iwontbeoverlooked

[iwontbeoverlooked]

ascarletwitchery:

she sent him a grin at his words, before replying, “we’re not really the big fanfare type. does it seem like we are? …well, i suppose with tony perhaps we do.” ah, but it was good to have a fanfare now and then. and tony certainly knew how to throw a party and to help everyone relax. as things were at the moment however, no one had the time or inclination to think of such things. there was a lot at stake really, and any thoughts of ‘praises’ had been pushed aside for the time. that would hopefully come later. “if you’re lucky perhaps you’ll get a smile from those big bosses. or no! perhaps even a smile and a handshake. oh, that would be the day. you’d have to be ever so lucky for that to happen here.”

wanda didn’t need long to consider his words, and she gave a nod in response. “sure. we’ve got the best of all tech - or so i’m told. i can’t say i know much about all the things that go on here tech-wise. that doesn’t interest me all that much. but we’ve got good stuff, and great people to work it. but the joker– well, if he was easy to catch he wouldn’t be half as dangerous, right?” the joker was tough to find. they’d had so many breakthrough leads - only to turn up at a scene and realise that it was a decoy, the joker had led them on a wild goose chase. it was tough. their tech could do a lot of things - but the joker was hard to predict, and new york city had so many places to hide. hopefully with zach’s information and their tech they could at least narrow the location down enough to rule out a lot of the other decoys that were popping up.

as she listened to him talk about the end of the gala, her brow furrowed ever so slightly. she had not been there of course - gods, she was lucky no one had yet asked about that. wanda had heard about what had happened, and knew it would have been tough. there had been casualties and people probably in shock (or fuelled with enough things to gossip about to last a century), and they were all lucky the heroes and super-powered people at hand were ready and able to help out. the media were already promoting hysteria, if the casualties had been worse the public would have been wanting the heads of the heroes as well as the joker. 

she glanced over at him, a wry smile on her face at his words. “a great way to describe it. he’s just… he knows what he’s doing. he’s just that right level of crazy that stops him being predictable, and also keeps him smart enough to actually know what he’s doing. which isn’t great for anyone else.” she shrugged, glancing away as she continued to walk. they’d get him. they just had to. they couldn’t afford to lose any more. but it was too tiring to think of all the ways he’d slipped past them so far, and too dark to think of what might happen should they fail to catch him soon. so wanda focused on what he said, interested and curious about this piece of magic. “that would be far easier than trying to get them to just show us another way. hopefully it works out. though even the slightest bit of new information could point us in the right direction just now.”

wanda smiled at his words, a slight chuckle escaping her. “alright. if you’re sure. i don’t think you’ll have to be here long if you don’t want to. everyone is likely going to want this information as soon as possible. i don’t think you’ll be here for chit-chat with anyone else.” though some might perhaps be very interested in his magic. everyone here dealt with the strange and the odd. magic was always going to be a curiosity however, and always be useful.

she did not see his surprise, moving ahead to open the door - but she caught a flicker in his aura. accidentally, of course. wanda didn’t want to pry, even with something like that. and so she pushed it away, and sent him a smile as she held the door open. “that’s true. i suppose apart from us there are likely going to be vigilantes without a team searching for the joker though. others looking to hunt him down. honestly, we’ve had letters and emails and everything from just random members of the public wanting to help out. which is nice but… i do think they’re a little under-qualified and a little too eager.” but good. if the public wanted to help they could do so by staying safe and out of the way. 

as she moved down the short flight of stairs to the rooms below where the technicians and other agents had set up their workshops, she laughed slightly. “right, what a disaster. it’s like he’s made this personal. he should have known and held off these attacks until you had finished up! that would only have been polite, after all.” was that sarasm in her tone? oh yes. most certainly. and a touch of good-natured amusement too.

“You guys live in one of the biggest skyscrapers in the city, named Avengers Tower, you have massive flight crafts to take you places, you all wear fancy costumes and you’ve all got superhero names.” he rattled off, raising an eyebrow at her, “You’re like a parade rolling into town, the fanfare goes without saying.” he deadpanned, convinced on that one he was right. He wore his theatre get-up and used his last name, in comparison he could almost seem subtle, he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. “By ‘big bosses’ are we talking about that Dude with the eye-patch? Iron Man? Or the young-old guy with the shield?” he asked, “And keep this up Wanda and I’ll go send the cheetah to poop in your room.”

“Yea? Well I know nothing about it. And unless it can help me get more followers on twitter, not that really need many more, then I don’t wanna know. Science is for the humans.” And magic was for the Magi. Really, while he could understand how science had its points he’d always be on the side of his race, people kept trying to force things to happen with science, with magic, you could speak the languages you needed to just ask them to happen for you. “That clown is probably super-smart. And irritatingly enough an expert planner.” Yet he paraded around playing the fool, literally, and always getting away. Zach almost wondered if he was that insane, or maybe he just played up to it to throw people off, he knew a thing or two about stage presence after all.

Zach hadn’t really noticed who was there and who wasn’t, he’d been a little preoccupied at the time with playing hero with Supergirl of all people. Still if he had to find a bright side in the whole affair, which was tricky, at least the people he helped save were more than willing to tell the papers about it. He got a little publicity in the thing. But it was for being a hero, and he didn’t wanna be a hero! He’d made than abundantly clear. That was why instead of following his leads and trying to find that clown himself he was dumping the intel on the Avengers so they could go take care of it and he could get back to planning his shows. If he kept being distracted like this his performance quality could drop.  

“Yea, well, that’s why I’m counting on. I’ve got some new tricks to go practice. You can just send me a text if you catch the bastard and make sure to give him a punch from me, go for the face, gut or the unmentionables, any one will do.” he said, a little lightness returning to his tone. Really he’d sleep better knowing that guy was locked away. “However,” he added, “If a few folks want autographs before I go I’d be happy to oblige.” he always had a pen ready for the occasion.  

Zach was pretty sure he got away with that little slip. God, he didn’t want Wanda or anyone else knowing a simple heartfelt ‘thank you’ shocked him that much. It’s just... you didn’t see’em a lot in showbiz, people were only nice on the surface there. And his family, well that just wasn’t worth going into. So he cleared his throat and stepped through the door, the cheetah at his heels, his dove on his shoulder. “That’s not nice that’s a worrying pain in the behind. Against that guy they’d just be lambs lining up for slaughter and I mean that quite literally. If they had any sense they’d stay inside, lock the doors get some very mean dogs and never turn off the light.” he ranted a little, “Either that or move to Nevada.” He’d do well in Vegas too.

Zach looked around, he’d never been in a place like this before, for some reason it reminded him of school. Though he was quick to put a charming grin on his face as a few technicians looked up at the him and Wanda. “You know, I’m about ninety-nine-point-nine percent sure that’s sarcasm, but the funny this is, you’re not wrong.” he smirked back, “Villains have no manners. So next time I’m gonna spoil his big finale!”

[iwontbeoverlooked]

ascarletwitchery:

she had not meant to sound bitchy, but wanda realised there had been a slight edge to her tone. she was tired, and it was frustrating to find that all leads on the joker so far had come to a dead end. wanda didn’t want to push him away or irk him, but it was difficult to keep herself in check when everything right now was quite aggravating. she sighed softly, then gave a slight shrug of her shoulders at his words. lovely? kind? generous? handsome? all debatable, but not something she would go into right now. if he had good information, she definitely did not want to alienate him. so she remained silent as he spoke, a slight smile on her features.

her eyes flickered from the white pigeon to the cheetah. it took a second for it to all come together, and she had to be sure not to get her hopes up too high. but this was good news. anything about the jokers whereabouts would be incredibly useful. with s.h.i.e.l.d. and stark technology maybe they could pin-point the location further from the location zach’s little menagerie had gathered. “that’s great news,” she replied, smiling over at him - still tired, but hopefully sounding less bitchy. she was certainly grateful to have a bit more information right now. “really. honestly, we’ve been trying to track him down but– well, yes. i’m sure that between what these two know and what we have we’ll at least be far better off than before.”

“they followed him from when he left the gala? we’ve managed to track him for a little while - but it’s been tough gathering exact data. he’s slipped from us before. any help location-wise would be really great.” she gave a nod, then glanced down the hall as she thought this over a little more. she was tempted to just out-right ask  where they had ended up but honestly she didn’t know the city well. nor could she speak to animals. and she rather doubted they listened to anyone but zach anyways.

“thank you. for coming to us. there’s some techs down on the next floor, trying to use camera’s and such like to track the joker after he left. we could head down there? get your information and maybe between everyone get this narrowed down a little further. there are far too many places to hide in this city.” and even if they couldn’t get an exact radius, knowing where not to look was still going to be really useful to them. no one had any idea what the joker had planned, but it was bound to be chaotic and deadly. no one could afford any more losses. the joker had to be taken down, and as quickly as possible.  

wanda gestured behind her and said, “we can just take the stairs, it’s only one floor down. is there anything you’d like, or need?” she wasn’t entirely sure how they’d get the information from the animals, or whether zach could or would help there. but they’d sort something out. wanda wasn’t yet great at information gathering. when it came to this kind of thing, she was mostly there for the end phase - the confrontation part. though…. though it had crossed her mind to try a location spell, but she wouldn’t even know where to start. “i can get you something to drink,” she added, walking down a little bit.

“and thank you. really. for coming with this. not like you had to.” she paused, then glanced at with an amused expression, “though i suppose you need to get back at the joker for stealing the front page of the newspapers, hm?”

Stress was going around it seemed. The citizens were dealing with it, the celebs were dealing with it and even the heroes were dealing with it. Zach had no idea just how of S.H.I.E.L.D’s agents were helping track down the crazed clown but he’d guess it was a lot. How a psycho was so good at hiding Zach could only wonder. Maybe he was one of those insane-yet-sane types. He had to be an expert planner if nothing else. Still, this was no time to think how impressive the clowns escape was, now was the time to thwart it and bring him in. Hopefully getting some well deserved publicity for doing so.

Zach couldn’t help but grin smugly, so he did have something the entire secret agent group didn’t have, ha! Score one for the Magi, he thought. Between the magic and science (which he still thought was inferior but wasn’t going to have that argument right now) they had a good shot. “I was kinda hoping for at least a fanfare and praise from the big bosses but I’ll settle for that.” He said lightly, spreading his arms a little. He shook his head, “Not for nothing but doesn’t this place have like, all the tech available? I’m one magician, he can get away from me. How can this guy evade you lot? Who the hell does he have helping him?”

Now that he’d asked the question it was like a little lightbulb went off in his head. That was it! He had to have help beyond his little batch of circus rejects. Big, powerful help in the city. He wouldn’t be surprised if the Mayor was in the guys pocket. “Uhh-yea.” Zach brought himself back to the conversation, “I sent them to follow him after the bombs went off. I stayed behind to clean up the mess.” What a mess that had been. Frightened people were a bitch to deal with.

Zach had been pondering over how this collaboration would work while he’d been snooping for someone. It was always tricky mixing magic and science. They were like two different ways of doing similar things, trying to get both to work in tandem could be very power but very dangerous at times. Best to try and keep them as separate as possible. “Yes, it’s like looking for a one very dangerous hay-shaped needle in a haystack. While the needle is trying to set the rest of the stack on fire.” he added in a deadpan.  

“Sweet.” Zach started walking, thinking as he did, “Nah. Don’t think so. I’ll try a memory convergence spell. Basically I’ll go snooping in the cheetah’s head and see what it saw, then I’ll just project it so you guys can too. I’ll do the same with Abra.” Lucky they weren’t human, messing human memories could be very difficult (and forbidden by one elder cousin) but an inanimate object and an animal should be manageable for him, provided no slip ups occurred. “Well, that’s more like it,” he grinned at the drink offer, “But I’m good. Let’s just get this done so I can get gone.”

Zach paused for a moment, looking at her with something akin to surprise in his expression. He looked down a little, rubbing his neck, “Well uhh, sure I mean, who else was I gonna go to?” he asked, “And that bastard is gonna ruin my New York tour! Surely that’s the biggest threat here?” he added, feeling more comfortable back in that kind of territory.

[iwontbeoverlooked]

Zach, being the gift from the Gods he was had dumped his magically gotten intel on Joker off with Wanda to pass onto the powers that be, he wasn’t fond of getting too involved, it might mess up his show schedule. But since he had nothing better to do for the moment he was lounging around Avengers Tower, near Wanda’s bit if he was right, wondering what to do and when or if he’d be told anything. Just cause he said he didn’t wanna be involved didn’t mean he didn’t want the info. Like heck if he’d ask anyone though, that would imply he cared!  

A blur interrupted his musings and Zach whipped his head about, eyes widening he he copped a semi-naked man who was bleeding... Fast guy? Had to be Wanda’s brother, she’d mentioned him during their training sessions, P-something...

“I prefer London myself, as many power-hungry rich snobs who’ll pay top dollar for my talent but much stricter gun-laws.” he said lightly, “Just as hostile in attitude though.” He pointed at the guys chest, specifically the bullet wounds, “You want a hand with those?” he asked, “I can fixed in a sentence.” he bragged.

To say Pietro liked getting things done fast was something of an understatement. The man would do his best not to allow this mentality to affect his patrolling of the city. As a bit of a change of pace, he decided to go solo in this pursuit,the regret hitting him much more quickly than the bullet that had hit him. ‘Of course they had guns’ he thought to himself. ‘Who the hell shoots an Avenger on sight?’ Granted, he’d stopped the people from robbing a bank, but either those guys had uncanny aim, or they had missed and he actually ran into the bullets. In any case, job got done. 

The speedster made his way into Avengers Tower, wasting no time in peeling off  his shirt, noting the number of bullet holes before he rolled his shoulder, feeling the damage already healing.

“You know, as much I have grown to love this city, I am beginning to see how hostile New Yorkers can be….Or at least the armed ones. It is a pity.”

[iwontbeoverlooked]

Zach was beginning to this was the busiest abandoned place he’d been too since that haunted graveyard when he was slumming it at sixteen. Yea, that hadn’t been a very restful night. Still, at least they hadn’t be vengeful. Joker’s attack had put everyone to work, he was only in this one for himself and his ruined publicity... And his hospitalisation but he was trying to pretend that didn’t happen, made sleeping alone easier. Still, he was almost getting ready to just dump the cheetah here with a note and be on his way, he didn’t wanna get roped into anything too big, even if the big time heroes did come with big time publicity.

As his not-so considerable patience was reaching it’s end Wanda appeared, Zach grinned, snarky remark ready when she beat him to the punch. He paused, mouth still half-open and seemed to deflate a little. Sheesh! He was coming here with good news and that was the response he got? “Lots of people do! If you read any of the latest celebrity magazines you’d see that having performed in several continents I am indeed internationally recognised and respected!” He didn’t add ‘so there’ but boy was he thinking it.

His little tirade over he actually took a moment to look at Wanda, noticing the hand through the hair, the sharper than normal tone, well... “I’m getting the distinct impression you’re feeling snippy.” he said, grinning sweetly, “It’s very lucky I’m such a lovely, kind, generous, handsome... heartwarming person that I’m still helping you out Wanda.” he shook his head a little, “I totally deserve an award.”

“Anyway.” he said, an air of his usual drama to the words, “Despite the slightly bitchy tone, I totally to, eh, viola!” he gestured towards the cheetah with a hand, “This guy took off chasing the crazed clown after he ruined my show at the gala. Managed to follow the getaway car before it out-sped him, which was no mean feet.” he added, “And old Abra here was watching from the sky,” he pointed at the dove on his shoulder, “He saw which way the car went after the cheetah lost it.” he shrugged a little, “I figure between the two you guys might be able to get some lead on where he bunkered down afterwards. Right?” he asked, he didn’t really do much hero-legwork, he tended to just turn up and save the day.

to come back to the tower and see how busy everyone was, and to feel the tension (not to mention see the chaotic aura’s) in the air was strange. it didn’t take long for wanda to piece together that in her absence from the last part of the gala she had missed something vital - something dangerous. for a moment there had been guilt, but wanda had pushed that aside. she had not been there and could not change that fact. dwelling on it would help no one. the guilt might return later - but she had enjoyed being away from the gala, and since she wouldn’t change that even if she could well… she’d learn to live with that.

so she’d busied herself at the tower as best she could. wanda was just lucky no one had really questioned her absence. perhaps many hadn’t even noticed she was not around. but despite all the efforts of everyone in the tower, and everyone on patrol or gathering intel their own way, they were no closer to catching the joker than before. it was disheartening and terribly frustrating to have nothing to show for the fear and chaos of last night.

and though she was often amused and happy enough with zach’s company, his dulcet tones did not exactly brighten her mood. but his words? well, that made her curious. she waved off a couple of s.h.i.e.l.d. agents that were lingering around, and headed down the corridor to the source of the noise. “superstar? i’m not entirely sure i’ve heard anyone ever call you that.”

she ran a hand through her hair, stopping and looking over at zach. her eyes flickered to the cheetah, that sculpted creature that now walked and looked about animatedly. “do you really have something on the joker?” ah, that maybe sounded harsher than she meant. wanda shook her head, then gave a slight smile. best not make things worse, she didn’t want to have to drag the information from him. so as gratefully as she could (and she would be grateful for anything useful, even slightly), wanda spoke up, “anything would be helpful right now, actually. come on. we can get down the information you have. i’ll pass it on to everyone else, if we don’t come across them soon anyway.”

[iwontbeoverlooked]

Zach paused for a moment, considering that one. He wouldn’t need to get covered in sand, and it was something he could boast about later... And that was always fun. Hmm... “I get to pick the music in the bioship, I do not have to set a single foot on any wet sand, food and beverages must be supplied and we’re not to have any meaningful conversations for the whole trip.” he finished his list of demand and stuck his nose in the air, “Guarantee all that and whale-back stargazing and you have a deal.” He frowned a little though, being willing to help, huh... He didn’t know anyone like that, except M’gann and Wanda. It must be a rare thing.

The narrowed eyes almost became slits at that remark, “Yea? Well you’re happy and irritating, I need to balance you out, chirpy.” he sniped. “Really? Well come the morning where even resting your head against an arctic glacier won’t help you... we’ll see how you feel then.” he watched the jar fall and smash, turning back he gave her a stink eye, “You’re cleaning that up.” And then he wasn’t getting her any more, and he’d summon up instruments to follow her around and play loud music all day.

Zach had a very different reaction and couldn’t help bursting out laughing as her house collapsed, “Ha! Serves you right for spilling my hangover cure.” he said smugly, only to roll his eyes at her behaviour, “My god, add stupid to the list of things drunk you is. riapeR.” he cast, the little house assembling itself once more.

Words Won’t Come || Open

“Technically we don’t even need to go to the beach,” M’gann offered, “We could fly right above open ocean until I locate the pod and then hop right back into the bioship afterwards.” She hadn’t been to the beach since her move to New York. Something always came up and the beach was pushed back, forced to wait for another day off. It came with the job, M’gann supposed. “If I guarantee whale-back stargazing you’ll come?” she exclaimed, “In that case it’s a definite yes! I’m certain the whales will be more than willing to help us out, especially if I clue them in on some of the stories.” 

M’gann lay down on her side. The floor was cold and yet it felt soothing beneath her. “You’re grouchy when you’re drunk,” she giggled, “I’m sure I’ll manage without depriving a fairy of its wings. The floor is just cold enough that if I press my forehead against it, I think it’ll be something like an ice pack. That’s more than enough for me.” She flicked her wrist towards the jar of tar and pushed it to the edge of the counter. 

“I could make it better with a raise of my eyebrows, but I said I wasn’t going to and I meant–” as M’gann picked herself up to face Zachary her psychic energy knocked the house down. “Oh no!” she whimpered, lunging for the pieces and completely forgetting that she could levitate them back into place.

[iwontbeoverlooked]

Great, friggin brilliant. Zach huffed and threw the paper down. No one had no clue where the damn Joker was, and that bastard had ruined his big show! He was supposed to be the one mentioned in all the papers today, the one being exhausted and adored! But instead only his animated sculptures got a mention cause they saved people from taking a few bullets. He wanted to be an entertainer, not a hero!

Zach rubbed a hand over his eyes, his tracking spells hadn’t worked yet either. He just had nothing to pull from, all he got was that the Joker was ‘somewhere’ in New York, talk about stating the obvious. One of his doves landed on his shoulder and cooed at him softly, ruffling it’s wings in the direction of the one sculpture he’d kept animated, the cheetah. It had been chasing Joker, last track of him but followed him quite a ways, maybe showing others how far it had gotten could help them figure out the rest of the way?

He shrugged, might as well, he didn’t have a show scheduled for today. “rooD ot kratS srewoT.” he cast, gesturing the cheetah to follow him as he stepped through, Wanda said other heroes stayed here with her, one of them would do. “Hello,” he called out, the door disappearing behind him, “International superstar calling, complete with hint on Jokers whereabouts.”

[iwontbeoverlooked]

Zach only frowned in response, did she have to have a nice comeback for everything? She was like an anti-him... Mind you... “Fine. A night trip to the beach could manageable, provided I get no sand anywhere but my feet.” It just got everywhere and it was all coarse and itchy, yuck. “Don’t ‘maybe’ me here Martian! I want a guarantee I’ll get whaleback star gazing or it’s no deal.” He supposed whales had to be kind, they were a little like elephants, only in the sea, and much bigger. “Really?” he cocked an eyebrow, “Well, as if the world wasn’t shitty enough already, let’s throw in something else to bring people down.” he deadpanned. He narrowed his gaze before a sly grin came onto his face and he leant back, “Fine. Be that way, I’ll just slip a truth potion into your next drink, then you’ll tell me.”

Zach rolled his eyes, “Oh don’t be such a nancy. They grow back,” he told her, “Besides, faeries can be pretty dickish at times, I’d say they deserve a de-winging every now and then.” he added lightly, “Not that it matters. See what you say when your head is pounding and your insides feel lie they wanna be outside.”

Zach looked down at it too, “I could make something much better with a sentence you know.” He wasn’t going too, frankly he didn’t see the point, but it made him feel superior to say nonetheless. “Why thank you,” he preened, sticking his nose in the air with satisfaction. “I take great pride in my ability to insult. All off stage of course.”

Words Won’t Come || Open

Ever the negotiator, M’gann adjusted, “How about we go at night then?” She was fairly certain that the darkness of the waves and the depth of the open water would scare off anyone other than the world’s most arrogant magician. “Maybe the whales would let us rest on their backs and watch the stars, and then a transmorph potion it is!” She was about to go on when she caught Zach’s jab on interspecies war. “That is already kind of a thing, unfortunately.” M’gann bit her lower lip. Anti-alien sentiment was ubiquitous in M’gann’s life on Earth, always looming. “Well,” she started cautiously, “I can tell you that I,” she took a deep breath and looked straight at Zach with a tiny smile, “can’t tell you anything.”

M’gann made a sour face. “Kale and broccoli I can take, but I was out at fairy wings.” She raised her palms and held them in front of herself protectively, “So I’ll have to pass. Maybe next time, gross hangover cure,” M’gann said with a suspicious glance towards the tar. 

She shrugged, carefully plotting her next hug, and glanced down at the little straw house. It wasn’t particularly well-built and the salt on the roof was uneven. M’gann nudged the roof a bit. “Oh yes, so charming,” she grinned, “The most charming. All the charming that someone so insulting can possibly be.”

[iwontbeoverlooked]

Zach rolled his eyes, “Yea, I don’t really do ‘sun sea and A&E’ I’m more of a moon, theatre and badass performance type.” Besides, he’d only been to the beach once or twice, sand was horrible. “Oh goodie, I can already see the interspecies wars being propagated by the government.”  He deadpanned, “And no. Gillyweed is not real. If I wanted gills I’d just make a transmorph potion with fish in mind.” He told her, like it was an obvious explanation. His eyes widened a little, then narrowed as he leant a little closer, “’Scuse me? Sounded to me like you were about to let me in ona good story there Carrot-Cake, so start spilling.” Magicians hated being left out of the loop.

Shrinking backwards, M’gann gaped at the evil laugh. “That was insane! Like the crypt keeper finding the perfect brain! Did you have to practice that or did it just come to you?” She squinted and played nervously with the empty bottle of Kopparberg, “Zachary, sometimes I feel like you think the Zachary that performs on stage is a different Zachary than the one drinking with me right now.” M’gann tilted her head to look at him more closely.

“Well of course you would. Typical.” He sniffed the air indignantly before looking at the potion, “Kale, broccoli, fifth dimension kelpie, fairy wings and cat liver.” He rattled off, “But luckily the thing just tastes like butt. And no you may not turn off any senses, you’re gonna take this like a martian and suffer through like the rest of us.” Mainly cause he thought it would be hilarious to see. 

“I have never been happier to hear someone speak.” He deadpanned, raising a brow and crossing his arms. Zach wasn’t huggy in any sense, really he was like the anti-hug, thinking that made him laugh. And he kept snorting as she agreed to not talk about him. Cause he hadn’t even brought that up with Z, let alone anyone outside the family. It just wasn’t worth talking about, it’d only make him seem weak.

“I have a plethora of charming features, who dissertations could be written on them.” He told her with certainty. “Oh please, insults are vital to forming the Joking Relationship observed in African tribes to help create stronger bonds in groups.” He told her with a shrug, “So no. I don’t go easy on anyone.”

Words Won’t Come || Open

“Or,” M’gann pressed her palms into her thighs and leaned forward just a bit, “Or you could save ShadowCrest for another day and enjoy the sun, sea, sand, and cetacea! And this is even better than Harry Potter because this has magic and aliens!” She grinned triumphantly. “I mean, I’d watch that.” A second later, she asked, “Why, is gillyweed real?” M’gann was pretty sure that it wasn’t. Pretty sure. “That makes a lot of sense, Zach. Who knows, before we got acquainted you might have seen me walking around the city as someone else. When I was investigating STAR Labs I,” she broke off suddenly, realizing that she had just begun to reveal sensitive information about a mission. 

Shrinking backwards, M’gann gaped at the evil laugh. “That was insane! Like the crypt keeper finding the perfect brain! Did you have to practice that or did it just come to you?” She squinted and played nervously with the empty bottle of Kopparberg, “Zachary, sometimes I feel like you think the Zachary that performs on stage is a different Zachary than the one drinking with me right now.” M’gann tilted her head to look at him more closely.

“I stand by my two ‘ha’s’. What if I turn off my gustatory senses and just swallow the potion without having to taste it?” she inquired. “What are the ingredients?” This sort of thing was not to be taken lightly. M’gann had discovered the hard way that certain things that would not naturally affect humans could make her terribly ill or cause unexpected side-effects. 

“Luckily I’m ‘huggy’ enough for the both of us!” There wasn’t nearly enough hugging these days. M’gann still felt a bit perturbed by the fight they’d had at the start of the evening, but unfortunately those arguments, that anxiety and uneasiness, seemed to be everywhere. She shrugged, “Fair enough,” and tucked it away for later. Because they would talk about it later. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but it would definitely come up some time. 

M’gann snorted, “You have a wide range of charming features. Insults, however, are not at the top of my list!” She hesitated. Again M’gann was too afraid to come off as hostile in any way so she followed up softly, “I’ll try to understand though. I’d appreciate it if you went easy on me.”

[iwontbeoverlooked]

“Why yes, almost God-like in my abilities.” He said smugly, “I could do the clock, candlestick, wardrobe, tea-pot and the entire kitchen cutlery set with a sentence. You’re on your own when it comes to finding a beast though. My work with living things isn’t as amazing.” Still pretty damned good though. Zach cast his eye back over the party, checking things were still going well with his enchantments, he didn’t really pay attention to Barbra’s phone. 

Zach kept his hand on the leopard’s head, absently stroking it while he wondered if the reporters were still about. He’d made sure they caught his introduction, but there were parts two and three to come, he needed them to be around to witness his brilliance. At least things had been calm this evening. He was pleasantly surprised the nut job of the week hadn’t crashed the event yet.

Zach looked back, frowning a little at the question. That was an odd one, “Can’t say I’ve ever been asked that one before.” He chuckled, “I like to think I’m not a peeping tom so I haven’t tried. Though yes, in theory I could.” He told her, smirking at her use of words, “Alright, lead on Macduff.”

A Night of Wonder || Open

“Are you now?” Barbara inquired in response to his statement, quirking a playful brow, “Does that mean you could enchant a clock and a candlestick and I can have my very own live-action Beauty and the Beast scenario? Because, I won’t lie, that would be a pretty sweet deal.” Her phone vibrated against her leg. Her initial compulsion was to pull it out of her clutch and read it but she managed to hold back in the presence of others. The Oracle symbol was quite well-known in the superhuman community; if it was spotted in the hands of its creator, it would compromise her identity and put her at risk.

Barbara rolled her shoulders and glanced quickly at one of the animated animals. They were still so very life-like. She parted her lips to speak again and paused when her phone vibrated once more. She sighed and offered an apologetic look. “Excuse me for just a sec,” she held up one finger before digging through her purse. When she pulled the phone out, she spotted something peculiar on the building’s specs, her expression gradually shifting from amusement to worry. 

“Hey, uh,” she stated, placing the phone in her lap, “if you wanted to, could you see through the walls or make them transparent?” Her inquiry was odd, perhaps, but it didn’t hurt to ask. “Feel like talking a walk with me?” The term ‘walk’ was used rather loosely, in her case.

[iwontbeoverlooked]

Zach wasn’t really looking to see if anyone he recognised was about. This was his show, so he’d protect it himself and it didn’t matter if the entire friggin Justice League or Avengers were about this was all about him. That and M’gann aside (who he didn’t wanna ask cause that was just being needy) he wasn’t exactly friendly with any heroes, so there was no team up he could summon. But that wasn’t important now. Get people out, find Joker, get good press, in that order!  

Zach was quite impressed his sculptures had handled the bullets so well, there could be way more to this spell than he thought, heck, there were statues everywhere in New York, he could summon up an army as needed with a few tweaks to the casting process… Thoughts for later, he told himself, watching with satisfaction as his buffalo sculpture sat on a goon who tried to go for a knife. That’s gonna leave a mark, he thought. Whoever said fighting can’t be fun clearly wasn’t a Magi.

A few people were still reticent to actually leave the main room. He sighed and rolled up his shirtsleevs, “Alright people lets move it out! C’mon it’s a…” oh brainwave! “Bomb threat, there could be more in the building so please evacuate in an orderly fashion.” That did it, they all ran for the doors like bargain hunters for a black Friday special. Zach shook his head, it left behind a few who’re dazed, confused and or otherwise not too badly injured.

Well, he had healing magic, he was pretty damn good at it too, but with this many people all needing help it’d take too long to do them one at a time. Maybe that diffusion wave field he’d studied would work? It would take a huge amount of energy, but overall would be less than one at a time. Right, decision made. “klahC.” He conjured a piece of chalk, “warD sdraw.” He ordered, the chalk hopped too and started jolting about, drawing patterns on the floor just as he envisioned in his mind.  

Zach frowned at her “Do you need to pee or something? You look a little tense.” He said, frown becoming a smirk the more he spoke. Frankly he was ‘The Great Zatara’ right now, and he didn’t get scared or stressed, nah, he just got on with it with a flair. So Zach rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, “Could be worse, I don’t smoke so no great loss.” He chuckled. Keeping an eye on his chalk, it was getting there, hopefully it’d be done soon.  

“Good idea. Especially since I just called a bomb threat to get the able bodies moving, trust me that worked a treat.” He smirked, “Tricks? Rude. My spells are way more than just ‘tricks’ Supergal.” The chalk flew back to his hand, “Ah, speaking of injured it seems great,” he pointed to himself, “And not so great,” he pointed at her, “Minds think alike. You find those bombs and I’ll fix everyone up in a jiffy.”

He wriggled his fingers, not nervous, or so he told himself, as he walked to the centre of the circle that’d been drawn. He brought his hands together, almost like in prayer, closed his eyes and spoke, “laeH eseht elpoep.” The chalk lines began to glow a deep purple and a slight wind rippled around Zach. The circle rose up off the floor and then with a sound like a bubble bursting exploded out, tiny pieces of purple light going to everyone who was injured, mending wounds and restoring energy. It was all over in about a minute and Zach all but collapsed to the floor, landing on one knee and panting slightly, thanking several Gods that had worked.

Now that the initial knee-jerk reaction to the situation had passed, she was able to get a better overview of what was still happening inside. Of what had happened, while she’d been busy going with the first and best ‘plan’ that occured to her. Her head had snapped to attention when she thought she’d seen Conner amidst the tumble of people, but as quick as the dark head had appeared it was gone. If he was here, he would be able to take care of himself, more so than most the people here. Her chest heaved steadily, jaw setting as she turned her gaze away.

Supergirl was only allowed to focus on the people under her protection for so long, though, because suddenly a hail of bullets ripped through the air. Kara was up and above the ground before she realised, eyes quickly drawn to the armed guards on the other side of the room. Before her speed could carry her to the site of the assault, though, one of the magician’s animated sculptures darted to his rescue – oh, and there he was. Sure, she had heard the name, but she had never seen magic done before, and when the guns transformed inexplicably into plants, her breath caught in her throat. How?

Laws-of-science-defying questions aside, the man clearly seemed to have his end under control, and when the ( undead? ) animals from the show earlier gathered, the Kryptonian focused her gaze and scoured across the remaining crowd. Looking through so many people at once was disorienting, but finding any cracked bones keeping civilians from the escape they were providing was essential. She had only been in a mass-attack a few times, but she had picked up a few things, and the Joker’s massacre was the worst quick-course yet. 

Remembering the death and devastation sent a shudder through her body, ending in tightly curled fists. Anger took hold, teeth grinding, heat forming at the back of her eyes – no, no. Swallowing around an uncomfortable lump in her throat, Supergirl forced her rapidly escalating breathing down. This was not the place or time to let loose – not until she’d found the right target. With that soothing thought in mind, she returned to the present, where her eyes had been staring ruthlessly through someone’s hip and another’s stomach. Definitely not the place to erupt. Shaken, Kara unfocused her vision and looked to the politicians and celebrities trailing out the broken-in doors. 

Among them stood someone, with no apparent plan of moving, and she her attention was automatically drawn to him. Zatara. Only minutes ago she had been going over her notes on his performance, wondering how to do his trick justice and how to incorporate it into the bigger theme of the gala, and now here they were, flanking a battlefield. She felt a slight sense of relief, having someone else in the chaos who was able to help. Still, it felt as absurd in some grotesque way she wished would never have to occur. All that accummulated to a simple strain to her smile, like a gesture that didn’t entirely fit. Robin, huh? M’gann would have a field-day with that. “Mm, close but no cigar,” Supergirl found herself saying. She’d definitely been met with worse reactions, and if this was an attempt at parodying most people’s comparison between her and her cousin, there was a small grain of appreciation to be found in that.

Even so, this wasn’t the scene for jokes, and restlessness shook under her invulnerable skin. They – she needed to be doing something. Her expression hardened when he mentioned The Joker, resolution in the set of her mouth and slight frown to her brow. “I’ll check the place for more explosives.” She said, following his line of thinking.  A beat, and then a tilt to her head, “You seem to have a good summary of my abilities, but outside performance tricks, I don’t know yours.” Resisting the urge to chew the inside of her lip, she cast another glance across the crowd in thought. “There’s probably some concussions and wounds out there. Can you handle that?” Impatience finally took form in her tapping her foot against the floor, and an anxious sigh pressed past her lips. “The sooner we get these people to safety, the better. The bastard is not getting away this time.”

[iwontbeoverlooked]

Fifteen minutes was plenty of time to Zach’s mind. He’d appeared and gone at his parents parties as a child that fast. He’d done whole shows and won over audiences in that time. Suited him down to the ground, or in this case, sea. “Or I could always spend my time in ShadowCrest doing something productive with my time instead of getting on a first name basis with a bunch of marine mammals.” he countered dryly. Arguing against doing stuff was in his nature. Besides the sea was really big, and he could speak underwater. “Charm an air bubble, what is this: Harry Potter?” he asked, “Next you’ll be asking me to chomp on gillyweed or something.” Zach shook his head, “Can’t I just sit on a boat and wave, I’m sure it’s all the same to them.” he rolled his eyes, “Yea, well you’re a Martian, seems to me you guys are predisposed to shapeshifting, us Magi, not so much,” he grinned a little, “Though, it’d be funny to see you as a guy.” he laughed, “And even funnier seeing Martian Manhunter as a girl!” he laughed some more, “Maybe,” he chortled down, “It’s one of those psychological things, identify as one and it comes easier.”    

He raised a brow at her, “Ehh, seven out of ten, you’ve gotta work on that evil laugh. It still sounds too nice. Like an emo getting his own back on his ‘unsupportive parents’.” he finger-quoted the word, “Try something more like this,” he took a sip of his drink, cleared his throat and let out a full blown cackle like a manic-warlock hunched over a cauldron would be proud of. He grinned smugly, “Well of course I would. Have you met The Great Zatara? The guys amazing.” He finished, not noticing he’d switched persons.

Ah dear, he was tempted to shake his head but resisted. This was just too easy. Seriously it was like taunting a baby. “I think it deserved at least three ha’s,” he told her with a shrug, “Course you don’t drink it now. You take it home and drink it when you’re hungover.” he told her, “Getting it down is half the challenge. Then you gotta keep it there while it works it’s magic.”

Zach furrowed his brows and something very close to a pout came onto his face, “Look, nothing against you and you’re ‘feelings’ but I’m not the most huggy of people.” Heck his parents hadn’t done affection, end of. It had been maybe the odd pat on the head as he was sent on his way. Uncle John had done hugs, Zach had enjoyed them, but never really took to anybody else doing it. He snorted, “Sober enough to catch that one weren’t ya.” he deadpanned, “And that’s a whole other story for a whole other piss-up.” he told her.  

And then he was back to rolling his eyes. “P-lease,” he elongated the word, “If you’re expecting me to be taking part in anymore hugs then you’re gonna have to grow a thicker skin to my insults. They’re part of my oh-so lovely charm.”

Words Won’t Come || Open

Only fifteen minutes? That would barely be enough time for the most basic introductions. The gears started turning. M’gann raised her left hand to her chin and puzzled over it for a moment before exclaiming, “I’ve got it! You can be a whale for fifteen minutes and then you can enjoy the underwater wonders from the comfort of my bioship!” Then it occurred to M’gann that Zachary might be less than enthusiastic about being anywhere but center stage. She stopped to think about it again, clapping her hands together at the next bright idea. “We could both start as whales and then change back to humans once the first meeting is over. You can charm an air bubble around yourself!” M’gann frowned, “I used to have trouble with my transformations, too. When I started out I could only take on the human female form.” She shrugged, “Uncle J’onn says he was the same way.” M’gann waited a moment for a response and then blubbered, “Oh! I mean he could only take on the male form! Male!”

She bit her lower lip a moment and then agreed, “Okay, I guess I’m done then.” Then with an uncharacteristically husky voice M’gann followed, “For now.” After a beat, M’gann let out the most maniacal laugh she could muster. It echoed nicely off the bar and she toyed with doing another. With one raised eyebrow, M’gann glanced from the the corner of the room to Zachary. He could be pretty charming when he wanted to be. “You know I wouldn’t doubt that with you,” she conceded.

M’gann listened intently, fully prepared to memorize any and all instructions provided to ensure the success of the bubbling tar drink. Only, of course, Zach had chosen yet another opportunity to tease her. “Ha ha,” she muttered, “Alright, Mister Zatara, but do I drink it now to prevent hangover or later to cure it?”

Releasing Zachary from her hug, hers as it was mostly one-sided, M’gann smiled awkwardly. “You’re going to have to get used to hugs around me. I lovehugs.” Really she did. M’gann’s love of hugging was practically unmatched. The first time she’d played video games M’gann had asked, completely excited and serious, ‘which button is for hugging?’ The Martian leaned back against the bar before sinking to the floor and looking up at the ceiling, venturing sincerely, “I don’t know how anyone could possibly overlook you.”

“Aww, thank you!” she cooed while simultaneously swatting playfully at him. “Just don’t let it get out of hand with those insults, please. My gentle heart cannot take such,” M’gann struggled to think of the right word, “antics.” 

[iwontbeoverlooked]

Zach didn’t need to worry about his identity, everyone already knew. He felt himself pale a little at the sight of Joker, that man had got him hospitalised, and now he was trying to ruin his show? That bastard was gonna pay! He was going to launch a spell when the first explosions started, making him flinch back, by the time he’d recovered it was raining exploding cards. “Shit! ekaT eht tih!” he cast, the sculptures he’d animated for the e evening jumping up and taking the blasts which could severely hurt anyone else is they hit. He noticed a reddish-blue blur flying around but was more concerned with getting the nearest door open to follow Joker, why the hell was no one moving? The doors... they couldn’t be open.

Well, he could fix that, “nepO!” he cast at the nearest door, it swung open and he was greeted by several guns, “Oh shi-” he luckily the buffalo he’d enchanted was still going and leaped before him to take the shots. “Jesus.” he muttered, flinging a hand in their direction, “snuG ot srewolf!” He smirked at hearing the shocked cries of the goons, gotta love magic. “egrahC!” what was left of his sculptures ran down the hallway and tackled, flattened or batted away the flower wielding goons. “Alright!” he yelled, to the folks who hadn’t left by the first open door, he needed to look into that, “Everybody out! Please no autographs and straight home to bed for all, don’t forget this evening the Great Zatara saved you, tickets for my show still available!” he called as he headed for the other side of the room, to see who else was lending a hand.

He raised an eyebrow, now there was a familiar costume. He waited till the crowd had started to thin before addressing her, “Don’t tell me, red and blue, cape, flying and really strong, you’re definitely Robin, I’ve heard so much about you!” he smirked, a little sarcasm made him feel better, “But in all honesty we’ve gotta check this place is safe and find Joker. That bastard ruined my show!” Not necessarily the big picture but Zach had never been known for his selfless nature.

When the first bomb goes off, everything falls apart, and it’s exactly what Kara needs. The only person she was with disappeared abruptly – before the attack, and whether that was a good sign or was nothing that concerned her now. Lowering her glasses, her eyes pierced through the building, on the outside looking in. Except she only cast a brief glance at the chaos inside before lifting her gaze. One, two, three security cameras. The wait for the two honed in on her to turn was excruciating, and the moment they faced away she was gone. Leaping up the side of the building, feeling the rush of air on so much bare skin, the woman landed heavily in a crouch on the roof, tucked away from view an alcove made up by the conveniently elaborate architecture. ( Thanks, America’s fascination with a crumbled human empire. )

Zach didn’t need to worry about his identity, everyone already knew. He felt himself pale a little at the sight of Joker, that man had got him hospitalised, and now he was trying to ruin his show? That bastard was gonna pay! He was going to launch a spell when the first explosions started, making him flinch back, by the time he’d recovered it was raining exploding cards. “Shit! ekaT eht tih!” he cast, the sculptures he’d animated for the e evening jumping up and taking the blasts which could severely hurt anyone else is they hit. He noticed a reddish-blue blur flying around but was more concerned with getting the nearest door open to follow Joker, why the hell was no one moving? The doors... they couldn’t be open.

Seconds later, a figure in red and blue broke through the doors.

Chaos was wrong. This was hysteria.

All eyes were turned towards the stage, where Kara caught the sight of green and purple and a manic red grin split across a pale yet all-but-lifeless face. The same monster who’d been in Times Square and left people dying at her feet, wheezing out their last painful breath. She felt heat prickle at the back of her eyes, fists curling before she was even aware of the act, and had the killer lingered a moment longer she’d have been on him in a second – but he didn’t. The Joker threw a stack of cards, and the world seemed to grind to a halt. 

He was gone, but in that moment Kara couldn’t care less. Her heart leapt, and she was hovering as her voice rose in her throat, “MOVE!” At the same time, the first cards started to explode, and Supergirl swept over the crowd to catch the last ones, wincing only in irritation as the explosives triggered where they hit her. The people who didn’t stand frozen scattered, but no one was running for their lives. Confusion flitted across her face, realisation dawning quickly as she whipped her head around. Of course. The exits were blocked.

Chandeliers swayed as she shot towards the nearest doors, refusing to lose time if there were other bombs left in the building. The humans gathered underfoot made space for her to land, distressed and desperate chatter filling her ears. Grabbing the doors by their handles, metal bended in her grip as she wrenched the lock apart with an audible crack. Halting, she didn’t loosen her grasp yet, eyes narrowing as she looked through. “Back off, find cover,” the alien ordered the people behind her, giving them a good few seconds before she slipped through the doors. The guards didn’t stand a chance, bullets deflecting off of her and the barrels they were shot from rapidly turned into metal pretzels. The people holding them got off easier, but she didn’t allow them to remain conscious. 

  “Okay, it’s clear. Come on people, go, go!” She shouted as she swung the doors wide open, lucky people trusted her since the last Joker catastrophe when they reacted without question. Stepping back, she held one of the doors open and watched them hurry outside. “Break the group as soon as you can, don’t let them trap you!” Kara didn’t need enhanced hearing to know all their hearts were beating at the same speed as hers, and her voice softened slightly, “It’ll be okay.” This time.

[iwontbeoverlooked]

The hell!? Zach had been happily relaxing in a side room, waiting to go back for the second part of his show when all of a sudden he hears explosions from the room. he ran into the ballroom and looked about. Luckily his enchanted animals didn’t react, though the buffalo was missing a back leg and a gazelle was nowhere to be seen. “Shit,” he caught sight of a tacky purple suit and green hair exiting by the far door. That damn clown! How dare he ruin his night!

Heads were gonna roll for this, preferably a green-topped one.

“kcaB ot lamron!” he cast, the animals all returning to their sculptures, except the leopard, which bounded over to him, “wolloF rekoJ!” Zach instructed, the cat taking off through the same door, “arbA, arbadaK!” the two doves appeared, “Follow that leopard, it’s got my magic on it.” The birds cooed and took off. Zach ran back into the crowd, eyes narrowing in on Tim of all people, “Why are you just standing here? Go get dressed and track him dow-” he was cut off by the explosion and Tim tackling him down, “Wha? reirraB!” he cast containing the two so they wouldn’t get hit by any debris.

“Damn it all.” he pushed himself up, and stared at Tim, he felt surprisingly okay, “Look, you go round up your super friends or at least get in costume, I’m gonna repair the damage here and meet you in five.” he dissipated his barrier, “My leopard and doves are on Jokers tail, he’s not getting away.” he told him.

HE WAS HERE. the joker. that laughing maniac that he had been for month on end was here at the gala, just standing there and smiling, swinging his cane like it was all some old fashioned stand up comedy routine. BRUCE. he needed to find bruce. NOW. this was their chance. all the would need to was grab him, lock him in the darkest hole that arkham had to offer, and throw away the key. then they could go home, back to gotham were they actually belonged. 

this was almost all over. 

reaching inside of his jacket pocket, his finger tips brushed against his collapsible bo as he moved against the herd of panicked civis. there is no time for him to grab his gear ( which was tucked away in the back of the sportscar he had arrived in ) but he has to do something. what if tonight was going to be another times square? tim can feel his chest tighten as he listens to someone shriek in terror. no, he’s got this. he just needs to THINK. there’s always a game plan. 

everything becomes clearer when he finally pauses to take a breath. the adrenaline sharpening his senses as he swung his gaze towards the sound of a series of beeps. SHIT. “ get down! ” he doesn’t hesitate to grab the person next to him and tackle them down. “ keep your head down, cover your ears! ” he managed to shout over the yelling just as the explosion goes off, dusted derbies flying onto his back and ringing his ears.

this was BAD. worse then that. 

[iwontbeoverlooked]

Zach took a breath of night air and grinned at the other, he hadn’t noticed Tim, but he’d been too busy entertaining the masses and keeping an eye on his animals, everything was going perfectly. “Well, sons of billionaires shouldn’t be hiding. I thought all this was second nature to you?” his own upbringing hadn’t been this extravagant, he was proud he climbed a few rungs on the ladder. “Really? You fight super villains and traipse across roof-tops every other night but a little dancing scares you?” he deadpanned.

Zach’s smiled widened, “I couldn’t be having a better time. It’s a high class party and I’ve just had centre stage. Everyone’s enamoured with my magic.” he laughed, “Well I’ve a few more tricks up my sleeve before the evenings through.”

leaning an elbow onto the railing, the teen turned his attention to the magician with a smile. he had already seen zach in passing on multiple occasions throughout the night, but with the crowds around the both of them, the chance for them to speak had been constantly been intercepted. “ here?  of course i am. at least here, that reporter than has been tailing me was no idea where i am. ” he chortled, “ plus it looked like someone was going to ask me to dance with them. i had to get the hell out of there. 

a soft exhale passed through his lips as he straightened his posture. “ you seem to be having a good time here through. ” he noted, “ i even saw that you brought only the animals. don’t tell me i missed a big show. ”

[iwontbeoverlooked]

Zach liked to think of himself as pretty hardy, heck, he’d toured Gotham with Z as her assistant years ago and had managed that, now here he was managing New York all on his own. Quite impressive if he did say so himself. True the damn placed seemed to be attracting all the crazies that Gotham had but there were plenty of other heroes about who could deal with that. There was one goal and one goal only in his mind. Get as famous as he possibly could. So far it seemed to be going well. This gala would do wonders for him.

Ahh, a little blush, he still had it. Zach was pretty proud that he could fake it with the best of’em. He chuckled slightly and released her hand, crossing his arms lightly.

“Unsurprising. It seems everyone has had the privilege of seeing the Mistress of Magic work.” He chuckled, well, between that and the Gotham connection he felt semi-confident this one had some kind of connection to the heroes of that crazy city. She must’ve been one of the bats, former if her wheelchair was anything to go by. That must’ve sucked. He wondered idly if a spell could give her her legs back, he knew of a couple, but they were all temporary.

Oh and that was exactly what he wanted to hear. Zach couldn’t help but stick his chest out a little and raise his head a little higher, “Well, while I’m sure Z could pull this off I’d like to think she wouldn’t find it easy.” he said, smugness in his tone. “Oh not really, it’s rather simple once you have the hang of it.” Okay so that was a stretch, this spell was taking more of a toll on him than he’d like but he was managing. “I’m managing, I’m something of a whizz when it comes to enchanting inanimate objects. These guys are just sculptures after all. The behaviour modification was the tricky part, but it seemed to be working a treat.”

A Night of Wonder || Open

She smirked at his apology. It was a clever opening line; life in Gotham was hell on earth and, it seemed, everyone acknowledged it. New York was a close second with their alien invasions and their recent adoption of the Clown Prince of Crime. Given the dense population, it made sense to Barbara why Joker had chosen NYC as his new base of operations. He could blend in quite easily among the hundreds of pedestrians on the streets at any given time. That made him exponentially more dangerous, and yet… It didn’t frighten Barbara in the slightest.

The red-haired woman quirked a brow at the kiss to her hand and attempted to stop the blood rushing to her cheeks. All right, that was smooth too. Good to know chivalry wasn’t quite dead; it was merely beaten and left to die in an alley.

“I have,” she answered, after lowering her own glass from her lips and placing the empty flute upon a passing tray, “up close and personal, on all  kinds of stages.” Barbara accompanied her last sentence with a light quirk of her brow. She trusted Zachary - a close member of the Zatara family - with her (former) Batgirl identity. Outside of the Batfamily, however, no one knew she was Oracle… And she intended to keep it that way. Batgirl was to Oracle as the sun was to a grain of rice; they were not to be correlated in the slightest.

She cleared her throat and moved her fingers to adjust her glasses on her face when she suddenly remembered she’d put contacts in for the evening. It was a nervous tick. “Still,” she continued, having assumed he picked up the Batgirl hint, “I’ve never seen her pull off anything quite like this.” Barbara gestured to the re-animated animals. They were incredibly docile with the guests. “Is it wearing you out (having to keep an eye on them)? Or did you make sure they’d be on their best behaviour prior to casting that spell?”

[iwontbeoverlooked]

“By short visit are we talking like fifteen minutes? Cause I might be able to manage that. And please, the of course the whales would love me. Everyone loves me, I’m a friggin delight.” he added, “And if I wanted to relax on a beach I could do that any day I wanted to.” he smirked, the wonder of being able to make doors to pretty much anywhere he wanted. When he’d been starting out on his own and money was pretty tight it had been a life saver to just arrive wherever his next show was going to be. He stuck his nose in the air at her suggestion, “Pfft, almost. I was an extremely regal, gorgeous, sleek full black cat with purple eyes, I still can’t get the eyes right.” he muttered.

Zach leant back a little, he wasn’t expecting such a big reaction, it was just hearing a bark for craps sake. Frankly Zach supposed he was an Earthling, but he certainly wasn’t wholly human, him or Zatanna. “That’s uhh, yea, that’s great.” he said, frowning a little. He listened again and this noise was much fainter than the first but he could still make it out, only just. “Well, now you’re just making animals noises at me. If you start making monkey noises at me I’m cutting you off.” He brought a finger to his ear and wriggled it about inside, hearing those noises just felt a little strange. “Oh please, I could charm anything, sea monster or no it’d be eating outta the palm of my hand, not eating my by my third trick.”

Zach couldn’t help but smirk at her reaction to the drink. He knew it looked disgusting, because frankly it was. He’d tell her what was in it but then odds were she probably wouldn’t be able to bring herself to drink it. He chortled a little at her question, “Course it is, I’ve had it more than once in my time.” He’d probably had way more hangovers than his age indicated. “Well, what you gotta do is, and follow me on this one,” he added, as though it would be horrendously complicated, “Is pick it up, bring it to you mouth and tilt it down your throat.”

Zach finished his story and on some level hoped M’gann was too drunk to be able to twig exactly what he meant. Just cause he was being honest didn’t mean he wanted her to know it. So he waited, fingers crossed that she’d chuckle at the good story and they’d move on... And then that!? Zach went ramrod stiff. He didn’t do hugging. Frankly he was very rarely hugged, what the heck was he supposed to do? In the end he slowly reached his hands up and gently patted her back a few times, it was stilted and awkward but hey, points for trying right? It didn’t last long before he began to pull back a little.

“Pfft! You’d better believe it!” he smirked, pleased they were back on familiar territory. He stuck his nose in the air once more, it was a favourite pose of his, superior yet elegant. “I’ll have you know my insults are brilliantly executed which makes them gifts to people.... dumbass.” he added chortling once more.

Words Won’t Come || Open

“A short visit then,” M’gann encouraged, smiling, “They might not appreciate theatrics, but I’m certain that the whales will adore you. We’d spend just enough time to enjoy the water and the whale song. Then we can relax on the beach!” One of the benefits of flying was that isolated places were hardly a bother at all. M’gann could fly off to the middle of the ocean or the far north or the wilds whenever she wanted. During her time in Australia she’d explored many quiet coves and lonely lagoons. M’gann laughed out loud, imagining Zachary running around after his doves. “Would I be right in thinking you were  very regal, sleek tuxedo cat?” 

Eyes wide, M’gann gushed, “You heard that? Yes! Yes, I did just bark a you!” She’d never met a natural Earthling who could hear that sound. Instantly she was filled with hope that Zach might be able to learn her native language. But the Martian knew better than to raise her hopes too high. “Can you hear this?” Closing her mouth and shifting the shape of her throat, M’gann created a light pinging sound. It was almost like a dolphin noise, but not quite as long. “I don’t think a hnakra would be a wise choice for an audience member, anyway,” she replied, “They’d probably try to eat you and your lovely assistant before intermission.”

The hang-over cure frothed when Zachary set it on the table. Some of the liquid appeared to be oozing up the neck of the bottle, almost like it was fighting to escape. M’gann eyed the drink, if it could be called a drink, warily. Sure, she’d ingested some nasty things in her time. Somehow she couldn’t remember anything worse than this peculiar clotting concoction. “Is it… Is it safe?” M’gann asked. “How does one drink this?” Maybe she could just phase it into her stomach. Or turn off her taste buds. Maybe. 

After Zach finished his story, she gave herself a moment to let his words sink in. Overlooked, he’d said. Zach always seemed to feel like he was being overlooked when he wasn’t putting on a show. M’gann had begun to notice, more and more, how the magician would sober when he talked about people other than his beloved fans. Overlooked. Wordlessly, M’gann reached out and hugged Zachary. After talking so openly about her own past, M’gann felt like she needed a good hug herself. Sometimes speaking just could not express enough about how much she cared, how much she sympathized, how much she yearned to make things better. 

“And that’s exactly why I call you your majesty, your majesty.” She bowed again for added emphasis, although she decided inwardly that shifting a little crown onto her head would be overdoing it. “Just to be clear your insults are only compliments when I’m drunk,” M’gann gestured towards her empty bottle, “Like now.”

[iwontbeoverlooked]

Speaking of Zach was a little nervous about the events of the evening. Sure he’d worked his butt off making sure his spell would be perfect, the sculptures would act just like the animals they represented but wouldn’t be a danger to any of the attendee’s. All he needed to do was make sure he cast it perfectly and made sure he was charming and mature all the while... Not too hard.

Zach inclined his head a little, “Why thank you.” He thought it was a pleasure but best not to seem overly confident about himself, he wanted to press to love him after tonight after all. “Ah, you’ve heard of my Uncle John?” he asked, not surprising, the guy was probably more famous than even Z was, even if he wasn’t around any more. “It’s good to know his reputation still proceeds him.”

Now, he had to be careful, he was no fan of mayor but it wouldn’t be smart to broadcast that. “I am. I spoke to Mister Mayor earlier this evening, he wanted to be reassured my show would be topnotch. He need not worry.” he added out of habit. “Truth be told I came to his attention for aiding in the last attack on the city.” he grinned, “I’m no hero, but I’ll stick a toe in that pool every now and then.”

Lois accepted the young man’s words with a light nod. She couldn’t say she would be against him succeeding with that duty of his. Not all of her work was enjoyable and the reporter would rather be somewhere else doing the kind of investigative work that she was truly passionate about. But being stuck covering the gala, she could at the very least be entertained.

Her eyebrows arched a bit in surprise when he finally introduced himself. Zatara was a familiar name, a renowned one too. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Zachary” the brunette responded with a friendly smile “You’re related to John Zatara, I reckon”. The reporter didn’t know about all of Zatara’s magically gifted relatives, so she was curious to know what exactly was the relation between the two of them.

She could judge just by this encounter that the young man had a sort of dignified energy about him, and that he took very seriously the upcoming performance he would give for the attendees of the gala. There was one particular thing he said that caught her attention, though. “So you’re personally acquainted with Mayor Fisk. It must be an honor that he asked you to perform”.