Imperiator P’Rawn, of the Skunk empire, had just transformed himself into a one-alien human-threshing machine. Through his own efforts and those of his newfound ally Alcheman, P’Rawn only had four of his followers left standing. They, too, were shapechanging into dangerous looking forms, but fortunately they were not true Skunks, but a strange Skunk/human hybrid. While they had appearance altering abilities, they were not the equal of a pureblooded Skunk.

    That was why they still carried their advanced weaponry.

    Hatman did a quick scan of the room. Most of the hostages had gotten out, but the girl Alcheman had saved, along with one of P’Rawn’s fully human men who was clearly in over his head, were still in danger. That meant he had to act quickly.

    “Take the goons! I’m on P’Rawn!” Hatman once again donned his Steelers cap, and he grew in size, strength, and density. He launched himself at P’Rawn, swatting aside the various tentacles nearly as fast as they were flailed at him. Unfortunately they also happened to be razor sharp, and he could feel the scratches that were quickly becoming nicks and working towards full cuts. Try as he might, he was unable to reach the center of the organic maelstrom.

    He allowed a particularly stout looking appendage to connect, which knocked him away from his adversary. He rolled with the blow and came up with his Phoenix Suns cap. He prepared to try another sunburst.

    “Go ahead and try, foolish human! I won’t be fooled by the same trick twice!” crowed the Imperiator. Hatman assumed that the alien had altered the make-up of his eyes to filter the burst of light he had been preparing. Instead he decided to channel the energy gathered into heat, and he directed it at P’Rawn.

    The alien adjusted his molecular composition again, this time to protect against the blistering inferno. Hatman was sorely tempted to increase the temperature, but he was all too aware of the three bystanders huddled in the corner; he couldn’t take the chance of injuring them.

    Three bystanders.

    Where had that other girl come from?

    “Nice try, Jenni. You won’t get him that easily,” Trudi scolded her sibling as she gingerly stepped over the unconscious form of a Lactose Intolerant agent.

    “You consider this easy?” asked Carl incredulously. He still couldn’t believe he had been henching for aliens. No way was he going to get a good reference from an alien. “We need to get out of here.”

    “The only way I’m leaving is in Hatman’s arms,” declared Jenni. Her sister had tried to trick her before, and now she was determined that she would be the victor after all.

    “Don’t be such a sore loser, Jenni. I can’t help it if you didn’t have your eye on the prize,” preened Trudi. She shrieked as one of the Skunks sailed over her head. “Michael, would you watch where you’re throwing those guys!”

    Alcheman shuddered. He would have to have a talk with his sisters about the point of his secret identity. Or better yet, he would have Honoria do it; she owed him one after this. Besides, he had to admit, there was a much better chance of them actually listening if his ex-fiance was the one to tell them.

    He had managed to keep his attackers at bay, but he found he was having the same problem as Hatman. With his sisters in the room, as well as the apparently only human member of Lactose Intolerance, he could not use his powers to their full extent. He supposed that was an occupational hazard of being a superhero though, and he had best just deal with it.

    His opponents had not changed anywhere near the extent of Imperiator P’Rawn, but they had grown in size and forced their skin to become much more dense; punching one of them had proven painful. They still wielded their Skunk atomizers, though Alcheman found the name to be somewhat silly as an atomizer was actually a plastic top that spray liquid as tiny droplets into the air without use of a propellant. Despite the name, they still proved dangerous.

    The Elemental Adventurer tapped the tattoos on his arm, assuming a gaseous form. He hoped that by positioning himself in their respective lines of fire he could force them to cut each other down. He waited expectantly as the energy blasts passed through his intangible form.

    “Fool! Do you really think the Skunks would use weapons that could prove harmful to themselves?!” boasted one of his assailants. Alcheman had to admit he was slightly disappointed at the lack of results, as his tactic was a tried and true superhero technique.

    Not one to quit, Alcheman tried another tact. He got close to one of the Skunk hybrids, and readied himself. His plan called for split second timing, and if he typed the combination into his arm too slowly then he would be dead.

    The Elemental Adventurer keyed the chemical composition of tar into his arm, and his body then began to ooze. He could not hold this form for long without solidifying into a statue; if he could not move his arms then he would be unable to reverse the transformation. He acted quickly, however, and covered the barrel of the atomizer with his hand. He pulled away quickly, and the weapon exploded as the wielder instinctively pulled the trigger. The resulting explosion stunned the atomizer’s owner, rendering him unconscious.

    It would appear the Skunks were not impervious to their own weapons overloading. Alcheman allowed himself a smirk. He set about destroying the weapons of the other two.

    Meanwhile, Hatman still had his hands full with P’Rawn. He had tried numerous attacks, and the Skunk had met them head on. Without this Hatility Belt, Hatman was quickly running out of options.

    He jumped back, once again buying himself some breathing room. The combination of the remaining bystanders and the pounding the building had already taken had forced him to remain defensive, and he was paying for it. He was cut, bleeding, and he wasn’t entirely sure his ribcage was entirely intact.

    “What are those people still doing here?!” he raggedly asked Alcheman as the neophyte hero joined him. “I can’t keep holding back if I’m going to stop him. You’ve got to get them out of here!”

    “Well, I tried actually,” Alcheman hated to admit. “They, umm…they refuse to leave unless you save them.”

    “What?!” Hatman dodged another barbed tentacle. “You’re not serious, are you?”

    “I’m, well, I’m afraid I am.” Alcheman really hoped that Hatman hadn’t caught the girls calling him by name earlier, because he was sure the Capped Crusader would be cross with him later if he realized that it was Alcheman’s own sisters that were being so, well, stupid. Hatman pulled Alcheman behind a chunk of ceiling rubble.

    “Of all the…can you hold him off?”

    “I beg your pardon?”

    “Can you hold him on your own for a few minutes while I get them out?”

    “I, well, I can try, I suppose,” stammered Alcheman.

    “I won’t be gone long. Just keep him busy till I get back, and I’ll take things from there. I take it you’re pretty new to this superhero stuff?”

    Alcheman nodded.

    “Well, you’ve been doing a bang-up job so far, but I don’t want you getting in over your head. Don’t get too aggressive, just a holding pattern. I’ll be back, and then you can get in the clear.”

    Hatman didn’t wait for an answer as he pulled his Steelers cap onto his head yet again. While his Supersonics cap would have given him the speed to rescue the civilians, he needed the strength this form gave him to get them all out at the same time.

    “Keep him off of me!” called Hatman over his shoulder. He dodged a few more flailing tentacles and ignored the stream of tirades from Imperiator P’Rawn.

    Alcheman assumed his own armored form and began hurling rubble at the Imperiator. He took notice, and let his attack fall towards Alcheman as opposed to the Legionnaire.

    Once Hatman reached the people he punched a hole in the wall, scooped them up in his arms, and ran out of the room.

    Alcheman repressed a shudder of fear. He was now alone against a crazed alien killing machine. He was scared, but at the same time he was a little annoyed. Hatman had assumed that Alcheman was unable to handle the threat alone, and that had bothered him.

    He was not prone to impulsive acts, but Alcheman felt an urge to really prove himself. Forget the holding pattern, he was going to take the Skunk down.

    As he charged into battle, he admitted to himself that he was also annoyed that his little sister had gotten her way.

To be continued…