"So what time do you think they'll be back?" Zatanna asked looking at the clock. "I asked Artemis to have Emma back by six," Howler said placing the last of the cupcakes in a plastic container, "She's got about twelve minutes before she's late." "Why six?" she asked looking at him. "Because dinner should be done by then," he said. "Really, what are you making?" she asked getting up. "Spaghetti and meatballs," he answered leaning against the counter, "I also have garlic cheese bread in the oven."
She smiled as she slowly walked over to him asking, "Oh that does sound good. What do you have planned for dessert?" "I thought I'd be nice and fix something Emma hasn't had in a while," he said watching her. She slipped her arms his neck asking, "Can I get a hint or do I have to wait?" "I think I might could give a hint if persuaded," he said placing his hands on her hips. "Would this work?" she asked before pressing her lips to his in a gentle kiss.
He started to return the kiss when a giggle when they heard the computer announce, "Recognized: Recognized: Black Canary; One-three, Kid Flash: B-Zero Four, Tigress; B-Zero Seven, Emma; A-Two Nine." "And they're back," he murmured against her lips. He looked towards the Zeta tubes to see the Dinah, Wally, and Artemis carrying multiple shopping bags and Kim smiling holding a strange white rabbit. "Kitchen is for cooking, not making out, you two," Artemis said trying not to laugh. The two slowly broke apart as Zatanna replied, "FYI, Howler cooked spaghetti."
"With meatballs?" Emma asked excitedly. "And garlic cheese bread," he said as the oven timer went off. "Sweet," Emma said as she watched a pair of blue hands took the for mentioned item from the stove. "I thought Diana was with you guys," Howler said. "She had to run to the Watchtower," Dinah said smiling, "Come on Emma, let's go put your stuff away and get cleaned up." "Ok," Emma said before following her friend. Howler waited till his sister had left the room before asking, "So, what's the real reason Diana isn't here?" "She's taking a flash drive my sister, Jade, gave me at the mall," Artemis said leaning against the counter, "She found out the truth about what happened to your mom."
"What did she find out?" Howler asked. She relied what she had told then asked, "What exactly is the grail?" Howler leaned back against the counter as he sighed and said, "It's a prototype ion-vacuum power generator mom was working on for an R&D company called Camelot Tech." "Jade said it can block boom tubes. We think it's because of that, Queen Bee put a hit out on your mother," Wally said before running the bags to Emma's room.
"Killed over a stupid theory," Howler muttered. "What do you mean 'theory?" Wally asked as Howler's power ring started glowing. A blue construct of what looked like an upside down diamond formed as Howler explained, "Once the grail is active, it generates a weird electromagnetic field that allows whoever is operating it to block almost any kind of teleportation. The only thing that doesn't seem to be affected is Zeta Tubes." "If that's true, then we might be able to stop boom tubes completely," Zatanna said.
"Possibly," Wally said after a few seconds, "How big is the grail?" "About the size of a toaster," Howler replied as the construct faded, "And to answer your next question, our mom hooked it up to our house to see if it worked. The amount of power it created fed back into the grid and caused the power company to shut down after it refunded money to every citizen in Jump City once." "Whoa," Wally said. "Mom called it her third greatest miracle," Emma said softly.
Howler reached over and gently stroked his sister hair. "The first two being you and me, Emma," Howler said with a slight smile, "You ok?" Emma wiped the last of her tears from her eyes and said, "I guess. Is dinner ready?" "Just finished actually," Howler replied, "So did you have fun with Artemis, Diana, and Dinah today, Emma?"
Emma nodded saying, "Uh-huh. The best part was when I got to meet Jade and got Wally in trouble." "What did you do?" Howler asked placing the garlic bread on the table. "Jade bet Wally fifty bucks that two people couldn't fit in the mascot costume he was wearing while he filled in for Artemis," Dinah explained smiling. "He didn't?" Zatanna asked. "I won fifty bucks," Wally said with a slight smile. "And you got him in trouble by?" Howler asked.
"Her and Jade started yelling at Wally to give Artemis back," Dinah said. "The store manager thought it was funny," Emma said sitting at the table. "I bet," Howler asked as he used his ring to set the table, "So, who all is staying for dinner?" "I would, but I'm going to have to take a rain check on dinner tonight," Dinah said with a sigh, "Olie is taking me out." "You could always bring him here for dinner," Emma said smiling.
"Not when he's paying," Dinah said before heading to towards the Zeta Tubes. "I don't want to know," Howler said before the computer announced her departure, "how about the rest of you?" "Phone up if you are," Emma said as her brother put his cell face down on the table. "Um, what are you doing?" Artemis asked a little puzzled. "Cell phones on the table, face down, during dinner," Howler explained, "If it goes off and you answer it, thank you for volunteering to do the dishes by hand. No powers or using the dishwasher."
"It's actually pretty fun," Zatanna said putting hers on the table. "Bart keeps losing when we do this," Howler said as Wally and Artemis added their phones as well. "Hey, before we eat, can I talk to you real quick?" Zatanna asked. "Uh, sure," Howler said turning the stove down on low. He followed her over to the TV then asked, "What's wrong?" The magician turned and took his hands in hers saying, "Promise me you won't go after the Light." "I promise," he said giving her hand a light squeeze, "The only thing I'm going to do is call a friend who specializes in hacking." "What are you going to do?" Zatanna asked a little worried. "Something that has needed to be done," Howler said as he used his ring to set the table, "I am going to destroy everything the Light has ever done and built over the years.
"Now how about we go eat before Wally eats it all?" "Between Artemis and Emma, I don't think he would be that crazy," she said as they walked back over to the others.