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schizoauthoress_libraryTitle: Confronting the Goblin King
Author: D.L.SchizoAuthoress
Rating: PG
Spoilers: vague DCU timestamp, set after "Labyrinth" (1986)
Warnings: canon-typical violence
Prompt/Fill: none
Word Count: 1288
Summary: Tim gets to show off his smarts, Dick gets to show off his moves, and the Goblin King of the Labyrinth makes another appearance.
Note: I included a screencap from the movie here, because my original reader was confused by the way I described the Labyrinth denizens.
Confronting the Goblin King
Dick scowled. "This place always changes. We’re not getting anywhere.“
"This was a dead end just a minute ago!” Tim exclaimed, frustrated.
“Ah, the dead end is behind you gents now!”
Tim looked toward the new voice. The narrow walls opened up into a small circular courtyard. At the far end, there were two tall, narrow doors. Each door had a guard assigned to it… or were they two guards? The figures – one in red and gold, one in blue and green – each stood on two spindly-looking legs, and most of their bodies were hidden by a large shield. The red guard(s) shield had a diamond design on it, while the blue guard(s) shield had a circle enclosed in a tilted rectangle. Dog-like faces peered at the brothers from over the top of the shield… but each figure also had another dog-like face hanging upside down from the bottom of the shield.
“Oh, great,” Dick muttered unhappily. Tim furrowed his brow and glanced at his older brother. He kept doing this – kept acting as though every strange new thing they came across in the labyrinth was some awful ordeal. To be fair, he was often correct about that, but there was an odd quality to his annoyance. As though he’d seen these things before. It was a puzzle, but this place was full of far more demanding enigmas, and Tim once more decided that he could let it go.
“What are we supposed to do?” Tim asked, addressing the guards as he walked across the courtyard.
“You could try one of these doors,” suggested the upside-down face on the red-clad guard.
“One leads to the castle in the center of the Labyrinth,” explained the upside-down face on the blue-clad guard, “but the other one leads to…”
“Bum bum bum!!” chimed in the two right-side-up faces of the guards. Tim almost laughed, reminded of Klarion’s insistence on making the same vocalization during introductions.
“– certain death!” finished the upside-down blue guard. All four faces struck expression of shock and terror as they all cried out,
“Ooooh!”
Tim raised an eyebrow. He wanted to ask if anyone had ever actually gotten scared from the dramatic little performance, but instead, he stuck to business. He asked briskly, “Well, which one is which?”
“We can’t tell you!” said the upside-down red guard.
“They don’t know,” Dick said, as he stepped into place beside Tim.
“We do!” protested the right-side-up blue guard. He nodded to his fellow right-side-up guard. "But you can only ask one of us.“
Dick made a frustrated sound. He pressed the fingertips of both hands to his forehead and grumbled into his palms, "Ugh. What was it? There’s a right question to ask in this situation…”
Tim held up his left hand, displaying three fingers to the red-clad guard. "How many fingers am I holding up?“
"Uh… two?” said the red guard, a touch uncertainly. Dick looked up again.
Tim pointed to his own head. “What color is my hair?”
“Blond!” The red guard said gleefully. Tim smiled.
“Does the door behind you lead to certain death?”
The red guard replied promptly, “Of course not!”
Tim turned to Dick, whose mouth had fallen open in shock. Tim grinned, pointed to the door behind the blue guard, and said, “Let’s take this one, huh?” Dick nodded, and the blue guard stepped out of the way. Tim got a momentary peek behind the shield and realized that there were actually two blue-clad guards. The upside-down face belonged to a small goblin who clung to the shield, and the right-side-up face belonged to the taller goblin who held up the shield. It didn’t seem like a fair setup, but nothing in this place really was.
Dick pulled open the door. "This is great! We can get to the castle much faster with a direct path.“
Tim walked through, feeling proud of himself. Jareth wouldn’t be expecting them so soon; he was sure of it. He replied, "Yeah, this is ea–”
He never finished the sentence.
Dick practically slammed into his back, driving him forward several steps, and clapped a hand over his mouth. "Don’t tempt fate, dammit!“ Dick hissed into his ear.
Tim froze, heart hammering in his chest. After a while, he nodded silently. Dick took his hand away. Tim turned, and saw Dick staring down at that hand like it had acted on its own. "Dick, it… it’s okay.”
Dick looked up at Tim again. The devastation in those blue eyes, raw and real, shook Tim’s confidence. "I’m sorry.“
"You’re right to be cautious,” Tim pointed out softly.
Dick shook his head. He walked forward, stepping around Tim as he passed him. As he did so, Tim heard him mutter, “I hate what this place turns me into…”
****
“You’re not from Kythos, are you?” Tim shouted. The last thing he wanted was to beat up a relative of Ferdinand – Cassie would never forgive him. The bull-headed man only roared in reply and charged right at Tim.
Tim dodged, rolling clear and scooping up one of the abandoned halberds dropped by a labyrinth guard. If this is what those guards had been fleeing from, he didn’t blame them. This minotaur was huge, and obviously not to be reasoned with. Tim spun the weapon around in his hands, so that the bladed end was facing away from the minotaur, and jabbed him hard in the ribs.
He wasn’t good with blades, that’s all. Tim followed the creature, sidestepping so that he was actually facing him now, and drove the butt of the polearm forward again – this time scoring a direct hit to the solar plexus.
The minotaur reared back with a startled wheeze, and Dick was suddenly on his back. Clinging onto the man-bull hybrid with his legs, Dick whipped both arms back and up…
Then hammered both fists over the minotaur’s ears, aiming to rupture at least one of the eardrums. Given the way the minotaur staggered and groaned, it seemed he was successful. Dick laughed wildly,
“This is a piece of cake!”
Tim cried out in horror as the floor just beneath the minotaur opened up, falling away like a trapdoor and large enough to swallow them both. The minotaur bellowed in fear and began to fall. In response, Dick back-flipped off the creature, landing lightly on his feet a safe distance from the yawning hole in the floor. At least he didn’t strike a showman’s pose, but the calm expression on his face made it clear that Dick didn’t think that stunt was a big deal. Tim stared at him from across the hole, and silently reminded himself that it would be a bad idea to throw his borrowed halberd like a spear at his older brother. (For one thing, the aerodynamics were all off.)
“You almost gave me a heart attack!” Tim shouted instead, throwing the weapon down.
Dick had the grace to look a little sheepish. He opened his mouth to reply, but a slow, sarcastic hand-clapping interrupted him.
“I DO love watching you work, Grayson,” a familiar deep voice said, amusement obvious in the tone. Lounging atop one of the labyrinth’s walls was the Goblin King. He was dressed differently this time, no longer in the dark and flowing robes that sparkled. Now he wore a short tunic in dark red, tied around the waist with a gold cord. His legs were covered in leggings and pointed boots in nearly the same shade of dark green, and a long cloak made from gold brocade was draped over his shoulders. Both Dick and Tim stared as the dark-haired man smirked down at them.
“The Goblin King!” Tim exclaimed.
“Jason?!” Dick gasped.
*-*-*-*-*
Author: D.L.SchizoAuthoress
Rating: PG
Spoilers: vague DCU timestamp, set after "Labyrinth" (1986)
Warnings: canon-typical violence
Prompt/Fill: none
Word Count: 1288
Summary: Tim gets to show off his smarts, Dick gets to show off his moves, and the Goblin King of the Labyrinth makes another appearance.
Note: I included a screencap from the movie here, because my original reader was confused by the way I described the Labyrinth denizens.
Confronting the Goblin King
Dick scowled. "This place always changes. We’re not getting anywhere.“
"This was a dead end just a minute ago!” Tim exclaimed, frustrated.
“Ah, the dead end is behind you gents now!”
Tim looked toward the new voice. The narrow walls opened up into a small circular courtyard. At the far end, there were two tall, narrow doors. Each door had a guard assigned to it… or were they two guards? The figures – one in red and gold, one in blue and green – each stood on two spindly-looking legs, and most of their bodies were hidden by a large shield. The red guard(s) shield had a diamond design on it, while the blue guard(s) shield had a circle enclosed in a tilted rectangle. Dog-like faces peered at the brothers from over the top of the shield… but each figure also had another dog-like face hanging upside down from the bottom of the shield.
“Oh, great,” Dick muttered unhappily. Tim furrowed his brow and glanced at his older brother. He kept doing this – kept acting as though every strange new thing they came across in the labyrinth was some awful ordeal. To be fair, he was often correct about that, but there was an odd quality to his annoyance. As though he’d seen these things before. It was a puzzle, but this place was full of far more demanding enigmas, and Tim once more decided that he could let it go.
“What are we supposed to do?” Tim asked, addressing the guards as he walked across the courtyard.
“You could try one of these doors,” suggested the upside-down face on the red-clad guard.
“One leads to the castle in the center of the Labyrinth,” explained the upside-down face on the blue-clad guard, “but the other one leads to…”
“Bum bum bum!!” chimed in the two right-side-up faces of the guards. Tim almost laughed, reminded of Klarion’s insistence on making the same vocalization during introductions.
“– certain death!” finished the upside-down blue guard. All four faces struck expression of shock and terror as they all cried out,
“Ooooh!”
Tim raised an eyebrow. He wanted to ask if anyone had ever actually gotten scared from the dramatic little performance, but instead, he stuck to business. He asked briskly, “Well, which one is which?”
“We can’t tell you!” said the upside-down red guard.
“They don’t know,” Dick said, as he stepped into place beside Tim.
“We do!” protested the right-side-up blue guard. He nodded to his fellow right-side-up guard. "But you can only ask one of us.“
Dick made a frustrated sound. He pressed the fingertips of both hands to his forehead and grumbled into his palms, "Ugh. What was it? There’s a right question to ask in this situation…”
Tim held up his left hand, displaying three fingers to the red-clad guard. "How many fingers am I holding up?“
"Uh… two?” said the red guard, a touch uncertainly. Dick looked up again.
Tim pointed to his own head. “What color is my hair?”
“Blond!” The red guard said gleefully. Tim smiled.
“Does the door behind you lead to certain death?”
The red guard replied promptly, “Of course not!”
Tim turned to Dick, whose mouth had fallen open in shock. Tim grinned, pointed to the door behind the blue guard, and said, “Let’s take this one, huh?” Dick nodded, and the blue guard stepped out of the way. Tim got a momentary peek behind the shield and realized that there were actually two blue-clad guards. The upside-down face belonged to a small goblin who clung to the shield, and the right-side-up face belonged to the taller goblin who held up the shield. It didn’t seem like a fair setup, but nothing in this place really was.
Dick pulled open the door. "This is great! We can get to the castle much faster with a direct path.“
Tim walked through, feeling proud of himself. Jareth wouldn’t be expecting them so soon; he was sure of it. He replied, "Yeah, this is ea–”
He never finished the sentence.
Dick practically slammed into his back, driving him forward several steps, and clapped a hand over his mouth. "Don’t tempt fate, dammit!“ Dick hissed into his ear.
Tim froze, heart hammering in his chest. After a while, he nodded silently. Dick took his hand away. Tim turned, and saw Dick staring down at that hand like it had acted on its own. "Dick, it… it’s okay.”
Dick looked up at Tim again. The devastation in those blue eyes, raw and real, shook Tim’s confidence. "I’m sorry.“
"You’re right to be cautious,” Tim pointed out softly.
Dick shook his head. He walked forward, stepping around Tim as he passed him. As he did so, Tim heard him mutter, “I hate what this place turns me into…”
****
“You’re not from Kythos, are you?” Tim shouted. The last thing he wanted was to beat up a relative of Ferdinand – Cassie would never forgive him. The bull-headed man only roared in reply and charged right at Tim.
Tim dodged, rolling clear and scooping up one of the abandoned halberds dropped by a labyrinth guard. If this is what those guards had been fleeing from, he didn’t blame them. This minotaur was huge, and obviously not to be reasoned with. Tim spun the weapon around in his hands, so that the bladed end was facing away from the minotaur, and jabbed him hard in the ribs.
He wasn’t good with blades, that’s all. Tim followed the creature, sidestepping so that he was actually facing him now, and drove the butt of the polearm forward again – this time scoring a direct hit to the solar plexus.
The minotaur reared back with a startled wheeze, and Dick was suddenly on his back. Clinging onto the man-bull hybrid with his legs, Dick whipped both arms back and up…
Then hammered both fists over the minotaur’s ears, aiming to rupture at least one of the eardrums. Given the way the minotaur staggered and groaned, it seemed he was successful. Dick laughed wildly,
“This is a piece of cake!”
Tim cried out in horror as the floor just beneath the minotaur opened up, falling away like a trapdoor and large enough to swallow them both. The minotaur bellowed in fear and began to fall. In response, Dick back-flipped off the creature, landing lightly on his feet a safe distance from the yawning hole in the floor. At least he didn’t strike a showman’s pose, but the calm expression on his face made it clear that Dick didn’t think that stunt was a big deal. Tim stared at him from across the hole, and silently reminded himself that it would be a bad idea to throw his borrowed halberd like a spear at his older brother. (For one thing, the aerodynamics were all off.)
“You almost gave me a heart attack!” Tim shouted instead, throwing the weapon down.
Dick had the grace to look a little sheepish. He opened his mouth to reply, but a slow, sarcastic hand-clapping interrupted him.
“I DO love watching you work, Grayson,” a familiar deep voice said, amusement obvious in the tone. Lounging atop one of the labyrinth’s walls was the Goblin King. He was dressed differently this time, no longer in the dark and flowing robes that sparkled. Now he wore a short tunic in dark red, tied around the waist with a gold cord. His legs were covered in leggings and pointed boots in nearly the same shade of dark green, and a long cloak made from gold brocade was draped over his shoulders. Both Dick and Tim stared as the dark-haired man smirked down at them.
“The Goblin King!” Tim exclaimed.
“Jason?!” Dick gasped.
*-*-*-*-*
