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schizoauthoress_libraryTitle: Running the Maze
Author: D.L.SchizoAuthoress
Rating: PG
Spoilers: vague DCU timestamp, set after "Labyrinth" (1986)
Warnings: none
Prompt/Fill: none
Word Count: 729
Summary: Tim and Dick find themselves in a strange place, for a strange reason. Damian is missing, and they must find him, or lose him forever.
Running the Maze
“It was just a stupid phrase in a stupid book!” Tim protested. "It wasn’t supposed to… I didn’t think it would actually DO anything!“
Dick glared at his younger brother for a moment longer, then picked himself up off the ground. He dusted impatiently at his clothes, and was not looking at Tim when he said, "If it was so stupid, then why did you say it at all?”
Tim was utterly baffled – not just by Dick’s sudden hostility, but by the whole turn of events that the evening had taken. Just moments ago, he and Damian had been arguing loudly in library of Wayne Manor. He’d heard Dick coming down the hall toward them, sounding exasperated that they were ‘at it again’. And then he’d grumbled, half under his breath, words that had felt very fitting at the time. Words he’d gotten out of a little old book.
“Damian, I wish the Goblin King would come take you away. Right now.”
The tall windows behind the writing desk had slammed open with a strong gust of wind, and somehow, impossibly, the Goblin King was there. Tim remembered Dick screaming something and pounding on the door, but he’d barely been able to hear over the roar of the wind. With a malicious grin at Tim, the tall, dark figure had grabbed onto Damian and then vanished in a glittering cloud of… something, leaving only silvery, sparkling dust on the window sill.
Dick managed to get the door open as the wind died down. He hadn’t said anything, just grabbed Tim and leaped them both through the window.
Only the pair of them hadn’t landed on the lawn of Wayne Manor. They’d landed… somewhere else. Tim took another moment to feel confused and sorry for himself before getting to his feet.
“Find the entrance,” Dick said gruffly. "There’s got to be an entrance.“
Tim looked around, unsure what Dick was referring to. Then he saw it – at first, he thought it was just a big, curving wall, but then he realized that there were more walls set at strange and close angles behind it. It was a huge maze, constructed in the round. Dick was already stomping down the hill toward it, but Tim stood in silence for a moment longer, eyes drawn to try tracing a path through what he could see of the labyrinth. He remembered it from the book – the Goblin City inside it, and the castle of Jareth the Goblin King at the center of it.
"Ah, good. Now we can talk,” a deep voice said behind Tim.
Tim whirled around. The Goblin King smirked at him, mismatched eyes glittering in the strange, too-white sunlight. "Y-you’re him,“ Tim stammered. "You’re the… the Goblin King.”
“Nothing gets past you, does it?” the tall fey asked dryly. A clear sphere of crystal appeared in his hands, as if plucked from thin air. He spun it on his fingers, making bright splashes of colored light dance over his pale hands.
Tim averted his eyes from the display, feeling slightly dizzy. "If it’s all the same to you, I’d like my little brother back now…“
"What’s said is said. And what’s done is done.”
“No, I… I’ve read the book. I can… get him back…” Tim swallowed hard. He didn’t dare ask the question that rose in his mind, 'Can’t I?’ He wasn’t very fond of Damian, but… he didn’t want the boy to be turned into a goblin, either.
“If you can solve my labyrinth in thirteen hours – if you can make it to the castle at the center, that is, and so very few EVER do – you can have your brother back. But…”
The crystal was dropped, ringing out a pure little chime as it landed on the ground at Tim’s feet. A moment later, it turned into a snake, and Tim jumped backward with a gasp. But the snake missed striking at him, and turned into a flowering vine on the ground.
The Goblin King laughed, “If you fail, Tim… then I get to keep your little brother. Forever.”
“Tim!” Dick called, from somewhere down the hill. Tim glanced around wildly, for only a few seconds, but when he looked back toward the other man, the Goblin King had vanished again.
Tim bit his lip and made his way down toward Dick.
*-*-*-*-*
Author: D.L.SchizoAuthoress
Rating: PG
Spoilers: vague DCU timestamp, set after "Labyrinth" (1986)
Warnings: none
Prompt/Fill: none
Word Count: 729
Summary: Tim and Dick find themselves in a strange place, for a strange reason. Damian is missing, and they must find him, or lose him forever.
Running the Maze
“It was just a stupid phrase in a stupid book!” Tim protested. "It wasn’t supposed to… I didn’t think it would actually DO anything!“
Dick glared at his younger brother for a moment longer, then picked himself up off the ground. He dusted impatiently at his clothes, and was not looking at Tim when he said, "If it was so stupid, then why did you say it at all?”
Tim was utterly baffled – not just by Dick’s sudden hostility, but by the whole turn of events that the evening had taken. Just moments ago, he and Damian had been arguing loudly in library of Wayne Manor. He’d heard Dick coming down the hall toward them, sounding exasperated that they were ‘at it again’. And then he’d grumbled, half under his breath, words that had felt very fitting at the time. Words he’d gotten out of a little old book.
“Damian, I wish the Goblin King would come take you away. Right now.”
The tall windows behind the writing desk had slammed open with a strong gust of wind, and somehow, impossibly, the Goblin King was there. Tim remembered Dick screaming something and pounding on the door, but he’d barely been able to hear over the roar of the wind. With a malicious grin at Tim, the tall, dark figure had grabbed onto Damian and then vanished in a glittering cloud of… something, leaving only silvery, sparkling dust on the window sill.
Dick managed to get the door open as the wind died down. He hadn’t said anything, just grabbed Tim and leaped them both through the window.
Only the pair of them hadn’t landed on the lawn of Wayne Manor. They’d landed… somewhere else. Tim took another moment to feel confused and sorry for himself before getting to his feet.
“Find the entrance,” Dick said gruffly. "There’s got to be an entrance.“
Tim looked around, unsure what Dick was referring to. Then he saw it – at first, he thought it was just a big, curving wall, but then he realized that there were more walls set at strange and close angles behind it. It was a huge maze, constructed in the round. Dick was already stomping down the hill toward it, but Tim stood in silence for a moment longer, eyes drawn to try tracing a path through what he could see of the labyrinth. He remembered it from the book – the Goblin City inside it, and the castle of Jareth the Goblin King at the center of it.
"Ah, good. Now we can talk,” a deep voice said behind Tim.
Tim whirled around. The Goblin King smirked at him, mismatched eyes glittering in the strange, too-white sunlight. "Y-you’re him,“ Tim stammered. "You’re the… the Goblin King.”
“Nothing gets past you, does it?” the tall fey asked dryly. A clear sphere of crystal appeared in his hands, as if plucked from thin air. He spun it on his fingers, making bright splashes of colored light dance over his pale hands.
Tim averted his eyes from the display, feeling slightly dizzy. "If it’s all the same to you, I’d like my little brother back now…“
"What’s said is said. And what’s done is done.”
“No, I… I’ve read the book. I can… get him back…” Tim swallowed hard. He didn’t dare ask the question that rose in his mind, 'Can’t I?’ He wasn’t very fond of Damian, but… he didn’t want the boy to be turned into a goblin, either.
“If you can solve my labyrinth in thirteen hours – if you can make it to the castle at the center, that is, and so very few EVER do – you can have your brother back. But…”
The crystal was dropped, ringing out a pure little chime as it landed on the ground at Tim’s feet. A moment later, it turned into a snake, and Tim jumped backward with a gasp. But the snake missed striking at him, and turned into a flowering vine on the ground.
The Goblin King laughed, “If you fail, Tim… then I get to keep your little brother. Forever.”
“Tim!” Dick called, from somewhere down the hill. Tim glanced around wildly, for only a few seconds, but when he looked back toward the other man, the Goblin King had vanished again.
Tim bit his lip and made his way down toward Dick.
*-*-*-*-*
