Coffee

"Now where do I find more performers?"

While Jasper was out in Metropolis doing his own thing, Zatanna was busy with planning for the shopping district as well as the amusement park with a cup of coffee in the nearby cafe.

"Even if I ask the members of the Zatara circus…" She sat in a cafe, biting the bottom of her pen, "It nearly won't be enough members to run a park."

She and Jasper had been working together almost every night designing a paper perfect design for the place. She did recall him saying that he would be trying to obtain the place nearby to expand the work area.

'Most of those places are under villains so it won't be easy to obtain those places.'

It wasn't just purchasable by money, if it was, he would have found ways to buy it already.

'I just hope he doesn't end up doing anything stupid and hurting himself.'

She wasn't worried about him per se, but she didn't want him to get hurt. 

They weren't exactly friends, but they weren't just acquaintances either. She couldn't call herself a business partner either as she was not offering anything to him.

'Why is he even helping me?'

He did say that he was helping her because of her magical abilities, he was very clear about it. 

'That's one of the good things about him, he is straightforward.'

He was but she just couldn't fully understand him.

'His magic seems no weaker than mine, maybe even stronger so why is he interested in my magic?'

She felt conflicted but she couldn't do anything about it.

'What is so special about my magic?'

She couldn't figure out what made her magic so attractive to him, but if it was allowing her to keep her circus –possibly even expand it, she was all up for it.

"Ugh! This is so difficult!" She groaned, scribbling off the list she made so far.

But her annoyance didn't seem to end as she heard a voice.

"Is this seat taken?" 

She looked up, getting her head away from the scribbled up paper and at the man that seemed like he hadn't shaved for a while.

He wore a long, weathered khaki colored coat with a white shirt underneath, topped with a tie that hung loosely on his neck. His pants were black just like his shoes with quite a bit of dust laced over them.

"Ah, no," Zatanna said, "You may sit if you want."

His face was angular with weary eyes that seemed tired of life, and blonde –possibly hand combed hair.

The man wasn't ugly in any way but he paid absolutely no effort in grooming himself which kind of irked Zatanna as she was very much a clean freak.

And despite her current appearance that looked messy with a bit of frizzy hair, that was because she was stressed about finding people for the park.

However, the man in front of her looked not just stressed, but tired of life in its entirety.

"The weather is fucked," He commented as he sat down.

And well, she couldn't disagree. It was raining randomly in the middle of winter and all they could do about it was to blame global warming.

"It is." She said, not minding the man's use of profanity.

She was still too engrossed with the list that she didn't want to pay much attention to the man.

But apparently the man didn't want that.

"You will have better luck finding people if you go around looking at street performers."

This statement by the man drew her attention, but not in a good way.

"How… do you know what I am doing?" She asked, amused at his statement.

"Those names that you wrote, they are performers that I have heard of in the past," He said, an impassive look on his face, "They were famous during the time of The Giovanni 'John' Zatara. But I don't hear much about them now."

Zatanna froze when she heard him say that, she pushed the pen over the page and stared at him, "How… do you know Zatara again? You watched his shows?"

This put a rather interesting look on his face, "Oh, I sure have. No, it would be more fitting to say that I worked with him in the past."

Zatanna's mouth opened wide as she heard this. Even she had never worked with her father formally and now this scrubby man was casually dropping the fact that he worked with her father?

She got on the defensive, suspecting that the man approached her knowing her identity.

Which he did.

"And yes, I do know who you are–" He showed a smile, "Zatanna Zatara."

Zatanna immediately looked around, seeing the people around her.

"If you are here to fight, we can move to a different place," She frowned, "No need to hurt the innocent."

This made the man chuckle, "You are quite an interesting chick. If I would have come here to fight, I wouldn't be sitting here and casually talking to you."

"I have met too many that indeed do that," She frowned, "If you are here for something that belonged to my father, I do not have it. He did not leave me with anything before vanishing."

The man was surprised hearing this, "Seems like you are far more used to these fucked up situations than I expected."

She sighed, "When your family has been involved with magic for generations, you tend to attract unnecessary attention."

But while she was talking to the man, she had no plans to entertain him.

"Speak," She said in a threatening voice, "Why did you approach me."

The man leaned back, "Woah woah woah, princess relax. I am not here to fight, rather to inform you about an upcoming threat."

He explained quickly, "The name's John Constantine, a fellow follower of magic like you. Just not seen in the same bright light as you."

He continued, "More of a weirdo occultist if I had to describe their views of me. But that's not the point, the point is I am here to warn you."

"Continue…"

"Klarion," John said, "Klarion is assembling his group. The Light."

That's when Zatanna understood the situation.

"The Light?"

She had heard of the group. It wasn't necessarily the strongest but it was a group handpicked by Klarion who were capable of playing tricks that caused havoc.

"How do you know Klarion?" She asked.

"Darling, you are not the only one that has gone against him. There are countless magic users that have a vendetta against him… and while I don't consider myself one of them, I am not a witch boy lover either." He frowned, "I am here to ask for your help when he appears again."

"Why should I trust you?" She asked making him sigh.

"Because you have no choice. Klarion is not someone you can face on your own, you will need people around you," He said, "And not just the Jasper guy with you."

This immediately made her scowl, "How do you know Jasper?"

"Well his name is a talk of the town and also I know he fought against Klarion so he will be a major target of the Witch Boy. And for that, I want you and him to work together with him," He said, "Not that I want to but the big guy up there allowed me to be here only if I am with you two."

"Who?"

"Fate," He said, "No need to worry about him. But the fact still remains that we need to work together."

He extended his hand, "So how about it, pretty lady?" He grinned, "It is especially nice to be working with ladies with assesst like you–"

And in the blink of an eye, even before he could react –his face and coat were drenched in hot coffee.

"No thank you."

…

…

Magicians weren't the only ones keeping an eye out on Jasper.

The caped crusader was as well.

"Have you heard about the Joker?"

He heard Grayson say, "He is eyeing Scarecrow's… and now Jasper Hughes' area."

"I have," Batman answered, staring at a certain letter at hand, "Ask Tim to track his moves for the time being."

"He is already at it," Dick said, noticing the letter in Batman's hand. "Is that something concerning, Bruce?"

Immediately pushing the letter back, the Bat shook his head. 

"No," Batman assured, "It's nothing. But have you looked into Jasper Hughes, personally?"

Bruce had pulled out records of Jasper quite a while ago, but what surprised him was how ordinary it looked. And that concerned him.

"His actions does not match with his records," The dark night said, "He is too calm in perilous situations and his way of dealing is similar to someone who has been a part of the underworld for a long time."

"So, are the documents fabricated?" Dick mused, "It is quite possible as he seemed to be much more experienced than his age."

Bruce knew that this issue had to be solved before it was blown out of proportions. He had seen the scene with Young Justice and he was aware that Joker was about to cause a ruckus.

"I think I will have to look into it myself," He mumbled, "Before Gotham becomes a fiery pit."

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[[A/N: Read 25+ chapters ahead on:

https://www.patreon.com/Greedyfrog

I am back bishes!

I was busy with interviews (long story) but m back.

So, enjoy the chapters.

Andddddd we are very close to Joker's downfall.]]