Chapter 6: Zachary Zatara

Prologue

Little Zachary, like some heroes, were forced to pledge their allegiance to Superman against his will. Being so young, Zachary felt himself at a strong opposition and had no choice but to join Superman's Regime. Doing so, Zachary was forced to use his magic to strengthen the Regime's forces by Superman and doing so everyday began to take its toll on him.

He couldn't focus in on his powers and began to find himself weakening by every single moment that passed. He wished to escape but feared for his life if Superman learned that he ran free. Stuck in between a rock and hard place, Zachary needs to find the solution to his problems and fix it.

Inside the Batcave, there is a black cape and magician's hat on the ground. It isn't before long that the cape and hat suddenly float to the air with some magical energy surrounding it until it completely manifests into a young boy who is now sporting the hat on his head with the cloak on his back and wand in hand. He faces the opponent with a childish smile on his face before he gets into his battle stance.

ZACHARY: Get ready for a magic show that you will never forget!

On the other side is a magician's hat that quickly begins to float into the air, surrounding by magic as well until it manifests the beautiful and flawless Zatanna, as she holds the hat and smiles to her opponent.

ZATANNA: Prepare to be astounded!

She throws the hat to the opposite direction and readies herself for battle.

The fight begins.

Zatanna uses her magic to cast her hat and throws it at Zachary. It connects and Zachary is slightly staggered but recovers quickly. Using his wand, Zach shoots a lightning bolt at Zatanna but she dodges it by teleporting towards him. Unfortunately for her, this proved to be risky. Zach strikes at her with a weak punch, following it with backhand strike before using his wand to telekinetically grab her and lift her into the air. He then slams her to the ground, which causes her to bounce from the ground and back to the air.

ZACHARY: Heheh!

He jumps up to deliver a punch to Zatanna and lands for the combination. Zachary delivers a rising heel, followed by a forward kick, and jumps into the air to dropkick her into a further distance but manages to use his wand to trap Zatanna in an orb just before she lands.

ZACHARY: Nrub evila!

Immediately, Zatanna is burned inside the orb and Zach releases her from the orb, falling to the ground.

ZACHARY: Sorry about that cousin Zatanna!

Zatanna gets back to continue the fight. Being close to the edge, Zachary waits for the opportunity. Zatanna throws another hat towards him, but Zachary evades it by teleporting to her and quickly connecting a string of attacks on her before crouching to the ground and performing a handspring kick that knocks Zatanna to the computer for a level transition.

As Zatanna flies through the computer, she hurtles towards a rock wall and begins her fall. She hits her head on the way, coming in contact with her head on a solid plain before falling further and hitting her head on a metal thingy (I have no idea what they're called). Her fall ends as she falls onto the BatSubmarine, which electrocutes her and the water. She bounces from the sub and lands on the ground, losing the first round. Zachary steps in on the scene and waves his wand in the air.

ZACHARY: You'll learn to not underestimate me because I'm kid!

Zatanna gets back up to continue the fight. As Zachary shoots a lightning bolt from his wand, Zatanna teleports in front of him, striking him with various slaps before leaping into the air in the form of a frontflip and connecting her feet to the top of his head, forcing him to bounce from the ground and into the air. Being close enough to the elevator, Zatanna pushes him to the elevator to perform a level transition.

The elevator doors open as Zachary flies through it, colliding to the wall as Zatanna jumps in the elevator in a manner of assault. As the doors close, there are punches being made, evident by the punching bumps on the surface of the elevator as it ascends. Inside the elevator, Zatanna is seen beating down her cousin, Zachary, with devastating punches before grabbing him to reel him to a wall and reeling him to a window, sliding downward from the impact as the glass from the window breaks. As the elevator reaches the top floor, Zachary is blasted from the elevator and lands on the ground, defeated, losing the second round.

Zatanna makes her way through and grabs her hat for a fancy twirl.

ZATANNA: Never mess with a magical chick!

Zachary gets back up to continue the fight. He advances towards Zatanna but is countered as she slaps him again. However, Zachary uses this opportunity to make a wager.

ZACHARY: Does your cleavage always show?

ZATANNA: Stop worrying about what I wear!

The two charged in towards each other and their strikes connect as the light engulfs them both and dissipates. However, both are pushed back by the force, indicating that neither of them won the wager.

Zatanna teleports again and once she appears in front of him, Zachary performs his supermove.

He uses mind-control to hypnotize Zatanna and the screen goes black. Zatanna is seen floating in a space of nothingness as Zachary hovers above her. He unleashes a stack of cards that penetrates her from different areas and grabs his hat.

ZACHARY: Okay Mr. Whiskers!

He pulls a rabbit out of his hat, but this is no ordinary rabbit. The rabbit carries a monstrous figure and appearance similar to a wild beast and is twice the young boy's size, so it's amazing that the boy is able to hold the rabbit by its ears. Zach turns to face Zatanna, still suspended in the air with the cards in her body with a devilish smile.

ZACHARY: Kcatta!

He releases the rabbit as it charges towards Zatanna and begins to maul her as she screams in pure fear. Eventually, the screen goes black again and Zatanna is on the ground while Zachary looks at her with a smile on his face.

ZACHARY: Got to love illusions!

As the illusion ends, Zatanna gets back up but falls back down in defeat, meaning Zachary won the match. In victory, Zach removes his hat from his head and grabs his wand. He taps the hat twice with his wand and out comes a flock of doves that flies around him. He then faces the camera with a generous smile.

ZACHARY: I love being a magician!

Epilogue

The Regime was desperate to maintain its position on top of all other minorities and this desperation led to misusing Zach's magic for wicked uses. Zachary Zatara was forced to unleash beasts from his hat in order to slaughter those who dare opposed Superman's rule and the poor child was afraid to fight back. He couldn't go against the Man of Steel. However, this fear soon ended. Upon the death of his parents by Superman's hand, Zachary was filled with anguish and wrath. A new ego snapped inside of him.

Waiting for the right moment, Zachary turned on his leader and used the power of magic to defeat Superman in battle. Being so young yet able to take on the High Councilor, members of the Regime, happy to be freed from Superman's ruling hand, made him the new leader of the Regime. Zachary's first order was to reshape the world that Superman had ruined and he had given Batman, Zatanna, and Batgirl their roles in doing so.

A/N: I really need to do my research! Today, I just read online that Zach is a teenager, not a preteen. So everything that made Zach sound as if he was younger than he was supposed to be, I am very sorry for the mishap. However, I did learn that he was on the Teen Titans and that he wasn't liked very much for being a brat, so I guess I was on par in some way.

James Gordon will be on his way and stay tuned! Review!