Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice.

So yeah, this is an extremely alternate universe in which Zatanna is a vigilante archer! It's kinda based on Green Arrow: Year One. This story is going to be rather long as well... If you liked it, just leave a review! Oh yeah, there will be two flashbacks!


Chapter One: Return

"Zatanna Zatara, daughter of famous businessman John Zatara, has been presumed dead for the last five years. Her father was sadly killed in the shipwreck that took her away from us, but now she has returned..." Zatanna turned away from the TV on the wall in her hospital room. She then proceeded to look out onto the city of Gotham.

"How's she doing?"

"Well, there are about seven fractured bones that never fully healed, quite a few scars... Looks like she's in recovery though."

"Has she said anything about her experience?"

"No. She's hardly said anything at all."

Sindella and Doctor Smoke looked through the glass at her daughter. She was standing still, in a white t-shirt with rolled up sleeves and green combats, staring into the skyline of Gotham City. Every now and again, the girl would tap her black army boot against the linoleum floor.

Sindella took a deep breath before opening the door and shutting it behind her.

"Zatanna?" She spoke sympathetically. This was likely because she knew her daughter had been through some tough times, yet that was all. She had no details.

"Mom." The ebony-haired girl turned from the nightlife to hug her mother. They embraced for around four seconds before Sindella broke it apart.

"It's so good to see you." She whispered into her daughter's ear, making the girl's cyan eyes twinkle and the corners of her lips twist upwards into a roguish smile.

As the chauffeur pulled up into he driveway of Zatara Mansion, Zatanna thought to herself while admiring the home she had missed so dearly. Nothing's changed. She then smiled her pretty smile and hopped out of the car, carrying her only belonging; a rectangular, handcrafted wooden suitcase. Only Zatanna herself knew of the contents. She lugged it though the front door, which was held open by her mother. As she began up the stairs, now carrying the suitcase on her back, her brother greeted her by almost smashing into her broken rib.

He didn't hug her, as he had a tendency to never be gentle and he had heard about her injuries.

"Good to see you, sis!" He smiled, patting her shoulder. As she smiled, she realised that she had missed her brother so much; the alcoholic, club-loving, womanising eighteen-year-old that he was. She ruffled his blond hair and looked into his forest green eyes. Her smile faded as she stared into his eyes. She shook her head, but could not stop herself reminiscing about the experience she had had.


"Royal flush." Zatanna called with a winning grin as she laid down her hand of cards. John slapped his forehead and handed over the hundred pounds she had won. A sudden jolt alerted the girl. "Did you feel that?" She stood up from the booth in the boat. Zatanna felt it swaying. The Queen's Dream did not sway like this. Ever. Her father looked into her concerned eyes, but shrugged and carried on re-dealing cards.

"It's probably nothing. The ocean's always a bit rocky." He motioned for her join him but she shook her head.

"No, it's a storm." She muttered as she threw a life vest at her father and put one over her head. She grabbed two water bottles and three bags of Doritos. She passed a bottle to him and placed the bags in the inside pockets of her vest. Zatanna then heard another slosh of water against the side of the Queen's Dream.

She tackled her unwilling father to the floor as she grabbed a life boat and inflated it. Soon enough, the ship snapped in half; the bow, and the captain had sunk already. She wrestled the older man into the dingy, where they watched as the ship floated down to the seabed. They hugged each other for warmth, little knowing that it would be their last hug.

A few hours later, the raft was getting them to no refuge.

"Zatanna, there aren't enough provisions for both of us to make it out of this situation alive." John looked at his only daughter sternly. She stared at him with an extremely perplexed look. He handed her his bottled water. Then she caught on as he fumbled on his pocket.

"Dad, no. NO!" She screamed as he pulled out his pistol. He mouthed an apology while keeping her from taking the gun. He lifted it to his head and pulled the trigger. She tried to get him to wake up, knowing it was futile.

"Dad? Dad?" She shook his lifeless body, and after a few minutes, sobbed on it.

"Zatanna? Zatanna?" Someone was shaking her.


It was her mother.

"Are you okay? You just drifted off..." She winced at the word choice.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Zatanna began to walk around Zachary to get up to her room.

"We left you room how it was. We didn't have the heart to change anything." Her mother added as she pulled the suitcase back over her shoulder and headed up the stairs. She found her room easily enough, exactly as it was before.

The same queen-sized bed, elegant curtains and dresser. She placed the suitcase underneath her bed and as she sat down, felt a squarish shape in her pocket. She took out the leather-bound book and flicked through its creamy pages. The book had belonged to her father, and holding it made her remember how she had got it.


After a few days in the raft, Zatanna was still in the same predicament. It was irony really, a life raft; with her father's corpse in it. She felt the book in his pocket, and took it out. Zatanna knew that it was important because he would never carry anything but a gun and a pack of cigarettes unless it was. She had actually seen him flip through the notebook on occasion, but never questioned it. But now she did. Zatanna had often pondered what was in the book, and so she looked in it.


It was a book of rivals; all of Gotham City's richest, most famous people. Everyone who wouldn't care who's dream they'd crush, what the consequences were, or anything to get what they wanted; which was money. She looked in it, and the first name on the list was a Mr Alan Dent. Zatanna knew of him, a rich business man and owner of Dent Multinational. She put the book in a draw in her nightstand and jogged back down the stairs.

As she got down to the last few stairs, she began to walk slowly. "Zatanna... You remember Clark?" Sindella smiled and gestured to a man who Zatanna only vaguely remembered. She showed a look of confusion. "Your father's business associate? He's been running the industry while you were gone." Zatanna pretended to understand and nodded, adding a small greeting.

"Now, with you back in the picture, I guess that you should take over." Clark smiled, his hand on Sindella's waist.

Zatanna noticed this.

"Oh okay, so you guys are-" she gestured to the pair and then wiggled her hands in a "together" motion. They both nodded, to which she sighed.

"We wanted to tell you sooner, but you were..." Clark trailed off.

"Yeah, I was dead. I get it." She shook her head, turning around to head back up to her room.

"Zatanna..." Her mother sighed, she was always hotheaded.


So, umm, I guess this is more of a prologue than anything, not a lot of action etc... I worked pretty hard on this so if you did like it let me know!

- Chalantelle out! :3