Bruce Wayne

Chapter 16: Magical Enemy

Zatanna closed her eyes while chanting in an indecipherable whisper. Her hands glowed with a mist of violet energy as she reached out toward her foes. Zatanna's left hand was open, palm outward and fingers pointed toward the ceiling, but her right hand was clenched into a fist.

"They're here for the magician!" shouted one of the four guards in the room as he reached for his gun, instantly confirming his association with Giovanni's abduction. "Shoot them!"

Guards in suits stood up from their white laminate tables, the metal feet of their plastic chairs sliding noisily on the bare concrete as they were pushed back and out of the way. The guards were too slow as Zatanna finished her enchantment. She snapped her left hand closed, and the guns of the four men were ripped from their hands and holsters, flying toward her to land and skid to a stop at her feet. Opening her right fist caused an explosion of purple energy inside the small break room, and two of the guards shattered the side windows as they were ejected by the concussive force of the blast.

With only two opponents standing between them and Giovanni, Bruce launched into an attack of his own. He ran forward a few steps, put a foot in the seat of a chair and used it for a springboard to launch himself over a table and land both feet against the chest of one of the guards. The forceful blow catapulted the man backwards to slam into the rear wall.

Bruce landed on his back atop the table he'd jumped over, and the last guard tried to attack him before he could get up. Seeing him coming, Bruce took a hold of the edges of the table before rolling away from the incoming guard. The table stood on four metal feet extending outward from a central post. When Bruce rolled away, his grip on the table caused it to flip over, swinging the metal post and feet of the table up to catch the guard under the chin and send him flying backwards.

"Get Giovanni," Bruce instructed quickly. He thought the amount of noise they'd made was sufficient to be heard everywhere in the factory. It was certain the other security people would be coming for them now.

"Master Bruce," Alfred said in Bruce's earpiece.

"Security's coming?" Bruce assumed.

"Yes, but we've just had a new arrival," Alfred explained. "A sports car pulled up out front, and a man got out and rushed inside the building."

Pounding footsteps approached the break room.

"I think I'm about to meet him," Bruce answered.

"Boss, someone's in there," said a voice from outside.

"I give you idiots one job!" snarled an angry voice. "How is it you can't even hold a tied up and powerless man captive?"

"He's got help," pleaded one of the security men. "Nobody saw them. It's like they're some kind of ninjas."

"Wait here," the angry voice said in a colder tone. "I'll handle this."

Stepping into the doorway, a tall man in a white suit looked over the room, his dark eyes focusing on Bruce. The man's face was chiseled with sharp cheekbones and a long, narrow, and hooked nose. He raised a fist toward Bruce and began whispering, causing a cloud of black energy to surround his hand.

Bruce recognized the use of magic and knew he had to stop the man before he completed whatever nasty enchantment he was working on. He reached for a chair to throw it and distract the magician, but before he could lay hold of it, the magician's fingers spread wide and unleashed a shower of white hot sparks.

Bright points of light filled Bruce's vision, refusing to allow him to see anything else. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, but nothing restored his sight. He'd been blinded. Knowing the magician would try to take advantage of his disability, Bruce dug into his pocket and pulled out the remote control for the amplifier he'd wired into the circuit breaker. Finding the activation switch by touch, he pressed the button to trip all the breakers at the same time. His efforts were rewarded by shouting coming from the factory as the guards on the main floor were plunged into darkness.