---

"You know...."
"I still don't get why I'm here. I'm supposed to protect your identity, make the baby heroes think someone else is doing what you're doing here..."
"And what were you doing again..?"

A pair of emerald eyes were staring at a man who was tied to a chair, mouth stuffed with a lacy piece of lingerie. The girl raised her already sharply arched left brow, expecting an answer. He made some angry muffled noises and pulled at the satin ropes holding his limbs. She barely flinched and continued to answer her own questions.

"Oh right you are supplying Kobra with some kind of mystery substance to mix up in their venom, to make it more juicy. They want to rise in the ranks, get into the big leagues. I get it, but that's not the way to do it. I've worked for the big leagues, they could care less about stuff like that."

"Now my question to you is this, how does this benefit me? I mean what do I gain?"

There were a couple of masks and other props laid out on her vanity. She picked up a mask decorated with silver and green scales, holding it over her eyes.
"Too on the nose...and it's scratchy"
She tossed it aside carelessly and tried on a second option, a face veil. She smiled, pleased with what she saw in the mirror. It added just the right touch of mystery.

She got up from her seat and sauntered over to a clothing rack. There was a silvery skintight catsuit prepared for her performance. It shimmered in the warm lamp lights of the dressing room. She touched the smooth cool fabric.
"This is definitely going to do nicely, for once those idiots got me something worth my while" She muttered under her breath.

She was about to switch outfits when she thought of something.
Actually....
Without saying anything she walked back up to the vanity and Kobra's supplier. She made sure to stand in eyeshot before slowly taking of her robe and slipping into the suit.
"Nah ah, no peeking" The girl glanced over her shoulder at the supplier, a mischievous smirk on her face.

In a matter of minutes she'd changed into the silver suit, ready for her performance as the contortionist.

Kassandra, still elated from a stellar performance, slipped backstage to do some people watching. They were still on a mission, after all. As she was heading back, she saw a girl in a silvery bodysuit exiting a room and coming forward.

Time to get to work.

“Hey! The crowd is really lively tonight.” She kept a smile on her face. “Loving the costume, too. You look great.” She let out a very soft sigh. “If only there was a way to make more money doing this. I would love that. Applause is great but it doesn’t buy me nice things, you know?”

The Contortionist looked at Kassy and blinked a couple of times, batting her long black lashes. She really wasn't in the mood for small talk. Right now though Kassy was just annoying her.

"I know.." She said, sounding disinterested.

The dark haired girl attempted to push past Kassy and continue her way to the stage.
"Excuse you."

Kassy had dealt with rude people before. This would be no different. “They all said that you were the queen of this place. Now I see what they mean. Your… aura is just so different from the others. You’re really in control here, aren’t you?” She was simpering, just a touch. She had a feeling that this woman would enjoy it.

The sudden burst of flattery made the girl halt in her step and she turned around scrutinising Kassy. Her slit eyes were narrowed. What was she trying to get at here?
"I like things to go my way and being in control is the best way to do that"
The Contortionist despised women nearly as much as she did men, but there was a kinship between women even she wouldn't deny.
"You said you wanted to make more money. Promise someone something they really want, dangle it in front of their face and you can make them do anything"

She smirked. They were clearly in a completely different league.
"Smart girls don't have to work hard"

“That’s good advice. I know a few people who aren’t that bright. It’d be really easy to wrap them around my finger.” It was remarkably easy to lie. Kassy tossed her curls, smiling in a ruthless way. “Maybe one day, I’ll be as good as you.” This was going nowhere fast. This girl was clearly wrongheaded, but not Kobra-brand evil. Maybe she was tugging on the wrong line here.

---

After her conversation with the fortune teller, Aleen’a enjoyed the various food and rides available at the fair. All of them were thrilling nonetheless, but she couldn’t get what Madame Xanadu said out of her head. Everyone else was screaming as the ride she got on was spinning around fast but Aleen’a remained unfazed, an expression of worry on her face, as even some of the people at her sides began throwing up. It’s not like she couldn’t tell her teammates about what the fortune teller said to her. It’s her own destiny that’s on the line and she should deal with it herself, even when Madame Xanadu told her that she needed her own kind’s help in facing it. That’s the part that troubled her the most as Tamaran was tons of light-years away from Earth and her only blood kin was Starfire who’s away for a JL intergalactic space mission or whatever they called it.

Before she knew it, it was the second day and the shows of the circus were beginning that night as well. It was this huge cloth contraption that Aleen’a was very impressed with. When she learned it was something called a circus tent, she was really shocked because the only tents she saw were the ones that could only fit one or two people in. She sat a few seats away from the others to cover ground and watched along with the audience as the current performer spewed fire up in the air. The audience cheered and shrieked in joy and excitement as one of the team’s suspects put on quite a show. It wasn’t hard to impress her at all and watching it while eating these delicious stick dogs made of corn were so delicious.

Just then, her phone vibrated and she opened it to see a message from Nymph, calling her by her nickname because they still all were technically in an undercover mission, saying that she volunteered to go up to the fire breather guy herself. Brightheart applauded her teammate’s bravery but she couldn’t help but worry. Sending Nymph in very cold temperatures did not bode well for her during their last mission and now she’s openly walking up to someone who could control fire at least theatrically. One wrong move and she could be much more dangerously hurt.

Still, worrying about others’ sake was not the best thing to do right now. They needed to get as much info as they could. Reviewing the list of their suspects, Brightheart was also surprised to see the fortune teller among them. She just talked to her yesterday and despite being a little creepy and weird, she didn’t get any vibe from her that told her she was secretly evil. She wanted to go there herself but maybe Madame Xanadu would grow suspicious upon seeing a familiar face again so she left it to the others.

As if fate was calling to her, a tall lanky man dressed in a black sweatsuit stood up from a seat ahead of her. Unlike the other guests, he didn't appear to be impressed by the show and was leaving the stands with a pack of cigarettes in hand. Upon getting a better look Brightheart recognized the grump as the Juggler.

Brightheart put her hand on her mouth to cover her gasp, her eyes wide in surprise. She didn’t realize she was sitting this close to a potential enemy. If the Juggler was their prime subject and he knew about Brightheart’s mission, she’d already been dead by now. She really needed to be more cautious about her method of laying low.

She was tempted to go after him and ask him on the spot, but what would she even ask him? Asking the wrong questions might land her in even more trouble and alert the squad’s real enemies about their mission. With a deep breath, Brightheart decided to just wing it and let Fate decide.

“Um, excuse me!” Brightheart said and got up from her seat to catch up to him. She was holding a corndog on one hand and her drink on the other. She then accidentally tripped upon getting close to him and she threw her drink at him, spilling her orange juice all over his black sweatsuit.

“Oh no!” She gasped and immediately tried to dry him off with the tissue paper she had, repeatedly apologizing to him while doing so.

“Are you fucking serious right now?!” The juggler yelled as he pulled away from Brightheart with scowl. His hands balled into fists as the drink soaked into his clothes. The Juggler was already a grump as is, but now his leisure clothes were wet. He recognized Brightheart as the 'Strong Woman' but he didn't care how strong she was. He was pissed. “Didn't your damned parents teach you to walk? Or were they just as clumsy as your dumbass?!” As the Juggler noticed many of the audience looking his way, he stomped off to go outside so he could smoke his and get over this mess. Not even waiting until he was outside the tent, he put a cigarette to his mouth and lit it with his red see-through lighter.

Brightheart cringed at her own clumsiness. "I'm so- And he is gone." She could only watch him as he went out of the tent, probably to dry off his wet clothing. She sighed and sent a message to the group, telling them that she failed in getting information from the juggler as he was very hard to approach. She opted to return to her seat and finish the rest of her food, it's also to prevent making a much louder scene from all the shouting the mean juggler did. After all, her own teammates were the next performers and Brightheart wanted to cheer them on.

Location: Haly's circus fair, on the stage
Interactions: The audience

---

As soon as her last trick was done The Contortionist left the stage in a rush, not bothering to stick around for applause. She was stopped by one of the other performers, the pyrotechnics guy. They were talking in hushed voices. He seemed to tell her something which upset her. His reaction to her displeasure was very strange, nearly falling to his knees to show how sorry he was. He attempted to cling at her legs which was swiftly dismissed by a rough kick to his side. The man tumbled to the floor, landing on his back. For a girl her size the strength in her kick was uncanny. She stepped over the moaning pyrotechnic and continued on her way.

Meanwhile Daphne was pacing back and forth behind the thick velvet curtains separating the stage from the back. She fidgeted with her costume and fixed her mask, making sure it was secure. There were so many lines in the script of her performance, she worried she wouldn't remember them. Not only that her performance partner was nowhere to be seen. Five more minutes to go before they had to go on stage. Hopefully he'd show. She looked at her phone, trying to memorize her lines. Her performance was a re-enactment of the Greek myth of Apollo and Daphne. She heard the ringmaster start of the myth.
"Long long ago in ancient Greece the god of Love was insulted by Apollo who said he was the better archer between them"
After a minute, Apollo was nowhere to be seen. The ringmaster cleared his throat loudly.

Backstage the performer who would play Apollo rushed up to Daphne. He was laughing and carried with him half of a cotton candy which he stole from the food stall. The vendor was yelling behind him. "Apollo" offered the cotton candy to Daphne.
"Got you this, I ate half of it though" Daphne took the cotton candy. She shook her head and smiled.
"Come on, come on, we're late" Daphne giggled and pulled him with her onto the stage. The stage was set up like small obstacle course. In their version of the story Apollo was supposed to chase after Daphne for a kiss. The nymph would employ the help of children in the audience to help her win the race and fight off the Sun god.

Apollo fixed his quiver of arrows and immediately got into character. He ran up to the center of the ring and flexed his muscles dramatically. He posed, smiling at the front row of children.
"I am the best archer in all of Greece! Way better than that dumb Eros, diaper wearing baby!"

Daphne entered the stage waving excitedly at the audience. She took a seat near the first obstacle, idly playing with her hair. She really had no idea how nymphs were supposed to act.

Apollo's insult angered Eros and he stomped forward into the ring, climbing up one of the obstacles. His movements were overexaggerated to make the children laugh. Eros took two arrows from his quiver, taking aim at the pair. He laughed evilly and released the toy arrows.
"I will teach you not to make fun of ME!"

The ringmaster explained to the audience what Eros had done.
"The god of Love was not happy so he shot Apollo and the beautiful nymph Daphne"
"One arrow made Apollo fall in love with Daphne, but the other arrow made Daphne hate Apollo, and they started to chase each other, through fields and mountains"

Apollo walked up to Daphne who put down her imaginary comb, looking up at him. He took her hand and stared straight into her brown eyes.
"Daphne I think I'm in love with you, you are so beautiful, I just want to kiss you!"
Apollo's blue eyed stare and declaration of fake love made butterflies flutter in her stomach. Wait a second, she was not supposed to like this! Apollo squeezed her hand and laughed sheepishly, bringing her back to earth.
She pulled back her hand and held it to her chest. Daphne stepped away from him a disgusted look on her face.
"No I don't like kisses, stay away from me!"

The two performers started to chase each other across the obstacle course. Daphne took the easy way around each time while Apollo had to navigate every obstacle fairly. Despite that he was starting to catch up to her. The children were cheering on their hero of choice. After a couple of obstacles Apollo took a breather, pretending to be tired. This was Daphne's cue to involve a couple of volunteers in the act. On a plastic tree stump next to her a bunch of toy weapons were set up. She turned to the audience.
"Oh please are there any brave heroes willing to help me? I only want to stay in the forest, far away from Apollo..." She waited expectantly. Most of the children were hesitant and whispered to each other in excited voices. Daphne spotted a girl standing next to her brother.
"You daughter of Athena, will you help me fight off Apollo? I will bestow upon you a great battle sword"

After some encouragement from her parents the girl nodded and armed herself with the toy weapons.
"Wait a minute that's not fair!"
Apollo also turned to the audience, flashing a bright smile.
"Who wants to help the best archer in Greece?, the winner gets a kiss from the beautiful Nymph"

The boys in the audience were not convinced, some of them making a face. Yuck!
Apollo cleared his throat and tried again.
"I mean the winner gets to try out shooting with my bow!"
That got him a whole ton of volunteers and he selected a valiant warrior in his quest for Daphne's heart. Eventually the chase led to the center of the ring. There was no place left to go for Daphne and her warrior friend. The last obstacle was a small pond.

The ringmaster continued narrating the events.
"With nowhere left to run Daphne and her loyal follower asked the river god Peneus for help to escape the god of the Sun"

Daphne gestured for the girl to follow her to the makeshift pond at the center of the ring. She kneeled down in front of it.
"Oh father help me. Change my form which has brought me to this danger. Set me free!"

A booming voice sounded through the circus tent. The river god spoke through the sound system, coming from every angle.
"My daughter I shall answer your plea, step into the pond"

Apollo and his helper were closing in during the final act of the performance. Right on time to witness Daphne's incredible transformation. The show stopping ending of the entire act. She stood in the shallow pond and her skin turned to bark, hair into leaves. Daphne made sure to be completely still, mimicking the stiffness of a real tree. Apollo fell to his knees, defeated.
"With the help of the daughter of Athena and her father the River God, Daphne escaped Apollo and lived happily in the forest evergreen"

The audience got up for a standing ovation, clapping at Daphne and her entourage. She bent down to high five the girl.
"We won!"
The girl looked at her in awe. Like a myth come to life.

Zach sighed. Viktor was so sweet when he was trying to be comforting. Even though he wasn’t sure what he could do would ever top Zatanna, god damn it he had to try. “You better. My career as a stage magician is counting on this performance going off without a hitch.” He then started to head to his dressing. “Anyway, I’m going to go get ready. You probably should too. And Viktor, thanks…” He grinned, and gave him a finger gun before going to his dressing room. There was a lot of prep work to be done…




Zach was in his dressing room getting ready for his performance. He had picked out a new costume for this act, and also applied some subtle glitter to his face. Just enough to really sparkle on stage. While doing this, he also watched the other acts on a crystal ball he “borrowed” from his cousin. In the middle of getting changed into costume, Zach decided to send a group text to his teammates. He was the leader of this mission after all. He had to do something.

Good work guys. Your performances were great. You make a showman proud. Especially you Kassy. I knew Mermaids could sing, but damn. You were holding out on us!

Ja, you nearly slipped up torwards the end, but you recovered nicely. And Daphne, the audience seemed to love your act.

Anyway, I know there is a mission we’re supposed to be doing. Did anybody find out anything useful?

H A L Y'S C I R C U S T E N T

---

After such a splendid performance by Nymph that had children and adults alike in a joyous mood, the show seemed like it'd only get better.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! We will be taking a brief intermission to allow you to stock up on snacks and use the restroom before the next main acts! In the meantime, give it up for the power couple of our grand circus. The Bearded Woman and the Tiny Maaaaan!” The two walked onto the stage with the hefty Bearded Woman bridal carrying her almost child-sized partner to the stage. The Tiny man waved at the audience while the Bearded Woman kept her chin held high to show off her full black beard that nearly reached her navel. Besides her beard, she was adorned with several pieces of jewelry.

As the couple approached the microphone, the Tiny man grabbed it, tested it and then held it up to the Bearded Woman's face.

“Ladies, take notes.” She set the Tiny Man down who now held up the microphone overhead with both hands as if he was the Bearded Woman's mic stand. She stroked her beard with a pleased grin as if to silently say "See what I mean" to the audience.

Her performance was simply a stand-up comedy act with bits centered around the couple's odd relationship. She was meant to keep things PG but pushed the line several times. All in all, things were going quite smoothly until screams were heard from outside the circus tent in between the audience's laughter.

Some in the crowd looked around to find the source, while others ignored it as they wanted to enjoy the show. Unfortunately, what was happening outside couldn't be ignored as two ponies burst through the tents. These ponies had an abnormal appearance. They were salivating and appeared to have gained more muscle mass than normal. One ran straight for the audience while the other towards the stage. The Bearded Woman pushed down the Tiny Man who curled up in a ball before being struck by the pony's hooves. Six more ponies entered through the tear in the tent, one using its mouth to drag a young girl by her ankle. The crazed roided up ponies only sought to harm and destroy.

Despite how unsettling these creatures looked, Cybergirl would find them awfully familiar…

Location: Haly´s circus
Interactions: The Team
Ambience: Flora vs Fauna

---

Daphne sat in the audience and watched the act of the Bearded Lady and the Tiny Man. A couple of jokes went over her head but she found herself laughing quietly during most of the show. She got herself a new small sweet popcorn and iced tea. Her thoughts went back to her own act. They really did a great job, the audience loved it. They rehearsed only once and despite improvising some of her lines she didn't miss a beat. It was really similar to playing pretend, just with grown ups. Daphne had a baby sitting job before joining the initiative, looking after two six year old siblings. Their favorite games were playing dress up and fighting imaginary monsters. They would probably love her new job. If they knew she was a superhero now they would freak out!

She felt her phone buzzing and checked to see the message. It was Zach. She texted back what she discovered.
"It's not the firebreather guys, I searched his room backstage and overheard he's leaving the circus after this run is over"
"I couldn't find anything linking him to being an operative for Kobra"
Daphne conveniently left out the part where she needed to be rescued by Talon after the firebreather had unknowingly locked her into the room while she hid in his closet. Hopefully that would stay between Talon and her, she couldn't afford any more failures. He promised he'd keep it a secret and she trusted him.

Daphne eyes shot up from her phone when she heard screaming, it wasn't easy to distinguish at first between the laughing, but people were definitely screaming outside. It was getting louder too. Small horses burst through a tear inside the tent and galloped into the ring. Daphne's body tensed up and she got up from her seat, ready to run, but she suppressed the urge. She was a hero now. Daphne tried to stay calm and figure out what they were up against. There was something seriously wrong with the ponies, they looked unnatural. Their behavior made no sense either.

The crowd started to panic once they realized what was happening. People were scrambling to get out of the tent, running and pushing against each other. Everyone needed to get to safety first. Daphne rushed down the rows of seats to the front. Parents were already grabbing their children, yelling their names. One of them was crying, seeing the others around him being swept up by their moms and dads. Daphne couldn't see his parents anywhere and the ponies were galloping dangerously close.
"Come with me!" She called out. The boy held up his arms so she could pick him up.

Daphne ran to the nearest safe exit carrying to boy. A high pitched scream caught her attention and she stopped and turned to find the source. One of the kids was being pulled by her ankle into the center of the ring. Immediately Daphne's heart got stuck in her throat and panic set in.
She was going to get trampled!
Daphne handed over the boy to a teenage girl making her way outside, instructing her to help him find his parents once they were safe. There was no time to come up with a plan or hide out somewhere safe so Daphne quickly transformed throwing off the costume she was still wearing. She jumped into the ring, evading one of the ponies. Grabbing one of the toy weapons which were left behind after her act she threw it at the pony dragging the girl. The animal didn't even flinch.
Oh crap...

Daphne searched around frantically for something else while trying not to get attacked by the other ponies. In between the trash she spotted a bent half pipe. She grabbed it and flung it as hard as she could at the pony, careful not to hit the girl. It collided with its head, drawing its attention to Daphne.
"RUN!" She yelled. The girl got up from the floor but her ankle injury prevented her from running.

The animal was galloping towards her. Daphne jumped out of the way. A second pony came out of nowhere and ran straight into her. The sheer force of the muscled animal sent her crashing into one of the stage obstacles. During the impact something sharp cut into her side, she felt a numbed sting. She got up from the floor, holding onto her head. Everything was spinning. A piece of wood stuck out of her left side, green sap leaking from around it. Her vision sharpened and she gasped.
Omg...omg...
If she hadn't transformed this would for sure have killed her. The bruises on her plant body started to form into bark until she was completely covered, aside from her head and the small spot on her side. Maybe she should have done that earlier.

She had to get to the Team. The pony had actually kicked her much further than she realized, nearly all the way across the ring. Daphne drew in a sharp breath and stumbled through the curtains, holding onto her side. She wasn't experiencing any heavy pain, but she definitely felt light headed. Backstage there was also chaos. She walked as fast as she could. Zach's room was closest. Daphne pushed through the door entering her teammates room.

"Zach, something crazy just happened. We got attacked by a bunch of wild ponies. I don't know where they came from, I think I saw about six of them. We have to do something, but I couldn't stop them. They are freakishly strong."

Kassandra, trying to wipe off stage makeup in her dressing room, texted Zach back after Daphne’s response.

Mirage here! Thank you for the compliment, Zach. I am surfing the seas, I feel so giddy! I checked the Contortionist’s room after speaking with her. She seems off, but not in a Kobra evil kind of way. More of an everyday evil kind of way. Also her room is very messy. I found ropes and… lacy underthings on the floor. Maybe she had some kind of fun night?

The screaming reached her ears then, and she rushed out to meet it. Chaos reigned inside the tent, as people and animals ran around. The first pony nearly ran straight into her, and she fell over while dodging. These kelpies had 4 metal feet, which made them very dangerous. They were also a lot wilder than she'd ever seen a kelpie be. As if they were terrified by something.

“Land kelpies, fantastic…” Kassy muttered, quickly getting to her feet. Maybe she could trick the crazy kelpies away from the fleeing crowd. With a burst of will, she created a massive illusory wall between them and the humans. If only she had her staff! She could have made it a real one. The other problem was while this was in place, due to how large it was and how many beings she had to deal with, she could barely hold onto any other illusions. Even now she could feel her fake face flickering under the magical strain. It was working, but wouldn't last forever.

"Where are the others?!"

Zach got texts back from Daphne and Kassy confirming it wasn’t the firebreather, and it wasn’t the contortionist. Great, that narrowed it down slightly, but there were still 4 other suspects left to go…

Just as Zach had put a shirt on, Daphne barged into dressing room, and said something about being attacked by a bunch of wild ponies that were freakishly strong. “Really, they have to do this right now?” Zach sighed. As crazy as Daphne’s story sounded, it wasn’t the weirdest thing he had heard. “They couldn’t have at least waited until it was my turn! Cousin Zee can make Elephants disappear, but I bet you she hasn’t even tried that with some crazy ponies. The audience would have loved that!”

With that, he grabbed his wand, and dashed out the door. When he made it to the circus tent, he quickly realized that Daphne wasn’t kidding. These ponies were huge! Zach knew his magic had problems affecting people, and it was just the same with animals. Sure, he could pull Bunny, or a bunch of doves from his hat, but he never tried with anything bigger than that… Well, now was the time to try.

“Have no fear, Zatara the Great is here. Meht etativel!” Zach pointed his wand at the ponies, and they started to glow purple. One by one, they started to float off the ground. Zach’s eyes went wide with glee. It was actually working! Now he needed another spell to send them away some place far.

But, Zach’s glee did not last long. The magic broke, and the ponies fell to the floor. “Ugh, great…” Zach muttered.

“Nice going Zatanna knockoff. You just made them angrier!” Some person standing behind the wall of magic Kassy had erected had shouted to him.

“Excuse me. Do you want to go out there and deal with them? No? So how about you be quiet, and let the professionals do their job.” Zach sighed. He had a point though. Surely his cousin could have handled this problem in 3 seconds flat…

Instead, Zach stood next to Kassy, and raised a wall of magic of his own. Since Kassy was clearly struggling to keep hers up. “Reirrab Enacra!” A wall of purple magic suddenly went up in front of him. He’d like to see these roided up Ponies get through that.

---

Aleen'a watched Daphne's very captivating performance, so captivating indeed that she couldn't help but tear up at the end where Daphne's character turned into a tree while 'Apollo' wailed his heartbreak and sadness. She was the type of person who's really into whatever they're watching and she's very much into the performance of her teammate. She even thought that the characters of Daphne and the other male actor were based on real people and that woman actually turned into a real-life tree. After they're done with their show, Aleen'a and the audience gave them a standing ovation. "Beautiful! Absolutely beautiful!" Aleen'a clapped fast and hard as tears streamed down her cheeks, much to the bewilderment of a kid sitting beside her and staring at her.

Everyone was in great spirits after that show. It was followed by the act of a guy called Tiny Man and a woman called the Bearded Lady, the latter being one of their prime subjects. None of them have approached her for gathering information, as far as Aleen'a knew. Perhaps she could go to the Bearded Lady after her performance tonight.

'I am afraid I have no such luck.' Aleen'a texted to her teammates. The audience laughed at the pair's performance but Aleen'a didn't have context for anything they're saying. 'I have attempted to approach the Juggler but his personality is much too mean. He is like a foul-mouthed nut that smells horrible and is very hard to crack.'

She continued to read the texts her other teammates sent over their group while the pair continued on with their performance. Through the laughter of the audience, Aleen'a could faintly hear a scream. She was automatically alerted and looked at the circus tent's cloth walls. One scream after another followed with some of the audience looking concerned because of it. Eventually, the source of the outside commotion revealed itself as multiple horses burst through the tents. They had crazed looks on their faces, their mouths overflowing with frothed saliva, and their entire body was rippling with muscles.

Everyone ran and screamed as the horses rampaged through everything. Chaos ensued within the circus tent while everyone tried to run away from the horses. Aleen'a opted to fly to make it easier for her to save people but she remembered they were undercover. She didn't want what happened back at the Kobra base to happen again here. Even though she hated the thought of being unable to fly, the safety of these civilians must be put first among all else.

One of the crazed horses neighed like crazy as it ran straight towards the parent and child sitting beside Aleen'a. The mother hugged her daughter and they both screamed in fright but Aleen'a quickly jumped in front of them and delivered an uppercut, punching the animal at its snout and sending it flying back and landing on its back."Go! Quickly!" She told the mother and daughter and they both ran out to safety as Aleen'a threw a bucket of discarded popcorn right at another horse's face before bumping it with her shoulder and sending it crashing onto the bleachers.

"Oof!" A horse barged at her side and Aleen'a wrestled with its head. It thrashed against her and glared at her with crazed, murderous eyes. Aleen'a was frightened by the look on the animal's face but she planted her feet on the ground, growling as she used her strength to keep the horse from pushing her further. It neighed loudly and continued to thrash as Aleen'a kept her arms wrapped around its snout.

Just then, she heard Zachary cast a spell that made the horses glow and float several feet off the ground. Aleen'a let go of the horse she's grappling with and watched in awe as Zach effortlessly saved everyone, but it was only for a short while and the horses fell down on the ground once more.

That made the horses seemingly angrier as two of them were now running straight at Aleen'a with murderous intent. "EEEEEP!" She screamed and ran for dear life while the two horses were right on her tail. "I cannot let out my full power or else we might get exposed again! We must contain these horrible beasts to prevent them from causing more chaos!" She shouted at Zach and Kassy.

Location: Haly's Circus
Interactions: No One Yet

---

Viktor hoped his pep talk with Zach helped him perform successfully and confidently tonight. Until then, he had planned to sit in a makeshift dressing room and practice the script. Memorizing it was the easy part, but the delivery was what Zach was probably more worried about. Emulating things he had seen on television and from others had been his go-to when it came to social interactions, but it made him lack authenticity. Since their performance would be towards the end of the show, Viktor dressed down, removing his coat, dress shirt, and tie. This left him with a white tank top, black slacks, and dress shoes.

While practicing, he would take short breaks to see how the rest of the team was holding up. Six persons of interest, three reports but one ended in failure. He appeared to be somewhat indifferent initially. It took all but a few seconds for his eyes to narrow. There were three others to investigate but he could have sworn he saw Alisa follow the Fortune Teller down the hall. The Pyrotechnician and the Bearded Woman… I also can’t count out the Juggler. I think I’ll-

Viktor noticed the script again, remembering how he had assured Zach of how well he would deliver the introduction. He almost felt like he was trying to juggle two different missions at the same time. One was more about playing a role and the other was simply elicitation with a little site exploitation. Sadly the former seemed to be the most difficult despite seeming less complicated.

He was about ready to rehearse the script when he heard screams from outside of the tent. His senses also allowed him to pick up the sound of many hooves thundering across the ground.

“Hmm.” He let out before standing up while trying to listen in more. It could have easily been another loud and exciting show.

"RUN!"
"Where are the others?!"
"Zach, something crazy just happened. We got attacked by a bunch of wild ponies. I don't know where they came from, I think I saw about six of them. We have to do something, but I couldn't stop them. They are freakishly strong."
Ponies?
“They couldn’t have at least waited until it was my turn! Cousin Zee can make Elephants disappear, but I bet you she hasn’t even tried that with some crazy ponies. The audience would have loved that!”

Viktor bolted out of the room and into the hall ready to spring into action. He was in a full sprint until he realized something. It was more of him picking up Aleen’a shouting about a reasonable problem.

"I cannot let out my full power or else we might get exposed again! We must contain these horrible beasts to prevent them from causing more chaos!"

He sucked his teeth as his sprint slowed into a fast jog as he tried to think of something before he burst on the scene. I wish I had prep time. How does Batman manage it? Wait! Batman! Inconspicuous! Viktor nodded before exiting the circus tent. Rain could not save the day, but another hero could keep from blowing his own cover. He had to be quick if he was going to save the mission and the show!

Kila rested in the dressing room, looking into a lighted mirror. He was dabbing tissue at his chest as the flimsy shirt of the outfit could not completely endure the tiger’s claws. He wondered how his chest hadn’t been torn to shreds, only having a few spills of blood here and there. Fingers absentmindedly going over the scars there, the place his most painful of memories were. Kila had come to the conclusion that his skin had become calloused.

Although he meant that more metaphorically, he came across a patch of his skin that felt off…It was abnormally rigid around where one of the claw strikes were only to return smooth in minutes…it felt like elephant skin. Before he could ponder further about the Power of The Red that lied subtly in his veins, there was a knock at the door.

Remembering quickly that they were still on a mission, despite being undercover, Kila prepared himself for any potential confrontation. However, from the other side of the surface, the voice of the android girl announced herself. Despite being one of the more verbal members of the team, Kila had rarely interacted with Alisa. Still, she seemed pleasant enough, compared to some. Moreover, her status as having robotic qualities should prove helpful to an extent in gathering information.

Thus, he allowed her in, listening to her explanation of her search of the Fortune Teller’s quarters. The more she talked, his eyes narrowed.

“The one, the man who smelled your things; likely a grunt of some sort. I am willing to say that he was coming to give the Fortune Teller some sort of message. However, your presence there instead as a newcomer, may have made them suspicious of your intent.” Kila thought aloud, starting to pace, abruptly stopping as another situation came to him.

“Something else to keep note of…These performers are very probable to have abilities as we do. The man smelling your garment was clearly some attempt to identify you. Hopefully your more inhuman qualities act as a counter to his capabilities in that sense…Have you seen anything else out of the ordinary?”

Alisa shook her head. “Besides those two things, no. I didn’t get a chance to go through her room completely, but what I saw seemed pretty normal. Have you?” She turned her gaze to Kila. The two of them had spoken little, but she knew enough to notice that something was a bit off. Only hours ago he had been acting upbeat and goofy, but now he seemed, well… serious. Had something happened? She scrutinized him, noting he was shirtless, before noticing the little wounds on his chest. Claw marks?

She frowned. He looked fine- sympathy over concern was probably the way to go. “Ow,” she said in sympathy, although she had no real point of reference for the sting of blood. “Did the tiger get you? I thought you were supposed to be the animal whisperer!”

Kila paused after what she asked, touching his chest again. Memories that did not belong to him briefly came to mind at the mention of the tiger. It was a quick flash of images; tall grass, a roar, men in black jumpsuits, tranquilizer shots. It was an intense but brief staring session into the wall. Pulling his hand away from his chest to look down at his palm, Kila blinked. That was new.

“I suppose that I am…The tiger has been through many bad things before they put her in that cage…I fear what would have happened, should it have been anyone else’s act.”

A genuinely sympathetic frown crossed Alisa’s face. “How terrible. They shouldn’t do that to the animals, let alone let them “perform” in front of an unguarded crowd. I’m glad it was you, then. Even if you did get a bit scuffed up.” She sat down in a chair by the door and leaned forward. In the month she had been on the team, she had spoken very little to Ja. He was intriguing, to say the least.

“I’m terrible with animals,” she said, remembering yesterday’s incident. She laughed. “I mean, I adore most of them, don’t get me wrong, but they don’t like me back. It’s probably why I volunteered to shove a katana down my throat rather than have to deal with anything alive,” joked Alisa, trying to lighten the mood.

Kila nodded, “Right…I imagine that would not bother you much? Given your mechanical insides.”

“Not really, no! I mean, it hurts a bit when I scrape the back of my throat and I have to be a bit careful with my vocal box, but I don’t have any fleshy bits to puncture. Or any blood.”

Kila slowly nodded again, though staring at Alisa’s eyes. It would appear as though he were searching for something, because honestly, he was. The concept of artificial intelligence vexed him quite a bit. Why would one want to create a machine with, or ability to mimic, the human mind? There seemed to be something different about her, opposed to Red Tornado who acted as their overseer.

He didn’t care much about it being awkward, but would have apologized in courtesy of possibly making her uncomfortable. What stopped him though, were the sounds of somewhat distant screams. These were not screams of joy however…they were screams of terror. Quickly snatching up the mask he wore earlier, he started for the door.

“I do not like the sound of that. We should investigate.”

Alisa stared back into Kila’s eyes, unblinking. Why was he staring? Had she done something wrong? Before she could get a chance to interrupt, however, she started to hear screams. They were rising in volume and number, coming from… the circus tent? She swiveled her head to the door before standing and walking to the door with Kila. “Yes,” She opened the door, only to hear the screams escalate in volume. “Yes, we should. I think something’s very wrong.”

She started to speed-walk down the hall and then started to dash. The two of them burst out of the tent together and raced across the field towards the main circus tent. People were streaming out of the big tent, screaming in terror.

The only possible explanation was that someone had attacked. But who? And why? Gotham had its own horde of supervillains, but an attack from them didn’t make any sense. And this was a recon mission at a circus- they weren’t invading an enemy base.

Then, they entered the stage, coming behind Zach, Daphne, Aleen’a, and Kassy. Alisa felt fear start to clog her thoughts. I fucked up. The horses that Maya had convinced her to free yesterday were here, giant and vicious. A look of horror and guilt crossed her face as she stared at the scene. This was her worst nightmare.

At least the wall offered them a moment of respite. “What-what should we do?” Her voice wavered. Kila quickly studied the scene.

“First priority is to remove innocents. If even one person dies while we are active, our mission is already a failure.” He explained, instantly sprinting off towards the group.

Alisa ran after him. They came to the forcefield. Kassy’s flickering illusory wall and Zach’s forcefield were keeping the crazy ponies away from them and anyone who had managed to duck behind them, but not much else. There were still people being terrorized outside. Alisa sucked her teeth- she truly didn’t want to go out there and fight, but it seemed as though there wasn’t another choice.

“I think Aleen’a’s right,” Alisa said, her hands curled into fists. They had come in just at the end of Aleen’a talking, so she had caught the tail end of it. “But there’s no way we can contain them while they’re like this. I think… we need to fight them and herd them all into a group so Zach and Kassy can create a forcefield to trap them.”

Once she finished talking, Alisa figured that she had to do something. People were getting hurt, and they were the only ones around who were capable of doing anything about it- even if it meant risking their cover. She still didn’t want to get close, though. So with a heft of effort, she squatted down and picked up a box- used for propa, but still considerably heavy- and chucked it at one of the horses. The rabid animal was knocked to the ground. Several more came running at her. Alisa screamed in what sounded like fear and threw a punch at one of them. The horse neighed in rage, and then Alisa was caught in a frantic melee with two horses, looking absolutely terrified.

Kila, meanwhile, lassoed one of the rabid ponies around the neck and pulled it away from someone, trying to herd it to the center of the ring.

Location: Haly's Circus
Interactions: The Team

---

The team did well in attempting to allow as many people as possible to escape the giant circus tent, but the ponies were still raging within to seemingly no end. The team was vulnerable as blowing their cover as the young superhero team they were might sabotage their mission. With Zatanna nowhere to be found, the team would need to lean on a different kind of hero. Someone who could give the team a reprieve and bring a swift end to all of this madness. There could be untold ramification for this, but the team needed to remain as Batman had initially stated… Inconspicuous.

“Failing a second mission is not acceptable. Here I go.” He spoke confidently before making his move. Entering the tent through the hole, this masked and caped man of peak human physique marched forth with a large mallet in hand. Each step was with purpose and people seemed to move around him as they vaguely recognized the hero’s appearance in the midst of the chaos. A teenage boy managed comment

“Is that-” The young man’s look of excitement twisted into one of bewilderment as he got a closer look. “Wait! Who the heck is that?!?!” The teen said before his body was pushed ahead by the flow of the fleeing crowd. Once enough people were out of the way, he was in full view of the team inside.

Donning a plastic Superman mask, a blue towel for a caped and wielding the mallet from the High Striker game, the oddly disguised tank top and slacks wearing Viktor presented himself as some sort of bootleg superhero.

“Rainman is here to save the day!” That’s what Viktor figured the hero was trying to be would say. Whether it fit or not, he sprung into action. He ran in Alisa’s direction first as she surprisingly seemed to be having the most trouble. He ran forth flanking from the right. Without holding back his strength, he used both hands to grip the mallet handle and smack the first pony in the ribs hard enough to cause it to topple over. He then jumped over the downed pony and swung the hammer down on the other pony’s head, making the beast drop to the ground. “Help evacuate the citizens!” He shouted at Alisa as he chased after the two ponies that were on Aleen’a’s heels. As he moved to intercept them, another pony ran straight for Viktor. He sidestepped it, juking the pony before planting his feet and swinging the mallet at the pony’s side. Another toppled. A loud “Oh shit!” was heard from someone foolish enough to linger within the tent. Instead of continuing his chase, he decided to have the ponies come to where he was. Viktor pointed at Aleen’a before shouting in a deep heroic voice.

“You there! Run to me!” Viktor ordered before taking what looked to be a fighter’s stance at first, until he cocked the mallet up and back like he was ready to swing for the fences. Rainman was here. An odd mix of silly and brutal.

---

The pyrotechnics guy Az watched the crazed ponies attack circus goers. He was horrified, not just because of what was happening but because he knew what caused this. How the hell did those dumb horses reach his stash? What if they ingested all of it? If there was nothing left...
Oh fuck…
The situation was spiraling out of control quickly and he needed to get out of here. The supplier used the ongoing chaos to escape the scene. He needed to get something from his room and make a mad dash for the spot where he stashed his supply.

Talon was observing the pyrotechnics guy from a distance, taking note of his odd behaviour. He stayed calm despite the chaos inside the tent. Evidence against the pyrotechnics guy was piling up. Earlier that night when he was making his rounds selling popcorn the Bearded Lady mentioned something about how she wasn’t the only one of them who recently stumbled upon a fair amount of money. Hers came from a recent marriage. She assured Talon the man was involved in some shady business, using his newly acquired wealth to win over the new and “somewhat beautiful” Contortionist.

The former assassin followed the supplier backstage. Talon took up a spot close to the room the man entered. He attempted to catch parts of the conversation the supplier was having inside. He ignored the people telling him to get out and run and focused on the hushed voices. The other voice definitely belonged to a woman.

“Shit shit shit…..we got to leave!”
Az burst into the Contortionist's room only to be nearly shot with a tranquilizer dart.
“For fucks sake!” He held up his hands and backed up.

“Are you trying to kill me?!”
“I’m making sure to keep myself alive” The dark haired woman said, lowering her sniper rifle. She walked up to him. The way she stared always unsettled him, like he was in the presence of some sort of predator.

“We have to get to your stash”

Fifteen minutes later

"This is bad, they’re going to kill me….."
Az was panicking after figuring out his entire stash was unusable. There was barely any left and none of it was good for sale. He kept spiraling, summing up all the scenarios running through his mind out loud.

“Shut up Az” The Contortionist hissed under her breath. They were some distance away from the circus. A bundle of half eaten hay sat at their feet and broken containers littered the ground. She picked up one of them and held it upside down. The remaining liquid trickled out.

“A dose like this is pretty much impossible to reverse”

“Don’t you think I know that?!” He yelled at her, throwing his hands up into the air. He paced back and forth nervously. The woman shot him a venomous look, glancing over her shoulder.

Talon hid behind a stack of hay bundles. This was the proof they needed. He got out the phone he got with Daphne at the mall and started to record the conversation between the supplier and the Contortionist.

After some back and forth the pair suddenly stopped arguing. The woman narrowed her eyes at one of the stacks of hay inside the barn. She pointed at the haystack and gestured for Az to stay put. The Contortionist rounded the corner and discovered Talon, she aimed her rifle at him.

“Who are you..?” She asked cooly.

Talon held up his hands. He had to convince them he was the mute and harmless popcorn guy. He slowly got out his phone, saving the recording while also typing up a message for the woman to read.
“I saw you guys running here, I was following you to a safe place”

The woman raised her brows and lowered her weapon, stepping closer so she could read his text. The supplier joined them and spotted Talon.
“Hey I know that guy, he’s the popcorn seller, he uhh…..he can’t talk”

The Contortionist was not convinced. She closed the distance between them and pulled Talon down by his shirt. Their faces were only inches apart.
“I think you’re lying” Her voice became much more seductive. Her arms snaked around his neck and pulled him into a kiss. Talon’s shades fell to the floor and he succumbed to an incredibly powerful sensation, it rippled through his entire body.

The woman’s slit pupils dilated drastically. The kiss changed from something moderately romantic into something uncanny. The Contortionist broke away from Talon, both were breathing heavily. A drop of blood trickled down her lips and she caught it with her finger. She looked at it and smiled, showing a set of small fangs.

“Now I’ll ask again who are you?”

Talon started to talk, telling the pair everything about the Team’s mission.

“I told you I could make him talk”

After she learned everything she needed to know she decided Talon wasn't much of a threat. She could make him forget everything he’d seen and give them enough time to get away.

---

After Zach the rest of the Team quickly followed. They were tackling the threat side by side. Daphne had pushed back her fear just enough to manage a quiet laugh at Viktor or Rainman. It was a pretty smart idea, she was surprised to see the lengths he would go to. He was much more invested in the Team than he made everyone believe. She helped to evacuate the remaining citizens. A quick sweep told her all of the ponies were now inside of the tent. Daphne got back to Team and filled them in on the situation outside. She caught on to what Viktor was trying to do. With his disguise he was the only one who could freely use his powers.

With their combined efforts and Rainman´s super strength the Team managed to knock out the entire group of animals. The main circus tent remained closed for two hours. During that time workers came in to fix the stage and replaced the piece of ripped tarp. The circus lost the bulk of their visitors. The performances were pushed back to a different time. It would cost a fortune to cancel the remaining performers. The show must go on! This was Gotham after all, the people were used to a catastrophe happening every other week.

Meanwhile the Team reunited in Zach´s room backstage and shared their findings. Daphne was sitting down, catching her bearings after the crazy fight with the ponies. The piece of wood was still lodged into her side. Because she barely felt it was there she forgot about it. It forced her to stay transformed as changing back with a injury like that wouldn´t end very well for her. She waited for them to finish their conversation so someone could help her pull this thing out.

---

---

Is that… Viktor? Although she was in the middle of fighting crazed horses, Alisa turned to get a look at ‘Rainman’- or, rather, Viktor in a knock-off Superman costume. She wanted to laugh, but her fear subsumed the part of her that thought any of this was funny.

Thankfully, ‘Rainman’ took care of her pony problem. “Got it, sir!” Alisa saluted him cheekily. Her hands were still shaking. She thought she understood some of what he was trying to do. Their cover was nearly if not totally blown if the phone cameras pointed their way were any indication, and he was trying to save it. It was smart. Really smart.

Alisa herded the remaining civilians out of the tent as her teammates continued to fight the horses. At the end of it all, she headed back to Zach’s dressing room with the rest of them.

---

Later, in Zach’s dressing room, Alisa told the rest of the team what she had told Kila earlier about the fortune teller. It seemed like they still weren’t sure who their prime suspect was, though. She was leaning against the wall, letting others sit. She grit her teeth. Had they really fucked up another mission? Alisa knew that she and Maya, with the freeing of the horses, had probably been a big part of it… but for now, they both had agreed to keep that quiet. It didn’t seem relevant. And, if Alisa was being honest, she didn’t want the others to know- about her fear or her mess-up. She hated the idea of their judgement.

“What do we do now? Viktor, you were amazing…” She giggled. She couldn’t get the sight of him as fake Superman out of her head! ”You know, as dorky Superman, but we still don’t have any leads, and the show’s nearly over. We don’t even know how any of those horses got like that, either.” She sighed and shook her head. “We won, but it just feels like we’re not getting anywhere.”

Zach couldn’t help having a fit of giggles watching Viktor come out in that cheap Superman mask. Even as he was beating up the roided up Ponies in a brutal fashion, Zach could not take ‘Rainman’ seriously. Regardless, the pony problem was solved, and the civillians were evacuated to safety. The bad news was the performances were delayed because of the chaos… At least they weren’t canceled outright, and Zach had more time to prepare.

After that fiasco, the group met up in Zach’s dressing room to discuss their findings. Zach didn’t really have much to contribute there. He was so busy getting ready for his show, he never got a chance to question any of the suspects. Instead, Zach took the opportunity to magic the piece of wood that was lodged in Daphne out of her, because seeing that was just gross. “Taht etativel.” Zach pointed at the thing with his wand. At which point, the thing lodged itself out of Daphne’s side, and started floating. Then Zach grabbed it, and tossed it in the trash. “If only the ponies cooperated like that…”

“I can’t wait to read about Rainman smashing ponies on Twitter tomorrow…” Zach giggled again. ”Anyway, sorry guys. I don’t have any leads either. I was busy preparing for my performance. My career as a stage magician is riding on this. Don’t tell me we failed the mission again. Batman will never let us hear the end of it…”

Location: Haly's Circus
Interactions: The Team

---

After reigning in the ponies or simply beating them into submission, Viktor performed a pose where he raised the mallet high.

“I AM Rainman!” Viktor shouted before running off as swiftly as possible into the night. He got some distance before he tossed the mask, towel, and mallet before circling around to return to the tent and beelined to his makeshift dressing room.

“That better have been worth it.” He frowned before putting his dress shirt back on.

---

Once the team got together and all the facts were presented, Viktor sighed. His disapproving face turned from his team. He was a bit upset at himself for not participating more in the gathering of information and evidence, instead, he had been more invested in his task of assisting Zach. They hadn’t identified the supplier and the circus show was reaching its end soon. He tried to think to himself, but Alisa addressing him broke him from his thoughts. He wasn’t sure how to take the compliment so he shrugged.

“Thanks.” He said evenly. She pointed out what he had been worried about, but maybe there was a chance. There was still time left on the clock, but unfortunately, that fell into the hands of the others. The Juggler seemed to be the only one that wasn’t a dead-end, that or his team lacked any effectiveness when it came to information gathering.

Zach was next to speak, but it was a spell that came out of his mouth first. As he removed the piece of wood from Daphne’s side, he raised an eyebrow as to why the girl left something like that in her body. Then there were Zach’s priorities as the leader of the team during this mission. He understood performing, hell, he was all in for it but he didn’t completely agree with Zach voicing his personal stake in this while the team still had an objective to complete. At the same time, the act was a stated objective by Batman.

“A, we have not won, that’s why you feel that way. And Zach, we have not failed. Please remember that you are leading a team…” His eyes remained on Zach for a moment before continuing. If he had to snatch the reins, he would. “Why not try to validate your findings instead of single-sourcing. I wouldn’t trust just a single assessment from any of you. The Juggler wasn’t successfully contacted, and the ponies could be a lead. This supplier has a supply of something that Kobra is intending to use, and that something could have been what affected those animals. It’s weak, but it’s a lead. Excercise all of your options to find out as much as you can while Zach and I end the show with our act.”

With the circus tent being repaired and most of the audience convinced to return, the show continued with the rest of the scheduled acts. All to lead up to this moment. The moment many had been waiting on. The finale. It wasn’t just any act. It was the attraction that left the final lasting impression on the audience. One to be talked about for weeks to come. Both Zach and Viktor had not only prepared to perform an amazing act, they prepared to perform the best act. This might have been one of the rarer occasions where both of them were shooting for the same exact thing, which was quite a formidable thing to witness. With the mission debriefing out of the way where the team shared their findings, the real objective was ready to be completed.

The stands were filled and the stage was set. The noise pollution was of the many excited voices of the audience awaiting the final act. Behind the curtains, Viktor appeared ready with his usual stoic expression.

“Time to win, Zach-” He cleared his throat. “Zatara. I’m ready.”

Zach took a peek at the audience from behind the curtain. The audience was filling up, and the excitement was palpable. This was it. This was the moment that would make or break Zach’s career as a stage magician. Zach took a deep breath. “Alright, let’s do this. Get out there, and make me proud.” Viktor gave Zach a confident nod before rolling his shoulders.

The lights within the circus dimmed before going out. The effect had gasps fill the stands before a single spotlight hit none other than Viktor standing on the stage with a wry smile on his face and a head-mic on. He took a deep inhale through his nose before speaking.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!” His voice was both loud and was actually full of life. It was something he had trained up while in his Rainman persona. “BOYS AND GIRLS! Are! You! Ready?!” People in the stands cheered and bellowed in excitement. “I SAID… ARE! YOU! RRRREADY?!” The stands erupted with twice the vigor, something that seemed impossible after the first round of cheers. “I want everyone and I mean everyone to stand up on your feet and welcome the greatest magician in the worrrrrrld!” Other spotlights started to aimlessly fly about the entire stage with the anticipation of the young magician’s arrival. Viktor held his arms out for greater emphasis. THE AMAZING! THE EXTRAORDINARY! THE CHARMING! UNPARALLELED! THE GREAT... ZATARAAAAAA!”

Zach stood backstage as he watched Viktor introduce him. The intro was good, but he was worried if anybody was actually going to applaud. Unfortunately for Zach, the pyrotechnics guy was nowhere to be found, which means he had to produce his own special effects. Zach was used to doing that anyway, but it would have been nice to save some magic for the actual act… Oh well… it was his cue now. “Neercsekoms” A plume of smoke appeared on the stage, and Zach had seconds to run up there, and get into position before it cleared. “Helloooo guys, gals, and non-binary pals! Zatara the Great at your service! Give a hand to my lovely assistant too. That was some introduction huh? Still, he needs a better outfit, wouldn’t you say? “Emutsoc egnahc!” There was a brief puff of smoke, and Viktor’s costume was changed into an outfit identical to what his cousin wears. Fishnets and all. Zach was blushing. Viktor raised one of his muscle toned legs with a bewildered expression on his face. “Um… that’s not right, only my cousin can pull that off. Although, you have to admit he does have nice legs right?” Viktor pulled at the fishnets before shrugging and superhero posing with his legs flexed with his fists at his own waist. It was something he had picked up from his Rainman escapade. The action produced boisterous laughs from the audience.

“Ok, ok. That’s enough of that.” Zach raised a cloak in front of Viktor. “This is my show remember? Besides, there are children here. Now, let’s try this again.” He waved his wand again “Emutsoc egnahc!”[/color] Viktor’s costume changed back to what he was wearing previously, but the whole raising the curtain shtick gave Viktor seconds to run backstage, and bring the rabbit out. When he lowered the curtain, there was Bunny in Viktor’s place wearing a rabbit sized tux.

The audience oohed and ahed at the small bunny on stage, as Zach walked over to the bunny to pick her up. “Oops, I guess I used a little too much magic. I turned him into a bunny! Even as a small mammal, he’s still cute, right?” Zach winked. [color=darkviolet]“Unfortunately, he won’t do me much good like this. Guess I gotta change him back.” He set the bunny down, raised the curtain, waved the wand, and Viktor was standing there once again. “Sorry about that, sometimes getting turned into animals comes with the job.”

Viktor cleared his throat through his head mic in a suggestive manner while furrowing his brows. Viktor waved his hands over his clothes. “I believe you are forgetting something,” Viktor announced in an annoyed tone before pulling a fresh carrot from his jacket before taking a bite out of it. “My better outfit… and more carrots.”

So far so good. This was working out. “I’ll get you some more carrots after the show ok? Anyway, I have a gift for some of the younger members of our audience. Viktor, could you bring them out please?” Zach asked with a wink to which Viktor nodded before dashing behind the curtain. The sound of squeaky wheels and Viktor grunting were heard before he emerged from the curtains, pulling a comically large cage of doves that appeared very ready to leave the cage. The audience, especially the parents, appeared confused about the avian gift Zach was presenting.

“Allow me, Zatara. Open! Sesame!” Viktor manually opened up the cage, allowing the doves to fly right out and chaotically flutter around the inside of the circus tent over the audience.

Zach pointed his wand up in the air. “Secalp edart” Instantly, the doves vanished, and a bunch of plushies fell from the ceiling, and into the laps of the kids in the audience. The kids oohed and ahed and squealed excitedly. “I bet you Zatanna never got you presents. Tell your friends kids!” In reality, the doves were somewhere backstage. Zach had only switched places with the plushies. He doubted any of these kids could speak backwards.

The audience applauded, and the show went on. Zach performed a number of tricks using a combination of stage magic and real magic (but mostly stage magic) and the audience loved every second of it. Eventually the show was over. “Thank you thank you. You have been a wonderful audience! Thank you for coming. Remember, follow Zatara the Great on all social media!
Skrowerif” Immediately a bunch of colorful fireworks shot out from behind him.

---

Red Tornado had assigned Daphne and Zach to chores duty. The two of them were tasked with sweeping and mopping. Of course Zach was not interested in doing any of this. “The robot expects me to work like a plebeian? Don’t be ridiculous! Flesruoy siht peews moorb” Instantly the broom seemed to come to life and started sweeping into a nearby dustpan.

Daphne was armed and ready to battle to heaps of dust around the HQ. They started in the lounge where the Team spent most of their time. She didn’t mind cleaning back home, but her house wasn’t even half the size of the first floor of the HQ. She rolled up her sleeves and dipped her cleaning rags into the soapy bucket of water. Just as she was about to wipe down the lounge table she heard Zach use a spell. She could never quite figure out what he was saying, he was too fast.

She raised her brows at the broom sliding past her, on its own. Daphne finished wiping the table and turned to Zach. A cheeky smile was on her face and she checked to see if they were alone.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Zach raised an eyebrow. “That depends… Were you thinking of ditching the manual labor, and doing something fun?”

She nodded. Daphne loved how Zach always wanted to have fun. It was infectious. They were already in the lounge too. The perfect place to relax and have a good time. Daphne turned on the large flatscreen and switched over to Disney plus.
"I'm thinking Disney what do you think?"

“Oh perfect.” Zach snatched the remote, and put on The Little Mermaid for the umpteenth time. “What? Prince Eric is hot ok!”

Zach really was the only one who could bear watching The Little Mermaid about every couple of weeks. They were hauled up on the coach, snacks at arm’s reach, complete with mermaid blankets. The HQ could get pretty cold sometimes, considering it was built inside a mountain. They were about halfway into the movie and Daphne watched everything like she saw it for the first time. The scene started where Prince Eric became hypnotized by the sea witch Ursula using Ariel’s voice.

“Isn’t it weird what happened to Talon?”
She remarked without taking her eyes off the screen. Somewhere during their last mission Talon was brainwashed, or at least something similar to that. It took hours for him to return to normal after the mission was finished and he was behaving very weird. Not at all like the Talon they were used to. He was obsessed with something, but he refused to tell them anything about it. It was almost like he was forced to behave that way.

“He was hypnotized to forget who the supplier was”

Zach scoffed.“Girl, I know you're not in the magical community, but this kind of thing happens all the time. There are vampires, various species of demons, hell even a bunch of magic spells that can do that same thing. It is not that weird…” He stopped to sip his cup of hot chocolate, then continued. “Ooh, do you think something magical might be involved there?”

Daphne shrugged. Whatever was going in was clearly out of her area of expertise. Actually she wasn't even sure she had an area of expertise. Apart from her powers she was just ordinary.
"I don't know. I'm just glad he's back to being his usual self."

"I'm super curious what his eyes look like. He still hasn't taken off his shades. I bet they're blue"

“Ooh, and I bet they’re gorgeous too.” Zach sighed. “That’s always how it is with the mysterious types.”

"Mmmh" Daphne mused. Daphne returned her attention to the movie but she couldn't concentrate on what was going on. She shifted in her seat and put her head back, blinking a few times.

“Hey, um… are you ok?” Zach asked, looking concerned.

"Yes I'm okay. Just thinking…" she smiled a half smile at Zach. The pair could hear the distinct footsteps of Red Tornado from down the hallway. He was approaching the lounge. The cleaning tools brought to life by Zach's magic were hard to miss, especially when you were an android with incredibly advanced programming.

“Oh no… what do we do?”

“Leave it to me”

Zach pulled off his famous disappearing act, leaving behind a puff of smoke. They ran off snickering. Red Tornado blew away the smoke with a gust of wind, finding the room empty, but clean.