Ring Of Fire(Zatanna)

[The Joker]

Johnny shouldn't be doing this, he shouldn't be where he was, but he was, even though he shouldn't be. The music was booming through the air, people moving to it like crazy, why was he here again? Oh yeah, to feed that vortex in his chest, the one that was filled with sorrow and all sorts of other emotions since Reed's death, and it still had room for more. He moved his way to the bar counter, ordered a drink, even though he shouldn't. Last time he drank he almost hit a kid, so that meant no driving, he'd rather get shot then watch a child be terrified like that again.

He only ordered a beer, something light, he couldn't afford to drink heavy, he didn't want to risk it, he shouldn't even be drinking in the first place. He rubbed his face, it was getting harrier, he needed to shave, but he knew he would just forget about it and continue to neglect it. He opend his beer and took a sip, he didn't want to be here, but he was. He crawled into a booth that was in a dark corner of the club, that way no one would talk to him. He didn't want someone to recoginize him, because then the whole club would want autographs, and he would end up going home in the arms of a few smokin hot chicks who wanted to get big by hooking up with a super, and he wasn't gonna let it happen, thats why he should just leave. But he didn't.

[Zatanna]

She looked around, and wrapped her arms around herself a bit uncomfortably. Why was she here...she was with no one...she looked...odd...alone like she was. And it made her a target for the morons who saw her and liked how she looked. She sighed, and went up to the bar, her boots clicking on the floor, her fairly short red dress swishing a bit as she walked. Sitting at the bar, she looked up at the bartender. "A martini...dry. Extra olive." she ordered, a bit bored, and rested her chin in her hand. her drink was brought to her, and she smiled and nodded at the bartender, and took a sip...

Dry. VERY Dry.

She smiled and stood up, almost bumping into a drunk idiot who had stood behind her. "Excuse me." she said, and moved around him. He smirked and looked at her appraisingly, and she rolled her eyes. What a moron. He was so sauced he probably thought she was bloody Wonder Woman or something.

"Come on beautiful...let's dance." he slurred, and she shook her head.

"No thank you. Excuse me." she said, going around him and heading to the back of the club, sitting in the dark, half hidden. She sighed as the moron followed her. Some people didn't learn.

"Aw...Come on honey. Just one dance. I promise you'll never want to leave after one dance..." he slurred, and she gagged at the amount of booze on his breath. She ignored him, and sipped her drink a bit. She hated the over persistant drunks...

[The Joker]

After another swig of his beer, Johnny noticed a man and a lady, who he might add was quite attractive, not that he was thinking about that kind of stuff at the moment. He was about to ignore the pair until he heard the lady telling the man to buzz off, which he refused to do. Johnny sighed, some asshole always had to mess things up. Johnny stood up and walked towards the man.

[red]"Hey, I think the lady told you to get lost, now why don't you do just that?"[/red] The drunk stared at him dumbly, taking a moment to register the words. After he had accomplished this, he promptly told Johnny to go away, only with words not good for children to hear, and took a swing at him. The drunks swing was clumsy, but strong, not that Johnny had to worry about that. He raised his arm up to block, lighting it on fire as the man made contact.

The guy jumped back, startled by the pain. He looked at his arm to see burn marks, nothing serious though, but the drunk got the message and left, he didn't want to get toasted. Johnny turned around and looked at the girl, offering her a not so warm smile. [red]"Sorry you had to deal with that. I hope the rest of your night turns out better."[/red] With that he turned and walked back to his booth, crawling right back up into his bottle.

[Zatanna]

She looked over at the man who had intervened, and squinted her eyes. She was sure she recognized him from somewhere...but she wasn't sure where. She didn't watch TV much...and she hated to read the swill that was printed in the papers...So...it would be up to her keen wits to decipher who this was...

Standing up, she moved over to where he was sitting, and stood at the table, looking to see him drinking a beer. She took a sip of her martini and gave the lightest of smiles...

"Excuse me...I didn't get to thank you. It was very nice of you to get rid of that jerk for me..." she said, and looked at him. "I was wondering, if I could join you? I kinda came here alone, and that's why that jerk bothered me, I think. But it's completely up to you." she said, partially regretting asking...he looked like he wanted to be left alone...

[The Joker]

Johnny's flow of dark thoughts was broken by the sound of a femine voice, the one that belonged to the girl from earlier. He attempted to return her smile, but it wasn't very authentic looking. He motioned for her to sit down, did he really want her to join him? He wasn't sure, he didn't really want to be alone in a way he guessed, but he didn't want any crowds.

[red]"It was no big deal really, just had to stand up and prove that not all men are scumbags like that."[/red] He took another swig of his beer, wondering who the girl was. He looked up into her eyes for a moment, opening his mouth to speak again. [red]"Names Johnny, Johnny Storm."[/red]

[Zatanna]

She nodded, and sat next to him, a bit nervous, but otherwise looking like a semi-confident woman...She heard his name, and she nodded. So THAT was where she'd heard that...he was the Human Torch...she had heard about him once on the news, she barely watched it, but that had to have been one of the times she had. She tilted her head a bit and rested her chin in her hand, leaning on the table a bit.

"I'm Zatanna...Zatanna Zatara, but you can call me Zat. For short. I know Zatanna is a tongue twister..." she said, praying that she was unheard of by this hero...

She had made a few mistakes in the past, and it was still being held against her. She was praying she could prove she had changed...that she was different now...but no one would give her that chance...

[The Joker]

He watched from the corner of his eye as she sat down next to him, he didn't recognize her at all, infact, he didn't even suspect that she had some super power, you couldn't assume that everyone had one, because there was quite obviously a ton of people who didn't. He took another swig from his beer, the girl looked nervous, he couldn't really blame her. He wasn't one to get nervous though, he was somewhat of a playboy and he was used to this type of scene.

[red]"Cool name."[/red] He smiled a little again before taking another swig, he had never heard a name like Zatanna before. Whoever her parents were, they sure had imagination. He didn't really care if Zat recognized him as the Human Torch, if she had, she obviously wasn't gonna say anything about it, otherwise she would have by now.

[red]"So do you live in New York?"[/red]

[Zatanna]

She nodded, and perked up a bit. So he didn't recognize her, or if he did, he wasn't gonna say anything. Just what she was hoping for. She could relax and just have a good time...and she had to admit, the rumors were true. Johnny Storm, The Human Torch, was hot, in looks and powers. She blinked a bit and nodded.

"For the moment I do. I'm...trying to start over. Fresh, clean slate you know?" she asked, smiling lightly. She noticed his beer was almost empty, and she waved at the bartender.

"Excuse me, Bartender! Another Beer for my friend and another martini, extra dry, for me please." she called, and he nodded at her and smiled, getting to the drinks. She looked at Johnny. "It's on me. think of it as payment for getting rid of the slimeball." she smiled, and nodded at the bartender who delivered their drinks. She picked up her martini and took a sip.

[The Joker]

He couldn't really help himself, even in his present state, he couldn't stop himself from checking the girl out a little bit, and he mentally slapped himself for doing so, but that didn't stop him from doing it anyways. He wondered what she thought of him, but dismissed the thought, he didn't really care.

[red]"Starting over, huh? Thats good, everyone needs to start over at some point or another..."[/red] He was starting over in a way, he had to. The Fantastic Four was over, he would have to fight crime either on a different team or on his own period, things were changed.

He looked over as she bought him a beer and another drink for her, smiling a little again. [red]"Thanks."[/red] Usually he was the one buying drinks, but he didn't really care at the moment. He took a swig from the beer, letting out a small sigh afterwards.

[Zatanna]

She looked at him, and she slid a bit closer. He looked down in the dumps...Looking at him, she took a drink of her martini and leaned against the table a bit more, her chin still resting in her hand. "What's wrong? You know, if you want you can talk about it...besides, I need someone to talk to myself." she said, looking at the table, and eyeing the beads or perspiration his beer had made. She traced her finger in it and lost herself in thought for a moment...

Where would she go now anyways...she wasn't very popular with the Justice League right now...especially after the stunt that she pulled so long ago...and knew no one in New York. Hell, she barely knew anyone from where she was from originally...she really only had Bruce...and even that was shaky...she bit her lip then downed the rest of her martini in one gulp, then chewed the olive that had come to rest in her mouth...

She looked up, and realized she had spaced out. "Sorry. I guess I've got stuff on my mind too..." she said, tracing small patterns in the liquid on the table.

[The Joker]

Johnny sighed at her question, but it made him feel a little better to hear she had things to talk about as well. He stratched his face, supposing it wouldn't hurt to spill the beans. He looked at her, noticing that she had phased out, and decided to wait until she snapped back to reality. He only smiled a little when she apolagized, gathering his thoughts before speaking.

[red]"Ok, if you didn't know, I'm a Superhero. The Human Torch, I belonged to this famous group, the Fantastic Four. Our team leader, Mr. Fantastic, died in the war, and now the teams gone. Ontop of his death, I got to worry about fighting crime on new grounds, on my own."[/red]

He had basicly managed to shorten everything that had happend into one paragraph, and even he had to chuckle inwardly at his skills to simplify things. [red]"Everythings just gone down hill since that war, I swear that no good came of it, and I curse the day we agreed to enter as a team..."[/red]

[Zatanna]

She nodded...She had been in the war as well, she had been mind-wiping the enemies of the United States...A task she hated doing from the very first day...She looked at him, and looked down...he would hate her after this...but she had to get it off her chest...

"I'm...very sorry about your friend...I was in the war too...I'm a Superheroine as well...I'm called...well...Zatanna...yeah, some codename huh? Well...I have powers over magic and I have some telepathic powers...one of those powers...is the ability to mind-wipe an enemy. I can remove some or all of a person's memories...I'm not proud of it, and after...after my friends sent me away...I decided not to use it again...not unless the circumstances were dire. The war hit...and I was told my job would be to mind wipe the enemy soldiers I came in contact with. It was either do that...or be labeled a traitor...so I did...and I know the Justice Leaguers saw me do it...at least once...and I know they will NOT be happy with me when I return...so...I have no one and nowhere to go." she said, beginning to bite her lip...

What would he think? A wench who could basically hit the delete button on anything she wanted to in one's head...

[The Joker]

Johnny listend to her talk, who'da thought! Another super, he should just assume that everyone has powers, it would probably be safer. He couldn't really blame her for using her powers in the war, from the sounds of it she didn't have to much of a choice. He took another swig of his beer, she obviously hated her ability to alter memories, it didn't seem to bring her anything but grief.

[red]"Nowhere to stay, huh? You can stay at my place if you want, its certainly big enough."[/red] He did realise that this girl could take away alot of who he was with a blink of an eye, but she just didn't seem the type, she really did hate doing it to people, and he was sure that she wouldn't do it to him. He smiled at her a little, taking another swig of his beer.

[red]"Of course I won't have none of your brain wipery while I'm around, thats the condition if you decide to stay at my place."[/red] He laughed a little, which felt nice, he hadn't laughed in a good while.

[Zatanna]

She blinked a bit...she was sure that his place HAD to be better than the piece of crap motel she was staying at now...and it would be nice to have a safe place to sleep...She giggled first, than laughed a bit as he cracked a joke to her. "No worries there. I hate to use that power...now you MAY experience things floating around and whatnot of their own free will. That'll be me" she said, and smiled.

She hadn't cracked jokes in a long time...and to be honest, she really hadn't expected to do so here. So to be laughing and joking was a shock to her. A big shock. One that should be clear on her face and bright as day...but for some reason, perhaps it was the martinis, it wasn't. Instead she was just...mildly giddy.

And felt like dancing, apparently, the way her foot was tapping under the table...She made sure she had both feet on the ground, before speaking again. "To seriously respond to your offer, I have to say thank you and that I'd love to stay with you. I promise it wouldn't be for too long, so as not to get in your hair." she said, smiling at him.

[The Joker]

He grinned just a little bit at her response, for the first time in a while he found himself actually having a little fun, it was weird, like a new experiance. He took another sip of the beer before speaking again. [red]"I can deal with things floating around."[/red]

He could see the shock on her face, but he couldn't really tell what she was shocked about. He decided to not say anything about it, didn't really matter that much. What did matter was that the two of them were actually enjoying themselves a little. He took another drink of his beer and set it on the table, two beers was good enough for him.

[red]"Great, glad its settled then, and don't worry about getting in my hair, unless you meant for real, if so, I'd appreciate it if you'd keep things out of my hair."[/red] Johnny chuckled a little, the liquor was making him ramble on a little more then he meant to.