And we're back with Justice League Unlimited stories! This is a chapter that'll push the Eric/Zatanna romance forward by a lot and it'll move the Hex plot forward.

I've gotta say, it feels kinda weird writing chapters from the show after working on two original chapters back-to-back, not sure why, eh, I'll get used to it eventually.

But holy shit! The PS5 showcase! The madmen and women really opened with Final Fantasy XVI and ended with God of War: Ragnarök! Oooh, baby, and the price, not as expensive as I thought. Though, now I wonder, what to do about my PS4? GameStop's offering trade-in deals for current-gen consoles going towards pre-orders of the PS5 or the new Xbox Series X and S. I'll think about this.

Now, to reply to some reviews!

JustinT: Actually, it depends, but for two of the three schools I went to, sixth grade was elementary, so that's what I chose for Eric.

Raidentensho: Eric started out with the same ten as Ben did, the list can be seen in the first flashback chapter, and the Swampfire blooming issue (as well as Big Chill giving birth) will be seen in flashback chapters. Also, in the first chapter I described Zatanna's look, and it's strongly based on the Justice League Dark one, which I agree with you completely about. And I have a plan for Ben, just you wait.

JLU Fun Fact 4: Captain Atom and the Question originally belonged to Chariton Comics, a rival to DC Comics before they were acquired by DC in the 1980s.

Well, that's all from me up here, on with the story!


This Little Piggy

About an hour later, I begin the drive to Esmeralda's school, which happens to be the same private high school I went to when we moved to Seattle six years ago. I arrive at the building and park my car; I then turn it off and lean back in my seat as I pull out my phone and wait. All right, she should be out in ten minutes, ample time for me to at least think about the Silver Bolt Project.

From the glove compartment, I open a secret section which has the blueprints for Silver Bolt. I bring the blueprints into my lap and look it over, on the paper I see the outlines for a little robot, about half my size.

I'll admit, he's absolutely based off of Clank from Ratchet & Clank, but he's also going to have Galvanic Mechamorph parts. If anything, he's my Ship.

Thanks to my smarter forms I've found ways of giving him the ability to transform into a jet just as big as a Javelin, but twice as deadly, which also makes him into a Transformer, I guess. Then again, he is named after one.

The thing is, most of Silver Bolt is already complete, the only problem I have is regarding his transformation ability, it's hard finding the right parts. Maybe I should order them off of Space Amazon? They've got everything there, even some of the less legal things. If I do that, I've just gotta make sure no one finds out, that could bite me in the ass.

Hm, maybe I should use magic? But if I ask a mage they'll probably ask if I have an alternative, and I really don't wanna lie to mages, doing that tends to be bad for one's health. Wait, I could ask Zatanna, if there's one mage I trust with keeping a possibly illegal transaction quiet, it's her. All right, I'll ask her after her show.

I hear a bell ring, and almost immediately a massive amount of student's pour out of the building, all ready to be done with the day. Man, I don't envy them, I remember my time in school, wasn't fun, hell, even while I was taking college-level courses it was still boring. Ah well, I'm out here and they're in there. I see that as an absolute win.

I narrow my eyes before putting the Silver Bolt blueprints away. Where is that girl? I sense out for her mana signature and find out she's stationary in the building. What the hell?

My phone starts ringing, I pick it up to see Mom calling me. "Is this about Esmeralda?"

"Hello to you, too," Mom sighs. "Apparently she has detention. Will they let you stand in our place?"

"Well, they do know I'm her older brother and that I'm over eighteen, so they have to," I answer as I get out of my car. "I'll go check this out, Mom, love you."

"Love you too," Mom hangs up.

I fight against the crowd of students and enter my old high school, and man, I did not miss this.

Even if this is a private school there's an unidentifiable stench in the air, and thanks to my extended time away from it, the stench punches my nose like if Mongul were to punch me in the face. The noise is nearly unbearable as well, students shouting over each other so that their friend right next to them can hear them, lockers being slammed all over the place, and teachers shouting as student's quickly leave the classroom, trying to remind them of the homework.

I sigh before walking towards the office, ignoring the looks I get from some of the kids.

I finally turn the last corner and see Esmeralda sitting on a chair outside of Principal Woodward's office, she's playing with the sleeve of her blazer. Oh, this is gonna be fun.

My sister's head perks up as she notices me walking over. "Eric! I can explain!"

"You don't need to, Esme. I know you, if you're here it's for a good reason, Woodward's just too stupid to see it," I say. Esmeralda smiles. "But Mom sounded pretty mad when she called me," her smile drops.

As I sit down next to her Esmeralda turns to me. "No offense, but what're you doing here?"

"(I was hoping to take you somewhere important for your Charms plan. Looks like it'll have to wait a minute,)" I reply.

"(Where to?)" She asks with a tilt of the head.

"Can't say, it's a surprise," I reply with a smirk as she pouts.

The door next to me opens and the secretary, Ms. O'Connor peaks her head out. "Esmeralda, it's- oh! Eric, how are you?"

"Hey Ms. O'Connor, I'm good, you?" I ask as the two of us stand up and enter her little office.

"Oh, it's Mrs. Bailey now. I'm good, thanks for asking. What have you been up to these past few years?" She asks as a boy with brown hair and brown eyes exits the principal's office, he and Esmeralda glare at each other before the kid plops down in a chair.

"Nothing much, just traveling the world with my friends and expanding my horizons. We should go see Woodward. It was nice talking to you," I say as she opens the door to let me and Esmeralda in.

Woodward looks up and stares at me in surprise before schooling his features and motioning towards the chairs. "Eric, it's been some time."

"Yeah, almost five years, Woodward," I reply before getting serious. "Why's my sister in trouble?"

He narrows his eyes before folding his hands below his chin. "I caught her holding Mr. Belasco in a headlock while he was bleeding from his nose."

Huh, sounds like she hit him with a palm strike to his face before getting him in a headlock. Simple, yet effective. Nice.

"Okay, but do you know why?" I ask. "Context is really important you know."

He gives me a subtle glare as he turns his computer screen to show footage of exactly what he described. "She hurt another student in the middle of the hallway, context isn't needed, Mr. Mercer."

"That's my Dad," I mutter. "God, seems like schools all over the place are horrible when dealing with bullying," I point at the girl behind the kid Esmeralda beat so easily. "Look at Jenny, she's a nice girl, hates conflict, but her kind heart can only lead to morons like this kid preying after her. My best guess? He was bullying her, Esmeralda came in and stopped it, but jerk wad here decided to go after my sister, and that's how we get to now."

Esmeralda nods. "We were gonna walk away, but he lunged at me after calling me the B-word," I clench my fist tightly at that. Oh, he's gonna regret that. "If you'd look back not even three minutes earlier, you'd see all of that."

"Are you calling me incompetent, Ms. Mercer?" Woodward asks with narrowed eyes.

"No, I'm just saying that you're giving him a pass because his Mom's the head of the PTA, and he's the "star basketball player". And if he were to get any form of punishment, well, there goes this year's trophy," Esmeralda replies as she folds her arms and leans back in her seat. Nice one, kid.

"I-" Woodward stutters, all but confirming her theory.

"Y'know, he was the same when I was here. There was this kid, Brian Redd, star quarterback, and no matter what he did, he never got in trouble. Weird, huh," I comment as I repeat Esmeralda's action.

"Huh, the principal of such an illustrious school letting bullies get away with whatever they want just so he can get more trophies. Whatever would the parents say?" Esmeralda asks wistfully as she rests her head on her palm.

"I don't know, sis, maybe we can find out," I say in an equal tone, doing the same action again.

Woodward grits his teeth before letting out a sigh. "Mrs. Bailey, let in Mr. Belasco," a few moments later and the little shit is in the room, a small smirk on his face. Oh, I'm gonna enjoy seeing that go away. "Mr. Belasco, due to your actions you will undergo two weeks detention and are hereby barred from participating in the coming basketball games."

Man, I wish I had a camera right now. The kid's face quickly morphs into one of disbelief before shifting to anger. "What!? But she attacked me!"

"Huh, jocks must be made of weaker stuff nowadays," I slyly comment. "Look at you, you're massive. What, can't handle my little sister?"

Esmeralda peeks over my shoulder and gives him a cheeky smirk.

The kid glares and steps forward. "You bi-"

I quickly get up and stare him down. "What? Finish it."

He just stares up at me with wide eyes before breaking eye contact and looking down. I scoff before turning to Woodward. "We're out. You'd better go through with your punishment, otherwise…"

Esmeralda and I exit the office and wave bye to Mrs. Bailey as we walk through the now emptier hallways, a few groups of students here and there.

My sister jumps in excitement before punching my arm. "You see that!? No one can handle the might of Esmeralda and Eric, the Mercer Siblings!"

I smile and follow her to her locker. "Why "Esmeralda and Eric"? Shouldn't it be "Eric and Esmeralda"? I am the older sibling."

"Well yeeeah, but you aren't as charming as I am, so you can't lead," she counters as we stop at her locker.

"Whatever," I look around the familiar hallway and look at her locker one more time. "Whoa, they gave you my locker."

"Huh? How do you know?" Esmeralda asks as she puts her books in her backpack.

I reach inside over her head and move some of her books away, touching the hourglass I scratched into the locker against the back of it. "That's how."

Esmeralda pushes my arm back and looks at it. "What the? How did I never notice it before now? But hey! That makes us locker buddies! That's the closest two people can be."

"I thought having the same parents was the closest two people could get," I reply with a tilt of my head as Esmeralda closes her locker.

She just waves it off. "Eh, tomato, tornado."

I open my mouth to reply but decide against it. The brain of Esmeralda Mercer is something else, something even Mom and I have trouble understanding at times.

"Esme!"

The two of us turn around to see a group of three girls walking towards us. Two I recognize due to meeting them before, the third I recognize thanks to my metaknowledge.

The first is Cassandra Parker. She's half Puerto Rican, half African American. She has curly black hair in a small afro and wears a yellow long-sleeved shirt with skinny blue jeans. The second is Jenny Kazuma, a Japanese girl with glasses and long black hair wearing a black hoodie with a neon pink anime cat on it and black jeans.

The third girl is pale, with short black hair wearing a leather jacket, jean shorts cut just above the knees, and black leggings. I can sense the mana radiating off of her strongly. This is Rachel Roth.

Jeez, when'd they change out of their uniforms?

"How'd things go with Principal Sellout?" Cassandra asks.

"Oh, things went perfectly. Eric definitely helped," Esmeralda replies with a smile.

Cassandra gives me a thumbs up, something I reciprocate. I notice Jenny and Rachel looking at me, the former seems scared while the latter is intrigued. I still have no idea why Jenny's scared of me, I'm not rude when they visit, am I?

"H-h-hi, Eric," she whispers.

"Hi Jenny," I wave. She just lets out an eek before looking down. Seriously, am I that scary?

Cassandra laughs before taking Jenny's hand. "We should get going, see you later, Esme!"

As the two walk away, Esmeralda pulls Rachel in close. "Eric, Rachel, Rachel, Eric. Rachel, my brother is the Triumph. Eric, Rachel Roth here is one of the Teen Titans, Raven to be exact. She's also my best friend on the team."

As the two of us shake hands Rachel nods. "Yeah, I know about Eric, Giovanni's told me about him, and Zatanna doesn't shut up when she gets the chance to talk about you."

I blink for two reasons. One, she knows Zatara and Zatanna, two, Zee talks about me? "Wait, how do you know Zatara and Zee?"

"Oh, Giovanni lets me live with them at Shadowcrest. I guess you and I were never there at the same time," she answers. "Look, Esmeralda, I've gotta go, I'm gonna practice meditation with Giovanni. See you later."

She walks away and turns into a secluded corner, and after a moment I sense her using a spell before her mana signature disappears.

"Isn't she cool?" Esmeralda asks.

"Whatever you say. Get in the car, where we're going, we're gonna need to teleport," I say.

"Are you gonna tell me now?" Esmeralda asks.

I smirk as I begin the drive to my place. "No," she pouts in annoyance. "Trust me, you're gonna love it."


Salem, Massachusetts

"Holy shit, Eric, you're right, I love it," Esmeralda whispers in awe, her body shaking in excitement. Nova looks up at the Tower of Fate intensly.

The two of us are now standing in an empty field, a giant obelisk appearing in front of us as soon as we stop walking. Esmeralda immediately recognizes it and almost loses her mind, but she manages to keep her cool, but it's obvious that she's ready to explode at a moment's notice.

"I knew you would," I whisper. I look down at the Omnitrix and see that a few minutes have passed. "Now, this might be because the Tower is massive, but shouldn't Dr. Fate have greeted us as soon as the Tower appeared?"

"Maybe he's busy?" Esmeralda suggests as she continues to shake.

I hum and fold my arms as we wait outside for another minute. After sixty seconds the doors burst open, and Dr. Fate comes floating out, covered in a purple liquid, which I'm guessing is monster blood. The finger on his shoulder adds to the theory.

"Apologies, Mercer siblings, there were some demons attempting to enter our realm. The problem is taken care of," Dr. Fate says as the blood and finger disappear, he then slowly floats to the side of the door, one of his arms motioning towards it. "Come in?"

Esmeralda shoots forward and takes Dr. Fate's hand, shaking it rapidly. "Oh my god! You're the Dr. Fate! I've read about you in my book of mages! They say you once defeated Cthulhu with one hand tied behind your back, right after fighting Dracula after he sucked some of your blood while in a building burning with hellfire and having your energy sapped by the Lords of Chaos!"

"Uhhh…" I manage to say.

"And then you saved a group of puppies from demon goblins who wanted to eat them for dinner! And after that you raised Abraham Lincoln and the two of you fought against some resurrected Confederate soldiers together!" Esmeralda continues to list off adventures that sound incredibly out of the park, but then again, look at what we do, so all of this might have actually happened.

Dr. Fate raises a hand to silence Esmeralda. He chuckles before floating inside of the Tower, the two of us following after. "I only managed to hold off Cthulhu, and that was a week after I defeated Dracula, so I had more than recuperated. It is good to know the younger generation of magic users are aware of the dangers that lurk though, Esmeralda Mercer."

She gasps loudly. "You know my name?"

"Of course. Giovanni and Zatanna speak highly of you. They do the same with Nova and Rachel as well," Dr. Fate then scratches Nova's head, the cat purrs in delight.

Esme turns to me with a large smile. "Eric, Dr. Fate knows about me and Nova!"

"Ah, so these are our guests," we both turn around to see a woman with black hair in a ponytail and green eyes wearing a primarily yellow dress with silver ankh earrings walking towards us with a gentle smile on her face. "Pleased to meet you, I am Inza Nelson."

"I'm-"

"Esmeralda Mercer!" She appears in front of me and shakes her hand, totally interrupting my greeting. "Y-you're Dr. Fate's wife, I've read about you as well! Though, you were only a few pages in his chapter, which is totally stupid, I think you deserve your own chapter!"

She's caught off guard by my sister's energetic greeting, but she recovers and smiles gently. "Thank you, my dear," she then looks at me. "And who might you be?"

"Eric, Eric Mercer," I answer as I shake her hand.

While we shake hands, I feel goosebumps along my arm. Man, the mana radiating off of her is intense.

She nods before letting go of my hand, the goosebumps then disappear. "Would you like anything while you're here? Tea and cookies, perhaps?"

"I'd love some! Eric?" Esmeralda asks.

"I'm good, thanks," I say.

Inza nods before walking away. The three of us continue our trek through the Tower. It was weird, we'd go through a door and somehow end up on a staircase upside down, but of course, the laws of gravity don't apply, so there's no real danger. It is trippy though.

Dr. Fate then opens another door, this one looking heavy, once inside the room I see a whole bunch of magic artifacts, the mana radiates off of them strongly, nearly choking the air for me.

"To me, Charm of Resurrection," Dr. Fate says, the Charm then flies over to his waiting hand. He turns around and offers it to Esmeralda. "What is your plan, child?"

She looks surprised for a moment before becoming serious, going so far as to pushing up the sleeves to her hoodie. "As you most likely know, Eric's mana sense is second to none, but something a lot of people don't know is that I'm almost as good as him. My plan's to use a tracking spell with the Charm of Resurrection, with it, we can find the others, maybe even the Keystone."

Dr. Fate hums. "And how are you so sure this will work?"

"Well, mana signatures tend to match each other. For example: Zatanna and Zatara, their mana signature's alike due to their relation. Hell, even you and Inza have similar signatures, I'd say it's due to your extended time together," Esmeralda answers.

"Good," Dr. Fate says, sounding proud.

Esmeralda blinks before looking at me. "Did I just get tested by Dr. Fate?" I shrug. "That is so awesome!"

"Esme, get serious," I say.

"Sorry, sorry," she telekinetically picks up the Charm and begins to float in lotus position, changing into her Victorious form as she does. "Hm, this'll take some time."

"But can you eat your snack at the same time?" Inza wonders as she walks in with a tray.

Esmeralda smiles and floats closer to a small table. "I'll never be too busy to snack."

I shake my head before looking around the room, a barrel in a corner catches my attention. Hm, wonder what's up with that. I walk over to it and stick my head inside.

Big mistake.

See, when I'm Argus it's normal for me to see multiple things at once, it's just how he works, so I don't get any form of sickness when I become him, my body just naturally adapts. It's not the same in human form.

My head appears in multiple places all over the Tower of Fate, a portal room, a pocket arctic, a pocket volcano, a desert, you name it, my head's there. But the last one catches my attention, a garden, and in it I find a familiar redhead, winged warrior woman.

"Shay-"

I quickly pull my head out and hold back some vomit as I frantically look around for a bucket. Thankfully, Dr. Fate conveniently has one in his hands, once he gives it to me, I heave in the bucket, this goes on for some time.

"The hell…?" I weakly mutter as I wipe my lip.

"Ah, my All-Seeing Barrel. Dangerous for first time users, doubly so for those who can't use magic," he then looks at it and hums. He whispers something but I'm too busy trying not to puke again to listen.

I eventually get control and put the bucket down, I look inside to see it's now empty and clean. Cool. I look at Dr. Fate. "So, this is gonna take some time. Mind if I do some exploring?"

"I have a few rules. One, if the doors do not open, do not try to enter the room. Two, if you hear voices offering you anything, do not give in. And three, do not try to jump from staircase to staircase. It gets messy when people try," Dr. Fate lists off.

I widen my eyes slightly at that last sentence. "Oh, okay. Wait, how do I control where I'm gonna go? What if I wanna see the little desert but I accidently end up in the volcano?"

"Just think about where you want to go, the Tower will do the rest," Inza says.

I nod before walking to the door, thinking about the garden.

I go through the door and find myself in an outdoor hallway, the sounds of nature and fresh air quickly catch my attention. I walk past some pillars to find myself at my destination, and in the center is Shayera Hol, once known as Hawkgirl.

She seems to be deep in thought, after all, she'd hear me walking towards her, I'm not trying to be stealthy or anything.

I crouch down next to her and the both of us watch as a caterpillar crawls on some leaves.

The Omnitrix glows yellow. "Unrecognized DNA detected. Cataloguing," the familiar yellow light scans over her. "Unknown DNA catalogued."

"How are you, Eric?" She asks, completely ignoring the Omnitrix.

"I'm good. You?" Guess she knew I was coming.

"I've been better," she finally turns to look at me. "Your sister's here too? Fate told me you guys would be coming today, something about a Charm?"

"Yeah, it's a League mission that got pretty personal. Some of my enemies are gathering the Charms of Bezel and the Books of Magic for some reason, obviously we can't let that happen. Zatanna's got a personal stake in this as well," I whisper.

"I see…" The two of us stand up and she has a small smirk on her face as we walk over and sit on a nearby bench. "And how are things between the two of you?"

"They're getting better," I answer with a small smile. "We've started talking again and I plan on asking her out on a date when we aren't busy with the Justice League."

"I hear it's gotten big, and that you got a promotion," she looks downcast. "You're with the other six, huh?"

"Yeah, but I didn't replace you, not by a longshot. Instead I'm Clark's second-in-command," I answer.

"Who's Clark?" She asks with an arched brow.

Shit, that's right, they revealed their identities to each other after the betrayal. "Uh, Superman."

She looks forward and hums. "That actually suits him. And how's John? Is he okay?"

I notice how apprehensive she looks, man, she must've really loved him. No, she still loves him. Well, I can understand that. "Yeah, he's great. Though sometimes he looks a little lost. You know, he, Wally (Flash), and I would go around looking for you."

Shayera's eyes widen in surprise before she looks down again. "I'm here to rediscover myself, if John were here, it'd set back months of progress. Don't tell them I'm here?"

I nod. "I won't."

The doors then open and Inza and Esmeralda walk to us. "I should have known you'd be here. Your sister has done as much as she can, the location of the other Charms aren't known now, but they will be soon. I'm here to lead you out, Kent has some centaurs to deal with and he'd rather you and your sister aren't in harm's way."

I nod and get up, as I go to join them Esmeralda walks up to Shayera. "You're Hawkgirl, aren't you?"

Shayera sighs. "I was Hawkgirl."

"M-my name's Esmeralda Mercer, I'm Eric's sister! And I just want to say, you're an inspiration to me!" Esmeralda shouts as she holds her hand out. "I mean, of course Wonder Woman inspires girls everywhere, and Zatanna is my favorite heroine, but seeing how badass and awesome you are is just awe inspiring."

Shayera looks at Esmeralda in shock before smiling and shaking my sister's hand. "Thanks, kid, I appreciate it. You should get going, centaurs are a wild bunch."

And with that, Inza leads us out of the Tower of Fate. "When the time comes, Kent will tell you, Eric. Esmeralda, you are welcome at the Tower whenever viable. Have a good night you two," and the Tower of Fate disappears.

"Oh. My. God. I just got the go ahead to visit the Tower of Fate whenever I want! Oh, I should tell Rachel, she'll be sooo jealous!" Esmeralda says excitedly.

"Yeah, I think she will," I say as I look where the Tower was. The two of us stand in silence, and out of the corner of my eye I notice Esme looking at me. "What?"

"Nothing, just- thank you," she says as she pulls me into a hug.

I hug her back. "No problem. C'mon, let's go home, you still gotta explain everything to Mom and Dad."

Esmeralda groans as she teleports us home.


Gotham City, New Jersey

I'll admit, I missed seeing Zatara's shows, but being here for Zatanna's first show is something else.

She's positively glowing down there, every move she does is perfect, and the audience loves it, which adds to her smile. What's even better is the lack of actual magic. Most of her routines are sleight of hand, whereas very few utilize actual spells, and when she does, she whispers the spells.

What's even better is that we get our own little private balcony, thanks to our tickets and our special relationship with her. While Mom, Dad, and Esmeralda got in easily, things were a little more difficult for me, Kevin and Leo glared at me as we entered the VIP area. I think it's safe to say they're not entirely happy with me being at the shows again.

But once I got past them, I forgot about the problems in the past, and I was immediately brought back to better times. It's great.

Right now, the four of us are, as said before, sitting in our private booth, Dad and I are wearing nice suits while Mom and Esmeralda wear black dresses. Right now, Zatanna's wearing the black high-heels, the fishnet stockings and short-shorts, dress shirt, black suit jacket, and top hat combo.

"All right everyone, we're nearing the end of my very first show, and must I say, you've all been an amazing audience," Zatanna says, everyone gives her a little round of applause. "And now for my last trick I'm gonna do something a little different. This is for a special someone in the crowd, a message to someone close to me," she looks up at us and winks.

Dad elbows me in the side. "This is totally for you."

"Oh really? I thought it was for Esme?" I drawl.

"Shh," Mom and Esmeralda scold.

Zatanna brings her hands together before whispering a spell and bringing them up over her head, she then spreads her arms out and a message made of light and sparkles appears above her. It reads:

"I love you."

Practically the entire theatre 'awws', including my family, I just smile as Zatanna looks up at us, though I can feel the blush on my face, I can see the one on hers as well.

Zatanna then faces forward again and takes a deep bow. "And that's all folks! See you when I get back!"

Everyone shoots up out of their seats and applauds loudly, momentarily deafening me, but I don't care. I stand up and clap, a small smile on my face as I notice Zatanna look up at us again and she gives me a quick wink before the curtains close.

Dad elbows me in the side again before picking up his suit jacket and offering his hand to let Mom up. Esmeralda just wraps her arms around my body and looks up at me. "You see that? She loooves you."

"Yes, Esme, she does," I reply as I pick up my jacket.

"Do you love her back?" She asks.

"Why would I tell you?" I counter with a smirk.

"Esme, quit pestering your brother about his love life. Well, you can keep going if you want to, I'll just have to pester you about this Jon boy on the Teen Titans," Mom warns with a smile.

Dad and I look at Esmeralda with furrowed brows. "Huh?" We both ask.

Esmeralda blushes and blanches at the same time before running over to the door, nearly tripping over her dress. "Wow! It's after the show! C'mon, guys, let's not keep Zee waiting for too long!"

Dad and I share a concerned glance before following her.

Well, time to congratulate Zee.


After some setbacks due to Zatanna's guards, Kevin and Leo (Jeez, those guys don't like me) I'm finally allowed in her dressing room. Inside I see her sitting in her chair, her hat hanging on a rack, Zatara and Rachel are standing behind her while Mom, Dad, and Esmeralda are standing next to her.

"Zee, that was awesome!" Esmeralda says as she and Zatanna hug.

"Thanks, Esme, glad you enjoyed it," Zatanna replies with a smile.

She's then hugged by Mom. "Like Esmeralda said, it was amazing. Keep this up and you might be more popular than your dad!"

Zatanna chuckles and rubs the back of her head. "I'm not so sure about that one, Ashley, but thanks for the vote of confidence."

"She's right, you know," Zatara agrees. "My first show was nowhere near this packed. Helps that you look better than me."

Zatanna chuckles before looking at me, a small blush on her face. "And what did you think?"

"It's gonna be hard to top this one, but I'm excited to see what you do next," I answer with a smile.

"He's right about that," Dad then leans close to me. "Though I'm pretty sure she's asking about the finale," he stage whispers.

I just give him a blank look. "That's between me and her."

Dad snorts. "Of course it is."

I go to reply but I can hear the presence of someone else in the room. I look in the corner to see Batman standing there. The others notice and quickly follow my gaze, Mom and Dad widen their eyes in surprise while Esmeralda gasps and shoots forward.

"Whoa, you're, like, the Batman, right? I'm-"

"Victorious, I'm aware, my son has told me about you," Batman interrupts, shaking her hand.

Oh, great, she's met Batman, now she's gonna lose her mind.

Esmeralda makes a lot of noises that sound like the beginning of words. "Oh," she finally says. "Robin's told you about me. Cool. Won't lie, kind of surprised," she whispers.

He walks past her and stands in the middle of the room; he then looks at Mom and Dad. "If it's okay with you, I'd like to speak with Zatanna, Zatara, and Eric privately."

Mom and Dad share a glance before Dad goes over and grabs Esmeralda. "Uh, yeah, sure. Hey, uh, Rachel? You wanna come with us to the hotel?"

Said girl looks at Batman for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, okay."

"Thank you, Mr. Mercer," Batman says as the four of them leave.

"Batman knows my name," I hear Dad whisper just before the door closes.

"Daniel," Mom whispers back.

Once the door closes Batman turns to Zee. "What was it, some sort of hologram? Or was it the real thing?"

Zatanna smirks before shrugging. "It's called sorcery, Bruce," she laughs. "Dad told me it's best to play these shows straight, but for the big closer I thought about throwing in a little dazzle," she then gives me a small smile. "Especially for someone so important to me."

"It was great," I reply with a smile of my own.

"Flattery will get you everywhere, Mr. Mercer," she says before turning to Batman. "But enough about my secrets, what have you been up to? We haven't seen each other in so long."

"Can we discuss that later? Someone's in trouble," Batman says, getting completely serious.

Zee and I share a glance as Zatara folds his arms. "Who? What kind of trouble?"

"Well…" Batman trails off and looks to the side.

And suddenly everything clicks into place. Wonder Pig is today.

"It's Diana," he finally says. "She's had a spell cast on her and…I think you should see for yourself."


"Well, that's something," Zatara comments.

"Is it strange that I've seen weirder?" I wonder.

"Ew," Zatanna simply says before placing a hand on her chin thoughtfully. "Circe, huh? It was all over the magical ethernet that she made parole. Dad and I will see what we can do."

I walk forward and carefully pick her up. "We should head inside, don't want her running off now, do we?"

The three of us then enter Zatanna's dressing room, Batman sneaks around, the employees look at me curiously as I carry a pig with bracelets with us. Once inside, I put Diana down on the ground.

Zatanna and Zatara grab their wands and stand on either side of Diana. "Lleps eb nekorb," they both chant. There's a flash of blue light around the pig, once it clears nothing happens, they try multiple times but get the same result.

Zatanna grumbles and slaps her wand down on her table. "Should've seen that one coming."

"Why isn't it broken?" Batman asks.

Zatara sighs and scratches the temple of his head. "Well, Circe is a goddess, her powers are far beyond what Zatanna and I can compete with. Maybe we should call in other magicians, Dr. Fate would be our best bet."

"No!" Batman says, sounding desperate, he then regains his calm demeanor. "I mean, let's keep this between the four of us."

"But why?" Zatanna asks as she tilts her head in confusion. "If there's a chance to help Diana, shouldn't we tell-" She notices her Dad shaking his head behind Batman before he gestures over to Batman, crouching down and holding Wonder Pig protectively.

"Oh. That's why," Zatanna says. "You and her, are you two-"

"Just good friends," Batman deflects as he stands up.

Zatanna shakes her head, unconvinced. "No, you and I are good friends. The way you're acting reminds me of Eric when we'd fight together, you're being overprotective. There's something more between you and Diana."

"I'm not overprotective," I whisper. Zatanna just gives me a look. God, I'm overprotective.

"Well," Batman then looks away slightly. "Maybe there was," he admits quietly.

Zatara walks over and places a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Bruce, we'll figure something out."

Batman looks at me. "Can you do anything as Chronos?"

I wave my hands. "Oh no, I'm not dealing with that. Changing time for living things is very different for inanimate objects. It's entirely possible I could turn her into a piglet, or she'd be a ten-year-old Diana again. For the third time."

Batman sighs before looking down at Diana again.

"I'm beginning to think only Circe can turn our chubby friend here back into Wonder Woman," Zatanna frowns as she tries, and fails, to find our target with her crystal ball. "Eric, could you sense her?"

"I'll try," I crouch down next to Diana and sense the mana signature from the spell that changed her. Once I get the feeling, I reach out for miles, looking for a similar mana signature, but I don't find it. "Either she's found some way to hide herself from me, or she's outta range. We'll need a locator spell."

"If she can avoid even you then we'll need ingredients, a simple spell won't work," Zatara muses as he rubs his chin.

"Can we find the ingredients here in Gotham?" Batman asks.

Zatara nods, though he has a frown on his face. "Yes, and I know just the man to help us."

The two walk to the door, ready to leave, I go to walk with them but Zatanna grabs my hand and stops me. I turn around and see a concerned look on her face. "What's up, Zee?"

"I think you should go to the hotel with your family, Er," she suggests, surprising me greatly. "I mean, after what happened last time…" She trails off and closes her eyes tightly, her hand also holds mine tighter. "I don't want that to happen again."

I sigh before pulling her into a hug, I pull back and caress her cheek. "Zee, it won't happen again, I promise. Besides, with my improved magic sense I highly doubt any mage could sneak up on me anymore."

"But Circe isn't just a mage, she's Circe, a freaking goddess," she sighs before grabbing her hat and putting it on. "Who am I kidding? You're a stubborn ass, it'd be best for me to be with you to stop it from happening again."

She then walks past me to the door, I follow her, but just before she opens it, I turn her around and pull her into a deep kiss. Zatanna lets out a noise in surprise before leaning into the kiss, a moan comes from her.

I pull back with a smirk as my armor activates. "You're finale was amazing."

While her brain's still catching up, I walk through the door and follow Zatara and Batman's trail, a small smirk on my face the entire way.


A short trip later and the four of us (plus a Wonder Pig) arrive at a small store in a darkened corner. The shelves are adorned with all kinds of magical items and artifacts, animal skeletons and statues being some other examples. There are also books and tomes covered in dust, languages of all kinds on the covers. Like most places for magic items, I can feel the mana radiating off of everything, when I close my eyes, I can almost see the store again, but all the items glow with this amazing light. Sadly, I can't focus on the energy in the air, 'cause right now the store owner's being a real dick.

"Come on, Sid, are you gonna sell us the chimera scale or not?" Zatanna asks in frustration.

Sid frowns, his bushy brows furrowing. "You know the rules," he says in a matter-of-fact tone. "The elements of magic always come at a price, and I don't take cash or plastic," he then notices Wonder Pig. "Hey, is that thing housebroken?"

Batman picks her up gently. "I'll take care of her," he then walks out of the store.

Sid then turns his attention to me with a scowl. "What're you doing here? Your kind isn't welcome!"

I glare back at him. "The hell does that mean?"

"Yeah, Sid," Zatanna says in a dangerous tone, her fist lights on fire. "The hell does that mean?"

Zatara quickly walks forward and slams his hands on the counter. "Look, Sid, we're just here for one final ingredient for a locator spell."

Sid keeps his eyes on me for a moment before looking at Zatara with a sudden smirk. "It's all yours for one silver good-luck fin, mid-Ching Dynasty if you'd please."

"That's highway robbery," Zatara counters.

"What robbery? I'm giving it to you at a cost," Sid defends.

Zatanna gives him an accusing glare. "It's a total rip. I could conjure it up for nothing."

Sid gives a short, barking laugh. "Try it. Chimera scale is nearly impossible to get by, magic or not. And I'm this dimension's only supplier," he shoots back.

I grin before walking over to one of the books, quickly catching Sid's attention. "Hey, what the hell are you doing? Get away from there!"

I place my hand just above the book, the energy seeps past my fingers. "Lower the price, or my "filthy hands" are gonna live on this here book."

Sid growls and looks ready to shoot me with a spell, but I just bring my hand further down on the book, locking us in a standstill.

"Esrup raeppa," Zatanna says, her purse appears in her hands and she pulls out a large white coin. "You win. Happy?"

Sid takes the coin and looks it over carefully before an annoying smile grows. "Thank you," he then pockets the coin and gives it to Zatanna.

I walk away from the book and stand behind her, looking at the scale with her and Zatara. "This better be worth it," I whisper.

A few minutes later we're in another part of the store, Batman returns with Wonder Pig as Sid assists Zatanna and Zatara in setting up a table with the ingredients required, the chimera scale, a silver ankh, a plate of white powder, and a doll. Once everything's in place Sid lights three candles around the ingredients while Zatanna and Zatara close their eyes and raise their hands.

"We call upon the spirits of earth and air to reveal our enemy and make her whereabouts known," they chant.

I lean over to Batman. "Some incantations work better forward rather than backwards."

"Whatever," Batman shrugs.

"Circe, show yourself," they say in perfect sync. The energy shoots up in a pillar of light that temporarily blinds, Batman, me, and Sid. The light dissipates before being replaced by smoke, Zatanna groans in frustration while Zatara curses in Italian.

"Well, that was a load of nothing," she groans.

"Oh, great, so it wasn't worth it," I groan. "May as well mess with all the books for fun then."

"Don't you dare," Sid warns.

"Does that mean Circe is too powerful for the spell to detect?" Batman asks, a hint of desperation in his voice if you listen close enough.

"Then there's not much anybody can do," Sid shrugs before Zatanna rounds on him.

"Then what was the point of all this? Give me my coin back," she demands, holding her hand out.

"Sorry kid, no refunds," Sid laughs nervously, still looking at me from the corner of his eye.

"Zatara, Zatanna, Triumph! She's gone!" Batman shouts as we all finally notice the lack of Wonder Pig.

"Crap," I mutter before running outside with the others.

Zatanna stops at the doorway and elbows me lightly in the side to grab my attention, she then nods at Sid, admiring the coin. "Dnufer!" The coin returns to her hand. The two of us smirk and flip him off before joining Batman and Zatara.


The three of us run around Gotham for hours, looking for a pig with bracelets, and yet, even with her unique look, we still don't find her.

Eventually Batman calls us back to the Gotham Zoo, the four of us meet around a bench, I'm in my Wildmutt form and I rest on the ground as Zatanna sits on the bench and takes off her high-heels, rubbing the sole of her foot gently.

"How you run in those things, I'll never know," Zatara comments as he sits down next to her and scratches my head.

Zatanna shrugs. "Eh, you get used to it in this business," she puts her shoes back on before scratching my head as well. "Well, I guess that's it. From mud-hole to sty, we've looked everywhere. Even Wildmutt can't find her," I grunt. "But that doesn't stop you from being a good boy now, does it?"

If I could, I'd roll my eyes.

"Obviously, we haven't because we haven't found her yet!" Batman seethes, his batglare at full affect against Zatanna.

Zatara stands up and puts his hands on Batman's shoulders. "You need to calm down, Batman, we'll find her, it just takes time is all."

"Yeah, so calm down and quit getting snippy with me!" Zatanna scolds.

I smell someone else.

Before Zatanna can continue shouting at Batman, I growl and hop up, facing up at the branches where our eavesdropper is. Zatanna and Zatara quickly catch on and have magic circles around their hands as they glare up at the branches as well.

A massive figure drops from the branches, landing on the bench right next to Zatanna.

He's a muscular man wearing a leopard print loincloth and a red and yellow wrestling mask that kind of reminds me of Jetray. He has a red scarf around his waist and red boots. And that's it. Gotta say, B'wana Beast is brave for wearing so little.

"Yo, Bats," he greets as Zatanna leaps behind me with a small yelp.

"Relax, he's one of us," Batman says as he steps in front of us.

He looks down at me with an arched brow. "Gotta say, that's one hell of an animal, wouldn't mind checking it out later," I growl. "Whoa! Okay! Right, name's B'wana Beast," he then looks at Zatanna with a lecherous smirk. "How're you doin'?"

She follows his gaze and scowls. "My legs are fine, as is the rest of me," she then points at her face. "Up here."

"Whoa, got the fire of the cheetah in her," he laughs before leaning in and making a loud purring noise.

Holy crap, he's flirting with her right in front of her dad. Can't tell if he's brave or stupid. Doesn't matter, I don't like it.

I slam the Omnitrix dial and transform back to normal. I then get a kunai and place it against his throat as I stand between him and Zatanna, he raises his hands in surrender. "Hey, b-tier, stand back. And don't think I won't cut, I know how to slit your throat without killing you, and trust me, you don't wanna feel that," I growl.

I feel Zatanna hug my free arm. "Sorry, but I'm kind of taken."

"Why is he here, Batman?" Zatara asks with a glare.

"Apart from being an expert tracker, he can communicate with animals," Batman explains. "I called him in to help search," he says before turning to B'wana Beast. "We're looking for a lost pig. Pink, sixty pounds, wearing two silver bracelets," he then lowers his voice. "Used to be Wonder Woman."

B'wana Beast blinks in shock before jerking a thumb backwards. "Right on. I'll yank in some other guys."

"Let's keep this circle small," Batman then makes a small circle with his fingers. "Very small," he then looks at us. "We should split up. Triumph, you and B'wana Beast will look for Wonder Woman. Zatanna, Zatara, we'll deal with Circe."

"Whoa, seriously?" I ask. "I'd be much better helping against Circe."

Batman opens his mouth to reply but Zatara interrupts him. "He is right. I will help B'wana Beast look for Wonder Woman, the three of you can worry about Circe."

Batman thinks it over before nodding. B'wana Beast then hops away in animalistic styles as Zatara flies after him, leaving the three of us in the zoo.

"So that just happened," Zatanna comments before we leave.


Even with B'wana Beast's help, the heroes were still no closer to finding the missing pig. Batman even allowed for Red Tornado, Crimson Avenger, and the Elongated Man to be called down, and still no luck.

However, B'wana Beast catches a glimpse of a pig running through an alley, he grabs Zatara's attention and nods towards the location, the magician quickly catching on, the bracelets on the forelegs helped as well. The two then quickly chase after it, B'wana Beast activates his communicator. "Bats, Beast here. Zatara and I got a fix on your girl."

"Good work," Batman compliments.

"We'll have her ready for pick up in…" Beast trails off.

"You guys good?" Triumph asks.

"We may have jumped the gun," Zatara answers.


"Keep looking," Batman orders. "Zatanna, Triumph, and I are going after Circe."

"How? The locator spell didn't work, and Eric can't track her mana signature," Zatanna asks.

"Zee, it's Batman, he's got a plan. Don't you?" I turn to him.

He nods. "It's time for one of my tricks," Zatanna and I look at each other, curious as to what comes next. "We need a snitch," he then floors the Batmobile.


We're now deep inside of a cave, the three of us carefully make our way down the dark passages. Thing is, this isn't a normal cave, the walls are made of carved stone faces, and there's a feeling of dread and foreboding in the air, and that's not because of magic.

We finally reach the end of the bank, here we encounter a woman with long, blonde hair, she's wearing a toga and a blindfold, in one hand she holds a scale, the other, a sword. This is Themis, Greek Titan of Justice.

"Thank you for setting this up," Zatanna says with a slight bow of her head.

Themis smiles. "Please, your League has done much in my name. When you summoned me, how could I refuse?"

"They're getting close," I announce.

The others turn as we hear a boat rowing closer to our current location from across the bank. Through the fog, a boat slowly comes into view, two hooded figures on it. Before we can head towards them, Themis hands us blindfolds. "Don't look at her directly," she warns. We nod and tie them on.

As I tie my blindfold, I feel Zatanna lean towards me. "Who'd be your best alien against Medusa?"

"Wildmutt, easy. No eyes and superhuman senses makes it a no brainer," I answer without hesitation. "Argus, on the other hand, would be the worst."

"Yeah, what with his multiple eyes and all," Zatanna agrees as we hear the boat reach the shore. I feel her hand hold mine.

I hear cloth move followed shortly by hissing snakes. Well, here's Medusa.

"Medusa, you have a chance to earn leniency if you help our visitors," Themis begins. "You were Circe's cellmate, weren't you?"

"C-Girl and I did some time together back in the Pit of Eternal Torment. That's where they hang you by your ankles and weasels come each night to eat your fingers off," Medusa replies.

I feel Zatanna lean back into me. "Ew," she whispers.

"Not as bad as Prometheus at least," I mutter.

"Oh, trust me, he's tired of it," Medusa says to me. "He doesn't even feel it anymore. I'm pretty sure he named the eagle actually. Fred, I think. Anyway, they grow back the next day, and like Prometheus' liver, it gets old real quick."

"I guess," Zatanna mutters. "Did she ever mention Hippolyta?" I can tell in her voice she's still unsettled by the punishment.

Medusa scoffs. "Are you kidding me? Hippolyta, Hippolyta, all the time Hippolyta. "When I get my hands on Hippolyta, yada-yada!" She rants.

"That much we know. We're wasting our time," Batman says, sounding a little miffed. The three of us turn around to leave.

"W-wait, wait!" Medusa shouts, we turn back around. "There was one other thing. Circe was always saying she wanted to headline at the amphitheater."

I don't know about the others, but I stare at her blankly. Or as blank as you can get with a blindfold on.

"The amphitheater? On Mykonos, duh!" Medusa explains. "Seems Circe was wicked jealous of her cousins, The Sirens, and swore she's someday gonna get her turn on the bandstand. Sophocles got his start there, Aristophanes, all the big names. You know those statues outside the entrance? Mine," that last bit radiates with pride.

"Thank you, Medusa," Thetis says, I hear her scale move for a bit. "For that you've earned three hundred years off your sentence."

"Freedom in 4010, whoop de doo," Medusa deadpans before I hear the cloth move again, muffling the sound of her snakes.

The rower stares at us before extending an open palm. "Oh, there's a small service charge," Themis explains. Batman nods before pulling out some pennies and giving them to the ferryman, who then rows off.

"When you see Circe, tell her I want my curling iron back!" Medusa shouts before the boat vanishes from sight.

We take off our blindfolds and head out of the cave. "Wonder how her snakes feel about the curling iron," I comment. "And how Beast and your dad are dealing with Diana."

Zatanna shrugs. "Can't be much worse than experiencing the literal underworld."


"Aw crap," B'wana Beast deadpans as he leaps over a fence, Zatara flies over it, that they saw Wonder Pig pass through, only to find a slaughterhouse full of pigs on the other side.

"Oh dear," Zatara whispers as he rubs his head, a headache already forming. "Today is not our day, is it?"

The pig they're looking for is currently running all throughout the slaughterhouse, a butcher on her tail, vainly trying to catch her. The butcher frowns and grumbles before walking over to a locker and pulling out a shotgun. He nods and smirks before resuming the hunt, eventually cornering Wonder Pig against a stack of barrels.

"Say good night, pork chop," the butcher grins sadistically before aiming the gun and firing. The pig instinctively crosses her forelegs, causing the shot to be reflected by the bracelets, much to the butcher's surprise. He shakes his head and fires again but Wonder Pig had started running before he could fire, causing the shot to hit restraints holding the barrels up, letting the pig escape and burying the butcher in barrels.

Back outside Zatara sighs in annoyance as his spell fails to lock onto Wonder Pig's location. "Why can't I track her? I wonder how the others are dealing with Circe."

B'wana Beast shrugs. "Can't be as bad as hunting for a pig in a slaughterhouse."


Arriving with one of Batman's smoke pellets as cover, the three of us look up at the Amphitheater, which happens to be surrounded by statues of Medusa's making, each with a terrified expression on them.

Zatanna walks up and inspects a few with a hand on her chin. "Well you have to admit, Medusa does good work."

I look at one of a Greek solider and nod. "Really captures that look of terror in her art," I then look at her worried. "You're not cold, are you? What with the fishnets on a cold spring night?"

Zatanna laughs lightly. "It's cute of you to worry, Baby. But magic, remember?"

"Right, magic," I nod.

"Let's move," Batman says impatiently.

The two of us become serious again and follow him up the stairs and into the amphitheater. We look around and eventually find the main stage, here we find an adoring audience of men cheering loudly for Circe. Instead of what I usually see her wear on the news she has on a long red gown with arm length red gloves.

"Thank you, thank you! You've all been so kind tonight-" Circe says.

Zatanna leans to me. "Was my show like this?"

"A billion times better," I answer quickly.

"-You know, my cousins, The Sirens, never thought I could sing. Really, they thought they were all that with the charm the sailors routine, but I'm showing them, aren't I?" Circe continues.

The crowd seems lost as to how to reply, what with the slight fear and confusion in their faces. As the silence continues Circe slowly has a dangerous glare that she aims at them, which has the men cheer loudly for her once again. Their applause replaces Circe's glare with a large smile.

"First sign of a bad entertainer—can't take valid criticism," Zatanna whispers.

"I thought holding your crowd hostage was the first sign," I whisper back.

Zatanna looks at me with a cheeky smile. "That's the fourth sign."

"Oh, thank you! I love you all!" Circe then returns to the microphone. "Now, are there any requests?"

"Stcejbo kcatta ecriC!" Zatanna shouts.

Circe quirks her eyebrow. "I'm not sure I know that one…" She then gasps as a table comes flying at her. It shatters on contact but leaves her unharmed, doesn't mean she isn't angry. Energy swirls around her hands as she glares at the three of us as we enter the room.

"Insolent trickster! You dare to strike-" She's cut off by a blast of magic from Zatanna. "You dare to strike-" A tablecloth wraps around her face. She struggles for a moment before tearing it in half with a yell. "Quit it!" A grand piano then knocks her across the stage.

"Nice," I compliment.

"Only the best from me," Zatanna replies with a smirk as we storm the stage.

Circe jumps up, no worse for wear, and glares at us as her dress transforms into her signature teal and gold dress. She then stares at the crowd of men behind her. "Well? Defend your mistress!"

The men are then transformed into animals and come after us.


Back at the slaughterhouse, Wonder Pig continues to give the butchers a hard time. The employees chase after her, but every time they get close, she manages to escape. But her luck had soon run out. They all managed to corner the pig before leaping over and pinning her to the ground.

One of the larger butchers gets up, a strong hold on the pig as he laughs loudly. "That'll do pig, that'll do," he then binds her legs together. "Good job, boys!"

With the binds secure, two of the butchers carry her over to a conveyor belt and place her down on it. The pig squeals in fear as she attempts to break free, watching the belt slowly move into a processing machine.

"One plate of bacon coming up," the larger butcher maliciously says.


I weave under the swipe of a tiger and hit it with a shoryuken uppercut as Falcon Punch.

I'm an unknown humanoid bird-like species. My body's muscular, I have mainly pitch-black feathers with a white belly and chest and a white mohawk. I have yellow-orange hands and feet with black claws and toes and large black claws protruding from my elbows. I have an orange mask, orange bands around my wrists and legs, black shorts, an orange and white belt, and an orange strap vest. The Omnitrix crest is on the vest hooker.

"Of all the forms, Falcon Punch?" Zatanna asks before pushing a rhino back with telekinetic force.

"Falcon Punch is my best hand-to-hand combatant form," I reply as I dodge a swipe from a bear and kick the side of its head, disorienting it. I look over just in time to see Batman disappear from the grasps of a tiger with the help of a smoke pellet.

"Oh, speaking of hand-to-hand, I'm gonna train you," I say as Zatanna and I stand back-to-back. "See that panther? Let's get it to hit the table behind us."

"What? C'mon, Er, I don't need hand-to-hand training, I got magic, Baby!" She argues. "But I've got a better idea."

I nod before crouching down, ready to leap out of the way.

"Kconk eht rehtnap yawa!" Zatanna casts.

The table flies over us and collides with the panther just as it leaps, the two then slam into the bear from earlier and slam them against the wall, knocking them both out.

"See? No physical actions needed," Zatanna says with a smirk.

"Still training you," I reply as the three of us walk towards Circe.

"You three remind me of Sisyphus after a day of pushing his boulder up the mountain!" She seethes before summoning more purple energy around her fingers. "But me? I could keep this up all night!"

Before anything more can happen, Batman steps forward, blocking me and Zatanna from doing anything. "Wait. It seems that magic always has a price."

Circe raises an eyebrow as the energy dissipates. "And your point is?"

Batman lowers his arms and levels his eyes to meet hers. "What would I have to give you to make you lift your spell on Diana?"

Oh, it's time for him to sing!

"Uh, Batman? You sure about this?" Zatanna asks worriedly as she looks between him and Circe. "Yeah, magic is pretty give and take, but it's also loopholes galore, we might actually be worse off after this."

Circe smirks and walks forward. "Well, now you're getting interesting," she walks closer to Batman and eyes him dangerously. "I want something from you that's very precious. Something you've worked very hard to conceal," Zatanna and I share a wary glance as Batman's eyes narrow. "Something, when gone, you could never regain. Something shattering," she finishes.

Batman closes his eyes in resignation.


"Even if I were Argus, I would not have seen this coming," I comment as I lean back on the pillar. Circe and Zatanna shush me.

"Quiet, it's starting," Circe says excitedly as a spotlight hits the stage, revealing Batman standing behind the microphone. After a moment, a piano starts to play as Batman looks up at the audience.

"Am I blue? Am I blue?

Ain't these tears

In these eyes telling you?

Am I blue?

You'd be too

If each plan that you had, done fell through…"

As Batman continues to sing, Circe, Zatanna, and I stand next to a pillar watching. Zatanna's hugging one of my arms and rests her head on my chest as the two of us sway to the song, smiles on our faces. Man, Batman's got a real good singing voice.

Zatanna wipes some tears away before handing the handkerchief to Circe, who accepts it and wipes her own tears away. "Beautiful," she whispers.

"And you'll keep your end?" I whisper.

Circe nods. "A deal's a deal," her fingers then glow as she waves her hand slightly. "He can stop now."

"Not on your life," Zatanna says with a small laugh.

Wonder Pig gets ever so closer to the machine, but suddenly she's bathed in a bright blue light. The butchers stop the machine and begin to freak out as they wonder what had happened. A few look inside to realize the pig has vanished, Wonder Woman standing in her place. She easily breaks the bindings around her arms off and hops out of the machine.

She looks around confused as pigs run around in a frenzy all around the slaughterhouse, all due to the blinding light from her transformation.

A few seconds later Wonder Woman remembers everything. "Circe," she growls before taking flight and crashing through the roof.

Once Batman finishes there's genuine applause as he steps off the stage and walks towards us. "You've got a great singing voice, you sure you wanna stay in the shadows?" I joke as Zatanna nods.

"By the way, why'd you pick that song?" She asks.

"Remember when Penguin tried kidnapping that singer?" He asks.

Zatanna's brow furrows. "Wicky what's-his-name? So?"

"I spent a month on stakeout, I must've heard that song a hundred times," he answers.

"Well, least it wasn't one of those annoying commercial jingles," I say with a shrug.

"Is there anything you can't do?" Zatanna asks.

"There is one thing I've never been very good at," he admits as we look at him curiously. "Saying thank you. Both of you."

"Eh, don't worry about it," Zatanna waves off. "Besides, Triumph here's the same."

I roll my eyes. "Whatever. Come on, Diana probably has questions. We should meet her first before she beats the shit out of Circe."

"Wait," Batman suddenly says. "This isn't a League mission, so there's no need to put it in the reports. In other words, let's keep this between ourselves."

"My lips are sealed," Zatanna agrees. I just nod. Satisfied with our answers, Batman leaves. I go to follow but Zatanna's arms around mine stop me. "Please tell me you got a recording of that."

"Video and audio," I reply with a smirk.

"Baby, you can be dangerous when you want to be," Zatanna replies with a smile as we change into normal clothes and head back to the hotel.


The two of us stand outside the door to her room. "Tonight was eventful, sorry the others couldn't be here," I say.

"Don't worry about it. Look at the life we live, I'm not mad they couldn't make it. I won't lie, I was kind of surprised you made it," Zatanna whispers as she looks down nervously.

"If I hadn't, what would your finale have been?" I ask.

"I probably would've pulled someone through my hat. Your dad probably," she answers. She then looks up at me. "You never did reply."

"To what?" I ask.

"The finale."

"Oh," I smirk before leaning forward, resting my forehead on hers. "I love you too, Zatanna."

She smiles before the two of us kiss passionately. She then pulls back and breaths deeply with a large smile. "I need your help with something."

"Whatever it is, I can deal with it," I reply confidently as she rests her back on the door to her room.

"My hotel bed. It's big, more than capable of fitting two people on it, but I wanna know if it can handle two people. You catch my drift?" She asks.

My smirk grows. "Yeah, I catch your drift," I pick her up by her thighs, her legs quickly wrap around my waist and her arms are around my neck. "Let's test it out."

Zatanna giggles as we enter her hotel room.

At least the walls are thick.


After the whole ordeal was over, Zatara had decided to head over to Sid's shop, hoping to get a question answered.

"Sid's Magic Shop how can I…" He narrows his eyes once he sees who has entered. "Oh, you. Is that thing with you?"

Zatara narrows his eyes and folds his arms as his hat flies off his head and lands on the counter. "No," he walks over and plants his hands on the counter as he glares at Sid. "What is your problem with Triumph? You've never shown that kind of hostility to people of similar ethnicity to him."

Sid laughs. "You think I hated him 'cause he's what? Mexican? No! I hated him 'cause he's an Anam user!"

Zatara's eyes widen and he steps back in shock before regaining his footing. "What do you mean? He can't be an Anam user, they're extremely rare!"

"Well, guess the kid's a rare one then," Sid then pulls out the book Eric had touched earlier, he places it down in front of Zatara. "Go ahead, feel it."

Zatara does, and it's just as he feared. The mana from the book is drained. While feeling the book, his memory goes back to Eric's resurrection. At first, he and Zatanna believed it just took an astronomical amount of mana to resurrect him, but it seems there was more than meets the eye.

'But why now? Eric would've shown signs years ago, what makes now soThe resurrection. Not only did the Omnitrix change, but so did Eric,' Zatara thinks.

"Now do you see why I was angry?" Sid asks as he puts the book away. "This book's over five hundred years old, and he just dropped it's value exponentially! How am I supposed to sell this damn thing now?"

Zatara doesn't listen. Instead, he grabs his hat, mutters a goodbye, and exits the store. On his way to the hotel his thoughts go to the stories told to him by Sindella of Anam users.

'This, this changes things,' he thinks as he continues the walk silently.


This chapter ended up being a lot bigger than expected.

A lot happened, let's see… Eric gotta meet up with Shayera again, the Hex plot is being moved forward (And is gonna come to an end soon), we got a glimpse at Esmeralda's life with the Teen Titans, Zatanna and Eric are officially back together, and most importantly, we've learned something important to Eric's future.

I'm interested to see what you think an Anam user is, go ahead and put it in the reviews. You might get the right answer.

Well, that's all from me. If you have any questions or want to leave a constructive review you know where to leave 'em! Remember to stay awesome and see you next time you beautiful people!