Brave and the Bold Issue 3

The Flash/Zatanna- "Satin Satan" Part 1

Written by Bodhi Ouellette

Writers Note: This arc takes place in 2012, before the Flash run and Zatanna run's happen.

Central City Police Department:

Working within the forensic labs of the Police Department, Barry Allen, AKA The Flash, ran a plastic sheet coated with fingerprints under the forensic machine. As it slowly began to process the fingerprints, someone snuck behind Barry, startling him. He quickly turned around to find his co-worker, Patty Spivot. peeping over his shoulder.

"Urgh," Barry moaned, grasping his heart. "Stop scaring me like that, it's super creepy."

"I can't help it, Barry," defended Patty, gleeing. "It's just too good of an option to pass up."

"Yeah, and I hate you for that. What are you even doing here?"

"Wanted to ask if you still had the files about the home burglary homicide that happened a few months ago. Chief Paulson wants to see through it before handing the information out to the Jury."

"Uh, yeah. It's in my office. Let me get this done first, then I can go grab the file."

"Cool. So… how's life?"

"Um… fine, I suppose. Y'know, it's the same old same old."

"Great. Uh… how's... your home?"

"What- Why are you asking me these questions, Pat?"

"Just wanna stir up some conversation, that's all."

"Right… Um, this is getting kinda awkward."

"It was already awkward to begin with, Barry."

"You were the one who started talking about nothing."

"True. I mean, I was just wondering how you were doing, Barry. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Hrm. You're still not over are break-up, are you?"

"Just a little bit less than I was two months ago."

"Well that's... good?" The forensic machine spat out the clear sheet with the DNA, finished with it's analysis. "Oh, look, it's done. Let me go and get you that file."

Barry left the Forensics Lab and Patty followed behind him, as they headed over to Barry's deskspace. Pulling out one of the metallic drawers and searched through his files, until he pulled out the file Patty needed. He handed the file over to Patty, who took it out of his hands. "Much appreciated," said Patty, and she headed off.

But before Barry could return to the labs, Chief Paulson barked over for him to come over to collect some forensics at a crime scene the police were at. Barry grabbed his coat and phone and headed off.

Barry arrived at the crime scene at hand, located in the middle of an alleyway. He went under the caution tape and approached two of his partners; David Singh, Barry's co-worker in the labs, and Frank Curtis, one of the top tier detectives at the police department. The two of them were in a discussion with a police officer before Barry interrupted. "What happened here?" asked Barry.

"You won't believe this, Barry," uttered Singh, who brought Barry and Frank over into the alleyway. On a stash of trash bags was a dirty, beaten, and torn male mannequin, but the mannequin featured more details than that of a regular mannequin; the face was extremely detailed, looking that of an actual person with a frozen face. Barry looked in closer, confused.

"So? it's just a mannequin," commented Barry. "What's to see?"

"This was once an actual human, Barry," told Frank, lighting up another cigarette. "Name's Jean-Luc Hannigan. Something happened to the poor bastard, and now he's some doll dumped down here."

"We need you to collect some samples and test them back at the lab," stated David. "Can you do that?"

"Sure can," said Barry. He pulled out a pack that had all of his tools for collecting samples. He first pulled out some small scissors and cut some of the murderer's hair, and collected it into a vial. Then he pulled out a few cue-tips to see if there was any saliva left behind. There was nothing, so he put that away and pulled out some clear paper and latched it onto some noticeable handprints. With all the samples he could find, he put them away and headed off back to the station to test the samples.

Back at the Forensics Labs, Barry inserted the samples he collected into the forensic machine, processing the DNA collected. After a few moments of waiting, a sheet of paper was printed out, showing the the test results. Barry glanced through, where he noticed that the DNA didn't match anyone within the criminal database, or anything of human heritage. But Barry had seen something like this before. The sample matched that of a Homo-Magi user. He pulled out his phone and dialed out the one person he knew who could help out in this...

Shadowcrest:

Within her living room, Zatanna Zatara sat on the wooden floorboards, under a ritual she had drew. Her hair was down, and she was wearing nothing but her fishnet stockings. Candles circled around the ritual symbol, as she focused in hard meditation. The energy washing through the room caused the books and other mischievous items to slowly levitate. But her concentration was interrupted when her telephone ranged. She levitated the phone over to her ear, pressing it against her face without the need of her hands. "Hello?" she spoke into the phone.

"You there, Z?" asked Barry.

"Hi, Barry. Right now, I'm in the middle of something, is this going to be quick?"

"Depends," said Barry. "I'm at work right now, going through some DNA analysis, on some strange occurrence that happened roughly last week or so. The tests came back, and I found that our body was that of a Homo-Magi."

Her eyes widened. "Who was this person?"

"Names Jean-Luc Hannigan; he was at a pop concert for some girl named Satin Satan, and his body was found two blocks away from the place she performed at."

"I know that name. Both names, in fact. Jean Hannigan was a client I worked with a few months back. And Satin..."

"What? What about her?"

"Hold up, I'll explain to you more once I get dressed."

"Wait- dressed? You mean you're naked?"

"I told you I was in the middle of something. Rituals where all I do is meditate while wearing nothing but stockings is how I relax. You already know this. Remember our little fling we had a while back?"

"Oh yeah, that's right. It was... needless to say, arousingly interesting."

"Maybe next time, you can do it again, but try wearing fishnets next time you come over."

"Sounds fun, but I doubt I'd fit in your fishnets."

"I've got male fishnets too."

"Um... ok? Why do you-"

"John Constantine wears them sometimes when he and I do the rituals. Anyways, I'll be over in a bit. Where do you want me to meet you?"

"Rooftop on the Manapul Center, as usual. See you in a few?"

"You've got it. Bye, Barry."

The phone was put back where it was, along with the books and other items. The candle's lit themselves out, as Zatanna stood up from the floor. "Sehtolc!" she snapped her fingers, and then, her corset, shoes, black jacket, gloves and hat flew into the room and latched onto her body. Once her boetie found it's way to her, she fixed it up and then lifted her arms back up again to utter yet another spell. "Ekat em ot Lupanam Retnec!" the purple smoke circled up Zatanna's body from the ground. Once the smoke engulfed her, the smoke faded away.

Central City:

The massive breeze felt up high from the Manapul Center cooled Barry's skin with the hot sun beaming under him. He needed it, considering he was sweating like crazy under his suit. Soon enough, the purple smoke surfaced up and when the smoked died down, Zatanna appeared, and posed for shows sake.

"Wow, great pose," Barry commented sarcastically. "That would've been great to do if it wasn't just me looking at it."

"Once a show biz girl, always a show biz girl," replied Zatanna. "But that doesn't matter, at the moment; the point is, you've got some info about Jean-Luc?"

"Yeah, he was... transformed, into a mannequin. And there was some DNA samples that I found that shows that Satin had been around him once he died."

"I knew it. She's returned."

"What's the deal with Satin Satan? Other than her name obviously sounding like she's a devil."

"That's because she is a devil," clarified Zatanna. "She uses her fame to get closer to men and turn them into mannequins just for her own sick pleasure. Which means Jean-Luc must've been her boyfriend."

"Sounds like a delightful woman to be around with."

"If only. You said Satin was recently in Central City?"

"Yeah, she performed at the Banks Theater."

"We could track her down by checking the scheduled locations of her concerts."

"Sounds like a plan..." Flash pointed his fist up into the air to emphasise the first thing they're going to do. "To the internet!"

To Be Continued in Brave and the Bold Issue 4!