Scarlet Starlight

[Author's Note: Identity Crisis never took place in this continuity, though Dr Light remains a rapist scumbag if nothing else so I can deliver some vicarious punishment to the character that DC refused to do for so long. In the process, I have retconned his history in such a way that explains his transformation from competent mad scientist to raping psychotic in a way that makes sense without the offensive nonsense that was IDCrisis. Zatanna's powerset has been completely reimagined from scratch here, resulting in what I feel is a far more viable character free of the story-limiting omnipotence of her stock version. Instead of the silly "say anything backwards and it happens" nonsense, she instead has basically "real stage magic", in other words the things stage magicians do by illusion she can do for real including translocate objects, teleport short distances, read minds and hypnotize subjects, and other traditional magician's abilities. Satana is a completely reimagined from scratch character that ignores the hokey and "straight out of a chick tract" stock Satana in favor of a new version that is much more nuanced and accurate to the realities of "occult" faiths. This Satana is a younger version of the Ghost Rider character Roxanne Simpson, who in this world was too young to be a love interest for Johnny Blaze and was like a younger sister to him that had a puppylove / admiration crush on him but no more. Instead, he became involved with Linda Littletrees, the native american "Witch Woman" who was in fact the one who taught him to form a motorcycle from hellfire to begin with and in regular continuity was a rival for his affections. Image reference http://images.wikia.com/marveldatabase/images/a/af/Linda_Littletrees_%28Earth-616%29.jpg ]

 

[Warning: This chapter deals with themes of rape, and may be disturbing to sensitive readers. To be clear, the crime of rape is utterly condemned in the strongest possible terms, and the rapist character will be punished with appropriate brutality for his horrific actions.]

Chapter 9: Heaven and Hell





BETHANY, MISSOURI, ONE YEAR AGO





Superman never knew when or why he'd hear certain calls and not everything else. It couldn't be simply superhuman hearing, because he'd often hear things many miles away but not the intervening sounds that would surely overwhelm them. The going theory was it was a form of clairvoyance, rather than an actual form of hearing, but regardless it worked and it had many times brought him to people in need, a fact for which he was nearly as grateful as those he saved. He wasn't much of a detective, and wandering around randomly hoping to be in the right place at the right time seemed awfully clumsy. Among his many gifts, he was perhaps most thankful for the one that told him when and where there was a job for Superman.



That was especially useful in this new world they all found themselves in, where even if he had the knowledge to know when and where to be to maximize his chances of finding and solving trouble, it would be useless here where everything was different. Fortunately, his trouble sense worked just as well here as it did in his own world, and it had led him to a small town on the interstate between Des Moines and Metropolis, which he learned had still been using the original Kansas City name in this world before their arrival. Why that made any sense when the city straddled two states and two rivers and the bulk of it wasn't even on the Kansas side boggled him, but at least now it was going by it's proper name. If nothing else, that was something they'd brought to this world.



The little town he landed in was barely more than a truck stop, with a few hotels and restaurants mostly attached to gas stations clustered at the top of a large hill that the interstate passed through the only real active hub, with a decaying small town below that had seen it's best days decades ago. The town signs still boasted a population of 3,000 souls, but it was almost certain that the majority of them were senior citizens and the families of those who worked in the highway stop businesses or the grocery store that was the closest place to buy food for the miles of farmland and even more miniscule and decaying towns that dotted the surrounding countryside. In twenty years at most this place would be a ghost town, and it was well on it's way there now. It reminded him of his own Smallville far too much for comfort, and it broke his heart to see time steamrollering over a way of life he grew up in and loved dearly. But he couldn't turn back time, or bring back the dead. Some things even a Superman couldn't do, and he kept focused on the jobs he could do. It was the only way.



A job like this one. A group of nearly two dozen men, most of them truckers, cornering a redheaded young woman whose style choices marked her as definitely not from around there. Leather and denim, chains and other hard rock style accoutrements, and both shirt and pendant marked with the circled star that was the satanic pentagram. For now, she was engaged in a heated argument with one of the men while the others stood around and cheered him on, clearly it was an altercation between the two of them that had drawn a small crowd but that small crowd was a razor's edge from becoming a mob. It wasn't safe to be so blatantly non-conformist and aggressively anti-christian as she was in a town like this, and it was clear she needed protection. His decision to side with her was only reinforced when he heard the details of the argument itself, that he'd given her a ride in his truck expecting sexual favors in return and she had refused to give them. Regardless of whether the crowd was siding with the man in sympathy for his rejection or in condemnation of her appearance, he and they were in the wrong and Superman was going to do something about it.



He shouldn't have been surprised when they cheered for his arrival, saying how the "satan bitch" was in real trouble then and such. In a way, he hated turning people against him but in this case he was happy to disappoint them.



"Soliciting prostitution is a crime, mister, and you're walking the thin line between that and sexual assault. I suggest you quit while you're ahead. The lady said no."



That had gotten them to turn on him in shock and anger in a hurry, with boos and jeers and even calls that rape was a "just punishment" for a "pagan jezebel whore" and that as a Christian he should be on their side. His eves narrowed as he spoke and it was an act of will to keep them from glowing red in his anger.



"That's right, I AM a Christian, I don't know what you people are. Last I checked, Christ said 'let he who is without sin cast the first stone' to a mob just like you wanting to lynch a woman for prostitution --and you're wanting to punish this one for NOT prostituting. Now if you have some evidence she's committed a real crime beyond you not liking her appearance, we'll get her turned over to the proper authorities but one way or the other you won't be dispensing your brand of so-called 'justice' on her. Not on my watch."



That had not gone over well at all, the men shouting in anger and cursing him and her both, while the original trucker who'd started the whole thing had slinked away not wanting to bear the consequences of what he'd started. Worse, others had started to gather in pickups, drawn to the scene of drama. Word traveled fast in small towns... and of course some of them were armed. Few in this part of the country weren't. This could get very ugly very fast if he didn't stop it before the newcomers picked a side and joined in. He hadn't seen any police yet, but even if they took the proper side an altercation with an armed mob could be bloody for both sides. He had to put an end to it and quickly.



He got all the justification he needed to do that but moments later, when one of them shouted that since "obviously Superman would never help a devil cunt", he couldn't possibly be the real Superman and thus they should "get 'em!" and the small mob moved in to attack. He didn't want to hurt these people, as infuriating as they were, and he didn't want to get in a time consuming fight with them either. What he wanted was for them to cool off, and he knew exactly how to make that happen.



Using his freeze breath, he blasted them with a chilling wind of enough strength that it took a grown man all his strength to struggle forwards against it, and even standing his ground would be difficult. It was also bitterly, chillingly cold, more than enough to make standing in it horribly uncomfortable for the lightly dressed men. They weren't a people unused to ice and snow, but they weren't dressed for worse than a brisk fall day and he was subjecting them to winds that were all but arctic. Neither the force nor the temperature were enough to harm even frail men, but they were very uncomfortable and only a fool would brave them for very long.



Sure enough, some of them broke off for shelter almost immediately, and soon enough even the most stubborn and hotheaded of them were deciding that discretion was the better part of valor. He didn't quit until the last of them were dispersed, and he even melted the rifle barrel of one of them that got the bright idea to try force of arms. No one tried anything after that, and the onlookers that had gathered dispersed as well.



And of course, it was only after it was all over that the local law enforcement showed it's face. They'd chosen to leave it to him, they said, but Superman doubted that they had any real interest in defending a strange out-of-towner from local good old boys. Nor did he have any faith that charges of any sort would be brought against any of the mob despite their armed threats. That was only confirmed for him when the deputy recommended that the girl get out of town before they came back. Kal-El had a good mind to give the man a furious speech over the duties of the badge and the responsibility for unbiased law enforcement, but he could tell it would go nowhere and it would be nothing but trouble to have a superhero get into a heated argument with local law enforcement. Not so soon after the Superhuman Civil War.



So instead, he asked the girl if she needed a ride.



-----



LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, TODAY





"Mistress Satana, Lady Death of the Sacred Tarot" as her sign proclaimed her, was tired. It had been a long day, and she hadn't made much. As she folded up her card table and the rest of her setup, breaking down to put them away for the night, she sighed at the small stack of bills that was her take for the day. Woo hoo, another night of having to choose between good food or drinking. A tough choice... she hated eating ramen noodles and tuna, but she hated going sober too. She could get free drinks if she went out to a bar, but that would leave her short of sleep for tomorrow and if she slept in that would cut into her ability to make money tomorrow. If she was sure there wouldn't be tourists tomorrow, she could sleep in and go eat at a soup kitchen, but the weather was supposed to be good and so there was no excuse not to be out bright and early trying to make some scratch. Not that there would be any guarantees, of course, but she had to try. That was the bad part about working the streets like she did, she could bust her ass from sun-up to sundown and she might make great money or she might not make jack. It was entirely up to passerby to sit at her table and get read, or to buy some of the jewlery and trinkets she made. It was up to them to tip her for her services, and sometimes they were generous and other times not. Even the good times were tainted by the worry of what the next day would bring, and if a drought was around the corner.



Of course, it could be worse, and it had been. Things were a lot better for her than when she first showed up in the city, literally borne on the back of an angel of mercy. To her surprise, he had gotten her all the way from the armpit of the midwest to the far more welcoming Bay Area of world famous San Francisco, where she still had to start with nothing but at least she had prospects. And she'd made use of her opportunities, starting with nothing but the clothes on her back and ending up where she was now. It wasn't a three bedroom house with a picket fence and a dog in the yard, it wasn't the american dream, but it was a damned sight better than nothing. As she loaded her stuff into the back of her van, she smiled to herself as she ran her hand over the mattress there. So, so much better than a sleeping bag and tent, which in turn was vastly better than the sidewalk in a back alley. She'd done both, and a bed of her own every night was a blessing she refused to take for granted.



Nor would she fail to appreciate the small plot in the campground RV park she was thankfully able to afford, which provided her with a safe place to park without the worry of being harassed by cops, and a place to take a shower and do laundry on a nice and regular basis. Between that and the bed in the van, she no longer had to sit in mission pews with bitten tongue, pretending to praise and worship the crucified god who held no meaning for her all to get a spot to sleep and a chance to clean up. She could provide for herself now, she was an independent businesswoman with no need for a man or for man's god to take care of her. Sure, she was still dependent on her customers, but she provided goods and services in exchange for her money, she earned her living. And considering how she felt about the vast majority of men, it sure as hell beat earning it from working on her back.



It was these thoughts that filled her mind, if nothing else to cheer her up from her less-than-lucrative day, as she finished packing up and closed the back hatch to come around to the driver's door. She had a while left to go before she slept, and there was still the decision at hand of whether to eat good or drink tonight or to do neither tonight and make sure of getting to do both tomorrow even if she had another lousy earnings day.



That decision, and the entire line of thought and everything leading up to it, was jettisoned from her mind as she was suddenly attacked, from out of nowhere. Slammed against the van by a woman she'd never seen before who'd seemed to come from thin air, knocking the breath from her and then threatening to keep that breath from her as a cane of some sort was pressed across her throat. Before she could attempt a counterattack, she froze as that threat against her breath stepped up to permanent as the cane slipped off of the blade concealed inside with a hiss like the sound of a poisonous snake. It was no less deadly, and instead of struggling further, she offered up the small stack of cash she'd earned that day and hoped the woman would take it and go. It would suck to lose it, but in her current predicament she'd consider herself lucky if it was all she lost.



Instead, to her shock the woman slapped away the money like it was meaningless, and locked eyes with her as she half-whispered, half-growled a question -- "Where IS he?!"



-----



For Zatanna Zatara, this had begun years ago, when she was a fairly new up-and-comer in the superhero business. The JLA had captured and were attempting to interrogate the villain Dr Light, and he'd proven resistant to conventional telepathy and so they tapped her to try her hypnosis abilities instead. It had worked, but it was a pyrrhic victory as the results were disastrous. In the process of tapping into his subconscious, she'd unleashed a buried secondary personality, one less intelligent than the original but also far more brutal. Dr Light had long used certain mental techniques to repress his emotions, needs, desires, everything he considered "base" and an impediment to perfect mental efficiency. The result was a mind that functioned almost like a computer, disciplined and powerful, but also one that was suppressing many of it's "undesired" functions. Basically, he gave himself a dissociative disorder, making him function rather like an autistic with amazing logical and mathematical abilities but stunted emotions.



That which is repressed is not necessarily eliminated, however. In the process of "purifying" his higher thought processes, he'd shunted his lower ones to a subcompartment of his mind where they seethed in isolation. Like a dissociative personality disorder, only self-inflicted rather than formed through trauma, but the results were the same. That secondary personality was a brute, psychotic and driven by perverse lusts. Comfort, luxuries and most especially sex had been dismissed by the primary personality as distractions unworthy of a perfect mind, and the secondary personality they'd been shunted to was obsessed with all of them to extremes. Where the primary personality was cold and analytical and disconnected from people and society, the secondary also lacked empathy but was a raging, raping, pillaging hedonistic psychotic.



And she'd inadvertently unleashed him on the world.



This wasn't figured out at first, of course, and no one was sure why he'd changed patterns so abruptly. It wasn't even apparent until after he'd escaped again and resumed his villainous career in a much different style than before. Rather than the elaborate scientifically calculated plans for world domination or other such lofty goals, he'd devolved to theft, and attacks on women, obsessed with attaining personal luxuries and brutal hedonistic desires. And of course, he also became obsessed with revenging every slight, like most petty villains. Basically, he'd devolved from a mad scientist to a mere madman. And Zatanna was high on his target list.



His new pattern wasn't known yet the first time he attacked her, she had no reason to see it coming. She was less experienced then, as well, and he always had more raw power than she did. She expected to be able to reason with him, figure out his goals which he'd then dispassionately pursue without harm to her unless that harm specifically served his overall aim. Not this new Dr Light. His goal -was- to harm her, and worse, to claim her. To make her his in the worst way possible.



She was lucky to survive with her life and chastity intact. She still bore scars, and the nightmares of the relentless pursuit of the madman that left her clothes in shreds, her body battered and bloody, and her will ragged and exhausted. She'd felt like a hunted animal, terrified and overmatched in the sights of a deadly predator, with worse than death awaiting her in the claws and jaws that snapped on her heels. Never before or since had she known such primal terror, or the feeling of helpless victimhood. He hadn't raped her, but not for lack of trying and nonetheless the experience was a psychologically and emotionally scarring one.



Since then, he'd been her greatest fear. One she'd pushed herself to become better to overcome, training to fight and learning how to not only stay armed and alert at all times, but also to use her environment and everything around her as weapons as well. Much like the training Catherine received in the old Beauty and the Beast television show, and a little like Sarah Connor's transformation in the Terminator franchise as well. The fact that she had a bit of a crush on Linda Hamilton, the actress who'd played both characters, didn't hurt as she sought to remold herself in that tough-as-nails image. Of course she fell short of that level of perfect badassery, but she'd come a hell of a long way. Even in her dreams now she fought instead of ran, and his image in her mind brought rage instead of fear. She might die in battle with him, but she'd never be his victim. Never again.



That didn't help the other women less strong and capable than her who had fallen victim to him in the intervening years, though. And though she wasn't ultimately to blame for those crimes, she couldn't help but feel responsible nonetheless. She had a responsibility to put an end to his threat once and for all. Even when he disappeared, when the original cold and analytical Dr Light personality reasserted itself and he went back to his original pattern, she felt that remaining vigilant against him was her task. If the rapist psychotic personality ever returned, she'd be ready for it. This time she'd be the hunter. She'd brought him into the world and she was going to take him back out of it, however she had to. She owed it to every woman that fell in his sights.



That worst case scenario had indeed come to pass, and the psychotic Light was back. He'd come to her attention after an attempt on the life and loins of the Dazzler, an LA performer and known mutant superhero. Like herself, Dazzler was a toughened, experienced hero and was nobody's victim. Light wasn't the first psycho she'd faced, nor was he even the worst. Despite his advantage in being able to nullify her light powers against him, she'd fought him off and denied him his prize. Surely he'd be furious, and take out his rage on other women. Zatanna intended to find and stop him at all costs.



All evidence pointed to him still being in the LA area, and she was on his trail. Her investigation had led her to the information that he was now working as an operative in the "Cult of Lady Death", a band of criminals who had been responsible for a rash of robberies and assaults over the last months. From there, she'd sought out how to find this "Lady Death", and that had led her to her current target. And though she wasn't fond of the idea of attacking a woman, any woman who would employ a known rapist was no real woman in her eyes and even if she couldn't torture or kill her, she had no problem summoning the anger necessary to convince her target that she would do just that. The woman could find out she was bluffing after she'd finished interrogating her.



-----



Satana was stunned and confused, not knowing what the woman was talking about and suddenly fearful that she might be killed for information she didn't have. As she hesitated, her attacker repeated herself, clarifying further what she wanted to know.



"Where is Doctor Light?!"



Satana blinked, incredulous. "The Mega Man character???"



The pressure on her throat eased a touch as the woman frowned, suddenly unsure. "You know who I'm talking about..."



Satana managed to shake her head. "No, really, I have no fucking clue."



The woman looked suddenly desperate. "But... but you're Lady Death..."



Satana sighed in frustration. "Oh for fuck's sake... I'm gonna tell you the same thing I told the cops and the other costumed whackadoodles that asked me the same shit. I'm not the Lady Death that's running the robbery ring. Hell that Lady Death doesn't even exist, she's a comic book character. And I don't look anything like her."



The woman looked really unsure now, the weapon gone slack from her, and she applied the verbal coup de grace. "Really, think about it. If I was running a bank robbery ring, would I be busting my ass twelve hours a day reading cards and sleeping in my van?"



That did it. The weapon fell away completely, and the blade slipped back into the cane sheath with an almost disappointed sounding hiss. The woman looked so dejected it broke Satana's heart. It didn't hurt that she was hot as all hell... it took her but a moment to decide her next move. The woman had solved her dilemma of what to do tonight after all.



"Look, darlin'... why don't you come along with me? We can get a few drinks and something to eat, you can tell me your story, and maybe I can help. I do know a lot of people around here and I wouldn't mind seeing this whole mistaken identity bullshit put to an end."



-----



Zatanna was shattered. Her whole mission had just slammed into a brick wall. As much as she wanted to deny it, the woman was telling the truth. Her mystic senses told her that much, but also that there was more to this woman than what she seemed. Maybe, just maybe, she could actually help her. And she had to admit a few drinks and a dinner, combined with talking through the case, could be what she needed to think of a new way forward. She might not take that kind of offer from a man, but she felt that she had nothing to fear from this woman. Her instincts in such matters, much like her ability to know truth from falsehood, were more than simply mundane and she trusted them implicitly.



And so it was that soon thereafter she was climbing into that odd, wedge shaped hot rod van that looked like some show car from the 1970s, almost a Hot Wheels car turned real, and they were off to a surprisingly decent little hole in the wall bar and restaurant that served Italian food until the wee hours of the morning. It was an interesting irony that a woman who called herself Satana had taken her to a place called Angeli's, and she'd shown a good sense of humor by laughing when she'd pointed it out. She wasn't turning out to be bad company, and she wasn't bad to look at either. Zee hadn't set out to find a date, but it was starting to feel like one as the woman flirted and charmed her. She could certainly do worse, and there was no denying that life on the road was lonely, but that wasn't what she was here for.



But maybe the woman could solve two problems at once. She'd listened to her story with real interest, and actually had some good ideas. She knew people who could get her a show set up at a local club, and given their history it was only logical that Light would target her. She had to admit, it was a good plan and she should have thought of it sooner herself. Instead of hunting down her target, when she had no idea where to find him, set herself up as bait and make him come to her. And when he did, she --no, they-- would be ready for him.



-----



Zatanna's story was much more interesting than she'd expected, and when she found out the truth behind her quest to stop this "Dr Light" scumbag, she wanted to help. She was nobody's idea of superhero material, but taking a serial rapist off the streets seemed like her idea of a cause worth fighting for. Between that and the woman's charm and attractiveness, Satana found it surprisingly easy to forgive her for threatening her life, especially after she explained that she was bluffing for purposes of intimidation. The smile she'd gotten when she said that the woman was too beautiful to hold a grudge against proved to Satana that there just might be a chance for a more rewarding partnership than simply taking down a scumbag together. And so, despite her usual reluctance to let people know her too well, she opened up to her with her own story.



-----



This Satana woman was proving more intriguing all the time, and when Zee asked her to tell her own story she was more interested than simply being polite. After a small hesitation, the redhead obliged her. Those same mystic instincts that told truth and falsehood for her said that she was being told secrets that the redheaded woman rarely told, and it made Zatanna feel special that she'd open up to her. She was definitely starting to like this Satana.



"I grew up a carny brat, travelling town to town and never really having many people my own age around. My dad was a cycle stuntman, and my adopted big brother was following in his footsteps. Me, I didn't know if I wanted to be a stunt rider too, or a flashdancer, or maybe even a magician or fortune teller. I learned a bit of all of them, there wasn't a whole lot else to do besides learn whatever I could and there was no shortage of strange and unique people to learn strange and unique talents from, you know? Being a carny is a lot like being a modern day gypsy."



Zatanna nodded and smiled, liking what she was hearing so far, and urged her gently to continue.



"I learned how to pick pockets, how to dash and hide when in trouble, I learned makeup and disguise, I learned knife tricks, rope tricks, escape artistry, sleight of hand, fortune telling, how to con and avoid being conned, how to drive a truck and ride a bike, all kinds of stuff. I even picked up enough guitar that I could play rhythm while being eye candy, once I got old enough to have tits." she chuckled. "Most important, I learned some very real magic. At least one of the old magicians there knew some real stuff and I had access to real books and a few artifacts too. Nothing hella powerful or anything, but more than just tricks and props."



Zatanna softly grinned at this. She was liking this woman more the more she learned about her. Maybe, just maybe, there was a future for them beyond a simple short-term gig. But she was getting ahead of herself, and nodded in interest to keep the woman talking. She wanted to hear the rest.



"It all came crashing down right around when I was sixteen. We had an old lion in the show, and I really loved him. But he was getting up in age even when I was a kid, and he couldn't live forever. In the meantime, I'd learned about Sekhmet, and well she'd become kinda my guiding light in a way. I didn't realize I was religious, but yeah she's my Goddess. When he died, I didn't want him just burned or buried with no ceremony, you know? Like he was trash to be discarded. He deserved better. Nobody else really spent any time around him between shows and feedings, so I was the first to find out he died. I... had to do something for him. I had to."



Zatanna nodded in sympathy, these were painful memories and so far she was definitely taking her side of the story.



"I took a dagger from the display tent stock that I knew was magical, and my book of spells, and I did right by his body. I dedicated his soul to Sekhmet, while taking his pelt in a skinchanger ritual so he could always be close by me. I did everything right, and I know it worked. And I know he appreciated me for it. Part of him is still with me."



She sensed a "but" coming, and she wasn't wrong.



"Problem is, I never told anyone he died because I knew they'd just get rid of the body and they sure as hell wouldn't agree to what I planned to do. So, when I got caught, they thought I killed him. They didn't understand the ritual, or that it was meant in respect, they thought it was some kind of satanic sacrifice. I guess that I'd gotten into horror and shockrock and adopted a kind of heavy metal satanist image didn't help, but I mean come on real Satanism isn't about Satan at all you know? They didn't believe me though, and they were furious. My dad had died in a crash years before, and my brother had taken off not long after, so there was nobody to really take up for me. So while they were deciding what to do about me, I picked the lock and got the hell out of there with what little I could take. Mainly the knife, the skin, the book, and whatever else i could fit in a duffel bag."



Zatanna sighed. "It's amazing how the freaks and geeks can sometimes turn out to be as intolerant as everyone else."



Satana nodded. "In a way though it was my fault too. Not for that, but it was kinda the straw that broke the camel's back, you know? I was that age, I was bitchy and lazy and rebellious and thought the adults were just being assholes when they wanted me pulling my fair share. I never really understood the value of a place to sleep and something to eat every day until I had to earn it all myself. I've grown up a lot since then."



Zatanna nodded in soft sympathy. "Everyone goes through that phase, but not everyone learns their lessons as hard a way as you had to."



Satanna let out a long sigh. "It wasn't easy but it could have been a lot harder. The skills I'd learned turned out pretty handy for life on the road... at first a lot more of the conning and thieving, but later the fortune telling, and all along the magic helped so much. I can defend myself better than most, and people who thought I'd be an easy mark found out the hard way otherwise. I never turned tricks, or got raped or ended up on drugs like a lot of girls on the streets do. Worst I did was put up with a skeevy ex-boyfriend I let fuck me from time to time when I couldn't put him off anymore, and I could damned near sleep through that. I wouldn't be the first woman to go through that, that's for damned sure."



Zatanna sensed a story there, so she gently urged her to elaborate.



Satanna chuckled and did so. "He had this sweet-assed show-quality custom van his dad had built in the late 60s - early 70s, and he let me sleep in it. Got me off the streets for good. I thought I loved him at first, but I guess I was just happy to be rescued and I fooled myself. Eventually I grew to simply tolerate him, and then finally I decided to get rid of him. I convinced him to put the van in my name, to save it from asset seizure, and a little tip to the cops did the rest. He's in San Quentin now probably. He deserves it. He sold a lot of drugs and didn't really care to who. And he was hooked himself, which is why we still lived in the fucking van for so long even when his 'career' picked up. I probably saved his life, it was only a matter of time before he got himself OD'd or wasted by some icer. He was messing with the wrong kind of people and gettng stupid. And when the hammer came down it'd have probably slammed me too. So I put an end to that shit."



Zatanna nodded and smiled. "And with your skills and a mobile home, you were set up with all you needed to be your own one-woman show. You ever think of branching out into magic acts? You have the talent and background for it. I didn't start out with much less than you myself."



The redhead smiled. "I have thought of working my way in that direction, yeah... it takes a lot of resources I don't have yet."



Zatanna's smile turned to a soft grin. "When we've finished this whole business with Light, I'll see if I can get you going in the right direction. I have a lot of contacts in the industry, maybe I can help you out. In the meantime, how do you feel about sleeping in a hotel room tonight?"



-----



Both women had basically made the decision that they wanted to sleep with the other, but neither were quite sure that the other was interested. The kiss in the elevator had sealed the deal. Neither were sure who had initiated it, even, there had been a lot of awkward staring and nervous drawing closer that had led to it, but once their lips had met the passion that flowed between them was electric and made the outcome that followed all but inevitable.



That kiss had not so much broken as merely paused for moments at a time, even as they stripped, then showered together, then ended up on the bed in a tangle of feminine flesh, soft skin to skin and lips to lips, and soon lips to netherlips. Carried away by the passion of the moment, it wasn't until they'd shared their first orgasms together, and were cuddling close after finishing that kiss with one another's shared feminine flavor on their lips, that they broke from it at last and allowed thought and speech to return.



It was Satana who spoke first. "It's been a while for you too, huh?"



Zatanna nodded. "Life on the road is lonely, there's never time to get to know anyone and I'm not the bang random groupies type."



The redhead nodded in return. "I could probably pick up if I tried, but I work a lot and for fuck's sake I live in a van you know? I... just feel like I should be more established before I try to get with someone. Have more to offer. I mean I don't mind living in the van, I've lived on the road all my life, but who's really gonna understand that when I tell 'em I have no apartment to bring them home to?"



Zee softly smiled. "I seriously understand. I have a house I barely ever see, I live on a tour bus and in hotel rooms. Like the song says, 'in this everlasting twight, home is just a sad abstraction'..."



Satana squeezed her tight at that, misting up a little. "I... umm..." but her nervousness overcame her resolve, not wanting to risk asking her to stay together, partly because it felt presumptuous and she unworthy, and partly fearing the rejection and ruining what they had going. They had tonight. Who needs tomorrow?



Instead, she kissed her again and then, to avoid having to talk, began kissing her way back down her lover's perfect body, seeking the source of that incredible woman's nectar still lingering on her lips and in her senses. Part of her knew deep inside that she'd be gone soon, and she'd be alone again and when that happened she'd be heartbroken. She was already getting attached to this raven-haired goddess, it was too late to stop that. All she could do now was experience her as deeply and fully as possible, take what she had while she had it and build good memories to keep her warm with when the cold nights began again.



Zee was pretty sure what the girl was getting at when she broke away, and it was an enticing idea. She already liked this girl a little too much for emotional safety, and she was lonely and she could use a partner on the road and in her act. The girl had all the makings of a good magician to be, and she would make an outstanding assistant. By the time the girl reached her feminine center and she tangled her hands in that red hair in ecstasy, she had made the decision to make the offer to her when the time was right. After that, those thoughts and all others were swept away by the pleasure flowing from that talented tongue up through her core to flood her senses with passion and pleasure she so rarely knew.



For Satana, the soft intimate flesh of the other woman was like the fount of heaven, flowing with sweet ambrosia, warm and soft and perfect in every way, enticing beyond the point of enrapturement. She suddenly understood the metaphor of Hell being the absence of Heaven, if she was hellish and this woman was heavenly, being cut off from the light of pleasure and intimacy she was experiencing was indeed a torture sentence worse than any fire or brimstone.



After Zee's ability to think returned to her after touching heaven under those amazing attentions, the sight of her fiery hair between her legs reminded her of the fiery hair between the other woman's creamy thighs, and she wanted it again. Urging her softly to turn around, after a few moments of not understanding the gorgeous girl got the message, and swung her hips over to bring that fiery framed feminine pink to her lips in all it's wet and wondrously scented glory. She could get very used to tasting this every night, if she played her cards right. And being a magician, she knew how to work her cards.



After they'd screamed their last lingering pleasure and passion into one another's luscious loins, relaxing slowly as they regained their breath and senses, Zee smiled softly to herself. It was time to play a ace from her deck.



Satana blinked as the raven goddess went into her bedside bag and pulled out a glistening blue-black strap-on dildo made of what appeared to be exquisite indigo-dyed leather, along with a vial of flavored lubricant. She suddenly froze, not sure what to think, not sure how to dissuade her from fucking her and wondering if she might have to endure that thrusting shaft in her ass, given the presence of lubricant in the equation... and quickly started weighing in her mind if dealing with that was worth it for the pleasure and perfection she'd enjoyed with the amazing woman so far.



Zee picked up on her hesitation, softly asking if she was ok, and Satana shrugged and hesitantly told her that she wasn't much of a bottom, hoping that wouldn't be a dealbreaker. To her pleasant surprise, the ebon-haired stunner simply smiled and nodded, sapphire eyes twinkling softly with her gorgeous grin as she said something most unexpected.



"Oh that's fine... I'd give you a turn with it in you if you asked, but the plan was for you to fuck me."



Satana just blinked... ok, she'd never really played that way before but she was willing to try, and she said as much to her beautiful bedpartner. In response, her somewhat older and definitely more experienced lover smiled and said leave it to her, she'd teach her and she had a very special surprise in store for her.



And to her amazement, the amazing Zatanna proved her words truer than she imagined possible, gently strapping the tool onto her and expertly securing it in place, and then giving it a soft stroke of her hand. To Satana's sensual shock, she actually felt that caress as if the smooth deep blue leather was her own skin. She struggled for words to express her surprise and curiosity, but the magician gently shushed her with a still softly-scented finger to her lips, and spoke a single phrase.



"It's a kind of magic."



Then there were no more words as Satana lay in stunned silence, overwhelmed by the strange but amazing sensations of the magic woman's attentions as she stroked the shaft further, and then applied cool lubricant gel to it, working it in with her hands and bringing groans of pleasure from the core of the redhead's being. And then, suddenly and overwhelmingly, she simultaneously smelled and tasted the good-tasting lubricant from her offered fingers as a wet heat enveloped the shaft, blowing away Satana with the sudden and overwhelming pleasure. Oh goddess, she was sucking her off! it wasn't a better pleasure per se than that same perfect mouth on and in her feminine center, but it was a different sort of pleasure and a completely novel experience. To call it merely incredible would be a vast understatement, and she threw her head back and moaned as pleasure suffused the core of her being. It became better still when the perfect ebon-framed pink of her partner's feminine core came to rest above her eager lips, and Satana didn't hesitate to immerse herself in it utterly. A sixty-nine of a different sort than she had ever known before had begun, and it wouldn't stop until both women had lost count of the peaks of pleasure they drew from one another.



And then, impossibly, it got better still.



Zatanna slipped from atop her, leaving her drifting in bliss and thinking it was over, but she got the wonderful surprise of hearing Zee call her name and beckon Satana to her, and saw her on her back, legs spread, inviting her to use that magical shaft to connect them as one. Satana bit her lip, not sure even quite how to proceed at first, but Zee gently guided her through it, and the feeling when she pushed inside of her was indescribable. She'd long known the soft, hot, velvet perfection of a woman's inner core, having explored her own and others with sensitive, seeking fingertips many times, but this... this was like feeling it with a six inch extension of her clitoris, immensely more sensitive than mere fingertips. She shuddered and gasped as the feeling washed through her, and Zee smiled softly and stroked her hair as she adjusted to it, before locking eyes with her romantically, passionately, and urging her to move inside of her. Oh goddess it was beyond belief, and she quickly came to understand why a man was virtually guaranteed to come simply from being inside a woman, and how in fact the problem for them wasn't achieving orgasm but instead holding back long enough to not let the experience end too quickly. As it was, she was certain she'd come quicker than her partner, but fortunately she wouldn't have to stop after and could keep going until Zatanna got her fair share as well.



By Satana's second orgasm pumping inside that perfect feminine heat, amazed and overwhelmed by the sensations as Zee wrapped arms and legs around her, lips locked to hers and lower lips locked around her delightful extension, Zee caught her own orgasm and they shared that blissful peak together. To Satana's surprise, instead of continuing Zee gently pushed her off and out, and flipped over to lie on her stomach, handing her the lube as she spread those perfect asscheeks. Satana was shocked, was that really what she wanted? She nervously asked exactly that, and the woman shrugged.



"If you don't want to it's ok, but I'd really like it if you would. It's not too weird or kinky for you is it?"



Satana shook her head. "No, just... well I never liked it myself. My boyfriend loved it, so I put up with it thanks to some nice numbing lube, but I never got anything out of it. Course he never really was much good for a damn in bed anyhow so he might have been just lousy at it, but yeah. It's good for you? Something you want, not just for me?"



Zee nodded softly and smiled, looking back at her over her shoulder with those sapphire eyes smiling and her ebon hair spilling down her back and framing that perfect pale ass in raven glory. "I don't know why really, I just like it. Always have. Be gentle and slow at first, you know about that having been on the receiving end, but trust me I'll be getting my fair share."



Satanna nodded, and used the lube both on the already wet shaft and on Zatanna's perfect little puckered asshole, gently loosening her and lubing her inside and out, bringing moans of pleasure from the raven-haired lvision of loveliness. She really did like her ass probed... that confirmed for her, she got into a mounting position and gently pressed at the entrance to that wondrous, gripping rear passage, getting a hiss of pleasure and anticipation from her lover.



"Yes... that's it, baby, fuck my ass..."



Satana bit her lip nervously but also felt a thrill of arousal at the dirty talk, and with the clear encouragement to proceed began to slowly push into the clenching ass of the perfect vision of loveliness beneath her. She couldn't have imagined how good it felt, or that anything could feel so incredible, but it did and from the soft moans and coos her lover was giving her, she was getting as good as she was giving as Satana slowly sunk into that perfect ass. Soon, with a somewhat lame but still cute quip about having made it disappear, Zatanna had accepted it all within her and Satana's hips rested against those soft but firm asscheeks as the shaft nestled to the hilt inside. And then, but shortly after a short period for them both to adjust, Zee urged her to move within her and the assfucking began for real.



As Satana concentrated on moving right without hurting her partner, and on handling the amazing pleasure flowing from their intimate connection in Zatanna's most private hole, Zee slipped a hand beneath herself to find her clit and add to the experience for herself, and in that way they worked their way through several more orgasms of mindblowing intensity, until both women were finally spent and exhausted, needing rest and recovery more than they needed more pleasure. Satana gasped as they finally decoupled, and again as the magic shaft was detached from her, but then they were cuddled together in gentle affection and drifting, blissful perfection.



Finally, Satana muttered. "It's been a while since I got to wake up with someone..."



Zee smiled, and kissed her softly. "You will. Neither of us are going anywhere, I'll still be here. I like this, and you, too much to let it end anytime soon."



Satana bit her lip a moment, but then nodded with a smile of her own in return. More even than the sex, those words of affection and acceptance meant more to her than she could find words for. So instead, she simply held her and basked in their closeness as sweet sleep came to claim them both.



-----



A week later, everything was in place. They'd spent their days together training Satana to make a passable magician's assistant, thus concealing her as part of the act, and their nights together in exquisite pleasure followed by blissful, affectionate sleep held tight in each other's arms. Satana had proven a quick study, and her ability to "skinchange" into a magnificent maned lioness with coloration much like her own fiery hair added another dimension to the act. Zatanna couldn't have been more pleased with her, by day or by night. As to their mission, the word of the show had spread through the proper advertising channels, and there was very little chance Dr Light didn't know where she'd be. The bait was in the air and the trap was set. With any luck at all, he'd take it.



Sure enough, Zatanna spotted the familiar black-goateed figure in the audience, hard eyes locked on her in both hatred and desire, and it was all she could do to avoid making a nervous flub that would derail the show. She instead subtly signaled to Satana that their target was here, and she acknowledged that she got the signal. He wouldn't be so foolish as to attack them during the show with a crowd in the hundreds watching, but backstage afterwards he'd come after them for sure. And they'd be ready for him.



-----



"Zatannnnnnaaaaaa... you... brought dessert....."



Zatanna blinked. She expected him to corner them here... she expected a line like that from the sick bastard, but something was wrong. The delivery was as hollow as the look in his eyes, his skin was pale and his movements were somehow off, almost puppetlike or robotic, a slight hesitation and jerkiness to them. It was bizarre, but she didn't have time to puzzle it out, as he showed no unwillingness to go straight at her. The line about dessert was a truthful one, he planned to make her the main course.



She had no plans of being his prey. Most heroes fought him using conventional tactics, he was accustomed to that and no easy takedown. She had other plans. Summoning a large chromed revolver that was part of her stage act, she leveled it at him. Normally it would be loaded with blanks or specially prepared trick cartridges, but not this time. This time it was fully loaded with the most powerful .44 Magnum bullets she could buy, rounds powerful enough to cut though body armor and drop a bull elephant. Light was a rabid animal, and she was going to put him down like one.



His face only registered mild surprise at the sudden appearance of the weapon, and that expression remained unchanged as the gunshots rang out like thunder and the ragged holes appeared in his chest and torso, one by one until the gun had counted to six and the hammer fell on empty chambers despite her continuing to pull the trigger. She hadn't realized she'd been roaring out a primal scream of rage and emotions until the roar of the gunshots no longer drowned them out, nor did she register the hot tears on her cheeks until she realized that her vision was slightly out of focus. He didn't quite register what happened to him either as he blinked and stared almost uncomprehendingly as his body was savaged by the unfeeling penetrations of metallic doom.



To her shock, though, he didn't drop. He didn't drop! Instead, his features slowly melted into a leering grin and he lurched for her again. No, no no no no no! her mind screamed, this had to be a nightmare, but it was all too real as she only barely evaded his grabbing hands as he lunged for her. She pulled up a flashbang and detonated it right in his face, blinding and deafening him for long enough to slip away and cloak herself away. She hated to abandon Satana, but the girl could fight as well as she could and she had to figure out what and why so she could pull the plug on him for good.



His reactions were sluggish, almost like a Michael Meyers or Jason Voorhees sort of relentless undead killer, and with a gasp of horror Zatanna realized what her instincts had noticed but her conscious mind hadn't --he wasn't breathing! He really was like a Voorhees or Meyers, undead and relentless, ignoring the massive wounds in his chest and body that barely even bled, because his heart surely no longer beat either. She couldn't kill him because somehow he was already dead. He was reanimated, she could sense that now that she knew to look for the signs, but how and by who?



He shrugged off the effects of the flashbang as he blinked his vision clear and shook his head to clear it, and looked around for her. No longer seeing her, he focused in on Satana who was still staring in stunned shock at what had taken place. This wasn't part of the plan! She recognized the threat against herself well enough, though, and she tumbled a shelf in his path as she began to run. It slowed him down, but not enough to buy her an escape as he slowly, methodically pursued her like the undead horror he was. He wouldn't stop, and Satana lacked the raw power to stop him. Zee had to figure out how to cut his strings, or else... dammit why couldn't she have indulged her temptation to save a bullet for his crotch? No, she had to do it by the book and put her shots center mass, and now her friend and lover could pay the ultimate price.



That thought too horrible to contemplate, she struggled to come up with a solution, training all her mystic senses on him and seeking answers. Forcing herself to concentrate, she finally saw it, almost too faint even in her astral vision, the silver cord blackened by it's use for zombification instead of living astral projection. His soul wasn't in his body at all! That explained his reanimation, and his undead state... he'd been zombified! The old-school, mystic way instead of the more modern horror movie plague shambler Romero kind, but still it was something she was familiar with and knew how to deal with. If Satana could hold out long enough for Zee to trace it back to it's source, she could put an end to him once and for all.



It was but minutes later, actually, when she saw her. The zombifier was on the scene, a pale woman with black-streaked white hair. She found her not a moment too soon, as the Light zombie had cornered Satana. Too late for him, as she de-cloaked behind the woman and swung her cane full force, connecting with the side of her head with a satisfyingly wet thud that sent her tumbling and dazed to the ground. A second, softer strike sent her the rest of the way into unconsciousness, bleeding but alive. With the puppeteer dropped, the puppet would surely drop as well. They'd won.



To her shock and horror, it was not to be so easy. Instead of dropping like a marionette with his strings cut, he actually thanked her, and then unleashed a power bolt from each hand that caught both women with stunning force. Zatanna slammed against the far wall while Satana impacted the near. His face seemed free of the sluggish emptiness, and his movements were fast and precise again despite his undead nature. With a sudden feeling of absolute horror, Zee realized the sickening truth that the woman had been holding him back somehow, and instead of finishing him she'd actually unfettered him!



There was no more chance for action. She was finished. Her limbs felt like lead and her head filled with cotton as she struggled to move, to do something, but there was no chance. She could only watch helplessly in horror as the brute stripped Satana roughly and forcefully, taking glee in scratching and bruising her flesh in the process as he unwrapped his prize. Their last chance for victory disappeared with her clothes, as Satana couldn't enact her skinchanger transformation without the lion pelt. As if to demoralize her further, Light unleashed a second set of blasts that knocked them both down and dazed again, just to make sure neither of them would be pulling any last minute heroics to turn the tables.



She screamed inside as Light grinned back at her as he pulled Satana's legs apart and put her feet on his shoulders, lining up with his target. And then he turned to savor his victim as he pushed to the hilt within her, and Zatanna was forced to hear the screams and the laughter as he claimed his victory and the body of the woman Zee had come to care about so much in so short a time.



In her dazed and horrified state, it took Zatanna long moments to realize something was wrong, or perhaps more precisely that something was right. Somehow, impossibly, the screams were his and the laughter was hers. Zatanna watched in shock as his body spasmed and jerked like in a deadly seizure, head fallen limply back and eyes gone white. Then she saw his skin redden and the smoke begin to rise from him, and that reddenning became an actual glow as the smoke became thick and black and choking with the sickly sweet smell of burning flesh. He was being burned from within! By the time Zatanna had fully grasped this, he fell back and away from his would-be victim with a sickening crack as the burned charcoal that had been his invading member gave way under his weight and fell to ash, leaving only blackened nothingness where his manhood had been. Even then, though, he twitched and spasmed, unable to make a sound from his burned-out throat though his mouth worked in silent screams. Even as a burned-out husk, he couldn't die.



Zatanna heard the witch woman rise next to her as she saw Satana rise and brush the ashes from herself, grinning in triumph. She pulled her cane-sword and leveled it at the woman's throat to keep her from causing trouble as Satana proudly declared the cause of her unexpected victory.



"I swore my virginity to Sekhmet, you sorry shit. You try to take something that belongs to a goddess of fire, you get burned."



Zatanna smiled as she watched her kick his still undead burned corpse, and turned her attention to the witch woman who had her hands up in surrender. Before Zatanna could ask, she spoke in her own defense and explanation.



"I must thank you... the scum attacked me some weeks ago, and to my shock he attempted to rape me! So I did a ritual that allowed me to take his soul through the act of sex. I thought it just punishment... I hadn't counted on his psychosis and maniacal obsessions making him impossible to control and in fact able to fight me for control. I became his unwilling puppet as he drug me around on his crimes, unable to stop him. I could keep him from attacking me again, but little else. Now... you've certainly turned the tables. He's too weakened now to do anything but scream in well-deserved agony."



Zatanna nodded. "What happens to him now?"



The woman, clearly the Lady Death they'd sought, smiled with cruel justice in her eyes. "I could return his soul to his body immediately and let him die of his wounds, but I don't think I'm ready to do that just yet. I think I'm going to leave him as he is for a while, consumed with agony but unable to die. I may release him someday, and I will immediately if I feel him even attempt to reassert control of himself or me, but for now I like the idea of him burning in a personal hell. I hope neither of you object?"



Zatanna smiled, and as she glanced to Satana for confirmation, Satana's gleeful grin at the thought of his torture proved that she had no objection whatsoever.



When she turned back to tell her so, however, the woman had vanished. She'd recovered enough to use a hypnotic ability of some sort and make her escape, but that didn't really matter to Zatanna. Whether it was her own feeling or a pot-hypnotic suggestion that she was beneath concern, it didn't matter. Zatanna knew the truth in her words that she'd been an unwilling victim of the psychotic, and she had every intention of punishing him as long as she could before finally giving him the release of death. He was finished, forever. The long nightmare was finally over. Nothing else was important.



Nothing except the friend and lover she'd almost lost, though. And in so doing, had come to realize that she meant more to her than a simple temporary partner.



"You handled yourself really well... and you're an amazing assistant and apprentice... would you consider going on the road with me? It's a permanent position, and I guarantee -excellent- benefits..."



The redhead blinked, and threw her arms around her and gave her a kiss that was metaphorically as fiery as the flames that had consumed the former psycho who'd attacked her. To her shock but elation, she muttered a phrase that made Zatanna's heart sing.



"I love you..."



Zatanna blinked in shock, but she couldn't help but agree. After long moments, she nodded.



"I think I love you too, Satana..."



To her surprise, the redhead shook her head, but the denial was not what she expected.



"Roxanne... my name is Roxanne."



Her real name. Her -true- name, given to a known magic user. A gesture of trust so profound that it brought tears to her eyes, and a kiss in response that flowed from the depths of her soul.



This was going to be the beginning of a match made in heaven and hell.



-----

 

[Author's note: Sorry it's been a bit, but I have the next arc plotted out finally and will be beginning on writing it immediately. I'm far from done with this story, I may slow down a bit but there's still much more to come!]