American comics: From Hogwarts to God on Earth

The weather in Gotham was always so gloomy. Rune rubbed his eyes and glanced helplessly at the gray sky outside the window. A monkey walked over carrying a plate of food.

On the plate lay braised beans in tomato sauce, fried bread, bacon, eggs, and sausage. Following Rune's will, the bread automatically picked up bacon and eggs, floating to his lips. He took a large bite; the bread was rich in wheat flavor, and the bacon and fried egg combination was quite delicious. He tore off a small piece of bread, dipped it in the sauce from the braised beans, and popped it into his mouth, instantly finding it sweet and sour and appetizing.

After finishing his meal quickly, Rune straightened his clothes, cast an Ironclad Charm on himself, and then went out. Today he was going to buy some brown sugar, ginger, and other everyday groceries.

After casually hanging a few clueless idiots on a streetlamp, Rune walked into the supermarket. The supermarket was overflowing with all sorts of goods. Rune immediately spotted Zatana, whom he had met a few days ago. Bruce was also there, but he looked somewhat tired.

"Hello!" Zatana's hair was styled in a high bun today, with a few wisps of hair falling lightly across her forehead, adding a touch of liveliness and playfulness. She had changed her clothes, but they still looked quite expensive. Bruce, on the other hand, was dressed more simply, his left hand supporting his head, seemingly deep in thought.

"Hello." Rune nodded. "Do you have brown sugar and ginger here?"

"Um, let me see." Zatana was about to get up when Rune interrupted her.

"Never mind." Rune shook his head. "Ginger, fly here! Brown sugar, fly here!" However, there was no reaction. Rune turned to leave, but Zatana reacted and hurriedly ran over.

"Don't go! You still haven't told me where you learned your magic. It looks really interesting," Zatana said with a smile. "I've never seen this kind of spellcasting before, and I feel like you're missing something..."

Rune stopped abruptly, turning around to look Zatana up and down. No wonder she's the future leader of the Dark Justice League; it's a pity she's dating Kang.

"If I were you, I'd be scared." Rune said this to Zatana, but his eyes involuntarily drifted to Bruce. "The more you use it, the more debt you accumulate..."

Bruce looked at Zatana with concern; "debt" was not a good word.

Rune breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed Bruce hadn't studied magic and wasn't the bat-mage from the Dark Multiverse.

He knew that the strongest Batman would always be that pure mortal. Apart from the smiling Batman, all the other Batmen who gained various powers of good and evil were just weaklings.

"What do you mean?" Zatana frowned. Her father had told her something similar.

"Everything comes at a price, including magic, my fellow practitioner." Rune smiled. "Let's make a deal, a friendly price: one question, one wand. Do you accept?"

"But..." Zatanna hesitated. Where would she get the money to buy a wand? But then Bruce walked over.

"Just ask," Bruce said, turning to Rune. "Do you accept payment after the transaction?"

"Of course." Rune nodded, glancing at Zatana with envy. He also wanted to say something just as confidently, "What question do you want to ask? Remember to be careful. Even if you want to ask what your father is doing, I can answer."

"I want to ask what the price of magic is, and... what my father is doing," Zatana said, but she didn't think Rune could give a clear answer.

"Could you please ask the customers in the shop to leave?" Rune asked.

"Of course." Bruce nodded, then shouted to the customers who were still selecting items, "No need to pay, you can just leave."

Bruce did indeed buy the supermarket!

After the last customer left with his purchases, the shop door closed instantly and then, under Rune's gaze, transformed into a wall, blocking out the outside world.

Zatana looked at Rune and inexplicably felt that he was no ordinary little wizard, but rather a master of magic who had been immersed in magic for many years, only to have become a child for some unknown reason.

"Let me answer your first question first..." Rune began to explain.

At the dawn of time, magic appeared. It was gentle, primal, and full of potential. Magic surrounded the nascent multiverse. It created a form for itself, which was Hecate—the first life in the universe. Eventually, the magic surrounding the multiverse formed the realm of the gods as we know it today. Hecate sensed another version of herself in the Dark Multiverse, and out of fear, she created a barrier to separate the multiverse from the Dark Multiverse, preventing the multiverse from being tainted by darkness.

Later, Hecate arrived at Earth, the center of the multiverse. She bestowed power upon humanity, transforming them into gods. To incorporate this powerful goddess of magic into their pantheons, the gods began to pursue Hecate, and ultimately, Hecate accepted Hades's advances.

However, another group of sorcerers, having discovered Hecate's true power, sought to steal it and imprisoned her. When Hecate appealed to Hades for help, Hades married Persephone and told Hecate that the Greek gods had made their decision and no longer welcomed her.

In her rage, Hecate dismantled the barrier that separated the dark universe, introducing dark magic into the multiverse and bestowing it upon the magicians who imprisoned her.

"And then?" Zatana listened intently, but Rune stopped narrating.

"Then there's another price, Miss." Rune smiled. "So now all the magic in the universe belongs to Hecate and another Hecate in the Dark Multiverse. And believe me, that other Hecate isn't easy to deal with. You owe him a lot of money, and one day he'll come to collect."

"And what about my father? What is he doing?" Zatana pressed.

"Him? He's busy fighting the giant beast," Rune said. "Don't ask me what the giant beast is, but your father isn't in any danger right now."

While Rune and Zatanna were talking, Bruce Wayne was also deep in thought. After hearing about the origins of magic, he felt both sympathy for Hecate and disgust for the greedy mages and gods. Even Bruce himself didn't realize that the desire to learn magic had completely vanished from his heart.

With Zatana's resentful gaze upon him, the deal was struck. Although Rune stubbornly refused to reveal what the giant beast was, he did answer the question about Zatana's father's whereabouts.

"Thank you so much, Rune." Bruce smiled and shook hands with Rune. "I hope we'll have the opportunity to work together again in the future."

"Hmm." Rune nodded, thought for a moment, and then added, "Oh, by the way, just a heads-up, Zatana, some of the Three Palaces' offspring are hunting you down. This information isn't included in your price."

After saying that, the supermarket door returned to its original state. Rune pushed the door open and left, leaving Zatana and Bruce looking at each other in bewilderment.