Hello All!
Witchcraft is a Young Justice Self Insert, that I got challenged to write as my NaNo project after complaining too much to a friend about the tropes I dislike in the Self Insert genre.
Special thanks are due to Obloquy for his help in brainstorming and acting as a beta. He has his own YJ fanfiction that you should all go read called
Life Ore Death.
Episode 1 - Introductions
Gotham
August 5, 17:00 EST
"This is the place," Zatara called out as the Batmobile turned a corner.
Zatara took the opportunity to examine their destination as Batman pulled the car into the driveway. The house was a squat and ugly thing; the red paint was already peeling despite the modern design of the house, and the yard of dead grass was surrounded by a cheap chain link fence.
"You're sure about this?" He asked Batman, gesturing towards the general direction of the house.
"Blood vouched for her. You have expressed concerns about the low number of heroes with magical training. Concerns I agree with. That's why we're here."
"I know, I'm just concerned. Walking into the abode of an unfamiliar practitioner rarely ends well." Zatara conceded.
"We'll speak with the foster parent first, to try to get a sense of her personality. From there we'll meet with her and if all goes well extend the offer to her." Batman said before leaving the car.
Following Batman, Zatara noticed the looks the pair of them were getting. Mostly wary looks - it seemed that this area was more used to heroes kicking down the door than knocking on it.
After reaching the front door and ringing the doorbell, he was beginning to see the appeal of just kicking the door in as the seconds stretched on.
Zatara reached to ring the doorbell again just as the door opened to reveal a worn out looking, middle-aged woman. There was a pregnant pause as she just stared at the two of them, clearly not expecting such company.
"Mrs. Green?" Batman asked evenly, breaking the silence just before it could become uncomfortable.
"Oh, Yes. I mean, that's me. Whatever can I help the two of you with?"
"I'm Zatara, and this is my colleague Batman. We were hoping to discuss your foster daughter with you." Zatara said, reaching out to shake the woman's hand.
"I'm Hannah Green but you already knew that. Oh, please come in. If I may ask, which of the foster children did you wish to talk about? I have four girls living here with me. I do hope none of them are in trouble."
"I assure you none of the children you're looking after are in any trouble. Quite the opposite actually," Zatara promised her.
Mrs. Green quickly ushered the two heroes inside, to a room with a worn out couch against one wall, a coffee table in front of it and two armchairs on opposite sides of the room. Opposite to the couch was a fireplace with photos littering the mantle mostly of various younger girls. Her previous foster children, he assumed. One photo stood out from the rest, a picture of a younger and happier Mrs. Green, who was smiling and holding the hand of another woman. The way the picture was placed in front of an urn told enough of a story - no need to ask about it and open old wounds.
"Please have a seat. Would the two of you like anything to drink? We have tea, coffee, water, juice, and probably some sugary drink that Ellen likes," Ms. Green offered.
"No thank you, we're fine. We'll try not to take up too much of your time," Batman quickly said before Zatara could respond himself.
Taking a seat, Zatara spoke up: "We came here today to speak with you about Amanda Fischer. Specifically, the Justice League is testing a new training program to teach and train the next generation of heroes. And we are considering offering Amanda membership in the program."
"Oh! Amanda? Are you sure? I mean, is she even a metahuman? She hasn't shown any of the signs I was told to watch for. How do you know she even interested in being some sort of crime fighter? She's already has a lot on her plate between a part-time job, tutoring, her classes and preparing for college. How much time would this program take up? Would she be in any dang -"
"Please take a breath, we'll do our best to answer all of your questions," Zatara quickly assured the woman before she could work herself up into a frenzy.
"We do not believe Amanda to be a metahuman, but she is what we would classify as a practitioner: someone who has made a study of the occult. Her 'tutor' is, in fact, a man named Jason Blood. He is an affiliate of the Justice League and has helped us resolve several severe incidents in the past, including Wotan's recent attempt to hold the sun hostage. He has been passing on his knowledge to her for several years now," Batman explained keeping his voice carefully neutral.
"You're talking about magic. Magic. I know that Amanda dresses oddly, but I always thought that her style was more of a counterculture movement than any sort of legitimate belief. And she's been learning this for years? And she's been keeping it secret from me?"
"I understand that this a lot to take in. But yes, we have every reason to believe that Amanda has been studying the occult for years. It's likely she never brought it up because she feared you would be dismissive of it," Zatara said.
"This man who is teaching her is he some sort of hero? Is- is Amanda already going out and getting into fights?" A touch of panic edging into Mrs. Green's voice.
"Not exactly. Jason Blood has worked as a consultant for the Justice League and myself before. But he largely works as a theoretician, he rarely actively participates himself. He recently passed along that his protege was interested in taking a more active role and asked if we could help arrange for that. That is why we're here today," Batman answered.
"Alright so, putting aside that Amanda has apparently been learning magic, what exactly would she be doing in this training program of yours?"
"The program was formed to allow for junior heroes to learn, socialize, and train together in a safe environment with adult supervision. While the team will undertake missions at times, the primary purpose of the group is to teach. She would be receiving regular lectures and training exercises from members of the Justice League."
"How dangerous would these missions be? And, would they interfere with her day to day life?"
"I will personally be vetting all assignments, the missions will primarily be focused on low-risk and low publicity operations, in order to keep the group safe in anonymity. Amanda will also be paired with other more experienced members several of whom have been actively patrolling for several years. She would be as safe as reasonably possible. Of course, she would be able to opt out of any missions she doesn't feel comfortable performing without any penalty.
"Missions will be sporadic and typically arranged to not interfere with academics. On the rare occasions where missions result in missing school, the League will provide documents to ensure her standing is not harmed. Maintaining satisfactory academic scores is also a requirement of the program."
"Would she be able to join the program and not be allowed to go out on these missions? To be quite frank, I would be a lot more comfortable with that. The missions seem more supplementary than a core piece of the program. Especially given that you've said that she doesn't actually have any experience in the field," Mrs. Green said, wringing her hands together.
Batman remained impassive. "While that arrangement could be made, it would be counterproductive to the goals of the program. We want to give these junior heroes an outlet for their desires to be heroes and given Amanda's spoken desire take a more active role, sidelining her would risk alienating her and driving her to look for conflict outside of the program and increase her risk of injury."
"I'm going to be honest, I have a lot of reservations about condoning Amanda's entrance to this program. But, I have to acknowledge that if you're right and Amanda's been keeping these secrets from me then she going to go out and be a hero regardless of what I say, right?"
"Typically, forbidding vigilante behavior has minimal effect in curbing it. Only serving to increase the risks associated with it," Batman said gravely. "Those driven to heroism will rarely be stopped by such an edict."
"Then I don't have a choice, do I?" Mrs. Green sighed. "If she wishes to then she can join the program, but if I think it's too dangerous or it's interfering with other parts of her life I will pull her out."
"I understand how difficult it must be to make this decision, but please rest assured that it is the right decision. We will protect her. I promise." Zatara gently said, leaning over to rest his hand on Mrs. Green's shoulder.
"Thank you, would you like me to go fetch her for you?"
"Not quite yet. We were hoping you could tell us a bit about Amanda first." Zatara said.
"Well, she's been living with me for about two years now. As far as I know, she's always been in the system. Earlier on she may have suffered some abuse, but she refuses to talk about her early childhood."
"Are there any signs beyond a reluctance to speak about her childhood?" Zatara asked.
"She has scars and refuses to talk about where she got them. You'll see," Mrs. Green answered.
"Any problems in school or at other homes?" Batman asked.
"No, no. I've never had any disciplinary problems with her. She's always excelled at school. The first thing she did when she got a part-time job was subscribing to some academic journals. She's brilliant," Mrs. Green gushed affectionately.
"Was she offered to skip a grade?" Batman asked.
"It was considered, but due to how many homes she bounced between they thought it would be too disruptive."
"It can be hard moving around a lot. Does she have any problems making friends?" Zatara asked.
"From what I understand she was always shy and soft-spoken." Mrs. Green paused briefly. "Her transition in high school, I suppose, made her few friends. Public school in Gotham, I'm sure you understand. The administration wasn't problematic, but they weren't exactly helpful either."
"Do you have any other concerns you would like us to address before we talk to her?" Batman asked.
"No, I suppose not." Mrs. Green stood up. "I'll go get her for you."
Just as she stood up a blonde teenage girl with freckles walked into the living room and then without even glancing at the two superheroes sitting on the couch went into the kitchen.
Returning to the living room with a soda in hand, she looked up and upon seeing the strangers on the sofa gave them a brief nod before heading back to the staircase.
"Elize could you please fetch Amanda for me? Our guests here would like to talk with her."
"Sure not a problem but you know I'm Ellen, right? Elise is out right now."
"No you're not, Ellen has soccer practice on Thursday." Mrs. Green responded with a long-suffering tone.
"Fine," Elize huffed,before walking up to the base of the stairs and yelling.
"Amanda, get your ass down here! We have visitors and they need to talk to you."
"Goddamnit, didn't we just have a home visit the other week. Stall them for a quick minute, I need to find some pants." A voice called down from upstairs.
Elize turned back to the two of them smiled and said, "Amanda said she'll be down in a moment." Before walking off.
"I'm sorry about Elize; I'd say she isn't usually like this but that would be a lie. You know how teenagers are," Mrs. Green said with an embarrassed tone.
"I have a daughter a little bit younger and she's already showing some the signs," Zatara chuckled.
A couple of thuds sounded from the upstairs before a girl ran downstairs.
She was of Asian descent with dark hair reaching her shoulders, dressed as what could only be described as rebelliously: a black t-shirt with an upside down cross painted on in red reading 'God is Dead", that in Zatara's opinion showed far too much skin; a skirt that straddled the border of decency; topped off with a pentagram necklace, inverted cross earrings, four rings on her left hand, and far too much eyeshadow.
Perhaps the most eye-catching element of her ensemble wasn't even part of it. Both of her arms were uncovered and showed dozens of thin white lines criss-crossing over the entirety of her arms. Scars. More than anyone should have, much less a girl her age.
"Aaaaah, you aren't social services," she got out uncertainly while staring at the two heroes.
"Amanda these two are Batman and Zatara. They're from the Justice League and they wanted to talk to you. Batman, Zatara please meet my foster daughter Amanda." Mrs. Green said, trying to diffuse the awkwardness.
"Tell me you didn't just hear all of that," Amanda half-begged, apparently ignoring Mrs. Green's introductions.
"I see that you couldn't find any pants," Batman observed dryly.
Amanda, for her part, just stood stock still and blushed a deep red.
"We heard about your desire to be more active in the community from Jason Blood, and came here in hopes of extending an offer for you to join a youth training program the Justice League is developing," Zatara jumped in, trying to save the poor girl from more embarrassment.
"I'd be happy to accept membership to the program," Amanda said, apparently having recovered from her earlier blunder.
"Just like that? You're not even going to ask any questions?" Mrs. Green said, aghast.
Amanda shook her head. "Mr. Blood said he was going to reach out to some of his contacts in the hero community and see if anyone would be willing to train me. I wouldn't be getting this offer if he didn't approve of it. That's good enough for me."
"Do you have a codename and costume already prepared or should we assist you?" Batman asked.
"Bloody Mary," Amanda quickly responded. "I'll manage my own costume. No offense, but I've seen Robin's costume and yikes way too many primary colors."
"Any concerns you have or special needs that might not be obvious?" Batman asked, apparently not offended by the implied insult of his costuming abilities.
"Uh, I probably shouldn't enter any churches, synagogues, mosques or any sites sanctified by an Abrahamic faith."
Mrs. Green stared at Amanda in shock.
"That shouldn't be a problem. If you have no other questions." Batman said standing up and leaving a business card on the coffee table.
"Contact us if you need anything. We'll be in touch about the program. It was a pleasure to meet the two of you." Zatara said making his exit.
He could hear the Mrs. Green whispering furiously with Amanda in the background as they left: "What do you mean you can't go in a church! Did it never occur to you to talk to me about this?"
The door closed behind them before he could hear Amanda's reply.
"So what did you think of her," Batman asked carefully.
"The scars are her arms were concerning as well as her desire to avoid holy sites."
"The scars are the right angles and depth to be self-inflicted, I doubt she got them from abuse. They also avoid areas with high sensitivity or where scars could impair movement," Batman stated.
"The number of ritual bloodlettings she would need to do to have that many scars..." Zatara shook his head as he trailed off.
They walked in silence to the Batmobile, which remained untouched. Zatara had half expected someone to try something, given the state of this neighborhood.
"Does her avoidance of Abrahamic faiths, in particular, have any mystical significance?" Batman asked once they were safely in the Batmobile.
"Mystical scholars hypothesize that all Abrahamic faiths draw their power from the same source. But even if this 'Silver City' exists, it intervenes so rarely in mortal affairs that I doubt she would be seriously threatened by it," Zatara answered slowly.
"We'll err on the side of caution until we have a chance to talk to Blood about it. No need to risk an accident," Batman grunted. "Did you get a good read on how powerful of a practitioner she is?"
"Her power was very tightly contained, the few enchantments I could sense had incredibly little waste energy. She's very technically skilled. However, the enchantments themselves weren't particularly powerful."
"I noticed you looking at her rings, was anything else enchanted?" Batman said.
Of course, he noticed that Zatara thought, shaking his head ruefully.
"Her voice was layered with an illusion enchantment. I couldn't determine its exact purpose beyond altering the sound of her voice. Each ring has some sort of binding attached to it. Singular use I think, I can't tell you more without an in-depth examination," Zatara said apologetically.
"That's enough for now; we'll get a better sense of her capabilities after seeing her perform in the field."
