Fate/Heroes - Chapter 24

Two figures stood on a nearby rooftop overlooking a branch of the New York City Bank on Staten Island. Their faces were obscured by the clouds overhead, and one of them kneeled down and narrowed his eyes through his sunglasses as he gazed at the bank branch.

“Our information that Rider at least came to New York was solid. And the fact that a new hero pops up just as just as Rider arrives. Somethings fishy about this Lancer character….”.

Dick gazed up to the large building beside the New York City Bank and then gazed at the pot holes in the street. Each pot hole was a single spear strike which according to police reports contained a crimson red spear that dissipated several seconds after Lancer had thrown them.

They pierced through the gangs legs, all in the same position. This indicated a few things to the boy wonder.

First of all, Lancer had a superhuman strength. The weight of the spear, or even behind it, wasn’t enough for a normal human to throw with force to bury themselves deep within the ground like that. Only someone with a physical enhancement or metahuman ability could do something like that.

And secondly, that this Lancer had both a keen skill with the spear, as well as pin point accuracy. To be able to throw spears with such force and from such a distance would take more than just a couple months of training. It took Green Arrow and Artemis several years to get to the level of skill which they current both had, something that they had in common with Rider as well.

Rider had superhuman strength and speed that could match Superboy and Kid Flash.

Lancer, while not showing his usual green lightning streak, possessed a speed similar in nature to Wonder Woman, as well as a skill with the spear that Rider was known for.

“I’ve got you Rider….”.

Dick narrowed his eyes further, and didn’t notice the sigh that came out of Zatanna’s mouth when he did.

She looked down at the protégé of Batman and then turned her gaze away with a pout.

Initially the daughter of Giovanni Zatara was happy, no, excited that she would be spending the evening with the boy wonder. When they first met, she thought she felt a sense of attraction to the fellow teen but that feeling had slowly been dying over the past hour they had been walking around Staten Island.

‘Dick’s cool and all, but he needs to stop fixating on the job. I get that Batman trained him but apparently even Batman has someone he cares about…. maybe I got the wrong idea?’.

Zatanna sent a side ward glance to Robin who was in his casual attire and frowned. She looked down at her own appearance and her frowned deepened further.

‘Is it because I’m younger? He did seem to have some interest in Cassie when we took the train here….’.

The fourteen year olds thoughts turned to the sixteen year old girl whose aura and physique had already started to become more and more like her Aunts, famed as one of, if not the most beautiful woman in the world.

Cassie Sandsmark, when she and Kara and Mareena first arrived at the Team, were ecstatic to befriend her, Artemis, M’gann and Barbara, who had joined the Team before these three “heavy hitters” as Batman put it joined.

They were older than Zatanna and their age did nothing to hinder their beauty, enhancing slightly when compared to her and Artemis. It was fun having more girls in the Team since the ratio from male to female heroes in the Justice League were horrendous, so she thoughts that having more girls would be more fun….

“…. One’s an alien that doesn’t get pimples because of her alien DNA. The other is a princess from an underwater kingdom. And Cassie is a demigod that has blessings from other Gods because of her heritage. How am I supposed to compete with that?”.

The fourteen year old was interested in Dick Grayson, but he was interested in Cassie who was both more mȧturė and more beautiful than the fourteen year old. Zatanna didn’t doubt she would be just as equally pretty as her at sixteen, but was slightly jealous that she wasn’t slightly older if anything.

She face reddened and she tried to stop that train of thought.

“C’mon Zatanna! Don’t get distracted by Cassie and the others. Just because their older and have developed a bit more, doesn’t mean that you’ve got less to offer! Just wait a couple years and you’ll blow their socks off!”.

The magician tilted her head slightly and looked down at the pot holes before whispering something under her breath causing her eyes to glow a dull blue.

“Holy crap!”.

Her voice was loud enough to break Dick out of his trance, and he turned around and looked up at Zatanna whose eyes were glowing slightly.

“Hmm? Have you found something Zatanna?”.

He stood up from his kneeling position and came closer to the fourteen year, who smiled slightly at the attention.

She nodded.

“Yeah, you know how Lancer uses those crimson red spears? The one’s that leave a trail in the air? I can see those trails”.

Dick’s eyes widened before his monotone expression turned into one of happiness and he hugged the magician.

“That’s great Zee! You’re awesome!”.

The girl blushed at the praise and smiled at his words.

“The trail seems to lead to Manhattan. If we can find were it leads, maybe we can find this Lancer, and find Rider at the same time”.

Zatanna nodded and the pair immediately ran to the Staten Island docks.

To Robin, he may just capture the nemesis of the Team and bring the group closer together, getting closer to a certain demigod as a result.

To Zatanna, she may have just given herself a boost to her confidence as well as her level of importance within Dick’s mind.

The distance between them and their target slowly shortened.