RPM
Emma
Morden Man
KactusPunch
Dezuel
Guardian Angel Haruki
Antlers
Cyrania
Captain Uni
"Ooh, we gotta get snickers too! And skittles! You got the sharing bag of doritos right? Better make that two - Eel ain't the sharing type." Called Patrick over the aisles of the petrol station, cradling a selection of snacks in his slightly elongated arms, long enough to hold his banquet but not enough to arouse suspicion from the pimply teen manning the counter.
Zatanna clutched her head as the coffee machine filled up her cup. They had barely been on the road a day and already she'd regretted recruiting this idiot. Part of her wished Woozy had been the one to come along instead of Eel. At least Woozy didn't talk this much.
She poured her coffee, the smell just strong enough to cut through the sugary chaos behind her. Patrick was somehow managing to juggle crisps, soda, and a pack of Twizzlers all the while yammering on about how they needed even more snacks.
"Patrick, we're supposed to be blending in, not restocking a vending machine."
"Ahh, come on Zee, I've never been on a road trip! Hey do people still make mixtapes? I guess everyone just listens on their phone these days, huh?" he replied, dropping another armful on the counter. His grin widened when the teenage clerk's eyes darted between the pile and his oddly stretchy reach.
"I don't think my car even has a mixtape player." she muttered, handing over a crumpled twenty and any coins she had in her bag.
The kid rang them up, unimpressed. "You guys part of a convention or something? Didn't realise Super-Con was in town."
"Something like that." she said with a smile that killed any follow-up questions.
Outside, the night air was thick with humidity. Zatanna balanced her coffee as Eel sauntered out behind her, plastic bags full of snacks swinging happily by his sides.
"Alright, I got chips, chocolate, soda, and ice cream. We're covered."
"You bought ice cream? Pat, it's going to melt!" she said, sliding into the driver's seat.
He sat next to her clutching the tub of 'Abra-Caramel-dabra' ice cream. "You make a fair point. However my counter point is that it has a funny name and we can just eat it now!"
Their conversation was interrupted by the unmistakable thud of something heavy landing on the hood of the car. Zatanna froze mid-sip. Patrick's spoon of Abra-Caramel-dabra stopped halfway to his mouth. A set of clawed fingers curled over the windscreen, scraping down the glass with a sound that made every hair on Zatanna's neck stand up.
"Please tell me that's a raccoon."
"If it is, it needs a serious manicure."
The 'raccoon' wasn't a raccoon, of course. It was huge, just a bit smaller than the car itself, with skin the colour of burnt clay and horns that curled up and outwards towards the night sky. It crouched on the hood of her car, peering through the windscreen at the two, grinning with a mouth full of teeth like knives.
Behind it, two more of the creatures dropped from the petrol station roof with a heavy crunch of asphalt. They had the same half-demonic, half-industrial look: cracked horns, wires braided through muscle, and faint Alchemax insignias carved into their forearms like brand stamps.
Zatanna's coffee hit the dash as she threw the cup aside and fumbled for a spell.
"Back! Kcab!"
The word shimmered in the air, the sound twisting backward like a record in reverse. The demon on the hood shrieked as an invisible force slammed into it, hurling it back through the air and into a row of parked cars.
"Whoa! You're actually magic?! I thought that was a joke!" Patrick yelled, half in awe, half terrified, clutching his ice cream like a stress ball.
"Less talk, more help!"
One of the remaining demons lunged for the passenger side door. Patrick flinched, then instinctively stretched. His arm shot out like a rubber whip, coiling around the creature's neck. He stared at his own arm, wide-eyed.
"Uh, oh."
The demon thrashed, yanking him halfway out the window. He stumbled forward, his limbs twisting and looping until he looked like a human slinky. With a grunt, he snapped his arm back like a beyblade cord sending the creature furiously spinning head first into a gas pump.
The pump exploded in a burst of flame, the shockwave knocking both of them flat.
"Patrick!" Zatanna shouted, coughing through the smoke.
He popped up from behind the bonnet, his features rippling back into place with an audible pop.
"Yeah! Totally planned that!"
The third demon burst from the flames, roaring, molten cracks glowing along its skin. Zatanna threw her hand up again.
"Emalf ot tsurc!"
The spell sparked - literally. The fire around the demon hardened like cooling lava...for about half a second. Then it cracked and reignited twice as bright.
"I think you made it angrier!" Patrick shouted.
A low guttaral laugh came from the demon as it continued its advance
"Hey, uh, just for the record, Zee? Your magic's great, ten outta ten for presentation, but - uh - maybe it's time for Plan B!"
"What's Plan B?!"
"Run away!"
The monster swung a claw at them. Patrick caught it mid-swipe, his body flattening like taffy to absorb the impact. The ground beneath him cracked. He gritted his teeth, arms stretching impossibly wide to hold it back.
"You are one ugly muthafucka!" He spat, face to face with the demon now as his face shifted into something that decidedly resembled the famous leading man from Predator.
Zatanna steadied herself, heart pounding. She wasn't her father, she wasn't even close. But she didn't need to be. She focused, the words almost catching in her throat before she forced them out:
"Dnuorg dniheb mih nepo!"
The asphalt behind the demon split open, and it started to lose its balance as it struggled against Patrick. He allowed himself a smile before his chest erupted with a third fist that hammered the demon squarely in the chest and sent it reeling backwards, his stretched leg already waiting behind to trip it up. It fell into the burning fissure with a roar and just as quickly as it opened the ground closed up.
Silence followed. Just the hiss of melting tarmac and fire.
"...So that was Alchemax, huh?" he said after a moment, kicking a bit of ash off his shoe, which was actually his foot just shaped into a shoe. "I thought they just made, like, painkillers and stuff."
"Guess they've expanded their product line."
"Yeah, well I'm not sure how well 'Man-made horrors beyond our comprehension' will sell." He collected the tub of ice cream from where it had rolled to on the ground nearby. You know, for our first team-up, I'd say we handled that pretty well."
"You set a gas station on fire."
"Yeah, but-!" He gestured vaguely at the smouldering crater. "-we're alive! That's a win!" As if on cue the roof of the gas station collapsed and the pimpled teen ran out screaming.
Zatanna rolled her eyes but couldn't hide the faintest smirk tugging at her lips.
"Get in the car, Patrick."
"You know, at first I wasn't big on the whole 'super team' business, but it's really growing on me!" He beamed, hopping in the now scratched up car with a smile.
As they pulled away, the camera of a nearby lamppost whirred to life, tracking their escape. A faint, synthetic voice crackled through the static.
"Targets located. Contact confirmed."
"Awwww man, the ice cream melted!"
