps his finger, "No x-ray vision." he says, and suddenly a pair of lead crystal sunglasses are strapped to Kara's head. As well as a poker table. "What are the stakes?"

Kara frowns at her new eyewear. "We win, you do something to fix this whole..... thing you did to us!"

Klarion pets Teek's in his arms and says, "Fine. And I win, you're all my servants for all eternity."

Kara looks over at Stature and Richenda, then at Klarion. "That doesnt exactly sound equal"

Klarion snickers. "Oh no, A Chaos Lord isnt playing fair on the stakes? Dear me!"

Kara says quickly, "You know what? FINE! You're on!"

A pack of cards suddenly forms in the air, and cards start getting dealt to each person at the table. "No pressure by the way, but I havent lost any game of chance in 3000 years."

"Don't lose, Stature," Chenda murmurs, her nine-year-old voice not souding very reassuring. She doesn't feel that reassured herself. But the contest is on all the same. She edges back to give the angry Kara a hug. "Easy, Corntop..."

Stature nods to Richenda, giving the girl a smile that conveys confidence. "I don't lose," she says without breaking stride. She sits down in a chair and says, "I gave Doctor Doom a wedgie at poker when I was NINE." She pulls her chair up and offers Richenda a seat. "I'm watching the deck though, you've got your cards showing over the edge a bit."

Picking up her cards, Stature faces off against Klarion, with Kara as a wingman. "Two cards, off the top." She slides two of hers over, and raises on her turn. Both she and Kara seem to be doing well. To start. But things start going downhill fast, and their chips start to vanish onto Klarion's side. He may in fact be cheating.

Kara Zor-El frowns. "Okay, you have GOT to be cheating!" she says angrily.

To which Klarion says, "Oh - a Lord of Chaos would never cheat the rules of a game. However can you say something like that? Besides, how am I cheating? Oh wait, those glasses on you are preventing the kajillion vision based powers, arent they?"

"That's not even a real word - kajillion!" Kara says angrily as she draws two cards. Somehow she keeps getting a 2 and an 8. Every single hand. For 12 hands so far. "Argh!" She looks over at Stature.

Chenda, buoyed by Stature's confidence, accepts the offered seat and cards. She's not a bad card player herself, given her remarkable memory, and holds her own for quite a while.

But it's not enough. Slowly but inexorably, her chips begin to trickle Klarion's way. Something's wrong, but she can't put her finger on it. Maybe he's cheating? She hasn't seen any sign of... wait!

"You're bottom-dealing," she says at last. "I'm seeing your fingers moving." There's an advantage to being so small: She can see the lower parts of his hands!

Klarion peers at Richenda, then raises a single eyebrow high enough to make Leonard Nimoy jealous. "LITTLE girl, and I don't get to say that often, if I were bottom dealing you wouldn't catch me. I'm just playing within my skills, just as these two fine future slaves are." He indicates Kara and Stature with his cards, then puts down another full house.

Stature watches, carefully. She still has that confidence, but after getting a pair of threes, then fours, then twos, then fives, she's starting to suspect. She nods at Richenda, grinding her teeth a little, and says, "Unfortunately that's the trick, miss. Chaos cheats."

Thirty minutes later, and almost all the chips being held by Klarion after a string of wins by him, Stature ruffles her cards methodically then says, "This wasn't why I wanted you here, but it does raise the stakes, Klarion. Klarion the Witch boy. You are famous for a few things."

She pauses a moment, then says, "You can shrink," over her cards, peering at him. "And I needed to know if my powers were good enough. Want to raise the stakes more? I still say I've got a chance to win here, but I need to know."

Klarion looks at the huge pile of chips he has so far, then at Stature as he pets Teek'l "Oooh this is intriguing. Raise the stakes how?"

Stature steeples her fingers, her cards face-down on the table. "Even if I lose, you'll never get some things. I'm an Avenger, I know the innermost secrets of the heroes of an entire nation. Are you willing to take my service grudgingly, or do you want me willing and offering help? You /obviously/ could tell if I'm lying. If you can shrink more than I can, you win. No tech tools, no toys, no magic wands. Just our own powers. You're risking nothing, if I win I just know that I can beat a supervillain at one thing, and I'm worthy to be a hero." She grins devilishly at him, and waits. A heartbeat, another. Then she raises a single eyebrow.

"I am /not/ little! I'm /9/!" Chenda ripostes, forgetting in the heat of the moment that the 'Witch Boy' is probably older than everyone in this room put together. Not that it's a great return anyway, but she's trying. She opens her mouth to ask Stature why they're playing when they know Klarion cheats, but then she remembers the plan. "If this was a fair game I'd whip the pants off you," she mutters, glaring at Klarion.

Klarion thinks about that. "Willing slaves are a lot better than unwilling slaves. But unwilling slaves do have that whole... spirit to break thing which I find so endearing. Decisions, decisions..."

Kara frowns then looks over at Stature. "Oh don't bother. He might have magic but he can't shrink down more than you can. I mean it's not like he has REAL power, like Dr Fate does."

Klarion laughs. "What, reverse psychology, really? You think that you just say how you think a Lord of Order can do more than a Lord of Chaos can do and that'll make me engage in a bet for nothing except the willingness during this girl's inevitable enslavement ? WELL YOU'RE RIGHT IT WILL! You're on!" he says, pointing at Stature.

Stature points right back at Klarion, saying, "The cards will wait. Nobody will touch them, on my honor." She stands up and narrows her eyes, then says, "Readysetgo!" as she is suddenly half her size and dropping. "Try and keep up or you lose, rookie! Wait, I'm the rookie..." and her voice trails off, losing volume fast as she loses height. (which is bullshit, she's perfectly audible when she chooses to be.)

"Whoa... look at her /go/!" Chenda marvels. "Go-go, Stature!" She sounds positively fangirly, but it's one way to keep everyone's attention on the contest. Especially Klarion's!

Klarion rolls his eyes. "Seriously? Have you even heard of quantum uncertainty? The smaller I get, the more chaotic things get!" And he puts Teek'l on the table and starts shrinking faster than Stature.

They're doll sized! Action Figure sized! Ant sized! Still getting smaller!

Then Kara grabs the cat on the table, and in a blur she's gone to meet up with Nico at the Leapfrog's coordinates. At which point Klarion stops shrinking, and widens his eyes. "Wait, something's wrong! And in a flash he's back to his normal size. "Teek'l?!"

And Stature waves from her little size, taking it as a win. She's done, and she sits back to watch the fun. Nico Minoru slams the door of Leapfrog the instant Kara and the demonspawn cat are inside. She is nowhere NEAR Titans Tower, but the lovely thing about Leapfrog? It was owned by her parents, two of the strongest mages in the world. And it's utterly, completely magic-proofed.

Richenda stifles giggles. It worked like a charm! She manages not to stick her tongue out at Klarion, but it's a near thing. Instead, she forward back in her chair. "I think we need to talk, Witch-Boy..."

Nico Minoru gives Kara a big grin as she arrives, cloaking Leapfrog from detection. "Welcome to the party," she says as she throws a binding spell at the cat to keep it from shape-shifting. Then pulls out a laser pointer with a very, very evil grin. "We get to keep you busy for a while, kitty." Flicks on the laser pointer and winks at Kara.

Richenda pulls up a seat, parking herself for the first time tonight. She's still just nine, but she seems more mature right now. "Stature said she thought we could still win. You've got something we need, and we have your cat. I hear it's, oh, just the most important thing in the world to you. Or could I be wrong?" She sounds like she's probably fibbing, that she knows just about everything.

Kara Zor-El smirks at the cat once in the safety of the Leapfrog's antimagical containment. "Can't scratch me now!" Yeah, just as effective as the 3000 times Streaky has tried to scratch her - followed by Nico distracting Teekl with the laser pointer.

Meanwhile, back at the Tower, Klarion is all wide-eyed. "Teekl?" He yells, "WHERES MY TEEKL!!!!!!?" He tries to sense where his familiar is, but can't seem to do so.

Richenda taps a little nine year old foot, waiting for Klarion to pay attention. "Focus, wizard," she says sharply. "Your Teekl is as safe as it needs to be, though if they're doing what -I- suggested they're dangling it over a bucket of water right now. It deserves to be scared a bit." She doesn't seem like she really minds being a little ruthless. Not at all.

Patting a chair, she says, "Sit down. Give us what WE want and you'll get back your cat. Oh and we won the game. Because nyah." Then she sticks out her tongue like she wanted to earlier. :P Because obviously her team is amazing.

Nico Minoru is actually tormenting the cat and giggling like a child. "I can't believe this works," she says around fits of giggling, as the laser is followed by the little dervish cat.

Klarion looks like he's about to hyperventilate. This is the longest he's been without Teekl in an age! He can't even sense him anywhere! Yes, the Chaos Lord looks like he's about to cry, thinking of all the horrible tortures those girls must be inflicting on poor Teekl! Instead of the horrible tortures he was planning on inflicting on them for eternity WITH Teekl, like it SHOULD be! "Okay.... okay, no need to do anything r-rash!.... Wh-*sniffle*what do you want?"

Meanwhile, at the Leapfrog... Kara Zor-El has sort of warmed up to the cat familiar when he isnt magically trying to scratch her face off, and is offering Teekl liver-flavored cat treats. True torture. Especially since Teekl prefers cod-flavor.

Richenda actually laughs a bit at Klarion's discomfiture, though she's not often able to show this side of herself. She softens a bit, visibly, and says, "Nothing major. Just something personal of yours. Something that won't vanish the instant you have your power back. Something solid, and real, like a piece of clothing."

She narrows her eyes, frowning suddenly, and waggles a finger at Klarion. "Also your word you won't attack us for winning. You cheated first, I figure we cheated back." She sounds so serious. "We get to remove the youth spell, and everyone goes back to normal, and I can buy panties that don't come from the disney store again."

Klarion says, "Okay... stay cool...stay cool... um... um..." He reaches in his pocket and takes out a knife. Then uses that knife to cut off a lock of his hair and puts it on the table quickly. "Okay. Here! Something personal! Now please give me back Teekl! Don't hurt him! He's my Teekl! You fiends! What are you doing to him!"

At the Leapfrog, Kara dangles a felt-covered mouse on a string over him while Nico keeps letting him try to catch the light dot. "You're just a little cutie patootie, arent you!" From afar, Kara Zor-Elthought that was a cute pose, no?

Nico brings out a bowl of heavy cream for the cat, listening to the devil-cat purr for Kara and try to catch the mousie on a string. "I wonder if it's a boy or a girl," she says, wondering if she should subject it to the test of finding out.

Richenda, with far less sociable company, snags the hair and hands it to Raven, who says, "That will do admirably." She then vanishes into a portal and is gone without further comment.

Richenda sighs, then says, "I think they forgot to tell me how to tell them that we've won, actually." With a sigh, she smirks just a little. "You know that my friend is a witch? I think witches keep cats. Or sacrifice them. I always forget which one that is."

....... Shortly later, after much more tormenting of Klarion and not so much of his cat. ....... The witch boy holds his cat in his arms, ensuring that it isn't harmed, and no it can't go back to play with the girls any more and absolutely not we are not getting our own laser pointer. As he holds up his hand to cast a teleportation spell, he looks at the girls and says, "Much as I hate to admit it, good game. NEVER AGAIN." Then he vanishes in a puff of brimstone, leaving the room stinky.

And Stature nabs a high-five from Richenda and Kara, as Raven and Nico huddle together to start casting a counterspell. She closes her eyes, sitting in lotus as Raven coaches her in the concentration and the words, the movements and the focus. With a small, hint of a proud smile on her lips as her student begins to cast.

Kara Zor-El talks to Wonder Girl on the couch at her apartment. "And so then Nico and Raven cast the spell and we're back to normal"

Cassie looks over at Kara. "So what are you going to do now that you're back to normal?"

Kara shrugs. "First thing I'm going to fly right over to Dedrick and give him a big kiss. I've been avoiding him for over a week because... you know... it would have just been so weird. Besides, I'm sure everyone's happy that we're back to normal."

Meanwhile, on Leapfrog, Molly pouts since her bedtime is back to being 10pm, instead of what it was when Nico was younger than her, which is to say no bed time.

"Phooey."