Hi everyone welcome to another chapter. Now over the past 2 years one thing I realised is that my update speed is getting slower. So I'd like to try and update faster in the future (without sacrificing quality obviously). I hope I can do it. However I can't make promises.

Anyway today starts The Magic Arc. I hope you enjoy.

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Nine Months Later.

Bruce stepped out of the batmobile. It was past three in the morning, he was exhausted and hungry. Batman has spent his last three hours in a prolonged battle with the villain known as Joker. A skinny, very pale skinned man with green hair. He wore a purple jacket and bright red lipstick. Alfred displayed the images of their battle on screen. The billionaire looked on in silence.

"A rough night, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked his boss.

"The clown's persistent." The dark knight answered. "This man is unlike anyone I've ever faced. Every villain has an agenda, a goal that pushes them to commit these crimes. Joker? He has none of those. He's not interested in money, power or even fame." Bruce sighed as Alfred walk to his side.

"Perhaps you could do something to take this off your mind. Tomorrow afternoon, Zatara's Magical Wonders is doing a one off performance in Gotham." Bruce looked at his Butler, the feeling of saudade hit him hard. "And I'm sure Miss Zatanna will be there too."

"I haven't seen Giovanni and Zatanna in years. It will be good to catch up." Bruce took of his costume and walked upstairs to bed. Giovanni Zatara taught him escape artistry when he was still training to be Batman. However it was always his daughter that he remembered. Bruce met Zatanna while studying under her father. The two were young teenagers and instantly hit it off. Yet when she asked him to stay with them. Bruce remembered the promise he made to his parents. Bruce made the only decision he could, to continue with his never ending quest. As the caped crusader made his way upstairs, he came across an old picture. It was one of him and Zatanna celebrating Giovanni's one thousandth show. If there was one thing he regretted about his time with the Zatara's. It was how he left things with Zatanna. However he couldn't change the past. All he could do was to look towards the future.

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The next day Bruce arrived at the Gotham theatre. The tricks that the two magicians were once again out of this world. Giovanni was one of, If not the greatest magician on Earth. That is why the dark knight sought him out to begin with. After the wonderful performance Bruce, walked backstage to meet with his former teacher. The elder magical was busy packing away his props. He was a tall man with black hair. He wore a black suit combined with an interesting looking bow tie and top hat.

"I see that you haven't lost your touch." Bruce joked. Giovanni turned around to see his former pupil. The two shook hands felling a bit of nostalgia.

"Bruce Wayne. It is so good to see you! My god, you've gotten taller. I sure hope you haven't forgotten my training." He sternly responded. The caped crusader laughed at Giovanni's words.

"How could I forget something like that?" The two sat down as they reconciled. "How is life treating you?"

"Very good, we are selling out our shows constantly."

"You should perform at one of our charity events in the near future." The magician however refused.

"I'm sorry, but these types of events are not what we like to do." The two continues to reconnect until they were interrupted.

"Well I should have guessed you would come to say hello." A female voice said. The two looked up to see Zatanna standing in front of them. She was a late twenties woman. With long black hair and bright red lipstick. Like her father she wore a black suit. Coupled with a bow tie and top hat. "Hello Bruce."

"I should get back to packing away our props." Giovanni awkwardly stated, before sliding away. His daughter took his spot as it was her turn to catch up with Bruce.

"Listen..." Bruce tried to explain.

"You don't have to explain anything Bruce." Zatanna informed him, much to his surprise. "What happened between us was a very long time ago. I'm not one to hold grudges. Honestly I'm surprised you came, especially because..." Both of them looked out over Crime Alley. Bruce almost shed a tear as he reminisced over that fateful night.

"It was that very spot which defined my life." Bruce looked down in sadness. A few seconds passed where neither dared to say a word. Surprisingly however it was Bruce who ended the silence. "I'm sorry, we're not here to speak of such tragic events. Let's look towards the future. I see your father has improved his routine."

"Yeah it sure is amazing." Bruce noticed that the young magician sounded slightly depressed.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh it's nothing... Actually there is something. I've been part of my fathers act since I was a child. And yet I'm still just an assistant. This isn't our show... it's his. What makes it even worse is that he still won't reveal the secrets to his grander tricks."

"Haven't you been able to figure them out on your own?"

"No! And that's the weirdest thing about it. Some of these tricks are scientifically impossible. Yet he manages to do things like make copies of himself or pull an animal out his hat."

"Isn't that quite simple to do?"

"Try doing it with a lion." This really got Bruce's attention. "I just wish he could learn to trust me more."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be..." The two were interrupted by a loud crash. They went next door to check it out. What they found was someone with one foot on top of a battered Giovanni. Bruce's eyes widened as he recognised that face. "Goku?" The man looked at them and smiled. Before either could blink he grabbed Bruce by the throat. Zatanna punched the imposter before being knocked into the wall.

"So you know Kakarot? I guess you could be of use." He threateningly stated. They all turned around around to see a Namekian standing in the doorway. Zatanna screamed at the green alien. However unbeknownst to the two intruders. Bruce sent out a signal. What's more, Giovanni had managed to muster up two words.

"Langis nhoj." The performer muttered under his breath. Before being knocked unconscious by the Goku imposter's foot.

"Be quiet." He ordered, before turning to his partner. "Slug, so glad you could join me."

"Turles! What are you doing, playing with these humans?" The Namekian responded.

"This one knows stuff about my counterpart. I'm going to find out every little secret about Kakarot." Slug looked displeased, but conceded.

"Fine, but at least kill the girl!" The two looked down at Zatanna, who couldn't move due to her earlier injury. Turles shrugged his shoulders and flew off with the two men in hand. "I have to do everything." Zatanna couldn't even utter a syllable, let alone scream for help. The female performer stared death in its face, waiting for a conclusion. However just before Slug could finish the job, a blast hit him. It sent him flying towards the room's other end. "Miserable wretch!" Zatanna looked up to see a blonde man standing there. He wore a creased white shirt, underneath an incredibly dirty cream jacket. All while he smoked a cigarette.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to hit a woman?" He asked angering the former general of Warworld. The man had a thick English accent.

"Guess I'll have to kill you too." Slug threatened him, before attacking with a Ki blast. The blast was heading straight for this newcomer. Nevertheless he held out his hand and made the attack disappear. Slug was left bewildered at this power. "I don't have time to toy with insects." Slug followed his partner and quickly flew off. The man walked towards Zatanna, who shook with fear.

"Are you hurt?" Zatanna shook her head in reply. "Come on, it's not safe for you here." The two made started to walk out. However are large crash could be heard behind them. They both turned around to see Robin standing.

"Where is he?" The boy wonder demanded to know. The blonde was now bored of these distractions.

"Sorry kid, mummy and daddy don't have time to play!" The smoker quipped, while opening a portal. The two stepped through it leaving the sidekick of Batman alone. Meanwhile Zatanna's day had gotten weirder as she look around. She was now in an entirely different building. This one was more like an Eighteenth century mansion.

"Alright... Who are you? Who were they? And where the hell are we?" Zatanna managed to calmly ask. Inside however she was screaming. The blonde man chuckled at the three questions.

"John Constantine at your service." He said before putting his cigarette out. "I have no idea who those two were. And welcome to the house of mystery. I won this rubbish in a poker game. Does come in handy when you need to hide though." None of these answers really calmed Zatanna down. John sat down and started to drink some whiskey.

"So how did we get here?" This question almost caused Constantine to choke on his drink.

"He never told you? Well I suppose we should start from the beginning."

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Robin sat in the batcave, Alfred was to the left. While Gohan and Kara were on the other side. They all gathered round as Dick showed them footage of his earlier altercation. The boy wonder froze it when both faces could be shown. Everyone felt concern for Bruce, nevertheless Alfred was visibly the most troubled.

"The female has been identified as Zatanna Zatara. Assistant to 'the great' Giovanni Zatara. Her and Batman used to be together, until Bruce broke her heart." Robin informed them all.

"And the man?" Gohan asked.

"No known records of him in any database. Whoever this man is, he's a ghost." Every stared at the screen deciding their next move.

"Maybe we should get back up. I'm sure my dad, Piccolo or Superman could help us?"

"I believe that would be wise Master Gohan." Alfred stated.

"No!" Kara firmly said, surprising the three males. "We don't need anyone else. We can do this!"

"Telling the others would just start a panic." Dick agreed, that was only half the truth though.

"Master Grayson, I must..." The butler tried to interject, but was cut off.

"Alfred, trust me!" After a glare from the boy wonder, Alfred reluctantly agreed.

"I don't think it's the correct decision. But I trust you both to make the right call." Gohan added. "So what do we do now?"

"Now, I have every camera going through facial identification. If any one of those catches Zatanna we'll know. She's our only lead though, so we wait."

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Zatanna nervously sat down. She honestly had no clue what was going on. Two people, if she could even call Slug a person. Had kidnapped her father and Bruce. Now this stranger had somehow taken her to this mystery house. John lit up another cigarette and began his explanation.

"Now pay close attention, cause I'm only going to say this once." Constantine began his story. "All those tricks your father did on stage? That's not slight of hand, it's actual magic. Me and him used to be part of a crew. That's why he called me when you were attacked. See I wouldn't have usually put my neck on the chopping board. But I owed that idiot a favour."

"Hang on, are your telling me that magic is real?" Zatanna skeptically asked. "Prove it." John snapped his fingers, transforming his body into a perfect replica of her. She almost fell off her chair, meanwhile he was laughing. "My god, magic is real." The magician once again snapped his fingers, turning back to his usual self.

"Hate changing into females, always something lacking." Zatanna meanwhile was still processing all this.

"Ok then Merlin what's the plan?"

"Now we lay low for forty eight hours." This angered the assistant, to the point of shouting.

"What do you mean lay low? My father and Bruce have been kidnapped. We have to rescue them!"

"Look love." Constantine facial expressions were now very serious. "Where would you even begin? Neither of us know who they are!" Zatanna though wasn't having any of it.

"Can't your magic find him?"

"Even my power has limits, I can't just magically find missing people. Why am I even having this conversation. They're both probably dead already. And I don't wish to join them." This earned Constantine a slap on the face. Causing him to drop his cigarette.

"Do you care about something other than yourself?" John smiled as he stamped on the cigarette, putting it out.

"Your new to this whole life, so listen well." His voice became much more sinister. "Caring about others will only get you killed, or worse. I learnt that lesson a very long time ago. So I suggest you adapt, unless death is a desire of yours." John walked away into a different room, leaving the somber Zatanna alone. She wanted to wake up from this dream. She kept telling herself none of this was real. Except deep down she knew, this was real. This would be her life now.

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So I hoped you enjoyed the start of the Magic Arc.

Reviews:

Game2002: Excited for Aquaman too.

Dark Flacon: Really, what comic was that from?

X3runner:

1: I love writing the dynamic between the two pairs.

2: What I will say is Lex will be a very long term villain.

Corondomontes: Thanks

victor0606: Thanks

Dragondave45: I hate to disappoint you but they'll only be one other magic character and it won't be a villain. Turles and Slug will be the main vaillains.

Egylynx: Thanks

Jalen Johnson:

1: Oh He will.

2: No lie. The kids are becoming my favourite characters to write.

3: Yes Zatanna will have a very important role.

Powres: Thanks

Aguy1013: Funny you should say that. This will get addressed this arc.

Celgress:

1: I obviously won't spoil anything. But if I feel a non canon pairing works I'll do it.

2: I love Lex as a bad guy too.

Monkeyman92:

1: Sorry but like TFS said "Power Levels are B*******" You simply can't judge a persons stregth, speed, skill and abilities in one number.

2: Darkseid will be inrtroduced very late on. He won't be the final arc but very nearly.

3: I haven't decided on all pairings yet.