Chapter 48

Zatanna Zatara PoV

It was great to actually be able to walk around once again. Being grounded for months meant there wasn’t much for me to actually be able to do, besides reading books and studying magic.

I don’t know why daddy has to be so difficult. I was old enough to look after myself in public. I didn’t need him to escort me like I was some sort of kid who would get lost. I mean, I have magic for Pete’s sake.  A badass witch, just like my mother had been.

I shouldn’t be scared of the world. It should be scared of me!

…But of course, he didn’t see it the same way. Ugh. Sometimes I wish I could just ground him instead for a nice change of pace. Or maybe send him on a long vacation. A very long one.

All I want to do is to just go out there. Make some friends, talk to some boys, heck, just being able to talk to anyone my age would be nice. But instead, I have to be privately tutored all the way up until it was time for me to attend college.

It was like I was living in a cage.

I know my dad loves me, but he could just be so stifling. At this rate I wouldn’t be surprised if by the time I go to college I become completely incapable of forming a coherent sentence when talking to a boy.

If only my prayers could be answered and dad could just be removed from the equation completely. Then I could really let loose and have some fun. Maybe go on that world trip that I’ve always wanted, instead of just jumping and performing in whatever city dad has work in.

Though I’d want to strike it out on my own eventually, I don’t mind occasionally doing a few shows with daddy. But this time HE be the assistant and I’d be the magician.

I’d really step things up a notch and make the whole show feel so much more magical.

Don’t get me wrong, dad does an amazing job. I just think I’d be able to really bring that ‘wow’ factor up a notch if I was in charge. Really drop the jaws of the crowd. I don’t know why dad wants to do so lame normal tricks that anyone could do without magic. If you have it, why not show it off?

He’s just so weirdly obsessed with the idea of a trick being mysterious, but still in the realm of believability. But that’s fine…for now at least. I just know that I wouldn’t be doing anything like that for MY shows.

Speaking of shows, we were just about to start to perform ours in about half an hour. The props were already set up, and even if they weren’t magic would easily solve that problem. Seats were already being taken by the attending audience. All that was really left was to gather our nerves and wait till show time.

It was funny to see dad be a little nervous before the show. Despite the lack of social interaction in my life, I was actually completely fine performing in front of thousands of people. It was only when the crowd was small and empty did I get nervous.

It was like…I didn’t really see the crowd as individual people. There were just so many it defied understanding. It was like performing in front of a bunch of figures that looked human. Like a bunch of cardboard cutouts.

Before the show began, we were approached by the only two members of the audience with backstage passes. Black Canary and Law. Though they were in their ‘normal’ clothes. I always found it really funny that superheroes walk around in pajamas and everyone just took them seriously.

Law looked a bit different than usual with his vibrant red hair down. A constant resting bitch face that always looked mildly annoyed. His athletic build was also more pronounced. The T-Shirt he was wearing only covered his shoulders. Which showed off that he was more muscular than I had previously thought.

…Starfire was a lucky girl.

“Like what you see?”

I jumped due to Black Canary who had whispered in my ear from behind, before giving her an annoyed look. She quickly apologized for actions before talking to me.

Black Canary was fun to talk to. Usually. She may not be the same age as me, but at least she was something. Not to mention another girl who I could actually talk to was extremely rare to find. For me at least…

And while I did usually like to listen to her, lately she’s just been talking about her problems and her relationship with Green Arrow. Was it messed up that he said wouldn’t love her anymore if she was a worm? Yes. Absolutely.

But I wanted to talk about my problems as well! Besides, with the fact that I pretty much don’t talk to any boys ever it was like she was practically bragging about it. Parading around how she gets boyfriends while I’d be lucky to get a new stuffed animal to talk to on my birthday.

I also wasn’t surprised that daddy had immediately started to talk to Law. He must think I’m stupid to not see through his tricks. He was obviously keeping not only a boy, but a member of the Titans away from me. That way I wouldn’t get any ‘crazy ideas’ like actually having friends my age, or having a slumber party.

Both Black Canary’s and daddy’s conversations were cut short due to the arrival of a third person. He called out and waved at dad as he walked in. His other hand on his cane.

He was an old friend of dads. I think his name was…Ken? Kent? Apparently, he had once been a big deal back in the day. One of the greatest magicians of all time according to daddy.

Personally, I didn’t see it.

Both Black Canary and Dad immediately went up to talk to him, which left me to finally have some time with Law. I called out to him but his gaze seemed to be fixed on the old man. He had a very serious expression on his face. A tight nit frown with an almost angry look in his eyes.

What was also weird was that despite the noise of the auditorium behind the curtain, I could’ve sworn I heard what sounded like a little girl whispering. I looked over towards the curtain to see where the noise was coming from, only to be interrupted by Law shaking his head. He blinked twice before looking back over towards me.

This time he had a much more expression when he regarded me.

“Zatanna.”

He said with a slight nod. I grinned up at him while crossing my arms behind my back.

“Law.” I tried to emulate his cool and serious sounding tone. Something he didn’t find as amusing considering he just raised an eyebrow at me before crossing his arms. Somehow that made it even more hilarious. “Do you know that guy?”

I gestured towards the older man who was talking to the adults. Law didn’t even spare a glance in his direction. Simply looking towards me with his red amber eyes. His lips slightly pursed.

“No. I’ve never met him before.”

Somehow, I doubted that. But he obviously didn’t want to talk about it, and I didn’t want to risk annoying him, so I switched to a different question.

“How are the Titans doing?”

“Good. Though that may change soon.”

I blinked in surprise. That was not the answer I had been expecting.

“Why is that?”

“Next month the Titans are going to go through applications for new members. Which is going to be a whole issue. Especially seeing as I’m going to be the one to put forth some names.”

I took a deep breath. Not even trusting myself to breath out in case I shattered the illusion. Was he…was he trying to say…no…maybe I was just misunderstanding…?

He looked away with a frown before looking back at me. His arms still crossed which really showed off his abs.

“…You did submit an application, right?”

He commented, making me look upwards back at his face quickly. So, I hadn’t been imagining it. He…actually wanted me to be a part of the Titans! Yes, YES.

Aaaaand there’s absolutely no way my dad would allow it. Dang it. But what daddy didn’t know won’t hurt him. If I sneak one in and then they accept me, then he’ll have to let me join, right?

Absolutely not, but it was worth a shot!

“Yes. Yes, I did.”

I exclaimed with all the seriousness I could muster. Law simply nodded in response before turning back to the old man. The old man who was now walking towards us.

“Little Zatanna, always a pleasure. And…hello, I don’t believe we’ve met before. I’m Kent Nelson.”

Aha! So, Kent was his name. He extended a hand towards Law who did much the same, only to hesitate. Stopping only inches away from his hand. Kent stared at it for a few seconds before laughing.

“Haha, don’t worry. I’m pretty old, but I’m not going to turn into a pile of dust with just a handshake.”

It took him a few seconds to finally shake his hand. Kent laughed a bit at the strange look Law was giving him. Finally, Law introduced himself and they got to talking.

Though it didn’t seem to be a very active conversation. With Kent doing most of the talking and Law giving one-word answers. Eventually Kent finally turned back to daddy before excusing himself to go and find his seat in the audience. Black Canary and Law followed suit after him as the show was about to start.

Though I couldn’t help but notice Law’s eyes seem to flicker when Kent’s back was turned. Maybe I was seeing things, but I could’ve sworn for just a moment the shape of his pupils changed.

The shape looked vaguely familiar…but I couldn’t quite place it. The closest thing I could compare it to would be the star of Bethlehem. Specifically, a christmas ornament dad got last year. 

Yet it wasn’t exactly the same.

“Zatanna, the shows about to start.”

Daddy warned, causing me to focus on what really mattered. 

It was showtime.

*~o~*

Artemis PoV

Once again, my mentor made an excuse about how busy he suddenly was before speaking up that Songbird, or Law, was available. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was trying to hook us up or something.

Not that the guy wasn’t attractive, but I hardly knew him. Even after going on several missions with him, we didn’t really know each other very well. Maybe cause we never knew each other out of costume, and that was something that wasn’t going to change. Ever.

The ‘missions’ could barely be called as such. They were glorified patrols. The only highlights were random thugs that were taken out in one hit. Either by my arrows, or by Songbird’s kick.

I expected today to be no different.

That quickly changed when an alarm from a nearby bank rang out. I froze in shock at the noise. A bank robbery in Star City wasn’t a small thing. Very few criminals risked operating big jobs underneath the Justice League’s nose. Especially in their home city.

This was different than muggings and no name assassins. This was some real shit.

Songbird on the other hand didn’t even flinch. Immediately turning and running straight towards the noise without any hesitation. Right, he actually had experience with things like this…but that didn’t mean I was going to just let him show me up.

I quickly followed behind and caught up when he stopped to overlook the situation. It seemed like the police hadn’t quite made it yet, but the villains were already starting to make their way out. Or at least they were loading up a van with stolen cash. It was hard to tell if they were going to make another trip to get more money or not.

It wasn’t hard to see who the boss was. A big black guy that was built like fucking Bane. Green Arrow told me his name…it was…Brick? I think?

“I count about six. Might be more still in the bank.”

Songbird commented causing me to actually count them before looking back at him.

“Yeah, me too. So…what’s the plan?”

I was used to Green Arrow quickly handing out orders during serious shit like this. Fuck, Brick was a villain villain, wasn’t he? Like, an actual threat? Should we…call this in or something?

Songbird took several seconds before speaking up again.

“I’ll go and take out the Van. Forcing them out in the open and giving you clear shots on them.”

I nodded. I’ll cover him and take out the van while he takes out…wait what? I was going to be the one to do the heavy lifting? Not even Green Arrow trusted me enough to take point.

Songbird must have already taken my nod as an answer, as he had already jumped off the building and sprinted towards the van. Jeez, this building wasn’t tall but it was still at least like…three stories? Four?

The hell was his legs made of? Metal?

He took a small orange ball out of his pocket as he darted forward. None of the villains saw him as they were too busy either loading up cash or on the lookout for cops. They were completely blindsided when he tossed the ball at the van.

It exploded violently. The van was forced back several steps and almost tilted over. Leaving a massive dent in the side of it. But the van still seemed drivable.

At least, it did before Songbird ripped one of the tires off the van.

Like…he just pulled it off. I don’t even understand how he did it. It must have been loose or something, because he didn’t even seem to really struggle with it. The first gunman that peaked out of the side of the van immediately ate one of my arrows to the dome.

Two appeared from the bank only to be immediately shot down. That made my count three. A fourth suddenly appeared out of the van with a gun, and was starting to run towards Songbird. I let loose an arrow, and instead of a headshot, it hit his hand. Knocking the gun out of it.

Fuck. I missed. I quickly loaded up another arrow, but Songbird was faster. He threw the tire that was in his hands, causing it to slam into the guys midsection and lift him off the ground. He went down pretty hard and even though he wasn’t unconscious, he didn’t seem to be getting back up any time soon.

So, he had some sort of super strength type shit with the disease curing power? Some people are just born lucky huh?

A fifth guy also started to crawl out of the van. His slow movements made him easy pickings. Finally, the man of the hour, Brick, showed his face. Forcing Songbird to take cover as he walked over with a gun in his hands. Showering his position with bullets.

I took my shot, and it hit. Bouncing off Brick’s head…only for him to turn and look towards my location with an annoyed expression. Alright, I was going to need to go harder on this guy.

He shot towards Songbird’s previous location, but his attention was still mostly focused on me. He started to walk towards me, only to have his gun kicked out of his hand by Songbird who had snuck up on him.

Immediately Brick swung back around and attempted to backhand him, only for Songbird to evade it by stepping out of range. This didn’t deter Brick as he just charged forward. Swiping at Songbird and forcing him to keep evading quickly before finally the van was pressed against his back.

When Brick slammed his fist forward this time, he was met with Songbirds leg. The two attacks seemed to stalemate each other until my explosive arrow hit Brick’s side. Forcing him forward and into the side of the van. His head smacked against it and Songbird kicked out his leg as he started to stumble back. Causing him to fall forward and smash his head against the van again. This time driving his head through the side.

…That was awesome.

He angrily jerked his head out of it before proceeding to try and pick up the van. Presumably to smash Songbird to death with it. Several more arrows hit Brick’s side, but none of them seemed to be enough for him to drop the van.

And then Songbird kicked him in the balls.

Which caused him to drop the van on top of himself. I was getting the feeling that he and Jade shouldn’t ever meet. Songbird turned his back towards the van and started to walk in my direction.

After a few seconds, the van suddenly lifted, and Brick came bolting out from underneath. Songbird started to turn around just as Brick reached him. Maybe it’s cause he thought the problem was already dealt with, but he was moving way too calmly.

Before Brick could get him though, my arrow hit his knee. The explosion of the arrows may not hurt him much, but it was enough to move him slightly. And if I pushed his leg while he was running…

Predictably he fell forward flat on his face. Slamming head first into the ground causing cracks to form. This time he didn’t get back up.

I rappelled my way down and met with Songbird who nodded at me. I was just looking at everything in awe. We…had just done that. Holy shit. We didn’t just take out a crook, we took out an actual villain. Like a grade A ‘get a superhero on this shit’ type of villain.

“…Holy shit. Did you see that!? I can’t believe we just took out Brick and-“

I elastically started to talk, only to look back at Songbird who was just staring back at me calmly through his goggles. I…just embarrassed myself. Didn’t I?

Calm down Artemis. Act like the badass you are. Focus. I just need to focus.

Coughing into my hand I gestured towards the criminals.

“You uh, you did pretty good.”

He waved me off.

“Don’t thank me. You did all the work. I just acted as bait.”

…Yeah, he was right, wasn’t he? It wasn’t all me, but I did put in a lot of work for that. And all of it paid off. I didn’t have super strength; I didn’t have super speed. I didn’t have any powers, and yet I took down Brick.

Hell yeah.

“I’m guessing your training with Green Arrow is just about finished. You got any plans afterwards?”

About finished? Was he just saying that, or did he actually believe it? I waved my hand.

“Uh, not really no.”

“You ever think about joining with the Titans?”

Oh shit.