(A/N): Hello there!

I just wanted to give a quick update and let you know where the books at.

The next chapter is one that people have been looking forward too for some time now. I've just started work on it so I don't know when it will be uploaded but hopefully sometime soon.

Thanks for all your continued support, it means the world to me.

-MattFromWii

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3rd Person POV:

*The Underworld*

Circe snapped her fingers and smiled, (Y/n)'s gun disappeared in a puff of purple smoke, leaving the agent stunned. Undeterred, the agent lunged forward, taking out his knife and slashing at the goddess.

Circe simply laughed as each time the agent's blade connected with her body, she turned to smoke and reappeared a short distance away.

Circe: "Come now agent, is this any way to treat an old friend?"

(Y/n): "Get away from us!"

Zatanna: "What do you want?!"

Circe: "Well, to see if it was true. I haven't been able to sense anything since you banished me here, then all of the sudden I feel your familiar presence on the mystic plain. It was worth investigating."

(Y/n): "Nice to know we're still your favorite people, now leave."

The goddess smiled and stepped towards the lovers, causing Zatanna to step in front of (Y/n) and shield him.

Circe: "I could do that, or I could save your lives. Because you may think you're safe for the moment, but the truth is you've never been in more danger."

(Y/n): "We'll be careful. Now piss off."

Circe: "The Underworld is not something you can just "be careful" in. You need a guide, or you'll be suffering a fate worse than death within an hour."

The agent scoffed and narrowed his gaze at the goddess as she stepped closer.

(Y/n): "You must've gone insane if you think we're going to trust you enough to follow you around here."

Circe: "Oh I'm well aware that you have absolutely no trust in me, but you're going to have to deal with it if you want to live."

Zatanna: "Let's say for a moment, we believe you. Why do we need a guide?"

Circe: "The rats, demons, the undead... and that's just the beginning."

(Y/n): "Okay, fine, we're in over our heads. Why do you want to help us?"

Circe: "Because in four thousand years I'm going to be released from this hell, with good behavior it may even be three thousand."

Zatanna: "And you think helping us will convince the gods to reduce your time here?"

Circe: "No, the gods care little for mortals, even ones as important as you two. Helping you ensures I have a world to return to. What the men you're after seek to unleash... it is an evil that will destroy the world."

(Y/n): "You seem to know a surprising amount of what's going on for someone stuck down here."

Circe: "That's my little secret."

Zatanna: "No. You put all the cards on the table or we walk."

Circe: "Walk all you want honey, you'll be dead without me. Now we've wasted enough time as it is. Follow me and stay close."

Circe turned and started down one of the tunnels, holding out her hand with a bright purple flame burning in her palm. Despite Zatanna's and (Y/n)'s clear hesitation they began following Circe deeper into the underworld.

Circe's flame was the only source of light they had, forcing the lovers to stay close to their former enemy.

Zatanna: "Where are you taking us?"

Circe: "Through a shortcut. We'll get in front of the men you're chasing and block their path."

(Y/n): "Exactly how dangerous is this shortcut?"

Circe: "It's been centuries since I've been down here, so I can't say for sure and even if I could you wouldn't believe me."

The agent scoffed again and Zatanna rolled her eyes. Sweat dripped off their bodies as the temperature in the tunnel increased drastically.

Zatanna: "How come you aren't sweating like us?"

Circe: "Because you don't belong down here, you aren't dead. The Underworld will have a drastic impact on your bodies, you'll sweat, be drained of energy and you'll get sick. But the worst is the fact that everything down here will be able to sense your presence."

Before Zatanna or (Y/n) had a chance to respond, the group heard scratching on the rocks nearby and then everything fell silent.

(Y/n): "Did you hear that?"

Circe: "Oh no... stay close to me and get ready to run."

———————————————————————

*Gotham City*

*The Batcave*

"What... what happened? Where am I?"

Jason Todd finally woke up, his mind racing as he studied his surroundings.

Miss Martian: "Try to relax. You've been in a coma for over a month."

Jason: "Who... who are you?"

When his vision cleared he attempted to sit up, only to find that he was restrained to the hospital bed.

Batman: "Jason, it's okay. Just take a deep breath."

The former Robin's head began to throb as conflicting voices called out to him.

Miss Martian: "I've restored his mind the best I could for now. There's no telling what they really did to him."

A short distance away, Nightwing, Oracle, Spoiler, Orphan and Robin stood with Superboy

Nightwing: "I don't know how I could possibly thank you."

Miss Martian: "Don't worry about it, I'm happy to help."

Jason was overwhelmed. He slumped back into his bed and lost himself in the blinding light positioned above him. His mind continued to spin as the voices of his captors grew.

Crimson: "You follow my orders to the letter. You're a killer, and you'll kill those responsible for your death."

Jason: "N-no... I won't."

The former Robin began thrashing against his restraints, almost breaking free as the bed shook with his attempts to free himself.

A short distance away, the heroes watched as Jason fought to free himself.

Oracle: "What's happening?"

Miss Martian: "I don't know! His mind is clouded, I can't read him!"

Jason: "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

Nightwing: "How do we stop this?!"

Batman: "Stand back!"

The Dark Knight stepped forward, quickly injecting Jason with a drug that knocked him out in mere seconds. His thrashing stopped as he slipped into a deep slumber.

Miss Martian: "I repaired his mind, I don't know why he's suffering."

Superboy: "It could be effects from the Lazarus Pit, or even something the Hunters did to him. The fact of the matter is we just don't know."

Batman: "Then get to work. Until we know what's happening to him we can't stop it."

Oracle: "Where do we start?"

Batman: "With the only expert on the Hunters we have. Vanguard."

Nightwing: "We still have no idea where (Y/n) and Zatanna are. Artemis is tracking them but she hasn't found anything yet."

Superboy: "He has a special ability to cause trouble, if she hasn't found him yet it's likely because he and Zatanna are in over their heads yet again."

Batman: "Then get to Europe and back her up. I'll see if I can find anything on Jason's time with the League of Shadows."

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*Athens, Greece*

Artemis: "What do you mean they're in the Underworld? What the fuck is that?!"

Constantine: "I don't know how they managed to get there, but that's what the locator spell said."

Artemis was beginning to distrust her magical guide as they wandered the streets of Athens. She was half expecting to be led into a trap and was debating whether or not to call for backup.

Artemis: "Do you have a plan to get my friends out of hell?"

Constantine: "No. Not a good one anyway."

Artemis: "I'm friends with two of the luckiest Division agents who count near death experiences to see who has more, I'm very familiar with bad plans."

Constantine: "In that case, we've got to find an entrance to the Underworld."

Artemis: "And how do we do that?"

Constantine: "The ancient Greeks built several temples to the gods. One of which is supposedly on top of an entrance to the underworld."

Artemis: "So we're going off an centuries old rumor in hopes that it has an accessible entrance that has somehow remained hidden all this time."

Constantine: "I did say it wasn't a good idea."

Thanks to a convenient glamor spell, Artemis and Constantine were able to easily sneak into the ruined temple after nightfall.

They split up, Artemis wandered around the temple while Constantine stood in the center and smoked a cigarette.

Artemis: "Our time here is limited, are you going to help me look for the entrance?"

Constantine: "I've already found it. It takes magic to unlock the entrance, that's the only reason it's managed to stay hidden all this time."

Artemis: "Okay, can you open it?"

The magic user smiled and took a deep breath, blowing the smoke from the cigarette out his mouth and closing his eyes.

Artemis: "We're kind of on the clock here, the longer my friends are down there the more danger they're in."

Constantine: "Well, your friends have a habit of hitting me, so I'm not exactly in a massive rush."

Artemis: "You have a habit of deserving it."

The magic user rolled his eyes and stomped out his cigarette. He took a deep breath and stepped into the center of the temple, extending his arms out and summoning pools of red magic to his hands.

Artemis stepped back, keeping her hand on her concealed crossbow. To her shock, the stone floor fell away in front of Constantine, revealing a massive hole with steps leading down into complete darkness.

Constantine: "Here we go. One entrance to the Underworld, as promised."

Artemis: "Good, let's get moving."

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The group heard scratching every few minutes, like nails on stone or chalkboard. Both the agent and the magician had their heads constantly spinning, turning to face every little noise in the darkness.

Circe kept herself composed and focused, she even stopped taunting the lovers which scared (Y/n) as much as the strange noises.

Circe: "Get ready, they can get to us here."

The darkness suddenly faded away, being replaced by a blinding light. Once their eyes adjusted, the group examined their surroundings.

They found themselves in a massive open field, full of hills and what looked like grass, only the grass was gray and the sky white.

Zatanna: "What is this place?"

Circe: "This was once a desert.... I don't know why it's like this now."

(Y/n): "It's freezing out here, I almost miss the boiling temperatures."

Circe: "We need to get moving and cross these hills as fast as possible, don't use any magic, it'll attract them."

Zatanna: "Attract who?"

Circe: "The rats."

Zatanna shivered as a blast of cold air and snowflakes shot through the group. Despite the sudden snowfall, they pressed on, making it down the first hill with ease.

The gray grass was ankle high and crunched under each step. The further the group moved into the field the colder the air seemed to get.

After a few minutes of wandering through the hills, (Y/n) stopped dead in his tracks.

Zatanna: "What's wrong?"

(Y/n): "Do you hear that?"

The group stayed silent and listened, the wind disappeared leaving the group in complete silence.

Zatanna: "No."

(Y/n): "We're being watched. It's too quiet."

Circe: "RUN!"

The goddess broke into a sprint, desperately scrambling up the closest hill. Zatanna and (Y/n) ran after her, the magician pausing briefly to look behind them. She wanted to scream, but all she could do was gasp.

A short distance behind them, a massive wave of rats charged towards them, their gray fur blended in with the grass and made it look like the entire hill was moving towards them.

The rats were the size of small dogs, snarling as they scrambled across the open field.

(Y/n) grabbed Zatanna and pulled her up the hill, snapping the magician out of her shocked state.

Circe: "Just keep running!"

By the time the group made it up the hill they had a horrifying realization. From their spot they could see out across the open field. They were entirely surrounded by the rats.

Zatanna: "What do we do?!"

(Y/n): "I'm not getting torn apart by rats in this god awful place!"

Circe: "Stay close to me!"

The goddess extended her arms and sent a blast of purple fire in all directions, creating a small circle of fire that burned intensely. The rats stopped in their tracks, backing away from the fire. They stayed still, eyeing the group through the flames as the heroes and goddess searched for a way out.

(Y/n): "I thought you said using magic down here was a bad idea."

Circe: "It is. But it's not like we had another choice."

Zatanna: "So what's next?"

Circe: "We need to get out of here before my magic attracts something worse than these rats."

(Y/n): "Right, well, how close are we to our destination?"

Circe: "Long ago there was a blackwater lake surrounding a temple that leads further down. We need to get to that temple."

(Y/n): "How far is this lake?"

Circe: "It shouldn't be far but I don't exactly remember. It's been far too long since I've been down here."

Zatanna: "Didn't you say this place was once a desert? If the desert has changed to a field of grass, then that lake may not even be there anymore."

(Y/n): "One massive problem at a time. Can you move this circle with us, have it act as a perimeter to keep these rats away?"

Circe: "Yes, but we might as well be telling every terrible creature down here exactly where we are at all times."

(Y/n): "Like I said, one massive problem at a time."

The goddess nodded in agreement and began moving. The lovers stuck close to their former enemy, each ready to strike at any rats that might attempt to jump through the flames.

Circe: "Zatanna, only use your magic as a last resort. You are far more likely to get a response than I am!"

Zatanna: "We're way past last resort! I'm not getting eaten alive!"

(Y/n) spun just in time to see Zatanna launch a massive blast of white energy at a rat that managed to jump over the flames.

(Y/n): "Yeah I don't see the point in caution anymore, at this point it's just about survival!"

The agent turned and shot a rat jumping at Circe, the bullet passed straight through the creature and it turned to dust.

The rats suddenly realized that they could jump over the fire and started doing so in large groups. (Y/n) managed to hold them off, using his exemplary aim and handgun to swiftly deal with any rats.

The wind picked up once again, blinding the group from one side as snow blasted into them. The rats quickly figured this out and were soon jumping over the shrinking wall of fire.

Zatanna: "Dleihs!"

Zatanna's shield formed just in time, blocking the rats from attacking the group. Circe's fire died out and she tripped, landing in the gray grass as she gasped for air.

The agent quickly hauled her up and put Circe's arm around his neck, having her lean on him as they continued to move through the field as fast as they could.

(Y/n): "I thought a goddess would have more stamina."

Circe: "I-I don't know what happened. I've never felt this weak before. It's like my magic abandoned me."

The group limped along for a few more minutes, arriving atop the last hill and looking out at the black water lake Circe described. The lake was completely frozen over, the small island with a temple still stood tall in the center of the lake but it was covered in snow and ice.

They limped down the hill and arrived at the edge of the lake, the rats directly behind them and occasionally throwing themselves at Zatanna's shield.

Zatanna: "My shield is failing!"

The group watched in horror as the magical dome flickered for a brief moment before shrinking and stabilizing.

Zatanna: "It feels like the totem is close."

(Y/n): "That's impossible, it sank with the ship."

Zatanna: "Then explain to me why Brother Night is holding it!"

The group looked across the lake to see Brother Night in his signature white suit. The man was holding a similar totem to the one the lovers once possessed.

(Y/n): "They were stealing magical artifacts from across Europe, it's possible they had more."

Zatanna: "That's just great, we can't get close to him without it blocking my magic and the second this shield fails we're dead."

The group watched Brother Night place the totem on the beach of the small island before heading down the steps into the underground temple. (Y/n) cursed as he surveyed their surroundings, hoping to find something to help them.

(Y/n): "Okay, here's the plan. We're going to get as close as we can with your shield up and then the second it fails we're going to run like hell."

Circe: "That's a terrible idea. I can't run in my current state and the ice may not hold the weight of the hundreds of rats behind us."

Zatanna: "Rats the size of dogs I'd like to add."

(Y/n): "Do you have a better idea?"

Zatanna: "Yes. If I drop a small section of the shield, could you shoot the totem from here?"

The agent paused for a moment and looked across the frozen lake, taking in the distance and the howling wind before turning to face his fiancée.

(Y/n): "I can make the shot."

The agent quickly readied his rifle and took aim, taking a deep breath and waiting for the shield to drop. Once a small section opened, (Y/n) fired. The rifle cracked and the bullet soared through the air, smashing into the totem across the lake and shattering the ancient magic sculpture.

A moment later Zatanna's shield returned to full strength and Circe summoned fire to her hands.

———————————————————————

Artemis and Constantine continued down the steps in total darkness, eventually arriving at a cliff's edge. The darkness quickly faded away as fire from the valley below lit up their surroundings.

Screams filled the air and the archer watched in horror as silhouettes of people flailed about in the burning valley. 

Artemis: "What the fuck is this place?!"

Constantine: "Eternal punishment, souls condemned by the gods. Keep moving, it's not something you want to watch."

The air became hot and dry but Artemis kept moving, forcing herself not to look down.

The path twisted and turned but the pair managed to keep a consistent pace, making it to a small stairwell that led further down into the Underworld.

They continued down the stairs and arrived at a large open field, full of blood red mud and bones. 

Artemis: "Do you have any idea where we are going?"

Constantine: "No. But if we follow them it might be a good start."

The magic user pointed to a massive group of flying monsters. Each looked like a large griffin but with a decaying body and lizard's head. The creatures were scurrying along the floor, easily crawling through the mud at an impressive speed.

Artemis: "I'm going to have nightmares of this place for years."

Constantine: "Let's worry about surviving first. The nightmares can come later."

The pair stayed low to the ground, using the mountains of bones and Greek armor to hide and follow the creatures. 

The mud and bones soon faded away and the pair found themselves in a desert full of black sand. The cave opened up and a bright grey sky gave them a small amount of light to work with.

Artemis: "This place is so weird."

Constantine: "Don't let your guard down, the less dangerous an area looks, the more dangerous it is."

The pair moved as fast as they could through the desert, eventually hearing the crackle of Zatanna's lightning in the distance.

Artemis: "I'd bet money that's Zatanna's magic."

Constantine: "Then we need to hurry. Using magic attracts unwanted attention."

The pair continued towards the sound of the battle in the distance, arriving at the frozen lake but on the opposite side from the magician and agent.

Artemis: "They're on the other side, hopefully this ice holds."

Constantine: "Get ready for a fight. I know this temple. The gods sealed an ancient evil inside during the formation of the universe."

Artemis: "How could you possibly know that?"

Constantine: "After the battle on Circe's island I was killed and sent down here. In exchange for my freedom I had to agree to work for the gods, they told me all I needed to know about the coming conflict."

The archer stopped in her tracks, reaching for her crossbow.

Artemis: "So that begs the question, what are you really doing here?"

Constantine: "You won't believe anything I say, so why should I bother explaining the truth?"

The archer narrowed her gaze at the magic user and Constantine sighed, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a lighter and cigarette.

Constantine: "There's a gateway to a pocket dimension inside that temple, the gods used it as a prison to hold the most dangerous entity in the universe."

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Across the frozen lake, Zatanna, Circe and (Y/n) made it to the steps of the temple, blasting away or shooting any rat or griffin that dared to attack them.

Circe: "We must hurry! We can't allow them to access the temple's prison!"

The former agent scoffed, still not fully understanding what was happening or realizing the importance of the temple. Zatanna had largely accepted the fact that they needed to stop Brother Night and his allies, but her fiancé was still convinced Circe would betray them.

Zatanna: "(Y/n) hold them off, Circe and I will head inside and stop them!"

(Y/n): "No, wait until we secure the entrance! We need to stick together!"

By the time the agent finished his sentence, his fiancée and the goddess were already gone. He cursed and turned his attention to a group of decomposing griffins rushing towards him.

(Y/n): "Oh you've got to be kidding me."

The agent unleashed a hailstorm of bullets, firing at every creature in sight and turning them to dust with a few bullets.

Despite his incredible skill with his firearms, the creatures vastly outnumbered him. (Y/n) was forced to back I to the temple while firing, trading what little ground he held for precious seconds that allowed him to reload.

Deep inside the temple, Zatanna and Circe were rushing down the only set of stairs in the ancient structure. They eventually arrived at a large open area. The floor was black marble with gold creases connecting each tile. The strange area didn't appear to have any walls or ceiling, only a thick gray fog that surrounded the open space.

Zatanna: "What is this place?"

Brother Night: "Your tomb."

Brother Night stepped through the fog and a large amount of it dissipated instantly, revealing Dr. Death and Mr. Bloom a short distance away. The three "men" had set up all their stolen artifacts in a small circle surrounded by red magic. Amulets and small stone carvings were all glowing bright red as Brother Night's spell took hold.

Brother Night: "I must thank you Circe, I doubt Ms. Zatara would've made it all this way on her own. You've saved my master the trouble of tracking her down."

Circe: "You know, she's not as easy to kill as you'd think."

Brother Night: "Oh I'm sure you've had your difficulties. But if you kill her now, maybe you'll be spared, it's not for me to say."

Circe: "I'll take my chances over here."

Brother Night: "I know, we were never going to spare any of you."

In the blink of an eye Brother Night launched his attack. A massive wave of red magic sprung forward from his scarred hands and rushed towards the magician and goddess.

Zatanna summoned a shield with a quick spell, encasing herself and Circe in a dome while Brother Night's attack crashed off her defense.

The second an opening appeared, Zatanna dropped her shield and Circe jumped out. The goddess retaliated with a quick blast of purple fire.

The purple fire impacted Brother Night with an extreme amount of force, pushing him back and sending him flying towards the assembled artifacts.

Mr. Bloom lunged towards Zatanna, his arms extending to the length of a small car and slashing down at her with razor sharp fingers.

The magician jumped to the side and quickly casted another spell, encasing her body with glowing white magic and blasting it at the disfigured man.

Mr. Bloom: "DIE DIE DIE!"

Zatanna's attack sent Mr. Bloom flying back, crashing into Brother Night as he attempted to stand up.

Circe was burning Dr. Death, her purple fire surrounding the "doctor" and inflicting as much pain as possible.

The goddess put everything into her attack and used her magic to lift Dr. Death into the air before throwing him towards his allies.

The three disfigured men pushed themselves up as Circe and Zatanna got ready for round two.

Circe: "Give up! You can't beat us!"

Brother Night laughed as he stood up, pulling red magic from the artifacts a few feet behind him and smiling.

Brother Night: "We don't have to beat you, we only have to stall you."

The magician summoned another shield just before Brother Night attacked. She managed to block the massive wave of red magic but it almost broke her shield.

Circe retaliated with her own blast of magic, meeting Brother Night's attack head on and giving Zatanna a few seconds to catch her breath.

Brother Night: "Enough of this! I'm tired of your interference!"

Brother Night dropped to one knee his hands began glowing a dark red color as his magic began seeping out into the black marble floor.

The goddess and magician watched in horror as the black marble floor began to crack as dark red magic spidered across the floor.

Circe: "Run! Zatanna RUN!"

The magician turned to flee with the goddess leading the way. Laughter erupted from the disfigured men as the floor broke and fell into a pit of darkness.

Zatanna: "Etativel!"

Zatanna attempted to fly up to safety but gasped when she felt something grab her legs. She turned around just in time to see Mr. Bloom holding onto her as he plummeted into darkness.

She screamed as she was pulled down into darkness, her vision going black as all the light faded away.

Circe landed on the steps, scrambling up to safety as the last marble tile crumbled away.

The goddess drew in rapid breath as she searched for any sign of Zatanna in the darkness.

——————————————————————

(Y/n) cursed again as he shoved another magazine into his rifle. The demon creatures kept charging at him. No matter how many he turned to dust, more seemed to take their place within seconds.

The agent managed to hold his ground at the temple's entrance, but his worst fear was realized when he burned through the last of his rifle's ammunition.

Dropping the now useless weapon, he pulled out his pistol and managed to hold off the demons long enough to get back into the temple.

Just as he fired the last bullet from his handgun, a massive fireball tore through the remaining demons. (Y/n) krept towards the source of the fireball, his heart pounding as he swung the corner and took aim at the closest figure.

Artemis: "(Y/N)?!"

(Y/n): "Artemis?! What are you doing here?!"

The agent lowered his weapon, a wave of relief washing over him as the archer rushed up the steps to see him.

Artemis: "I'm so glad you two aren't dead."

(Y/n): "Please, you know us, we laugh in the face of death."

Constantine: "Well, if you keep trying I'm sure you'll find a way to die eventually."

(Y/n)'s happy look washed away in an instant. He immediately raised his handgun and pointed it straight at the magic user.

(Y/n): "What are you doing here?"

Constantine: "We don't have time for this, I was leading your friend down here to save your ungrateful ass."

(Y/n): "Well, thank you. And I'm not sorry for punching you."

Constantine smiled and walked up the last steps, smiling at the agent and the archer.

Constantine: "Let's go, your fiancée is going to need some help."

The group rushed inside the temple, quickly finding the stairs and running down them as fast as they could.

After a short descent, they were forced to slam on the brakes to stop from running into Circe as she scrambled up the steps.

The group stopped just in time, (Y/n) and Artemis desperately searched for Zatanna as Circe caught her breath.

(Y/n): "Circe?! Where's Zee?!"

Circe: "I-I... she fell in... they dragged her down with them. I'm so sorry."

The agent shoved the goddess to the side and stormed down to the last step, looking out into the bottomless darkness as panic began to grip his body.

(Y/n): "Zee! ZATANNA CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"

His heart rate skyrocketed after a deafening silence was the only answer he received. He stormed back up the steps, arriving at Circe's side a moment later.

(Y/n): "Where does that pit go?! How do we get her back?!"

Circe: "I-I don't know! It's just darkness, eternal darkness and falling. There's no coming back from that, not even the gods can survive going in there."

It took the agent several seconds to process the information, the thought of losing Zatanna caused his eyes to water.

He hated feeling vulnerable, despite all his training and skill, he knew little of magic and had no idea how to save Zatanna or where she even was.

——————————————————————

Zatanna gasped as her eyes shot open. Her head was spinning and she had a slight headache. Blood was rushing to her head as her jacket was about to fall off. She could tell she was hanging upside down, her hair dangling straight down as she tried to move her feet.

It took all of her strength just to move her foot a little bit, but despite her best efforts, she wasn't able to see what was holding her or free herself. Darkness encased her ankles and blocked her from seeing anything above them.

"Hello my dear."

The voice echoed from all around and wasn't like anything she'd ever heard before. The voice was dripping with venom and sent chills through the magician's body.

Zatanna: "W-Who are you?"

"Oh my dear, you really don't want to know."

Zatanna tried to look around, moving her body as much as she could to get a glimpse of whoever or whatever was speaking to her.

"But I suppose I should be thanking you, I wouldn't be free if it wasn't for you."

Zatanna: "What do you want?!"

"Freedom. It's so simple, a basic necessity for all life, yet it's something that has been denied to me for eons."

A blast of cold air impacted the struggling magician, forcing her to close her eyes as she shivered. When she opened her eyes, her words died in her throat as fear gripped her body. She wanted to look away but couldn't take her eyes off the monster before her.

"Forms are so trivial, I find this one the best. Does it terrify you?"

The magician couldn't find the courage to speak. She was shaking with fear and couldn't pry her gaze off the creature's body. The body was made up of thousands of little bugs, all crawling around in different directions but holding the proper shape of the horrific entity.

"You may call me the Upside Down Man, or you may simply scream."

———————————————————————

Artemis: "What do we do?"

Constantine: "We go home, and destroy this temple on our way out. Hopefully that will trap anything trying to escape that pit."

(Y/n): "We're not leaving! Not until I figure out a way to save her!"

Circe: "I'm sorry, she's gone. If we stay here we'll be killed too."

The agent was about to fire back with another hostile remark when he heard Zatanna scream. He spun around and looked out into the darkness, desperately searching for her but to no avail.

Suddenly the black marble floor returned, reappearing out of thin air with several loud thumps.

The group was stunned to see the room return to normal only with the absence of Zatanna and the magical criminals they were chasing.

(Y/n) cautiously stepped out onto the floor, looking around for any sign of Zatanna. He made it several steps before he heard the magician scream again. This scream came from above and he looked up into the thick gray fog, unable to see his fiancée.

The screaming grew louder until Zatanna appeared through the thick fog, screaming out a spell that slowed her fall just enough to avoid serious injury. She slammed into the ground with a grunt, sprawling out and attempting to crawl away from (Y/n) as he rushed to her side.

Zatanna: "No! NO GET AWAY FROM ME!"

The agent stopped dead in his tracks, slightly horrified at the terrified state his fiancée was trapped in.

(Y/n): "Zee... Zatanna, it's me, you're safe."

Zatanna turned onto her back, finally looking at (Y/n) and meeting his (e/c) eyes.

Zatanna: "W-we're not safe. We'll never be safe."

She was shaking with fear and (Y/n) jumped forward, grabbing her arm before she had a chance to crawl away again.

He hauled her up off the ground, pulling this panicking fiancée into his embrace. She wrapped her arms around his neck and struggled to control her breathing.

(Y/n): "Hey, it's going to be okay. I don't know what you saw down there, but it can't hurt you anymore."

Zatanna: "W-we need to leave... we need to get out of here now!"

Constantine: "Then stay close, I'll get us out of this god forsaken place."

The magic user fumbled around in his coat pocket for a minute, eventually pulling out a bronze drachma. He flipped the coin into the air and blasted it with a small fireball. The coin exploded in a puff of smoke that quickly descended upon the group.

When the smoke dissipated, the group found themselves on the streets of Gotham City. Distant police sirens rang out, followed swiftly by gunshots from another direction, all while people casually walked down the street.

Constantine: "Ahh, I never thought it'd be possible to miss Gotham City."

(Y/n): "You clearly haven't been here long enough."

The magic user laughed as he fished a cigarette out of his jacket and lit it with his magic.

Constantine: "Long enough to find the best places to get a drink. Come find me if you need me."

The blond man turned and walked away, heading down the street and disappearing into the crowd.

Circe: "Well, I can't say that reaction was unexpected."

The agent's heart skipped a beat, realizing they just freed Circe from the Underworld.

(Y/n): "So... uhh... we good?"

The goddess laughed and (Y/n) reached for his knife.

Circe: "Yes, we are good. I'm not interested in getting sent back there any time soon. Not to mention you'll need my help, whatever was down there got out when that floor broke."

(Y/n): "Okay, but you're not going to conquer the world or anything like that in the meantime... right?"

Circe: "I've always wanted to be a stage performer. I perfected vocals back during the Second World War. I'll give that a try again. You three keep my presence up here to yourselves and I'll stay out of trouble until we need to deal with whatever she saw down there, deal?"

(Y/n): "Deal."

——————————————————————

Nightwing was swinging from rooftop to rooftop, heading towards Ace Chemicals in an attempt to stop Joker's crew from stealing deadly toxins.

Before he could make it to the terribly maintained chemical plant, Batman's voice crackled out from his earpiece.

Batman: "Batman to all points, Robin and I have dealt with the threat at Ace Chemicals. Waiting for GCPD to arrive."

Oracle: "Copy that, boss. Patrol cars are a few minutes out, my Dad's with them."

Nightwing landed on a rooftop and looked out over the street, letting out an exhausted sigh as he thought about heading home for some sleep.

Just as he was about to head for the closest zeta tube, he noticed Artemis, Zatanna and (Y/n) walking down the street.

Zatanna's magician outfit and (Y/n)'s combat gear stood out in the mostly empty street.

Nightwing: "Hey, Oracle. Let everyone know I just found Zatanna, Vanguard and Tigress."

Oracle: "What? Where are they?"

Nightwing: "They're in Gotham, walking down the street, full costume and everything."

Oracle: "Do they need medical attention?"

Nightwing: "Possibly, Zatanna looks fairly beat up. It seems like searching for wedding venues didn't go according to plan."

Oracle: "That's terrible, I feel so bad for those two, they can never catch a break."

Nightwing: "I'm going to drop in and see if they need any help, do me a favor and call Alfred. Ask him if he'd be interested in setting up a wedding at Wayne Manor."

Oracle: "Are you trying to play Cupid?"

Nightwing: "No, but given that it looks like their Europe trip and wedding planning ended in disaster, I think they'd appreciate their friends setting up their wedding for them."

Oracle: "You know, I think they'll be very grateful for your help."

——————————————————————

The group stopped when Nightwing landed in front of them, landing without a sound being made.

Artemis: "I was wondering how long it would take you to find us here."

Nightwing: "I'm glad everyone's safe. You two just can't go anywhere without causing trouble, can you?"

(Y/n): "You're hilarious."

Nightwing: "Want to explain what happened?"

(Y/n): "Not here, we need to get home first."

The detective nodded before leading the way to the zeta tube. The entire trip back to their mansion, Zatanna refused to let go of (Y/n). She had a death grip on his arm and wouldn't let go until they were alone in their bedroom.

(Y/n): "Hey, it's going to be okay. You're safe now."

Zatanna: "Y-yeah... yeah you're right. God that was horrifying."

(Y/n): "We'll have to talk to Dr. Fate about what you saw down there. Well, you'll have to talk about it. I'm not exactly going to be much help in dealing with this."

Zatanna: "I know..."

The magician slumped down onto the bed and sighed, running her hands through her hair and letting out a shaky breath.

Zatanna: "What are we going to tell the others? I can't go down there and tell them an all powerful entity that terrifies the gods has broken free and sworn to destroy everything we know."

(Y/n): "I'm sorry, what?!"

The magician looked up in slight shock before realizing she hadn't exactly explained to her fiancé what she saw in the pit.

Zatanna: "Okay, well that might have been an exaggeration but I don't exactly know what its plans are. The thing... it called itself the Upside Down Man... he was horrifying."

The agent was initially confused about the name but quickly recognized the fear in Zatanna's voice. (Y/n) sat down beside his fiancée and wrapped his arms around her, holding her as she drew in a deep breath.

Zatanna immediately snuggled into (Y/n)'s embrace, the pair falling back onto the bed and laying perfectly still for several minutes.

(Y/n): "We should shower and change before we get comfortable. And we still have to talk with everyone downstairs."

The magician hummed in agreement before slipping out of the agent's embrace and standing up.

(Y/n): "You go first, I'll head downstairs and entertain our guests."

Zatanna: "Don't say anything about what I told you. I want to talk to Dr. Fate before I tell anyone, I have a feeling this is something Fate and I will have to deal with alone."

The agent nodded his head before leaving the room as Zatanna got ready for a shower. He didn't like the thought of Zatanna facing something that terrified her alone, but he knew he'd be nothing more than a liability in any fight involving magic.

He arrived downstairs a minute later, walking into the kitchen and forcing out a smile for his friends.

Artemis, Dick and Barbara were in the kitchen with Mary and Traci watching television in the living room.

Artemis: "Alright, spill it. How'd you end up in the Underworld?"

(Y/n): "To be fair I didn't know it existed and it wasn't exactly on my bucket list after I found out about it. But I suppose I'll start with the trip to Europe."

——————————————————————

After spending the better half of an hour retelling the past week's adventure in Europe, Themyscira and the Underworld, (Y/n) was certain he covered every detail with the exception of what Zatanna asked him to leave out. 

Artemis: "Are you sure that's it? I mean, it seems like a lot just for us to not know who or what they were after."

(Y/n): "Whoever was trapped in that pit escaped when the floor broke open. She's going to talk to Fate about it, we think it's something he has to handle."

Dick: "Fair enough."

(Y/n): "I've already said more than she asked me too, Zee just doesn't want you guys to worry."

The group stayed silent for a minute, trying to grasp the seriousness of the situation.

Dick: "I know she doesn't want us to worry, but should we? I mean, this sounds pretty serious."

(Y/n): "Trust me, it is. But it's something Dr. Fate's going to have to deal with, in one of those magic dimensions outside of our own."

The group sat in silence for a moment, (Y/n) heard the water turn off and knew they'd have a couple minutes before Zatanna got downstairs.

Oracle: "Now, it's not really our place to take over your wedding planning... but we couldn't help but think that things aren't going according to plan."

The agent sighed and nodded his head, admitting that they were back to square one in terms of planning.

(Y/n): "I honestly don't know what we're going to do."

Oracle: "Well... Dick and I may have a solution for you two. We've taken the liberty in asking Alfred if he'd be okay setting up a wedding at Wayne Manor. There's this banquet hall on the west side that leads out into the gardens, it's big enough and it almost never gets used these days. Not to mention it's secluded so we don't have to worry about any unwanted guests."

Dick: "The Manor has more than enough spare bedrooms if some people need to stay the night."

The agent was stunned, it took him a second to process the offer but eventually a smile crept onto his face.

(Y/n): "I... I don't know what to say. Yes, obviously, thank you so much. I'll have to clear it with Zee but I don't think she'll have an issue with it."

Zatanna: "Don't think I'll have an issue with what?"

The magician walked into the kitchen, forcing a smile out for her friends. Despite her smile, everyone could tell how tired she was.

The agent smiled and waited until Zatanna took a seat to break the news. The magician instantly accepted, hugging (Y/n) and thanking her friends for their offer.

The group decided to let the lovers get some desperately needed rest. The second (Y/n) was finished showering and getting ready for bed, he turned off the lights and collapsed onto the bed.

Zatanna was already asleep and (Y/n) joined her in less than a minute, his exhausted body shutting down in seconds.