****I DON'T OWN BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER OR ANY OF THE DC COMICS CHARACTERS THAT MAY APPEAR IN THIS WORK OF FICTION. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER IS OWNED BY JOSS WHEDON AND MUTANT ENEMY. DC COMICS IS STILL OWNED BY THEMSELVES.***

Epilogue

Inside Zarina's home, a few of the members of Justice League Sunnydale were surprised to find out who exactly Hawkette and Warp were when the two heroes removed their masks.

"Aphrodesia?" Cordelia asked her friend confused before she looked at Warp. "Great, Wells is a speedster. So, Bang Babies?"

Aphrodesia shrugged her shoulders. "I'm one but Wells isn't." She said.

"I wore a green Flash costume on Halloween a couple of years ago." Andrew said noticing both Blue Bowman, Cordelia, and Zarina shivered remembering that night. "What did I say?"

Zarina nodded to Blue Bowman for the Sapphire Archer to explain. Blue Bowman removed his mask and both Aphrodesia and Andrew recognized him.

"Jonathon Queen, aren't you Oliver Queen's son?" The winged girl asked.

"Yah, but Halloween is a touchy subject for Zarina and me because we use to live here." Jonathon said. "I was your best friend, Andrew."

Andrew realized who Jonathon use to be. "Your parents were concerned when you disappeared." He said. "I guess you took it well."

"Lazarus pit altered my appearance to suit my altered genes." Jonathon explained.

Aphrodesia glanced over to Zarina and raised an eyebrow. "Xander, love what you done with your hair." She said.

Andrew's eyes bugged out from his head before he passed out. The green speedster fell to the floor with a thud.

"So, what are you going to do now Aphrodesia?" Zarina asked.

"I got accepted at NYU. What about you?" She asked. "Did you get to keep the ring?"

"Dru and Jenny took us to the different homeworlds of the Lantern Corps. Queen Aga'po let Joyce and me keep our rings though we don't plan on using them unless we need to. The Guardians took Faith's ring away from her though I think it might have had something to do with what she actually said to them." Zarina replied.

"What did she say?" Aphrodesia asked.

"You can shove that ring up your little blue asses." Zarina said with a laugh. "A few people laughed about that. Jesse stayed behind for training. Guy was a little spooked that Jesse's ring was his. Iota decided to stay with the Blue Lantern Corps for a while."

"What about Dru and Jenny?" The winged girl asked.

"They refused to take us to see the Indigo Tribe. I guess there has to be a reason for that." Zarina replied.

(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)

Drusilla traced patterns on Jason's naked chest. She was as unclad as he was as she was pulled in to kiss him. They were laying in bed after what Drusilla had termed as a 'victory party for two'. Jason Blood may have been alive for over a millennium but there was at least one thing that he had in common with normal men. He wasn't going to complain about the 'victory party for two'. In theory, he could complain about one thing but it was a very good kind of sore. A soreness that no sane straight man would complain about ever.

"Dru, anything you want to tell me?" He asked. He had noticed that something seemed to be bothering her.

"I don't think I deserved to keep my ring and staff." Drusilla said. "I'm still a monster despite what Lady Indigo said."

Jason grabbed a small mirror from off the night stand. "We've had this conversation before, Dru." He said giving her the mirror. "What do you see?"

She saw herself in the mirror which she tossed to the floor managing not to break the mirror. Drusilla kissed Jason lightly on the lips before beginning to trace down his body. She kissed him on the carotid artery as well as the main jugular vein. As the kisses went lower and lower on his body, a thought went through Jason's head.

Good little Catholic girl my ass. He thought to himself. Makes me wonder if she was part nymph when she was turned.

(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)

Willow was in shock at what she had recently learnt from the Sunnydale Police Department. Her parents' bodies had been found with their hearts removed from their bodies. From what they had told her, three other bodies had been found around their car that had apparently been Black Lanterns. The officer wouldn't have known that detail but Willow did. After the police left, she sank to the floor crying only to find herself wrapped up in someone's arms. She opened her eyes to see Zarina was the one holding her.

"How did you know?" She asked.

"Part of the ritual created an empathic bond between us." Zarina explained. "We'll know what the other is feeling. The reason you don't know what I'm feeling is that you haven't opened yourself up to the bond."

Willow closed her eyes and focused on the thought of feeling Zarina's emotions when she was quickly overwhelmed by what she felt. Her arms wrapped around Zarina and she held onto her tightly.

"You really feel that way, don't you." Willow said. "I had no idea."

"Trust me, Willow." Zarina replied. "I would have felt like this regardless of what had happened between us."

"Can we go somewhere else?" Willow asked. "I don't want to be here."

".esuoh s'yffuB ot su ekaT" Zarina said teleporting them to their friend's house.

Buffy, who was momentarily surprised, ran over and hugged her crying friend. Knowing that Willow knew how she felt, she walked into the kitchen of Casa de Summers to find Dawn and Joyce cooking breakfast. Dawn was rather happy to see Zarina.

"Hi." She said to the magician.

"Hello, Dawn." Zarina said before turning her attention to Joyce. "Madam Joyce Summers, I, Zarina Sindella Zatara, request permission to train your daughter, Dawn Marie Summers, in the arcane arts."

Joyce smiled. "Kinda formal, don't you think?" She asked.

Zarina shook her head. "Formality is best when dealing with the arcane, Mrs. Summers." She said taking off her top hat. Reaching into the hat, she pulled out a sheet of parchment and a feathery quill pen.

Dawn laughed. "Did you steal that from Dumbledore's desk?" She asked still laughing.

Without a pause, Zarina answered. "Yes." The answer caused Dawn to stare at the magician.

Joyce looked over the parchment. "This says that I'm not to argue if you show Dawn anything horrific?" She said questioning it. "Why would you show anything horrific?"

"Joyce, aren't students shown the dangers of what they are being trained to do?" Zarina asked. "Magic is something that is too often abused and I have to make certain that Dawn knows it. There is a hidden legal system that has jurisdiction over the supernatural and has for over fifteen thousand years."

"Why does that sound ominous?" Dawn asked.

"Because it is. While most won't admit it, they do have jurisdiction. Doctor Fate is a judge and I'm a prosecutor." Zarina explained pulling out a small vial from her hat. The contents of the vial seemed to be on fire. "This is something that I never want to use."

"What is it?" Dawn asked a bit spooked.

"Fiendfyre, magical fire that if not properly contained will consume all that it comes into contact with." Zarina said. "Fortunately, this vial is magically unbreakable. This is what they use if you are convicted of a high crime."

"You're right." Joyce said signing the parchment and handed it to Dawn. "Anything else I should know?"

Before Zarina could answer, the back door opened and a familiar robed individual walked into the kitchen. Dawn's jaw dropped when she saw herself standing in the kitchen. Her other self smiled at Zarina.

"You didn't tell them, did you?" She asked.

"Not yet." Zarina said. "What should we call you so that we don't get confused?"

The older version of Dawn shrugged her shoulders. "How about Ios?" She asked. "The native population called me it when I stayed on their planet a couple hundred years ago."

Dawn's eyes opened wide. "How far in the future are you from?" The soon-to-be apprentice asked.

"About a thousand years, give or take." Ios said. "Trust me, you don't want to know too much but..."

"But what?" Joyce asked.

"Get your head checked out, Mom." Ios said. "Get all the help you can because a botched surgery to remove a tumor kills you. I don't want to lose you."

Joyce and Dawn were shocked by the information while Zarina glared at Ios.

"Too much information can change the future." Zarina informed her.

"But yet, if you apply the changes as needed then you can expect a better result considering what I already know happened." Ios said. "It will work out better. Trust me and besides, you still need to tell your apprentice your big secret."

Zarina nodded. "And it is a doozy." She said.

"What's your secret?" Dawn asked. "Is it the fact that you're gay? That doesn't bother me."

"It isn't that." Zarina said taking a breath. "Technically speaking, I was born on October 31st 1997 because of a spell cast here in Sunnydale by Ethan Rayne. That night, Xander Harris wore a magician's costume from Ethan's shop."

Dawn appeared concerned. "Go on." She pleaded.

"That night, Ethan invoked True Chaos instead of the power of Janus. This is where things go screwy. While most people changed into generic characters like ghosts and goblins, Xander's costume was different because his top hat had been stolen from my mother's show. It was her top hat he had been wearing when the spell occurred." Zarina explained.

Dawn's eyes widened as she connected the pieces together. "Oh my god, you're..." She said.

Zarina nodded. "I was." She said. "You see, because of Zatanna being a homo magi, her soul was copied when the spell was invoked. When it ended, her copied soul and Xander's soul came together and I was born."

"But, why didn't you come back until the start of the school year?" Dawn asked.

"I was frightened, Dawn. I know that's funny to hear me say considering what you know I've faced. My biggest fear was coming back here and everyone that Xander had known would hate me." Zarina replied.

Dawn shook her head. "That's not true. You are Xander." She said.

Zarina shook her head back. "I am Xander but I'm not. I am Zatanna but I'm not." She replied. "There are parts of me that may remind you of both him and my mother because that is what makes up me. Willow tried to separate Xander from me and almost killed me in the process."

"So that's why Raven came to our house." Dawn said realizing the fact.

"That's not all, Dawn." Zarina said. "This may shock you but I'm obligated by that contract that was signed to tell you the truth when it matters as you are my student and I'm your teacher."

Before either Zarina could break the news to Dawn or Dawn ask her what the big secret was, Ios spoke up first. "You were created from Buffy's DNA by an order of monks to house a very powerful mystical artifact known simply as the Key. The Key is an artifact capable of opening up doorways between realities and that is the source of our magic." Ios said. "Memories were inserted into everyone who should know you and you were placed here as Buffy's little sister. I understand it sucks but I think you'd prefer hearing it from me than from a stranger. Willow's spell on Zarina accidentally deleted the memories Xander might have had of you and that was how she found out and it was the inserted memories that caused Mom's tumor in the first place.."

Dawn fainted and fell to the ground followed soon after by Joyce and Zarina glared at Ios who shrugged her shoulders.

"I was trying to break it to them gently." Ios said.

(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)

The new recruit into the Sinestro Corps had only been in the pod for a fraction of a second before the pod had detonated ferociously taking out a good portion of the surroundings. Many members of the Sinestro Corps including the Corps' namesake stared at the smoking crater as a feminine shaped figure emerged from the smoke. They could see the woman was human or at least humanlike and had blood red hair. She laughed as she glowed with yellow energy.

"Fear, I can do that." She said with a smile.

(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)

Wesley drank the abysmal tea at the roadside diner he was at. He couldn't believe how stupid he had felt allowing himself to get possessed by that damned demon of fear. The former Watcher as well as former Green Lantern didn't even notice when a woman in a very expensive business suit sat next to him.

"Wesley Wyndham Price, my name in Lana Lang and I have a proposition for you." She said.

(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)

Being already dead, ditching the red power ring didn't kill Spike. It felt great to wear the ring but it felt wrong as well. The hairy bloke, Alpha, had flown off into space but he wasn't concerned about that. He remembered a legend about another ring that would be perfect for him though.

(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)

A copy of the Daily Planet was pulled out of a newspaper machine. When unfolded, a large picture of multiple colored ring wielders could be seen fighting the Black Lanterns.

The Blackest Night

Story By Lois Lane & Clark Kent

Photos By Daniel Osbourne

(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)

Discord was not pleased having been booted from her hideout by the traitorous avian bitch. Warren was busy showing her some project of his that had him excited but she was pouting and nothing would disturb her.

"How would like an army of loyal minions to pluck a certain avian adversary of yours?" He asked.

She quickly stopped pouting and looked up at Warren as a white skinned man in his twenties was brought into the room. He was in excellent shape and fell to the ground with a thud when Warren pulled out a nickel-plated fifty caliber Desert Eagle and fired it three times into the man's chest.

"What the fuck was that for?" Discord yelled angrily.

"Just watch." Warren said pointing down to the fallen man.

The man's wounds healed up and he stood back up at attention as if nothing had occurred. Discord looked over at Warren who was smiling.

"This, my dear, is the final result of my 'drug' that I call Push." Warren said. "Push is actually a 'drug' that consists of a swarm of nano machines. These nanites not only induce symptoms that make the user believe they are under a narcotic but greatly enhance the user to superhuman levels in terms of speed, strength, reaction time, healing, etc. Over time, these nanites build up until you get what is before you now. A metahuman soldier who will do whatever it is told."

"Any weaknesses I should know about?" Discord asked.

"One big one." Warren said before pointing the gun at the man's hand and pulling the trigger. The body fell to the floor and Discord rolled her eyes.

"One that isn't fucking obvious you smart ass." She informed him.

"Then, not really since I doubt any heroes would pull that particular move." Warren said. "In three months time, Push will be in every city in America. In a year, you'll have your army."

To be continued in...

The Magician's Initiative

Author's End Notes: Well, that's it for Enter The Magician. I guess I need to work on The Magician's Initiative now. If anyone is interested, they may write the Angel series storyline of this universe.