DC: The Enchanter Chapter 80

Chapter 80: Reunion but of Friends or Enemies?

No calls, no texts, no Hi and no Hellos.


The last I talked to Carol was weeks ago and since then she has been ghosting me.


Almost as if she went MIA.


Now… What do you expect the person to act like when they reappear after ignoring you for literal ages?


Looking shy, scratching the back of their head and greeting with, 'Hey XYZ… Sorry I wasn't in touch, life sucks and it sucked me off harder."


But no.


"Wait Carol!"


All I got was a laser to my face, which if not for my powers, would have most certainly ended my life.


"Is she a friend?" I heard Violet ask from the corner.


I managed to push her to a safe distance from where she hid behind a wall. 


But as she asked the question and saw my expression, she raised her eyebrows and nodded comically.


"It's complicated," She said and went behind the wall. "Got it."


I was not sure if she actually got something from the scene, was being sarcastic or just got a totally wrong idea.


But that was possibly the least of my concerns at the moment.


As the Carol that was in front of me was much different from the Carol that I knew.


Rays of purple light, each capable of disintegrating a man, shot at me and each time I either had to dodge or erect a structure in front of me to take the blow.


Even the appearance of this Carol differed from the one I knew.


While she still had the same face and same black hair, her eyes were of a different shade.


Her usual green-ish blue eyes, which I still am not sure are her usual eyes or contacts, glowed purple. 


Her skin seemed brighter, as in glowing.


And her dress was nothing like what she usually wore.


"Hey Hey Hey!"


No matter what I did, she didn't reply.


"Let's calm down for a bit and talk this out, okay?"


But no, she wasn't going to.


If anything, the intensity of the attacks increased.


And it was a wonder how those extremely hot rays were not melting the mask cum headgear cum veil that she wore.


It was purple and appeared a little similar to the headgear that Wonder Woman wore –just not the quirky gold.


This was quite dangerous as I did not know what was happening. Plus I could not blindly attack either.


What if she was being mind controlled?


I could not harm her without understanding the situation. But staying still and doing nothing wasn't going to help either.


"I expected you to be tougher than this." She finally decided to speak.


And that was the first thing she says? She expected me to be tougher?


This made my eyebrows twitch and I wasn't doing it intentionally either.


"I don't know what you are trying to do or why you are doing what you are doing…" I jumped back, slowly getting used to her attack pattern.


The thing was…


After the continuous fights that I had been facing, I was slowly learning to keep a sort of enchantment running all the time.


One that made my body strong enough to withstand most sudden attacks and one which enhanced my senses.


This was also why I was able to react on time and save Violet.


Now, was it an easy task to do?


Of course not.


Keeping an enchantment running every waking moment and possibly even while sleeping was not an easy thing to do. It was physically and mentally taxing. 


It was like keeping a tiny portion of my mind conscious, active and dedicated every moment to keep the said enchantment running.


Which as established wasn't easy. 


I am slowly getting used to it, but there is still some time before I can master it fully.


And another reason I never bothered with it before was my way of thinking.


"You might not be as tough as I thought, Jasper~"


I was heavily influenced by the personality I had as a young thug. And this personality was quite proportional to my previous one.


Which means as I keep gaining experience and keep pushing myself in this dirt more and more –the quicker I will regain the personality I had in my older years.


And as for now, I was still stuck between the transition stage between a reckless thug and a well experienced organization boss.


"Don't tell me that the guy who took down the Justice League is only capable of this much?"


Hearing her laugh, I sighed. 


I did not know what was going on or why she was acting in such a way. But, I was well aware that if I didn't take care of this situation now… I was going to regret it later.


So, I went from the defensive to the offensive. 


I reflected her laser back at her, as no matter how strong it was –light was still light and could be reflected.


Swooping in towards her, I enchanted her surroundings to make it difficult for her to move. 


An increase in friction and gravity does that to a person.


"Ugh!"


Seeing her stance weakening and her attack stopping –I pushed my hand over her chest, turning her body below the neck to be heavier than what she could handle.


And this led to her quickly falling to the ground.


But again, I wasn't planning on hurting her.


So, what did I do?


Of course, I went after her.


Grabbing Carol by her shoulder and her hip –I silently landed on the quite damaged road.


This… wasn't going to be easy to explain to the council.


Especially after the long discussion we had about heroes and property damage.


"I went overboard, didn't I?" 


I heard her ask but as I looked at her face, she appeared anything but apologetic.


If anything? She appeared proud.


As if she was testing me and was happy with the results.


But it was Carol and it was impossible to understand a woman.


"What even happened to you?"


I asked, slowly lowering the enchantments but still keeping enough for her to not go rampant.


"A lot." She said, "But you will have to learn about it on your own~"


And as she said that, I felt her pulling me by my collar before a soft yet cold kiss landed right over my lips.


Just…


What was going on here?


…

…


[Serenora, Gotham]


Breathing the fresh air of the cleanest place in the entirety of America, Zatanna released a deep sigh.


Her hair blew with the wind while she sat at the edge of the tallest building with her legs dangling in the air and hands stuck to the concrete rooftop.


Despite appearing to be in deep thought, she was not thinking about anything. Her mind was blank and her eyes stared at the city aimlessly.


Zatanna was someone who had never gotten a break in her life.


Since her father's death, she had been slaving herself off –working day and night. And even now, after finding success with Jasper, she didn't take a break or stop working.


Instead, she made sure that Serenora, the amusement park and the businesses were running perfectly.


But things were changing a little.


After Green Arrow's attack, she began doubting.


The things that she worked hard for always kept getting destroyed. 


While she always managed to fix them in the end, it didn't change the fact that her hard work always kept getting ruined. 


It was an endless cycle –Build, destroy, rebuild.


And it made her wonder…


Was it all there was to life?


Maybe it was.


And if it was, she didn't know how to feel about it.


And this was what left her with an empty mind, not bothering to stress over anything.


"The air is lovely in this place, isn't it?"


She didn't have to look behind to know that it was Ivy behind her. They have been through so much together and each had helped the other so many times that both of them were able to know the other's presence just from the sound of their footsteps.


"It is free of pollution." Zatanna said, throwing her head behind and giving the biologist a smile.


"Truly makes you awe at the wonders of magic."


"Science isn't far behind. If anything, Magic and Science are on equal footing." Zatanna said, making Ivy shake her head.


"In the future? Maybe." Ivy sighed, "But not at the moment."


She seemed a bit sad, "People do prefer magic over science, after all."


This confused Zatanna a little. 


"Are you okay, Pamela?" She asked, unsure of why her friend seemed to appear sad.


Ivy didn't answer immediately, instead she looked at Zatanna with a pained look.


"Pam?"


And that's when she finally answered.


"You love Jasper, don't you?"


Only to leave Zatanna without an answer.

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[[A/N: So, including the poll of Patreon and WN, marvel won.

Thus I will be continuing the Marvel Sandman story. And a little change of plans, MC will be a hero in that story –like fighting from the side of the heroes.
]]