Justice League: Vertigo

Chapter 20 - Lost And Gained

Adam was cold. He was holding on to Zatanna as if his life depended on it. And frankly, it did. But he couldn't deny the fact that he liked having her close to him. They were running after the sorcerer who took their powers and thankfully, they were gaining on him. The voices in his head had stopped. He was at peace, but he knew he would have to get his powers back. That would be the only way he would defeat Superman. It was obvious he was coming for him because of Astrid found a way, then his lackeys weren't too far behind. They were in an icy wasteland, chasing a crazy sorcerer, with no communication and no way to signal for help. They were finally gaining on him.
"I would rather die than give this up!" Shouted the man. And then he stopped abruptly. It was a cliff. There was nowhere for him to go. He was trapped.
"Hand over the amulet!" Said Adam. The man ignored him and started chanting.
"Its a translocation spell!" Said Zatanna. "Stop him, or he'll transport the amulet to another location. They sprinted towards him, but the man saw them coming and jumped off the cliff, as the amulet disappeared.
"We're screwed."
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The rest of the team was back at the cave, still recovering from their encounter with the Collectors. Astrid was pacing. Not knowing what to do was a new feeling for her. She didn't have her powers and Adam and Zatanna, who were also powerless were MIA. Her short time in this dimension and everything had already gone down.
"We'll find them." Said Robin, with his hand on her shoulder.
"M'gann. Can you scan for them telepathically?" Asked Aqualad.
"I've already tried. They must be out of my range."
Kid Flash and The Flash zetaed into the cave.
"We've searched Happy harbour, Metropolis and Gotham, but we still couldn't find them." Said Flash.
Astrid swore. "I feel so useless. My brother is missing and there's nothing I can do about it." She said.
"I'm calling the League. But Astrid you have to be ready to face the fact that Adam and Zatanna may be dead." Said Robin.
"I have faith in my brother." She said.
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They had been trudging through the snow for what felt like years. They didn't know how long they had been here, and they didn't know if they would survive.
"In case we don't make it out of here alive, there are a few things that I need to get off my chest." Adam managed to say through chattering teeth.
"Don't talk like that. We're not going to die out here."
He liked how she kept her hopes up, even in the midst of certain death.
"Well, I just want to say that I really, really..." He stopped talking as soon as he saw the black snow. Zatanna caught one in her hand.
"This is soot." She said.
"Soot. That means smoke. That means power. And that means..."
"People!" Said Zatanna. They hugged each other, happy to be alive and continued walking together.
"So what did you want to tell me?" She asked.
"It doesn't matter now." He said. After some more walking, they finally saw it. It was a small research facility with some tents.
"We...made it" Adam managed to say. All Zatanna did was nod her head. They waddled their way to the facility and went to the security guards and said :
"Help." And then they collapsed.
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Adam woke up from the worst sleep of his life. He couldn't feel his arms. He just wanted to curl up and sleep forever. He turned to his other side and was surprised to see Zatanna beside him. He watched her sleep for a while. He noticed how cutely she breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth.
"This girl will be the death of you, Adam." He said, talking to himself. Zatanna's eyes then opened and she woke up and saw him smiling at her.
"Hi." He said. She smiled back.
"Hi. So I guess we made it. With serious cases of hypothermia and exhaustion. But we're alive, so that counts as a win to me."
They look each other in the eye for some moments and find themselves leaning closer to each other... when a man in glasses and a Lexcorp lab coat enters the tent.
"Who are you people?" The man asked.
"We're..." Says Adam.
"Mountain climbers! We got separated from our party. If I may ask, where are we?" Asks Zatanna.
"Kids these days. You go climbing in Antarctica?"
"We seek adventure." Adam as replied as they both smile innocently.
"The next supply helicopter is coming in tomorrow, so you have to wait until then."
"Thank you sir."
He leaves the tent.
"I can't feel my face." Says Adam. "I literally think my face is frozen."
"You chose a great time to lose your fire powers, Adam."
Adam sits up and sits cross legged.
"Your meditating?" Asked Zatanna.
"I want to see if their really gone." Replied Adam. The tattoos on his arm were gone. There was nothing connecting him to the dragons besides his swords.
"I hear nothing. At this time, Nix would be convincing me to rip your head off." Said Adam.
"Who's Nix?"
"The Phoenix Dragon." Replied Adam in a 'no duh' kind of tone.
"You give them nicknames?"
"Yeah. Nix and Fanny. Not to their faces, though. Else I'd probably implode or something."
"So what will you do now that your free?"
"Honestly, I don't know. But I've always wanted to read physics..."