4 Zatanna Zatara

[Gotham City]

[2:12 AM, Monday]

Gotham, the city of crime. The place that I left ages ago… Believing that nothing can be worse than this place.

Oh, how wrong I was.

"But was it necessary for me to return here. Could have gone anywhere else. *Sigh*" I mumbled before walking through the dark alleyway. The same alleyway from where I felt the spatial disturbance.

"I just hope that it's none of those stupid scientists trying to mess with time and space." Trust me. I have seen a lot of them.

And all of them either end up dead or… screws a country or two. 

There can be countless causes for a spatial disturbance. Scientists trying to mess with space and time, beings from different dimensions trying to enter our world, or even some godly being trying to fuck up the laws of the world for fun.

And… This looks like the second one. How do I know that? Cause I see demons!

"What the fuck is going on here…" The moment, those words left my mouth, a red demon got shot by a ray of white light.

Was that magic?

"Get out of the way." A woman's voice came, followed by a bolt of lightning… incinerating another demon.

She is strong, but not enough.

"If you want, I can help with these pests." I offered but she seemed offended by it.

"No, I can deal with them." Must be because she had to deal with them instead of sleeping. I am feeling the same… annoyed.

But suddenly she stopped and looked at me warily. "How… did you get inside the barrier?"

Oops! So that's what I felt while walking here.

"By… walking?" She frowned and her hands started glowing.

Yep, that's magic. Definitely magic.

"Tell me the truth before I roast you to cinders!" Damn, she is a feisty one.

"*Sigh* Oh, well… I felt a spatial disturbance. So, I came here to find the cause of it." I told the truth. No need to make needless enemies.

She looked skeptical, which I didn't mind. A random man walking past her barriers in the middle of the night, I would be suspicious as well. 

"What is your name?" She asked as she blasted off another demon. 

Jeez, she should close the portal before some massive demons spawn in. 

"Close the portal." She looked annoyed when I said that instead of giving her my name.

"I am busy dealing with these pests. So… As much as I would like to close it. I can't." Not getting your timely sleep can ruin your mood. I don't blame her.

But this won't end for hours if I don't step in.

"I can close it." I said, making her momentarily stop. 

"How?" She asked as she threw a grey demon hound towards the building behind me.

"Pretty easy. Using the same way with which I entered the barrier." She looked extremely suspicious. But I want to deal with this mess as soon as possible. 

I have classes to teach tomorrow morning. And I need my sleep for that… which is impossible with this spatial disturbance.

"How long will it take?" She is a witch… Nah, that term sounds offensive. She is a sorceress, so it would take her a few minutes. But for a spatial manipulator-

"Just a few moments." She thought about it but had to agree as the demons started coming out faster than ever.

"I can give you five minutes." 

Minutes… *Pfft* 

"Don't worry, sweetie. It won't take that long." I didn't wait for her response and directly jumped towards the portal. 

She fought off the demons surrounding it, while I walked towards it… gracefully. Why gracefully? I don't know.

I knew that this was not an accident or the demons cracking the space on their own. The magic circle was a proof of it. I am no expert in magic, but I do know the shapes and designs of the ones that I often go up against. And this one is a summoning circle used mostly by summoners and necromancers.

I cannot erase this circle or deactivate it. The runes are too complex for me. 

But I can still stop it.

I extended my arm towards it. 'Purge'

Purge. A technique that I came up with while… I was out of Gotham. Spatial manipulation is extremely complex and letting my powers run amok can harm the entire planet.

Releasing more power than necessary can cause the same result. So, I had to come up with different techniques for different problems. 'Purge' is one of many.

"Wha-How?!?" The woman looked shocked as the area around the circle was covered by a translucent blue sphere. 

"Wait and watch." I could have done this much faster, but my powers are still way too much for me to handle. So, I had to be careful while using them.

The sphere shone blue and after a fraction of a second, the sphere disappeared along with the magic circle. 

The woman landed near me and then looked at me, dead in the eye. "Who or what are you?" She asked.

"Sorry for not giving my name earlier. The name's Blake Hardy, may I know yours… Magic girl?" She rolled her eyes at the nickname.

"Zatanna, Zatanna Zatara." She said… and sighed looking at my raised eyebrow. "Weird name, right?" She asked with a chuckle. 

"I have seen and heard weirder." She chuckled again. 

"That doesn't help much." Well…

"It wasn't meant to. Some might find your name weird, some might find it attractive and for some, it might be quite normal. It honestly depends on the person." Lack of sleep can make you spout a lot of bullshit.

"Maybe." She said. "Anyways, thanks for the help. I was annoyed as I had to come in the middle of the night to deal with these pests. *Sigh* And your sudden entry made me quite wary."

"Sorry about that." I need coffee. Won't be able to sleep anyways. "Coffee?" I asked her.

"We are quite far away from the store. And it's past midnight, only selective stores would be open." I shrugged and materialized two coffee cans in my hand. "Is black fine with you?"

"How did yo-" I chuckled at her astonished expression.

"You got your secrets, I got mine." She didn't reply and took the can from my hand.

I noticed one thing during her fight against the demons. 

She needs to say the spell names. Or at least needs a medium to cast the spells. She might be able to cast them through written methods… But she still needs to let the spell name be known. Or at least that's my assumption.

Another thing are the spells themselves. I noticed that the spells are basically words that are spelled backward. 

Points to keep in mind if I ever go up against her. Damage her vocal cord, and prevent her from writing the spells anywhere.

"I haven't seen you in Gotham before. You new here? And if you are… Terrible choice to find a residence." She isn't wrong. No one in their right mind would come to live here… Despite all the money.

"Not really. Been away for a few years and returned a few days ago." She hummed and took a sip. 

"So what made you return to this shithole." I laughed at her wording. But it's truly a shithole.

"Made many stupid mistakes when I was a teenager. Ran away from here to chase bigger dreams, but that didn't end well." She sighed.

"Been there." She said taking another sip from the can.

"Well, I got a job as an Ethics professor. So it's not that bad." Money is not a problem and after all the shit that I have been through… I just want to live a normal life. 

Not that a completely normal life is possible for a meta-human. But I want to live my life peacefully.

"You sound like an old man, and you barely seem to be in your early to mid-twenties." She is not 'technically' wrong about my age…

"Wisdom doesn't always come from age… it comes from experience. And since old people are generally more experienced, we believe them to be wise." But not every one of them is wise… Some are even more stupid than kids.

"True." She looked at me. "I don't think that you will be going to sleep after this." She pointed at the coffee. "So... want to hit the arcade?" 

"That's… actually a pretty good idea." 

Her smile grew wide. "Then let's go!" She said and dragged me with her.

*Sigh* Women.