An Idea

"Could you explain it to me one more time?" Court asked. He pinched the bridge of his nose to try to soothe away the incoming headache.

"Court!" Lucy cried as she stomped a cute foot.

Court looked up at her and then at the table in front of the sofa he was sitting on. On it, Trolli was lolling in a convertible roadster that looked to be made out of candy canes. She was leaning back, one hand resting on the striped steering wheel while she nibbled on a bit of candy cane that was almost as long as the car's hood.

He glanced at Dawnie and Carol who were huddled together in front of the television, going through what seemed like an ungodly amount of hard candy. Leilani was sitting on one of the other sofas, watching something on the television it was facing.

He looked up at the television that faced his own sofa. It was the largest one with a crystal clear picture. On it, a newscaster was reporting about a battle at a familiar mansion. Court heaved a sigh. He was certain that neither Aarti's mom or Batman was going to be happy with the cheery little note he'd left with the Amazon in charge of the outside forces. Of course, she didn't know exactly what the note said since he'd stuffed it in the Amazon's hand right before they had charged into the mansion to 'rescue' their princess.

"You know, you could sell this instead of letting Trolli eat it," he said to Carol and Dawnie.

"Sell that? It's just a trinket, something to pass the time," Carol said dismissively. "I think a ferris wheel would be awesome, but I don't know if it would hold her weight."

"We would probably have to use some sort of dowel to keep it standing, but what about making it move," Dawnie tossed in.

Court sighed again and turned his attention back to Lucy who was making what he called her 'thinking' expressions. He bit back the urge to laugh. Finally, she unsquinched her eyes and gave him a bright smile.

"I think that this will be the best idea yet!" She announced, waving a finger in the air.

"What about the toy you promised me," Court asked in an attempt to head her off. He had a feeling that the idea might not be a wise one.

"Oh, that?" Lucy paused. Then she rummaged in the many pockets of her cargo pants overalls. "Oh! Here it is!" She pulled out a small round device and tossed it to him. "Have fun! We have several this time around."

Court caught the device and examined it with a frown. The metal didn't feel like anything he knew of and vibrated in his hand. He could vaguely hear a squeaky rumbling tumbling through his head. Court nearly dropped it as he realized the rumbling was coming from the device itself.

"Isn't it interesting? It opens a door back to the hat. Or was it the Dime Store?" Lucy tapped a finger on her chin before shrugging. "I don't remember right now. Let me go ask Aarti. I think she's cooled down by now."

"And why would Aarti need to cool down?" Court asked. They'd only been apart for a few hours. Just what happened when they went into that mansion?

"I might have compared her to a hippo, sorta," Lucy said while holding up her hand and measuring out just a little with a near pinch of her fingers.

"I'm telling you, Court. You should just join the sugar army for now," Carol said absentmindedly as she piled a bunch of green candies together. "Less stress. Less mess."

"And it would be so profitable," Court added, grinning at them.

"Again with the money angle? Who'd pay for something like that?" Carol asked, nodding towards the roadster. Trolli had finished the candy cane and was now working on the steering wheel. "It's just sugar."

"People would pay. They'd pay a lot," Lucy agreed, walking forward to peer at the roadster. "That is so cute! Could you make a Batmobile version? I could give it to my dad to break, and he'd be thrilled. Might even give me some money or something," Lucy added with a happy nod.

Court opened his mouth to divert the conversation back to its original course and paused. The story Lucy had told made no sense to him, but then again, Rena was somewhere around the hideout, sulking because Jebediah had been captured. He could just ask her instead of Lucy.

"A Batmobile? Like Mr. Scary's ride?" Dawnie asked, frowning up at Lucy. Then she cocked her head to one side. "We could probably make a mint off of those. I mean…it's not like he's going to say, 'hello? I'm Mr. Scary and you didn't pay me for that.' He'd have to say where to send the cash!"

"That is so true," Carol said, staring at Dawnie with a shocked expression.

"We'd make so much money," Lucy breathed.

Court looked over at Leilani who was shaking her head. She'd found a book somewhere and was now engrossed in reading it.

With another sigh, he stood up, device in hand. The vibrations he kept getting from it were intriguing to say the least.

*****

"So, you're saying that there's really a hat, and that there is really a store attached to it?" Court asked Rena as he tossed the device in his hand up and down. He could almost hear the rumbling turning into tiny little 'whees' of excitement.

"It truly is true," Rena said. She dug her spoon into the pint of ice cream she held. "That place is awesome! I found so much stuff that you just can't find anymore!"

Court grinned at her. He'd found Rena sitting on a mahogany table, junk food of all sorts scattered around her. She'd set a child's dinette chair in front of her and secured her tablet to it. The tablet was showing an old cartoon show that had been popular when they'd been Liberated.

"Take this, for example." Rena held the carton towards Court, carefully displaying the name of the ice cream. "They don't make Coconut Chocolate Chunk anymore. The place that makes it got nuked in a fight between Huntress and the Salvatore Gang. I think I cried for days. My absolute favorite," she added, scooping another bite into her mouth.

Court chuckled. He was sitting on a table across from hers. The entire section had tables, some of them sitting on their sides to make miniature forts. It had to be the work of Leilani, he thought. No one else had that much time to eke out a spot for themselves and were content just swiping one of the already made spots that Lucy kept creating.

"The hat, however, is locked in a box that even Aarti couldn't break. The people who actually own it think that they can come up with a tiny portal just big enough to yank it out. We just have to be close enough to give them a lock." Rena heaved a sigh. "That means that we have to go back."

"And you don't want to go back?" Court stopped tossing the device. He could almost hear a disappointed hiss. The thought made him smile.

"It was so scary, Court. It was just like being back there for good." Rena shivered. She picked up a bottle of water and took a sip. "I'd still do it if we can get Jebediah back. He must be so upset right now. There were drugged sandwiches. Who drugs sandwiches?" Rena demanded, waving the bottle around.

Court watched as the water nearly sloshed out and yet didn't. He frowned at that. No matter how Rena shook the bottle, the water wasn't coming out of the bottle.

"How are you doing that?" He finally asked.

"Doing what?" Rena returned, taking a hefty swig from the bottle and reducing the water to the half-way point.

"The water didn't come out when you were waving that around." Court tucked the device into his shirt pocket, curiosity fully aroused.

"Oh, that? My water never sloshes. What if it got on my tablet? Or, heavens forbid, my phone?" Rena capped the water and set it down. "Do you know how much I love my phone?"

"Has it always done that?" Court persisted.

"Um," Rena sat back, thinking. Then she shook her head. "This is the result of control, I think. At least that's what Jebediah was calling it." She summoned up a wan smile. "What does me drinking water have to do with anything?"

"I think I might have an idea." Court hopped down from his table. "I need to go talk to Lucy."