The Twins

Chapter Seven

Tommy cried out in shock, seeing the hell-beast from the security footage beating down on the force field. He watched in horror as Billy began to sweat profusely under the pressure, the force field beginning to crack.

Just as it was about to shatter, down the hallway came Zatanna and Kaldur. Zatanna flung her hands towards the beast and called out a spell. "Ezeerf nomed!"

The beast paused in its actions, its fist raised and ready to swing back down. Zatanna's spell allowed Billy and Tommy to scramble out from underneath the beast's fist, running behind Kaldur as the Atlantean pulled out his water whips.

"W-what the hell is that thing?" Tommy croaked.

"Parademon, from Apokolips." The four teens turned at the sound of an adult voice, shocked to see Batman standing there with Wonder Woman, Superman, and Black Canary, along with the rest of their team.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Parademons are Darkseid's mindless soldiers, sent to destroy and ravage worlds in the name of Darkseid." Superman explained.

"And who is Darkseid, exactly?" Tommy asked, Billy nodding his head vigorously next to him.

"The ruler of Apokolips, hell bent on conquering the universe." Wonder Woman added. "The Avengers were sent on a preemptive mission to strike down Darkseid and his troops-"

"But obviously they have failed." Batman grumbled. 

"Which begs the question; where are the Avengers now?" Dick asked.

"Well, knowing Darkseid, he probably has them brainwashed under his control using the Anti-life equation." Everyone shuddered.

"How do we free them?"

"There is no 'we'. You lot are to stay here and protect the twins from harm. You are only to engage in combat if the fighting comes to you. Is that clear?" The team grumbled, rolling their eyes. "I said, is that clear?"

"Yes, sir." 

"But sir, why must we protect the twins from harm? Who says anyone is going to attack them?" Wally practically whined.

"This parademon did. We all know this was a targeted attack, so be vigilant." Batman eyed the team and the twins cautiously. 

"Mr. Batman sir, is there any word on our mother?" Tommy asked, trying his hardest to ignore the still frozen parademon a few yards away.

"Not yet, I'm afraid. Zatara is working around the clock to try and find the source of the ailment." Billy and Tommy deflated. "But we have more pressing matters to focus on at the moment."

"Yeah, the impending invasion of our planet by demons from a world literally called Apokolips." Conner snorted. "That's not ominous or anything."

"So, let me get this straight. While the whole League is off fighting in a world changing war, we are stuck on baby sitting duty on the off chance that a parademon might come and attack the twins?" Artemis crossed her arms over her chest, her lips pursed in disbelief. 

Black Canary nodded. "Precisely."

"So not fair."

"Hey, somebody has to do it."

They do realize that Billy is more than competent, right? He can easily protect himself and Tommy. They don't need us.

I don't think it is about us protecting the twins as much as it is the League trying to protect us.

Ugh, I hate when they treat us like little children!

So, we are just going to play along until they leave, right? And then we do our own thing, yeah?

Of course! Who do you think we are?

For once, I think we should listen to them...

What? Why?

We are talking about a legitimate war! We aren't ready for that!

Maybe you aren't, but I have been training since I was nine years old.

Okay, not all of us have a death wish, Robin.

I prefer a strong sense of duty.

Shh, they are talking again!

Superman politely waited until the team fixed their expressions before he spoke. "Ahem, as I was saying...keep the twins in the mountain. Batman is uploading a higher intensity security system to hopefully protect against another parademon attack. We will be back. I don't know when, but for now, stay in the mountain."

"Aye, aye sir!" The team mock saluted the Justice Leaguers, earning eye rolls and a chuckle from Wonder Woman as the adults bid them farewell, taking the parademon with them. 

Now that it was just the teens again, Tommy turned to the team with a raised eyebrow. "You guys were talking to each other somehow, weren't you?"

The team looked at one another, shrugging. "So what if we were?"

"If you guys think you are going to drag us into a war you have another thing coming." Tommy spat. "We did not sign up for this, any of this! All we wanted was to meet our mother-"

Tommy paused, turning when he felt Billy's hand on his arm. He looked over at his twin, reading his facial expression. "You can't be serious. Billy, think about it! We are talking about a war with an alien force. We aren't equipped to deal with that!" Billy made a face and Tommy sighed. "You're right, if we help them then we can help mom faster. Okay, we're in."

"Woah, woah, woah! Who said we were going to let you come with us?" Artemis stuck her hands on her hips, eyes narrowed at the brothers.

"Art, think about it. If we leave them alone, who is going to stop them from wandering off? Also, what if a parademon does come to attack them? That would be on us and the Justice League would have our heads." Wally put a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder, Artemis deflating.

"Who says the parademon was even attacking them? It attacked the mountain!"

"It targeted them when they were alone, it could have gone after any of us at any point chose to attack the twins when they were most vulnerable." Dick shrugged. "What more do you need?"

There was a beat of silence before Zatanna spoke up. "So, are we going to sit around talking all day or are we going to go kick some parademon booty?"