[Interlude: Zatanna]

Zatanna didn’t love the paperwork. That’s one thing that’s never mentioned about becoming a superhero; All the documentation. But it was worth it. She was already familiar with the glitz and glamour such a high profile life brought. She had become a successful stage magician years before she had discovered her truly magical heritage, and before she was invited into the ranks of the Justice League. Doing the Hero Thing was the most rewarding part of her life now. Helping people. Saving the world. The camaraderie of other heroes. Continuing her career in theatrical magic was now more of a hobby she liked to unwind with.

She really needed to unwind now… oh so desperately. It had been a stressful last 24 hours. And it hadn’t even been very action packed. Or at least it wasn’t the kind of action she was expecting. Zatanna pushed those beguiling thoughts away, signed the last form and slid it over to the clerk overseeing the delivery and temporary incarceration of known criminal and convicted killer Dr. Barbara Ann Minerva (AKA: Cheetah) to the Belle Reve Penitentiary.

“Thank you ma’am!” said the scrawny, bespeckled clerk whose messy brown hair seemed almost like a style. “I guess this is almost like getting your signature… hehehaha! Heh..hehe...hmm..” he laughed nervously, now second guessing his own joke. He would have been in his very early twenties, Zatanna mused. Barely grown out of his teenage acne. But he had a charming way about him, sweet in a little skittish rabbit sort of way. The magician did love rabbits.

“I’ll fix you with a real signature,” she told him with a smile. “How about a signed photo?” And she reached up for her hat... Then remembered she wasn’t wearing it. No matter. The clerk watched her curiously, a little perplexed, then his eyes went wide. He watched Zatanna reached into her already low cut shirt, slipping a white silk gloved hand down in between her cleavage. She bit her lower lip, in the guise of concentration as she groped around for something… there was a tiniest twinkle in the air and she produced from her bosom a glossy 11 by 14 photograph of her own smiling, winking face, her signature already emblazoned on the bottom right corner in purple ink that sparkled magically. “And two tickets to my next show,” she added, passing the gifts over the counter to the stunned clerk.

“Oh… oh my gosh… Oh wow!” his face lit up so brightly, his entire week made. He clutched the photo and gilded tickets in disbelief, almost forgetting about the actual hero magician he was such a fan of standing right in front of him. This was what it was all about, Zatanna thought. The small kindnesses when she could. His reaction and appreciation really warmed her heart. There were other places she felt warm. The sorceress took a breath. She had stopped herself from giving him a backstage pass too, because she wouldn’t have been able to trust herself if she managed to get the poor guy alone in her private dressing room…

“See you at the show then,” she told him, casting that same wink at the cute clerk who could only beam back at her with his big goofy smile. The mistress of magic couldn’t rush out quick enough, practically throwing herself through the purple portal she conjured to returned home..