Chapter Text
Tim felt Tam's arms tighten around him as he pushed the gas pedal harder. The Ducati's speed dial ticked upward out of one corner of his eye as his focus rested on the child-sized, dragon-like creature parkouring its way along the alley's fire escapes above them.
"He's a fast little guy!" Tam shouted in his ear.
Tim agreed.
But he wasn't going to underestimate the thing just because it was small. The creature had shown signs of intelligence when he caught it stalking Tam earlier that night.
He had tried to take it by surprise, but it was just a little too skittish and its hearing was just a little too sharp. And now this chase had been going on for a solid three minutes.
He'd hoped that driving the thing into a dead-end would, well, end the chase. But the way those stubby, yet oddly fast legs were picking up speed...Tim could tell that a lack of going forward meant they were about to go up.
"Oh no. Oh nonononono....Ahhh!!!"
Tam could tell too. In fact, she could tell so well that Tim almost lost the ability to breathe as they proceeded to drive up the side of the alley wall. Her arms around him were just that tight.
The top of the building was flat, but kinda low on square footage, which meant that within three blinks they were over the roof, and ready to go down the other side of the warehouse.
Tam screamed again.
But the tail end... did he hear a laugh at the very end? He suspected so. Though Tam was a civilian, she had a tiny bit of thrill-seeker in her. It would come out to play after she got an initial nervous reaction out of the way.
He squeezed her hand and re-focused. The little dragon had slowed to a stop, breathing hard on the other side of a collection of tipped-over trash cans. Finally! They had it. They---
It threw something. Something that glowed and expanded, and wrapped around Tim, locking his arms to his sides. He tried to keep control of the motorcycle with his legs, but his ride escaped from under him and he rolled.
He tried to turn in place, to see what was happening to Tam, but whatever had him immobilized smelled like magic and it was effective. A thin sliver of tendril even wrapped around his mouth, muffling his shout as he fell.
He crashed to the ground with a painful thud. A blink, then two, and he could hear Tam running to him, checking to make sure he was okay. And if her heels were moving that evenly on the pavement, that likely meant she was okay.
Tim allowed himself to breathe.
Then the creature spoke.
"It issssth alright, good Princessth." It's forked tongue flicked in and out as it spoke, "Your knight of Neon will not be harmed. But I needed to observe that you are not like the othersth. That you are worthy."
Tim blinked. Their chase had interrupted Tam's speech at the Neon Knights Youth Program Anniversary. Clearly, the dragon had been paying attention, but had come to some interesting conclusions due to lack of context.
"Um," Tam stuttered, "I'm flattered? But if you could maybe leave me alone, I don't know that I'm interested--"
"But you are needed! And you are not rude like the ottthhher one! Your knight shows valor; your people embracth you and cheer for you! You are justht what I have been sthent to find! I am sthent by my lord to offer you his power."
Tam glanced toward him. Tim, meanwhile, was not having much luck wiggling out of the magical net. The grip of it was tight enough that he was struggling to reach any pocket on his tool belt, much less a helpful one.
Tam crossed her arms. "Ookay. Would this power maybe, I dunno, let me set my 'knight' free?"
"But of coursth." The dragon nodded. It then sat up a little straighter, which revealed that it was wearing a thin-strapped shoulder bag. It reached into the pocket with its claws and drew forth a glowing, palm-sized gemstone.
The gem shown brandy-brown, and as it flashed under Gotham's industrial lights, it seemed to take on the exact same shade as Tam's eyes.
It flickered even brighter as it came to rest in Tam's upturned hands. She flinched, and Tim struggled against his bonds even harder.
"I'm okay, I'm okay." she gasped under her breath, "I just... I..."
"Do you feel it?" The dragon hopped excitedly on its hind legs. "Do you feel the rightnessth of it?"
Tam gulped. And as she stared hypnotized by the stone, Tim saw a gaping portal open behind her. He tried to shout a warning. The tendril over his mouth muffled the sound almost entirely.
Tam's voice was nearly a whisper, echoing in the alleyway. "I do feel it. It's like... home." The dragon gave a dance. "A lady for my lord! My quest is done!" Then, with a twirling leap, it pounced on Tam's chest, knocking them both through the portal. "The Gemworld awaaaiiitttstttthhhh!"
Tam screamed as she fell backwards into darkness. Tim saw her snap out of the gem's spell and give him one fearful glance before the portal closed, swallowing her whole.
The moment the last inch of the portal disappeared, the mystic net around Tim released, and he gasped.
"Tam!"
But Tam was gone. Where she had stood, there were only upturned trashcans, and his damaged motorcycle.