55 Kidnapped

[Time Since Joker's Death: 20 Days]

Not in a long time had Jasper felt as powerless as now.

"What the…"

After challenging the heroes, all that he had been able to do was gather a little bit of political power.

Which was obviously the route he knew was best.

But there wasn't much luck with it.

So, while he went around hoping to find something –his surroundings darked.

And even before he knew it, he was surrounded by the twinkling glow of faraway stars.

Not above him, but all around him. 

The sky, the ground –everything was turned to empty space lit by nothing but twinkling stars.

And the one responsible for it was a very specific man.

One whose presence alone made Jasper's eyes grow wider than he thought was physically possible.

"You are…" Jasper muttered.

"I am not surprised that you have heard of me," 

Jasper heard the man's voice, making him quite a bit worried.

"Your knowledge about things is far greater than what should be possible." The man continued, "You know about magic, science and also about people that you shouldn't know about."

"Dr. Fate…" 

Yes.

The man that stood in front of him, the man that transported him from one space to another…

Was none other than the Agent of the Lords of Order –Dr. Fate.

"Why?" Jasper tried to collect himself.

"Do not be afraid," the sorcerer assured, "I did not bring you here to cause harm, instead I brought you here to ask you a few things."

Jasper stared at the magician closest to being a god, with nothing but curiosity and a hint of worry.

"And to tell you… no, warn you about a few upcoming trials."

Floating in an empty space wasn't a first for Jasper, he had felt that because of a certain being in the past.

But it was not an everyday event either.

Rarely anyone was able to take him by surprise like Fate did, and despite the man's explanation –he wasn't certain if there were hidden motives or not.

All that was in his head was ways that could help him escape.

However… with his current strength, not a single one of them was possible.

'How did I even attract this guy's attention…' Jasper was honestly shocked.

Dr. Fate wasn't a guy that meddled in normal hero and villain banter. No matter how dangerous the villain was, he rarely involved himself with such things.

Neither Joker nor the Justice League were not enough to draw his attention.

"I assure you," the sorcerer explained as he looked at the uneasy Jasper, "I am not here to cause you harm."

"Then why bother bringing me here?" Jasper asked, "If it was just something that you wanted to ask or warn me about, you could have done so without…  without teleporting me."

"I could have," Fate answered honestly, "But then we would neither have such silence nor peace."

"Is it related to Constantine and Klarion?" Jasper asked, finally putting the pieces together.

The only reason Fate might have taken an interest in him was possibly because of magic. And other than Zatanna –who wasn't at a stage to attract a presence like Fate– there were only two more beings that Jasper had met that were purely magical.

The problematic magician who even the demons avoided –Constantine. 

And the witch child who even Constantine was worried about –Klarion.

Suddenly Jasper felt like cursing himself for forgetting, mostly given the stress he had been going through for the past few days.

But this made him both relaxed and worried.

He was relaxed that he wasn't someone Fate was looking at to cause trouble.

"I heard you didn't even let Constantine explain the situation," Fate said, a bit disappointed but not surprised.

Jasper did have a grasp what Constantine meant.

But that wasn't enough for him to involve himself with the magician.

As while Jasper liked Constantine's personality and his stories, he also knew that the man was nothing but trouble.

Constantine was a magnet that attracted disaster and bad luck everywhere that he went.

"Klarion…" Jasper said, "I already know that Klarion has made me a target. And I am also aware that he might have a group of beings as ridiculous as him."

Before Fate could ask, Jasper decided to explain.

"Klarion did say that he would come for me before he vanished during our first encounter. And I know from Zatanna that he has a group of followers that work under him but possess abilities almost on par with him."

At Jasper's words, Fate nodded.

"That is true." The sorcerer said, "And you must know that it will not be easy to defeat Klarion alone… especially with your current capabilities."

As much as he hated to admit it, Jasper knew that Fate wasn't wrong.

People like Superman were strong. But their powers were manageable.

However, beings like Klarion who were born from magic and for magic were much trickier.

And the Current Jasper wasn't ready for that.

"I do not know how you obtained your powers, but I am aware that the potential that you possess is not something that could be looked over." Fate commented, "Because of restrictions placed on me, I am unable to intervene in this matter directly and the same goes for John Constantine. He is bound by certains rules and especially punishments that prevents him from interfering."

"And what does that mean for me?" Jasper asked.

"That means you will have to face Klarion without our direct help." Fate explained just as easily, "For that you need to get stronger."

This was something that Jasper wanted more than anyone else.

Growing stronger.

"How?"

Growing stronger was not easy, especially when his power had restrictions and his understanding of the said power was at the bare minimum.

"I am not certain about your exact power," Fate said, musing over the countless possibilities, "But I am aware that your power is able to provide properties to matter around you. Alchemy was what I first assumed."

This was a common belief among the people that saw Jasper fight.

"But after looking further, I saw that you can provide properties to even the elements of nature," Fate deduced, "Which makes me believe that your power is not something scientifically driven like alchemy, but it is something much deeper than that."

And to Jasper's surprise, the man was able to pinpoint his ability.

"In a way it feels like a sort of enchantment."

Jasper barely stopped himself from giving away the truth with his expression –not that it mattered if others knew about his power, but he wanted to keep it a secret till he mastered his ability.

"But then again… enchantment is not rooted in science, it is a type of magical ability."

This reveal did not exactly surprise Jasper, as many believed the same.

However, Fate's next sentence did surprise him.

"But then again," The sorcerer muttered, "Magic is Science… and Science is Magic."

A quite shocking reveal.

Reveal that turned out to be a turning point in Jasper's enchantment.

"Magic… is science." Jasper repeated, surprised by the reveal.

The sorcerer that could see the future didn't realize that his casual sentence was going to turns things upside down in the world of magic.

All because of a certain enchanter.

All because of a certain sentence.

"Magic is science."

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