The Greedy Frog
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DC: The Enchanter Chapter 81
🕑 Added 2023-10-26 09:52:09 +0000 UTCChapter 81: Fallout
"Do you?"
Zatanna was paralyzed, she didn't know how to answer that question.
She had a good handle on her heart and was aware that she felt for Jasper. But was it love? Or was it just codependency?
She truly wanted to believe that it was greater than her fear of abandonment, she wanted to believe that it was something deeper and much more meaningful.
"I…" She wanted to answer, she really did.
"I see." Ivy sighed, "I get it."
"He is special to me," Zatanna said standing up, her heels barely grabbing onto the edge of the rooftop. "But… What I feel for him? It's difficult to explain."
Ivy knew what Zatanna meant.
"He is different." Ivy said, "He always seems to know so much… maybe even a little too much."
"The moment I met him, he seemed to have everything mapped out." Zatanna added, "Feels funny when I recall that the two of us met while looking for cheap rent."
Ivy had heard of this from Zatanna before and she would be lying if she said she wasn't jealous that Zatanna met Jasper before her.
"It was as if he had a map for everything, every route that he was going to take in the future." Zatanna felt nostalgic thinking of everything that they went through in such a short time.
"And despite that he didn't go out of his way to change himself or turn out like those proud millionaires." Ivy shook her head. She knew a bit too many stuck up people like that. Especially ones that turned rich too quickly.
But Jasper didn't. He loved money, but money didn't define who he was.
Both the girls knew that he had different motives and goals, they just didn't know what they were.
"We don't really know a lot about him, now, do we?" Ivy asked, which made Zatanna a little disheartened.
"No…" She said, "It's like he doesn't want to talk about his past."
She wasn't dumb. She knew that what he told her about his past was mostly made up. After all, there was no way a man with such a simple and humble background would be able to handle such pressure of the world of heroes and villains.
His whole story was shrouded in mystery and all they could do was hope that he would be comfortable telling them about his story one day.
"What about you?" Zatanna asked without looking at Ivy's face. "What do you think about Jasper?"
"That's not fair." Ivy complained, "That was my question for you."
Zatanna chuckled, "No one said that I couldn't ask the question back."
Ivy took a step back and took a deep breath. "I do think that I know how I feel about him."
This made Zatanna interested, "Oh, and what is that?"
"I like him." Ivy answered without a second's delay, taking Zatanna aback. "I do not know if it is love, but I like him."
Zatanna was stunned for a bit as despite knowing that Ivy was interested in Jasper, she didn't expect her to be so straightforward with her words.
"And Zatanna," Ivy smiled, "I am not going to lose to you in this regard."
"I…" Once again, Zatanna was left speechless. "Oh."
After all, she didn't know what she could even say at that moment.
Because even she wasn't clear about her own feelings.
…
…
"en."
"aven."
"RAVEN!"
Like the sting from a bee, Raven was woken up from her dazed state by Beast Boy's loud yell.
"Y-Yeah?" She said, rubbing her temples a little.
"Are you alright, Raven?" Dick asked, worried about his friend.
And it wasn't just Dick that was worried about her, everyone else was too.
"I just have a headache," She assured them, "Don't worry about me, you guys can continue."
"You seem to have been a little out of it lately," Cyborg sat with his arms crossed, "You know that we are here to help, right?"
Raven nodded but still didn't explain much. "It's just that I haven't been able to sleep much these days."
"Insomnia?" Bumblebee asked in concern.
"I think…" Raven didn't like that the discussion about her was being dragged. "It's alright, I'll check if there is any spell to help me with it."
"As long as you are fine," The team said.
"But I believe this reunion is not to inquire about my health?" Raven said, finally diverting the attention away from her.
"That… is true." Dick's face fell almost immediately, "The reason I called everyone is for a certain reason."
Cyborg knew very well what his friend and former team leader was insinuating.
But he was not the only one, Beast Boy had a guess as well.
"It's about him, isn't it?" The green metamorphic hero asked.
And Dick nodded, "Yes."
They were once a team, one of the best to be specific but with everyone finding a different goal and ambition –the team slowly drifted apart.
They were never full-time heroes. They were individuals that bonded together to support each other. They understood each other and they stayed together.
They were a family.
"Jasper Hughes." Grayson sighed, "He is the reason we are here today."
Despite living separately, and pursuing their own dreams –They were still the same family.
After all, family was not formed by the place they lived in but by the emotions they shared.
"I heard what happened to Arrow," Bumblebee said, quite sad about the passing of the hero. "He guided me when I was at my worst."
"But… he did lose his path," Raven said, "And that led to his…"
But she didn't finish her sentence.
"NO!"
And despite not finishing her statement, it did manage to make someone angry.
"He was played with!" Cyborg yelled, "He was made to choose that path because every other choice was taken away from him."
In one way or the other, Beast Boy shared the same sentiment. "Cyborg is right, Raven. Green Arrow, he… he was left with no choice."
But this was when their former team leader differed, "We all have a choice, Beast Boy. It's just that he couldn't see the correct one while being blinded by his anger and feeling of vengeance."
"So, you believe Green Arrow is to blame?" Cyborg didn't like that Arrow, his ex-teammate, was being blamed.
As after everyone went different paths, Cyborg chose to join the Justice League and formed a close friendship with Oliver.
"He wasn't," Grayson was just as hurt as the others thinking about Oliver.
"Wasn't?" Cyborg didn't like the word.
"At the start, he was doing his job –stopping the bad guys, protecting the innocents." Dick Grayson didn't look at his friend, instead stared at the table, "But after being humiliated by Jasper during our first faceoff… something changed in him."
Cyborg looked at Beast Boy, hoping he would say something to counter –after all, he was also with them during that mission.
But he didn't.
Mostly because he wasn't blind, he saw the shift in Oliver's personality and that shift wasn't for the good.
"Things only worsened after the Joker event." Grayson recalled the nightmare of a scene, "That's when we… truly lost Arrow."
"He was our friend, Grayson!" Cyborg smashed his hand over the table, "And you are taking the side of a villain?"
"I am not taking sides, Cyborg." Grayson frowned, "I am only siding with the truth. Jasper Hughes is a criminal, a villain and there is no doubt in that. But what Green Arrow did was not something we can turn a blind eye to either."
This made almost everyone lower their heads.
"He attacked an innocent place, he hurt the people, he hurt the innocent children and old men, Cyborg." It hurt Grayson just as much as the others that he couldn't take Arrow's side.
"Even if he was spared by Jasper, he would have lived the rest of his life in a prison." He sighed, "He broke the law."
"Law, huh?" Cyborg couldn't believe what he heard, "You won't mind giving up on your friends to keep your sense of justice, won't you."
"Cyborg!" Beast Boy frowned, "That's enough."
"That's enough?" Cyborg scoffed, "Do you really think that, Garfield?"
He was fuming, "Did you forget that for him it has always been his rules, his laws over his friendship! Over us!?"
Cyborg stared at Grayson, "But I guess that's who you are. After all, for your rules you even gave up on the girl you loved."
"Cyborg!" Raven yelled, something she rarely did.
"Man don't!" Even Beast Boy tried to stop him, but failed.
"Or have you forgotten how you chose your rules, your laws… over Starfire?"
And with that single statement, Cyborg shattered the bond, the friendship that they had built over the years.
A statement that left Grayson heart broken –but with no words to counter.
After all, he did choose his duty over his love.
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[[A/N: We will get Starfire's lore soon.]]
