Chapter 25

-[New York]-

-[Dante]-

Flying through the city in camouflage mode, he held the diary close to him. All it took was one Zeta Tube and he was in a phone booth in New York.

He took a glance through the diary, finding nothing out of the ordinary or suspicious in it except for her having the hots for her boss but that was irrelevant.

Unlike the previous times that Zatanna had to sneak out, he was the one sneaking in this time, not that he really needed to. Zatara was out fighting some evil sorcerer somewhere, leaving Zatanna at home.

As he reached an apartment building, he shifted his density, passing through the walls. Getting to the hallway, he stayed in camouflage as he flew past numerous rooms until he reached the one he was looking for.

Phasing through the door, he paused as he found what looked like a golem made of stone standing on the other side, its back facing the door. 'What the hell?'

Silently and carefully, he stayed out of its line of sight, quickly making his way to one of the rooms he could see.

Upon entering, he found himself in a decent sized room with Zatanna seated on the bed, unaware of his arrival.

The homo magi was perusing a book in her hands but that wasn't what caught his attention. He had grown used to seeing Zatanna in pants and skirts which was why he paused seeing her in shorts that barely passed her thigh.

'Well she's in her home so it's not exactly weird to wear more loose clothes.' He thought, putting it out of his mind as he deactivated camouflage mode.

"Hey." He said simply, startling her as a pillow sailed towards his face only to be stopped before it reached his face.

"Don't scare me like that!" She complained with a pout, calming down.

"I couldn't help it." He said unapologetically as he walked over to her.

"How'd you even get in? I thought you were going to come through the window." She said in a questioning tone.

"I snuck in." He answered, taking a seating position at the foot of the bed.

"Through the front door?" She asked dryly as she shut the book.

"Yeah actually. That reminds me, what's with the toy standing guard?" He questioned in slight confusion, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Only you would call a magical golem a toy. It's my dad's 'security system'. To make sure I don't leave the house." She explained with a slightly frustrated look. "Fortunately, it only guards the front door. Either dad forgot about the windows or he thinks we're too high for me to climb out."

"That explains it. Now, down to business." He said as he pulled out the diary.

"Right. Do you have a map?" She asked as she took the diary, prompting him to take out a small cylindrical device, placing it on the bed.

Tapping the center, a holographic map was projected above it. "Cool." Zatanna said before turning to him. "I'll need silence to concentrate and it might take a few minutes."

He nodded, floating off the bed to give her space to work. While she worked, Dante decided to play around with a few things out.

With a thought, holes opened up at the back of his clothes as he began shapeshifting, large white feathered wings growing out of his back.

'Not exactly useful since I can already fly.' He thought, morphing them to black bat-like wings. 'Though there is a measure of aesthetic appeal in it.'

Undoing the transformation, he went for something else, a yellow tail growing out of the back of his waist, curling around him like a belt.

Dismissing the tail, he focused on his hands, his nails growing into claws and taking a dark color. Poking it, he felt the hardness of the new appendage/weapon.

Getting a thought, he focused on his ears. 'Sound waves are basically vibrations that the ears and brain translate into actual sounds. By making my eardrums more sensitive to pick up those waves…' his thoughts trailed off as he gripped his head with a frown.

There was no doubt that his hearing had improved but he wasn't ready for the instant change. He could hear Zatanna's heart beating from where he stood.

He could hear the people in the room above them arguing while the people in the room in front of them were currently attempting to create a child.

"I'm ready." Zatanna's voice suddenly rang, slightly surprising him due to how loud it sounded despite her not shouting.

Walking over to her, he sat opposite her as she focused on the holographic map. Holding the diary in the palms of her hand, Zatanna began chanting.

"Etacol eht renwo fo siht yraid!" Her voice seemed to echo in the room as the diary floated above her palm, a small circle of red energy shooting out of it to land on an area on the map.

Interacting with the hologram, Dante zoomed in to further increase the accuracy. "Got it, they're in New Orleans."

He turned to Zatanna who had a satisfied smile on her face. "And you just proved why you're the best."

"Best what?" She asked with a hint of hope in her tone, causing him to smirk.

"That's for you to figure out." He said with a laugh.

"Tease." She accused but the smile on her face betrayed her thoughts. "Just for that, you owe me a date."

"You say that like it's supposed to be a punishment." He countered before turning a bit more serious. "While I'd love to continue this meeting, I have a mission to complete."

Before he could fly off the bed, Zatanna pulled him into a short hug. "Be careful, alright?" Even with the smile, the concern in her voice was apparent.

"Alright." He said, his expression softening as he returned the hug.

-[Later]-

-[New Orleans]

M'gann piloted the camouflaged bioship as the team headed to the coordinates Dante had gotten from Zatanna.

"How is it that none of us found anything but you found their exact location?" Wally questioned in his seat.

"That is a good question." Robin agreed.

It wasn't like he went to some criminal for help so Dante was barely bothered by the question. "I reached out to a friend of mine to help me locate Emily and tracked her here in New Orleans."

"You have friends? Wait a minute, you told an unknown person about our mission? Talk about covert." Wally muttered, getting frowns all around.

"If your sole aim is to poke holes into my every action, I'd advise that you stay quiet unless you can provide some tangible results to add to the mission." Dante shot back casually, not turning to look at the speedster.

A look of indignation appeared on the boy's face as he opened his mouth to speak only for Kaldur to place a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head.

He still attempted to speak but fortunately, M'gann chose that moment to speak. "We're here."

The bioship came to a stop above a warehouse. Some workers could be seen moving about but upon a closer look, they looked more alert and armed than workers.

Dante stood up as the seat sank back into the ship. "Everyone ready?" He asked.

They followed his example, standing to their feet and switching to stealth mode. Seeing that they were all ready, he nodded. "Let's go."

-[Unknown Location]-

In an empty conference room, eight monitors were set up in a round format and active as usual, showing light shrouded figures on each screen.

"What do we know about this…Ryomen Sukuna?" A male voice asked as a picture of the pink haired individual in question was being displayed on a central screen.

"I know a lot of people but this one surprises even me." Another voice said as a video played of Sukuna thrashing the Twister android before the camera was destroyed, cutting off the feed.

"Find him. He is a wildcard, a radical that cannot be allowed to roam uncontained. We still have yet to ascertain the reason behind his attack." An aged male voice said.

"I had Psimon look through their minds to see what we could find. The results were…unpleasant." A female voice said.

"What did you find?"

"Morrow's mind has been, for a lack of better term, deleted. Not broken, deleted. Like an empty canvas." She answered, obviously unhappy.

"And Brom?"

The woman made a sound of irritation as she spoke. "That is the unpleasant part. Whatever Psimon saw in there took its toll on him."

The screen showing Sukuna changed to that of a pale skinned man with an almost exposed brain seared in a room with a blank expression on his face. A bit of drool leaked out of the side of his mouth.

"So we're dealing with a telepath?" A voice asked.

"A telepath being involved would leave a trace of their signature in whatever mind they attempt to affect no matter how much they attempt to smother it. According to Psimon before his…accident, no such thing could be found." The woman explained.

"All ze more reasons to find this man quickly." A male with a heavy french accent spoke.

"This is indeed unfortunate. Find this 'Sukuna'. His skills will prove very useful in our endeavors." The aged voice said with a hint of finality.