JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK, PART 4.
The battle began and everyone was disorganized, since it was the first time they worked together and the teams worked separately. The two teams went against the two magical beings, however, having such different fighting styles, not knowing how to control their magical weapons, and some being more experienced than others, they ended up harming each other, some hindering the attack of others, others not giving such successful attacks, others failing to attack the enemies, but hitting their teammates. The wizard Faust and the demon Astaroth did not let the opportunity pass and attacked them all, creating a huge explosion, which made the horn fly into the air. Both Faust and Astaroth tried to catch it, but the Phantom Ranger managed to fly in time and grab it, but Faust launched an attack against him, immobilizing him, but Constantine helped him, interrupting Faust, and Holland grabbed the Phantom Ranger with his extendable arm.
"We can't beat them" Kal said. "We're not attacking well."
"Remember that you are Power Rangers" Said the Dark Ranger, who had been the only one who had not attacked the magical enemies head on, but who was in charge of momentarily distracting them with his bombs while he continued fighting the demons with his Dark Sword. "You have to coordinate, make the formation I told you and work as a team" He finished.
With this, Kal knew he had to take the lead again, as he didn't see Constantine do so, and the Gold Ranger was still attacking Astaroth. He had to get everyone in sync.
"Barry, Boston, help the commander eliminate the rest of the demons" He ordered.
"Understood" Barry said.
"Hey, I'm the one who gives orders to my team" Constantine said.
"Then let the cadet give the orders or think of a plan, Constantine" The Dark Ranger said as he continued to fight the demons.
"Diana, Zatanna, John and Holland, fight Faust" Kal ordered.
"We should go against Astaroth" John said.
"It's true" Diana said.
"I'll do that with Constantine, Shayera and Jason, come on" Kal said. "Let's fight together."
"Understood" the other seven Rangers said in unison. This was strange for Diana and John. It wasn't because they were being put to fight Faust, but because Kal was taking authority and leadership in a way they hadn't seen before, but they quickly composed themselves and began to fight.
Diana, Zatanna, John, and Holland's team was ineffective, as they weren't in sync yet and were still using the magic axes without unleashing their magic power, this caused Faust to attack them all with laser beams that he pulled out from his fingers, followed by creating stone hands against the C-Zone Rangers. Zatanna and Holland managed to free them with energy beams and a green knife that Holland created with his body, and attacked Faust again, with Zatanna creating multiple versions of herself that went to attack the warlock who managed to eliminate all the fake Zatannas, but he didn't see coming when Diana, John, and Holland attacked him with three punches that sent him into a wall.
While this was going on, Kal, Constantine, Jason, and Shayera were also uncoordinated, having the same problems as the other team, and they were fighting against an enemy who was the same height as Darkseid, and was just as fast and strong as the ruler of Apokolips. The only successful attack they gave him was a fire breath followed by a lightning bolt to the demon's face. But, Astaroth quickly recovered and delivered a strong blow to the ground, knocking down all the Rangers, including the Dark Ranger, Barry, and the Ghost Ranger. In fact, these last three Rangers were the only team that had no problems coordinating, although from time to time they collided because they were going too fast.
"You are nothing more than insects that I can easily crush. Conquering Earth when I leave here will be a piece of cake" Astaroth said. "And you, Etrigan, have become soft and weak. Your time with that pathetic humans and the ridiculous mages makes beings like you weak" He sneered, though it sounded more like a statement of contempt in his thick voice.
"Facing the Justice League Dark was difficult, but it's good that these magic socks make my job easier" Faust said, he was having fun, because his rivals had brought a team that only harmed them, he almost forgot that he had to recover the horn from the Phantom Ranger.
The Rangers were angry about this situation, but they had to think about what they should do, because the time to use their magic was running out and defeat would be final if they didn't do something soon.
"We need to fight in a different way" Shayera said.
"Remember that your axes work as you wish, magic has no limits and there is not much time left" Jason said.
At that moment, the five Rangers of Zone C had an idea to change their axes and use them wisely.
"Time to shoot" Kal said, turning his axe into a crossbow, which he used to shoot at Astaroth, making him back off.
"Thunderstorm" Shayera said, her axe lengthening slightly, summoning thunder that electrocuted Astaroth or caused small explosions that sent Faust back.
"It can't be, they've gotten stronger" Faust said before putting his hands on the ground and creating a lava armor.
"Time to attack" John said, turning his axe into a bat that, despite being quite large, was quite light, so he blocked the sorcerer's attacks and attacked him, to which Holland joined in by hitting him with his foot that could lengthen like his arm, his power may have been weaker in hell, but he still had powers of nature, such as extending his body.
"Magic sword" Diana said, and a longer blade emerged from the axe, so she could now fight with her ever-trusty sword.
"Get out of the way, Blue Ranger" Faust said, ready to charge at her with his lava armor. He wanted to pin her to the wall or immobilize her, but she had magic protection, but immobilizing her would be the first step to stopping the others. He knew that, since these Rangers weren't magical, they could only use magic for a limited time, so he could slow them down.
Before Faust could attack Diana, Zatanna used the same spell again and Diana multiplied herself by 10. Seeing this, the ten blue Rangers ran towards Faust, who would have to attack them all to find out which one was the real one.
"I never thought…" Said a Diana.
"Having an army…" Said another Diana.
"From myself" Said another Diana.
"And I love it" Said another Diana.
At that moment, Faust fired lava at the first nine Dianas, who either disappeared or managed to evade it, but the last one gave him a cut on the forehead, temporarily blinding him. Holland took advantage and created giant hands with his body and crushed the sorcerer. Zatanna said more confusing words, but she flew in the sky and gave off a great silver glow, but she took the sorcerer and locked him in a cage with silver bars and said another series of confusing words and sent Fast crashing to the ground hard, but not before screaming. Faust got up once again still wanting to continue fighting, but John hit him with his giant bat against a wall, knocking him out.
By this time, Barry had come up with an idea for using his axe. "Meet the tornado maker" He said, and created a rather large yellow one.
Hearing this, the Dark Ranger and the Ghost Ranger moved away to avoid being sucked into the tornado, and it worked out very well, because all of Astaroth's demon minions were sucked in and they spun around non-stop until Barry knew it was time to release them.
"Happy journey" Barry said before stopping the tornado and all the demons were shot out to all possible places in hell, it seems that one landed 30 kilometers from where the battle was.
Meanwhile, Kal, Constantine, Shayera, and Jason continued to fight Astaroth, who still showed good resistance to magical attacks, but Faust's defeat was beginning to tip the balance in favor of the Rangers. Shayera was still feeling good, since she was fighting the great demon of hell, but they still couldn't defeat him, and apparently, they needed the help of the others.
"The deluded warlock, Astaroth, may have believed your lies, but now you have no one to help you" Jason or Etrigan said.
"I don't need that human wreck to save me" Astaroth replied. "Once I kill you, I will claim the souls and return to Earth to make it my personal paradise" He concluded.
"There's no time, we have to attack. Tornado!" Barry shouted before launching another tornado, this time stronger, but Astaroth was unfazed and returned the tornado to Barry, sending him flying in the tornado, but he stopped it and Boston saved him.
"Let's all attack now" Kal said.
At this, everyone started to attack, there was little time left, but they had to stop this great demon in order to return to Earth without him being able to follow them. The attack began with Zatanna shooting rays at the demon's hands, and then Diana slashed him in the chest with her sword.
Astaroth composed himself and threw punches at Diana and Zatanna, but he didn't see that the other Rangers had already mobilized, as Holland threw two punches behind his head and John hit him once with his giant bat, but Astaroth blocked the second punch and threw it back at John, who had to dodge it, but almost hit Barry and Boston again.
"No matter what tricks you play, you can't defeat me, especially some insignificant weaklings who proclaim themselves heroes" Astaroth said before gathering lava from the rivers and threw it around him to make it difficult for them to pass, causing the Justice League Dark Rangers to have to protect the Rangers from Zone C.
With the attack over, Barry counterattacked, but with the help of Boston, who brought ghosts from hell and made them attack the demon, as it was another ability he had. He couldn't go through Astaroth because it was magic and he was already prepared for that trick, so it would go badly for him, so it was better to summon or create those ghosts. With Astaroth occupied, Barry created another tornado, but he didn't throw it at the demon, instead he took rocks and dirt that had been thrown and threw them through the whirlwind as projectiles, which hurt Astaroth a little and at the same time obscured his vision.
It was Shayera and Jason's turn now, and their attack was a massive electrocution from Shayera's thunderstorm, followed by Jason and Etrigan's fire breath, and then strong punches. Astaroth was a demon, and so was Etrigan, so his punches were more effective than the others'.
Kal and Constantine attacked last, with Kal tirelessly firing his magic crossbow, to which Constantine helped with a fire blast he created with his fingers and launched at the various parts of Astaroth, and Zatanna was not far behind, turning several of his fireballs into NTH metal, which left Astaroth dizzy.
While this was happening, the Dark Ranger knew that it was best to only throw his bombs or boomerangs when they were needed or if some demon came back to attack his Rangers, but he knew he had to help with this attack.
"It's time. Combine the power of your weapons" Constantine ordered the Rangers in Zone C.
"Understood," the Rangers said in unison. The Dark Ranger also got into position. At this, the Justice League Dark Rangers gathered together and created a cannon similar to the other team's, only this one was golden in color and looked more sophisticated.
"The Justice League Dark has a duty to keep Earth and the supernatural world protected, and we will execute that mission" Said the five Magic Rangers.
"And we will protect the planet and Zone C" Said the Rangers of Zone C. While this was happening, they began to concentrate all their power on the magic weapons that were already at the last thing they could do with the time they had.
"Dark Sword Slash" The Dark Ranger said.
"Ready, aim, fire!" Constantine said and the Justice League Dark fired its cannon, followed by the energy shot of the Zone C Rangers, and the slash of the Dark Sword.
When this hit Astaroth, his body began to emit sparks and lightning everywhere.
"Do not think that this is the end for me. I will soon return and escape and make you suffer for what you have done to me" Astaroth said.
"We know, but at least it won't be today" Constantine said.
"Until we meet again, old enemy" Jason said.
Astaroth screamed again and then fell down and exploded on a large scale. This also consumed the time in which the Rangers of Zone C could use magic, and they returned to their normal suits, without the shine they had before.
"We did it" Kal said happily.
"Hey, stop. I don't understand. What do you mean this isn't the end?" John asked.
"True, I don't understand this" Shayera said.
"Astaroth is a demon, so he can't be completely eliminated. We defeated him, but he'll be back another time, when he's regained his strength and put his parts back together again. But don't worry, we'll stop him when he tries to escape from here again," Jason replied.
"Speaking of which, what happened to Faust?" John asked again.
"Don't worry, he won't go far" Zatanna said before uttering the unspeakable words and pulling Faust along with them, his hands and legs bound with magic-proof metal.
"Not again. It was my chance to become the most powerful sorcerer of all time and immortal and you ruined it for me" Faust said, hoping this would distract them, but Constantine created a metal and put it in his mouth and eyes.
"Why are you doing that to him?" Diana asked. "Don't you think it's extreme?" She asked again.
"Hey, we wanted to know what Astaroth had proposed to him, and Faust can also do magic with his words and even with his eyes, it's to avoid anything, Diana" Constantine replied while looking at the sorcerer with pity.
Jason approached him, even though he knew the warlock could hear him, and said, "You were a fool to believe in that deal, that demon never keeps his contracts."
"Well, let's go now. We need to get him to a place where he won't be able to do magic and we need to return them to Zone C" Holland said as he picked up Faust. He had no problem carrying defeated enemies, it was what he always did.
"It is sad though. They will not be able to see me again and they will have to speak to them to tell them what I say" Boston said.
"Well, at least they saw you now. They won't have to wonder what you look like anymore" The commander said. "Now let's go."
XXX
10 minutes later. C Zone Base
When they returned to the area, the Justice League Dark had repaired the cemetery, returning the tombstones to where they were and giving them a better appearance, because the deceased deserved that. In addition, they had freed the souls that had been trapped in the horn and Faust's victims had returned to normal. Finally, they left for a few minutes to leave the warlock in a magical prison from which he would not escape for a long time.
After that, they returned to the C Zone base, specifically, to the conference room, they had to say goodbye.
"Well, we've done our job, it's time for us to go. As much as we'd like to stay, the wizarding world is unpredictable" Jason said.
"This is sad, I really liked using magic. I wish I could do it again, but with a better weapon," Barry said, his look as sad as his tone of voice.
"Boston says to remember that you are not a magical being, so you won't be able to use magic for a long time or you could disintegrate or have long-term after-effects" Constantine said.
"And don't worry. We'll be leaving, but we'll see each other again at some point" Zatanna said.
"Really?" Diana asked.
"Darkseid will return to invade the planet at some point, it's possible we'll see each other again, although, to be honest, I'd like to meet you under better circumstances than these" Zatanna said.
"Then we'll be waiting for you" Kal said, with a smile. "We had fun with this, and I think the commander won't have any complaints with that" He said with a mischievous smile.
"No problem with that, Cadet El, but don't you dare say that all the time. My personal life is none of your business" The commander said, stiffening again and walking towards the Rangers. "By the way, Cadet Prince, for insubordination and constant complaining, you are punished by mowing the training ground and a thousand push-ups" He said, stopping dead in his tracks on his blue Ranger.
"What?" The other Rangers asked at the same time.
"You thought you could defy me without consequences again, well now you have another punishment. And this goes for all of you, do not try to do it again or the same thing will happen. And, until you fulfill that punishment, Cadet Prince, you will not be able to go on any missions." The commander replied, still staring at Diana after he had looked at his Rangers to make sure they understood their punishment again.
Diana thought about arguing again, but she didn't want to ruin the farewell of these Rangers who were strange, but they were great, even if she had started to get angry towards Zatanna, she wanted to say goodbye properly, even if she didn't like it.
"I think we should go before that old married couple starts arguing again" Constantine said.
"No, let's say goodbye properly" Diana said, trying to keep her anger calm.
"Goodbye for now, C-Zone Rangers" Constantine said, shaking Kal's hand.
"Then let's establish the plan before the attack" Kal said.
"I support that, Red Ranger, but next time, I'll be giving the orders from the start" Constantine said, looking at Zatanna, waiting for her response.
"If you don't mind, I'll stay a little while to talk to Diana alone" She said before leaving the conference room.
"Go with her, Cadet Prince, then come back if you want to talk about your punishment, but it won't do any good" The commander said before going to his chair. "And good job, Justice League Dark. You worked well with my Rangers" He said before getting into his usual position to guard Area C.
"See you another time, Ranger Stewart. I think you would have been a good Ranger on our team, but you're also a good Ranger on yours" Holland said.
"It was a pleasure working with you, and thank you. We made a good team" John said.
"I loved working with the Crimson Ranger, especially when we can combine fire and electricity" Shayera said, shaking Jason's hand.
"Me too, but it's better if we don't work like this all the time. Etrigan can get on your nerves after a while" Jason said.
"Well, until we meet again Boston. Next time, I think I'd like you to teach me how to walk through walls" Barry said, looking around to make sure Boston saw that he wanted him to listen and that he cared about him.
"Boston says only ghosts can do that, but he'll be happy to teach you another trick" Jason said.
"A consolation at least" Barry said.
"Okay, we're off. Zatanna will catch up with us later" Constantine said before creating a cloud of fire that instantly disappeared and the Justice League Dark Rangers were gone.
"At least we won't have to get confused every time Zatanna says John anymore" John said, relieved to no longer have that confusing system from the Silver Ranger.
"For now, let's wait for Cadet Prince and Ranger Zatara to finish talking so she can say goodbye to you" The commander said. The Rangers complied and began to wait.
In Diana's room, she expected Zatanna to say something, but this made the silence awkward, and she began to think about what could be the reason why she could have asked this of her. So she spoke.
"If it's because of my bad attitude towards you, I apologize, Zatanna" Diana said.
"No need to apologize, Diana" Zatanna said.
"Yes, I have to. I think we could have stopped Astaroth faster if I hadn't acted like that," Diana said, looking straight at her.
"It was annoying at first, but then I understood, Diana. You were just jealous that a Silver Ranger existed and stole the spotlight in a certain part. But don't worry, I didn't mean to do that, and we stopped Astaroth and Faust, so relax. There's nothing to apologize for" Zatanna said, smiling and looking away.
"Really? Everything okay?" Diana asked.
"It's okay, Diana. I'm not going to come between you and Bruce" She said, staring at her, to which Diana responded by opening her eyes very wide and opening her mouth.
"Bruce and me? What are you talking about?" Diana asked, hesitating a little, and smiling nervously.
"Diana, don't hide it, it's okay" Zatanna said.
"I don't know what you mean by Bruce and me" Diana said, looking away.
"For a man you might be able to hide it, but I'm a woman, and I know you're in love with him" Zatanna said, approaching Diana, still smiling.
"No, that's not true. I just didn't want him to exclude me, or us, from the mission" Diana said, still not looking her in the eyes.
"That's partly true, but you were just jealous that he was talking to me longer" Zatanna said.
"No, I'm not jealous like that" Diana said.
"Diana, please. I'm telling you it's okay. To be honest, I didn't expect someone to fall for him, and I mean one of his Rangers, but seeing the way you looked when you saw me with him, and then the way he looked at you when you challenged him, I knew you two really are in love" Zatanna explained.
Diana thought about continuing to deny this, but when she heard the Magic Ranger tell her that her commander was in love with her too, she decided to ask her.
"Is Bruce in love with me?" She asked, very anxiously.
"That's how I see it, but I warn you, if he says it, it would be the biggest effort for him" Zatanna said.
"You mean everything he's lost?" Diana asked, remembering what she knows about her commander and the tragedies he's been through.
"Yes. So many losses have already left him very distrustful. But, if he is truly in love with you, he will take the risk. But, you have to know that for yourself" Zatanna said, very calm, and now she went to her door.
"Stop, are you really okay with this? I thought you were his girlfriend," Diana said, embarrassed by what she had provoked. At least she would make sure not to do that again.
"Diana, I'll tell you now, Bruce and I are good friends. Not that kind" She said, still smiling. "Well, I think I'll talk to him now to say goodbye and to the others too. Despite your jealousy, we worked very well together. I hope we see each other again soon" She said, shaking her hand.
"You are a spectacular Ranger, Zatanna. I enjoyed using you even if it was for a short time, and thank you for giving me an army of myself" Diana said shaking her hand.
"Well, I'm leaving. If you want, talk to Bruce when I'm gone," Zatanna said before leaving the room.
Diana was undecided by what Zatanna told her, so she sat down and began to think about what she should do.
Meanwhile, Zatanna returned to the control room and saw that the Rangers were still waiting for her, but the commander was still watching the city.
"I think you should leave me alone with your commander, but I wanted to tell you that it was a pleasure working with you, Rangers of Zone C" Zatanna said.
"Hey, is Diana okay?" Kal asked.
"Yeah, it's okay. She decided to stay in her room for a while. We just had a nice chat" Zatanna replied.
"Well then, I'm sorry to see you go, but I hope to see you again" Kal said.
"Same here. You're very creative with your magic" John said.
"And if you want, I can help you have fun when you have free time" Barry said.
"I have a relationship with John, but thank you" Zatanna replied, somewhat uncomfortable.
"Girls are so cruel. I'm the best at having fun and I'm not even hinting at a relationship, and yet they treat me this way," Barry said, quite annoyed in a comical way.
"Ignore it. Magic turned out to be more fun than I thought" Shayera said, shaking Zatanna's hand.
"It certainly is, ask the commander when I leave" She said, smiling mischievously.
"Stop saying that, Ranger Zatara" The commander said, turning to face her, still seated.
"Hey, she reminded us that you need to tell us about your experiences with magic, Commander" Kal said.
To this, the commander only responded by giving him a serious look.
"Unless you don't want to. Hey, we better get going" Kal said before running off.
"Before we go, what language do you speak to make your spells come true?" Shayera asked.
"You may find it strange, but I'm just saying what I want to do, but in reverse" Zatanna said.
"Really? You just say everything backwards?" John asked.
"Don't think it was easy to learn it. But it's fun" Zatanna said.
"Now, get out of here if you don't want to do a hundred push-ups" The commander said. The three Rangers didn't speak in response, but instead walked away, somewhat nervously.
"Thank you, now they are going to bother me until I at least tell them a story about magic" Said the commander, getting up from his chair.
"Hey, at some point, they're going to find out about something that happened to you because of magic" Zatanna said.
"But I don't need them to know everything" The commander said.
"But they'll know something at least" Zatanna said.
"Well, until we meet again" The commander said. Having met her so many times, he knew when he had to say goodbye, but this time, he was wrong.
"You know we'll see each other again soon, but don't let your girlfriend in the blue uniform get so jealous again" Zatanna said, doing the same thing she had done with Diana. The commander responded by stiffening, and with a hard look.
"It seems you misunderstand my intention with Cadet Prince, Zanna" He said this in a slower, more threatening manner.
"Yes, I know it's your duty to train them to be the best Rangers, but you also fell in love with your Blue Ranger" Zatanna said, still smiling.
"I didn't fall in love with her," the commander said.
"John was right. You two fight like an old married couple, and I saw the way you looked at her when she challenged you. The only one I ever saw you look at like that was Lois, and I think Selina before she went back to the life of crime" She explained in a very relaxed manner, but in the end, she became a little more serious. She knew that mentioning this to him would make him more delicate.
"Zanna, please. I'm not going to do something just because you say so. She's just my cadet, and the most we can be is good friends" The commander said, drumming his fingers on one of the arms of his chair.
"No, you and I are just good friends. I know you want something with her, but, that's up to you to decide. In the end, I can't make your decisions. The only thing I ask of you is that she doesn't get so jealous next time we see each other" She said putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Cadet Prince may be jealous the first time, or conflicted after an event, but she always gets better after that. So don't worry about it" He said calmly, trying to continue denying what his friend was saying.
"So that's one of the reasons you like her" Zatanna said, somewhat amused. She had given him away, or so she saw it.
"I don't like her. And if you're done with this, I'd recommend you not try to keep hinting at that when we meet next time. Besides, I'm surprised they haven't detected your relationship with John" The commander said. He was smiling now.
"Wow, I thought you'd never say this, but our relationship is in a very good place. There are disagreements, as always, but we're on the right path. And I hope that when I see you again, you're already on the right path with her" Zatanna said, at first surprised but then her joy returned.
"Don't count on it" The commander said.
"As a final tip, telling someone you like them is as easy as One…" Zatanna said this as a top hat appeared above her. "…Two…" She said as she leaned down and her top hat spun around her head, neck, arm, and hand until it hit the ground and was face up. "…Three" She said the last thing before turning into a small, shiny, silver magic ball that went into the top hat and then the top hat flipped over and was face down.
"You are always the queen when it comes to dating, better than Constantine" He said that before picking up the hat and taking it to his room. Despite this tense talk regarding romantic relationships, he still appreciated his friend.
XXX
In the entertainment room, the Rangers, including Diana, were chatting about what the Commander and Ranger Zatanna might have talked about before leaving.
"They must have had one more make-out session and she didn't want us to see them before she left" Barry said.
"I don't think so" Diana said. "I think it was a normal goodbye."
"Why do you say that?" Shayera asked.
"I just think so. Well, we just saw them acting closer, but we didn't see any romantic gestures," Diana replied, hesitating again.
"You know Wayne is too good at hiding his past, Diana. It's pretty sure they did have a session like that before she left" Kal replied, remembering what the commander had kept from him about Lois.
"Well, I guess now that we've talked about that, we should see what Zatanna said to Diana," Shayera said.
"That's true, you didn't tell us why she wanted to talk to you in your room. It was probably to complain about how you had behaved with her and… I better not say anything anymore" Barry said, seeing Diana looking at him with a look that could make anyone explode.
"So, what did he say to you, Diana?" Shayera asked, trying to save Barry.
"She didn't say much. She just told me that she enjoyed working with me, but that she'd rather I didn't behave that way again" Diana said. She knew she was wrong to hide what Zatanna had told her, but it wasn't as bad as what happened with her mother and Themyscira. Plus, being possibly in love with the commander, who no one wanted around, made it harder to say.
"Really? They didn't even agree to meet up? Even my wife did that with her fellow Rangers when she was a Power Ranger" John said. It had been a while since he had mentioned his wife, though he did call her after Darkseid's invasion, and thankfully, she was okay, as was his son.
"She was hoping we would meet up another time, but as she told us all, it was hard to know when that would happen," Diana said more controlledly. She couldn't be more obvious.
"Let's see when they have a girls' night out, they should even invite Lois" Barry said.
"That's very likely to happen, Barry" John agreed.
"We are not that easy to predict, John" Shayera said.
"That's true, but you guys are obviously going to have a girls' night at some point" John said, smiling.
J'onn suddenly appeared in the room, still holding a clipboard, but this time his gaze was set on the Rangers.
"Good evening, Rangers. The commander sent me to tell you that despite what happened with the Justice League Dark and Ranger Zatanna, that doesn't mean that they can always work together. Sometimes they will just pass by and go on their way to fulfill their missions. Therefore, don't try to challenge him" He said, being as calm as possible, waiting for some negative response from Diana.
"Thanks for reminding me, J'onn" Diana said.
"Well, Diana, remember that he was going to give you a detention until Ranger Zatanna supported your desire to help them. But, he tells you not to do it again, or he can suspend you again" J'onn said, stepping back a little.
"I was doing something good so we could help defeat a very strong enemy," Diana said.
"We know that, Diana, but you can't challenge him all the time. I mean, not even Kal does it at that level" John said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah. Honestly, Constantine was right, they did look like an old couple arguing" Shayera said, somewhat amused by that memory.
"We didn't look like that, and I was just standing up for what I thought was right for everyone" Diana said, trying to avoid bringing up the subject again.
"And thank you for that, Diana. I don't think we would have gone on this mission without you, but I'd rather have all of our equipment up and running before I shut you down, or any of us" Kal said, also putting a hand on her shoulder.
"I understand, guys. And thank you. I promise I'll try to challenge him less. I think I could go apologize right now" Diana said, eager to do so.
"You better not, Diana," J'onn said. "I don't want to sound mean, but you know you still have to serve your punishment, and that matters more to the commander than an apology, especially after you've already been suspended before" He explained.
"Diana, I think you should let everything calm down now, and talk to him tomorrow" Barry said.
Diana shrugged and let out an annoyed sigh. "Okay" She said.
"Well, with that, I'll be off. I'm sorry you haven't been able to use punishment mode yet, but you will at some point. And, I'm proud of you Rangers. You had your conflicts and issues, but you worked very well with the Justice League Dark. If you keep this up, you'll reach the best version of yourselves. But for now, rest easy. You've earned it. The commander says so too," J'onn said before leaving.
"Well, let's start a relaxing day" Kal said before sitting down on the couch. The others agreed. It was time to relax.
XXX
23:00
An hour after lying down to sleep, Diana got out of her bed and went to the conference room. What Zatanna told her and what the commander had told her had put her in this situation and she would sort it out, maybe not all of it, but she would make sure it didn't end in a worse punishment for her. At least they didn't ask her again about what she and Zatanna had discussed over dinner, and they had all gone to bed punctually. However, she wouldn't do that until she sorted this matter out.
"This is not a good time for you to interrupt me, Cadet Prince" The commander said, turning around in his chair and seeing his blue Ranger wearing his simple pajama pants and short-sleeved shirt.
"I came here to tell you that I regret my attitude towards Ranger Zatara, Bruce" Diana said, walking quickly to the center table.
"If you think that will get you out of your punishment then go away" He told her dryly.
"It's not fair that you punish me like that. I know I didn't act right, but in the end, everything turned out well. We completed the mission and Zatanna and I said goodbye on friendly terms" She said, beginning to despair.
"That doesn't matter. Again, you didn't behave like a Ranger and chose to throw a tantrum over something that doesn't matter" He said, starting to get impatient with her responses. Didn't she have an off switch?
Diana was also frustrated by this response, but she also thought of how she could combat it on the same level.
"And you didn't act like a commander" She said, smiling.
"What did you say?" He asked, standing up instantly.
"You didn't act like a commander. You gave all your attention to your special friend and left us aside. You even stopped watching Area C to chat with her. You also shirked your responsibility" She said, knowing, or hoping, that this would make him approach her.
"That was just a few minutes, and it's not like I left my job to go to a magic show or treated another Ranger badly out of pure jealousy" He said, approaching her.
"Of course, your friend Zatanna gets all the good treatment and we don't" Diana said, leaning her head closer and showing an angry smile.
"And the troublesome Princess is about to do five thousand push-ups if she keeps talking" He said, moving closer to her.
Diana wanted to out-argue him, but having the commander's face so close to hers made her grab him by the face and pull him towards hers to give him a hard kiss on the mouth. The commander's mind wandered for a few seconds, he had never kissed a Ranger before, and a woman had never done this to him before; on the other hand, he gave in for a few seconds and kissed her back, until he regained his composure and pulled away from her, returning to his chair, but still staring at her.
Diana didn't know how to react, because she had finally acted on what she had wanted to do for a while, but she didn't know what she was going to respond to after such an action. And seeing that her commander didn't say anything and only kept breathing and staring at her with a mixture of surprise and disgust, she decided to end this for today.
"I'm sorry, Commander. I'll start doing the thousand push-ups tomorrow to go on missions" She said before quickly leaving.
The commander sat back in his chair instantly and calmed down. However, it seemed that Zatanna was right: he liked the kiss with Diana and wanted more, but his mind was telling him that he couldn't have a relationship with his cadet, with his Blue Ranger. An internal conflict was brewing within him, and he would need to talk to her to resolve this, but it would take some time. Either way, they now had to continue waiting for Darkseid's return, but this conflict between the two of them would cause problems if they didn't resolve it before then.
How are you? Obviously, it took me forever, but at least I have two more chapters for this fic. I have another piece of news. This one will have to be a little longer than 60, one because there are quite a few chapters left where I have to develop Kal, as well as the other characters, since several of their arcs are still unresolved, and it turns out that there are more than I anticipated, but I will try not to overextend myself with them, since this is already too long.
Also, since I keep changing and my writing is very inconsistent, sometimes I have to rewrite a chapter as many times as I need to, and this was one of my biggest challenges, since I had to rewrite it like five times in different chapters, there were even passages that made the Rangers look more childish, dumb, or less professional than they should have been. And I know that them taking too long to coordinate and learn their powers may have made it too long, but I wanted to make that aspect a little more realistic this time, they needed time to handle magic better. If you have any problems with the chapter, please write them in the comments. Feedback helps me improve.
Other than that, what did you think of Bruce and Diana's first kiss? Did you expect it? Do you think I did it right? And obviously, I'm going to address this topic in the next chapter, not like the DCAU did and just uprooted it from one moment to the next. See you next chapter.
NEXT: DATES, PART 1.