The Trenchcoat Brigade Rides Again "Bloody bunch of useless gits," Joanna Constantine muttered as she entered the London bar, glad to be leaving the cool fog behind, not to mention the idiots clogging the subway. The light brown haired woman stalked through the crowds, her piercing gaze making the too curious turn away, her stained brown trenchcoat swirling around her. "You sound happy," Eric said, the tall, black haired man wiping out a glass, his eyes hidden by red sunglasses. Once he had been Mister E, a paranormal investigator and avenger, but he had set his power to see evil aside and was now a simple bartender. "Too right," Joanna settled into a seat and ordered a beer. "Have the others arrived yet?" she asked. "Hunter's here, he reserved the back room for you," Eric said. "Marvelous," Joanna stood, beer firmly in hand. She looked at him curiously, "Will your protege be involved?" "She'll be joining you shortly," Eric said simply. With a grunt Joanna turned to push her way through the crowd, making her way towards the back of the bar. There was a ominous aura that grew as she neared the door, a crackle in the air that was both powerful and dangerous. She pushed open the unlocked door, frowning as she tried to pierce the gloom. "Melodramatic much?" Joanna scowled, flipping on the light switch. Tim Hunter winced a bit, his glasses gleaming as the suit and tie clad young man sat on a battered old couch. His darker brown hair was messy and a bit of red tinted the edge of his eyes as he said, "You mind? I just got some bad news." Joanna frowned the looked about... just as a shape emerged from the gloom. The black suit and over coat he wore made him blend into the shadows, his matching hat hiding his white hair. His eyes where clear, shimmering, and seemed to gaze with a odd degree of perceptiveness. "Constantine," the Phantom Stranger nodded his recognition. Joanna took a drink, thumping the mug down on the battered old pool table. "Been awhile," she agreed. "Indeed," the Stranger agreed. "So what's happened now?" Joanna looked over at Tim, already suspecting the bad news he had received. "They found Hector," Tim sighed, "or what's left of him. His sanity is gone and he's trapped in the realm of Chaos." "Crap." Joanna sighed, knowing exactly what that meant. The realm of Chaos was the home ground of beings who had once warred with the most powerful Lords of Order. With the destruction of both races of Lords at the end of the Tenth Age of Magic, Chaos had become even more mad and deadly to anyone who entered it. "I and the Specter penetrated into Chaos at Hunter's request," the Stranger explained, "where we found Hector Hall. He has spent so long in Chaos that his mind has been broken by it, and the creatures of the realm guard him violently." "Anyone hurt?" Tim asked, realizing he hadn't asked yet. ‘Way to go, wonder boy,' Joanna thought sarcastically. "The Specter shielded me from the worst effects at great cost to himself," the Stranger answered, "he will need time to recover." "Damn," Joanna frowned. The Specter was a ghost, merged with a power that some said was that of the Wrath of God. He was considered one of the supernatural big guns, and if he was unavailable there were sure to be entities that would try to take advantage. Before more could be said there was a knock on the door and another young woman entered, her red hair tied back into a simple ponytail. She wore a white suit and trenchcoat, and her eyes were shielded by simple black glasses. "And who are you?" Tim asked, looking with narrowed eyes. "Erik sent me," the young woman navigated the room to stand by the pool table easily despite her blindness, "I'm Miss Tree." "Mystery," Phantom Stranger looked faintly amused. "Erik gave you that name?" Tim rubbed at his eyes tiredly. "Not exactly," Miss Tree answered, "it's a long story." Joanna held up a hand, stopping further conversation. "I'd love to trade backgrounds but we don't have time," she said flatly. "You called us together," the Stranger studied her, "and I think I know why." "The Enchantress," Joanna nodded, "Zatanna." Tim's eyes widened as he tried to make his pain fogged mind work. Leaning forward he asked, "What's happened?" "The Justice League successfully stopped her allies but Zatanna escaped them," Joanna revealed, "with Dr. Fate in hot pursuit. They're battling it out in the Salem nexus, and it's not going too well." "Zatanna was powerful to begin with," the Stranger noted, "with the Enchantress' power added she's even stronger." He met Joanna's eyes calmly, "But I thought you didn't want to face her, Constantine." "To right I don't," Joanna answered, "but her and Fate are going to destroy the nexus if the fight escalates much more... an' that'd be bad for us all." "So when do we go?" Miss Tree asked calmly. "Miss, we can't..." Tim started. "Arguing with me will take precious time," Miss Tree cut him off, "time we don't have, if the tremors I feel in magic are any indication." "She's got a point," Joanna fought back a smile. "Let's go," the Stranger opened a door in the back wall that hadn't been there a few seconds before. "Nice trick," Miss Tree murmured as they followed him through. "One of the Phantom Stranger's gifts is the knowledge of these paths," Tim explained as they passed through other dimensions, "he can go anywhere with them." The less said of the trip the better, but after a harrowing few minutes they reached another door, which opened into a place that resembled a town from another era... and which now was mostly runs. A great, square stone tower stood strangely in the midst of the rubble, it's sides burnt and chipped while far above a battle raged. "Well bugger me," Joanna muttered. The air itself shook with the battle as Dr. Fate and Zatanna fought wildly, spells racing faster than the eye could see. Zatanna was cloaked in darkness, shadows reaching out even as Fate blazed like a star, her power countering every spell the dark sorceress threw at her. "I see her," Miss Tree murmured, "even now some part of Zatanna fights against the Darksoul of the Enchantress." "Anyone got a plan?" Tim asked, summoning up his own magic so that he crackled with mystic energy. "Sort of," Joanna, "Stranger, can you get me up there?" When he nodded she looked at Hunter, "You remember the pagan exorcism we used one time?" "Enchantress is way too strong for that," Hunter protested. "Not when we're done with him," Joanna looked at Miss Tree, "Mister E had a neat little stunt where he could ‘kill' evil..." "I can, too," Miss Tree hefted her white cane calmly. "Go," Joanna said and the Stranger pulled her through a doorway. "Nrub!"the Enchantress cried as her power struck, Fate's cloak catching fire as they fought in the strange air of this other-worldly place. "Stop this," Fate said, her golden headdress shining in the darkness as she fought to contain her foe, "let us help you!" "Never!" she roared. Just then the Stranger's doorway opened and Joanna leapt through, holding a strange white and black disk. "Sorry about this," she muttered as she slammed it right into the middle of the Enchantress' chest. BOOM! The explosion blasted them all apart, sending them hurtling towards the ground. Joanna barely rolled with the impact, only a hasty spell from Tim helping her while Fate and Enchantress hit the ground hard. "Miss Tree!" Joanna croaked out weakly. Raising her cane Miss Tree ran over to the Enchantress, muttered something under her breath as her cane became etched in white fire. Smoothly she drove the weapon down, passing ghost-like through flesh to stab at the Darksoul itself. "Got you," Miss Tree hissed. Tim Hunter didn't need a cue as he raced forward, chanting as ancient powers raised around him. Calling on gods and forces older than man he struck, driving the Darksoul out of Zatanna's body and leaving her a shuddering wreck. The black blob of shadowy evil hovered there in confusion a moment...but that was a moment it really didn't have. In a flash Fate struck, her spells binding it in shining light. Chanting softly she compressed it, the blackness shrinking until a single gem dropped to the groung with a ringing sound. Putting out his burning trenchcoat the Stranger frowned at Joanna, "That was Dr Occult's symbol, wasn't it?" "The Mystic Symbol of the Seven," Joanna held up the undamaged disk, "I don't know when Occult lost it, but I assume it was before he was trapped in Fairy." Tim had rushed over to Zatanna, picking up the sobbing woman gently. "If you knew how to do this already," he asked crossly, "why didn't you earlier?" Picking up the black crystal Dr. Fate said calmly, "I suspect she didn't have all the pieces until recently, correct?" "I acquired the Symbol a few weeks ago," Joanna confirmed, "and Erik only told me a few days ago that Miss Tree was ready." Tim looked at Joanna distrustfully, "Maybe." Addressing the Stranger he stiffly asked, "Can we go, please?" To be continued... Author's Notes: The Trenchcoat Brigade was first featured in Books of Magic #1-4 by Neil Gaiman, the name coming from a sarcastic comment from John Constantine. Tim Hunter has been looking for his friend Hector in all his appearances so far, so I thought I should finish that. Miss Tree is a detective character published by DC comics, but I thought the name would be perfect for a successor to Mister E, lol.
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