“Zatanna here, I’ve found Toyman. He’s down by the docks.” The raven-haired master of magic called over her Justice League communicator, looking down from high over Gotham City where she had been scanning for the misplaced Metropolis menace. “I’ll see if I can mop him up before you get here.”
Although flight wasn’t one of her specific powers, Zatanna soared through the air with ease, able to summon up a vast array of abilities through the use of her sometimes seemingly limitless magic, and flight was one of the most trivial for the flashy magician. Of course, it required more steps than her naturally endowed allies like Power Girl and Wonder Woman, joining Batgirl on the hunt for the villain who had fled to Gotham in hopes that the winding streets and endless dark nooks and crannies would offer better refuge than Superman’s domain.
“Dnecsed yltneg!! Zatanna called out, holding onto her top hat as she slowly but surely fell towards the ground, landing gently with a clack of her heels just outside the warehouse she had seen him enter. Normally she would have waited for backup, but Toyman was a third-rate villain, a man with nothing dangerous about him besides a knack for inventing deadly toys. Were it not for the magical artifact he had reportedly stolen from an archaeological exhibition, Batgirl alone probably would have been enough to take him in, but the League had decided to play it safe. Of course, Zatanna was more than confident that she wouldn’t need the help. Magic was her forte, after all. What could some pencilneck who didn’t probably planned to stuff it in some giant evil toy robot as a power source possibly do to her?
“Show’s over, Toyman.” She proclaimed, Toyman jerking around in surprise and nearly tripping over. He was as unimpressive as Zatanna had expected him to be, a stout man with thick glasses and a nerdy haircut in a colourful suit that had given him away in the drab city of Gotham. Zatanna stood boldly with her arms crossed as he panicked, eyes flickering back and forth to the crates filled with his usual tools of the trade.
“No time to unpack your toys today.” Zatanna smirked. “Don’t pull anything funny and they’ll get to stay in mint condition.”
“No need, my dear.” The old-fashioned man let out a grin of his own as he seemed to regain his composure, stiffening his back and reaching into his coat. Zatanna tensed up, ready to utter a word that would erect a defensive shield in front of her, only for him to produce not a gun or a remote, but a strange, slightly glowing jewel small enough for him to curl his fingers around and clench tightly. Although small, it radiated powerful magic, enough to put Zatanna more on edge than if she had tried to blow her head off with a hidden shotgun. Guns and machines were predictable, magic wasn’t, and she could feel it already circulating around her just from being brandished.
“This new toy of mine might be more fun than every other one I’ve come up with to date.” He grinned evilly, Zatanna unsure of exactly what it would do.
“Why don’t you put that down before you hurt yourself? You shouldn’t play with things you don’t have the instructions for.” She suggested with a confident smile.
“But playtime’s already started!” He laughed, Zatanna’s eyes widening as she realised that the magic she had felt around her had already taken effect! She had been waiting for an incantation or other show of activation and let her guard down! She opened her mouth to utter a defensive spell, only for nothing to come out, not even a gasp. No, that wasn’t it, it wasn’t that she had failed to speak, her lips hadn’t moved at all! Her hands flew to her mouth, lips frozen in place in the confident smile she’d foolishly plastered on her face without knowing what she was getting into. She tried to pinch it, force them open, only to realise to her horror that her fingers weren’t moving either! Her gloved hands were frozen stiff, fingers straight and pressed together. After another second, her wrists wouldn’t move either, leaving her stiff as a… doll?
The word came into her head and stayed there as her elbow entered her peripheral vision, her eyes gliding over to her what would normally be her shiny black sleeve on her slim jacket, that now had two sharp seams at both ends of her elbow, and a rough, round joint in the middle. She bent her arm experimentally, her brain taking a moment to process what she was looking at, moving it at a simple 90 degree angle, creaking slightly as she did so. Her sleeve from the elbow down no longer had its usual lustrous leather shine, but instead a duller polished one contrasting with her still human upper arm. She reached out with her other, similarly afflicted hand and tapped it, hearing the sound of two blocks of wood hitting each other instead. She wasn’t just going stiff, she was turning into solid wood! Her sleeve wasn’t completely wooden just yet, but she watched helplessly as her arm went hard as the wood travelled up to her shoulder, where she felt a click as it was morphed into an awkward ball with barely half its usual mobility.
It had happened so suddenly that Zatanna had watched in dull horror, but finally the danger she was in truly hit her, and her head snapped from watching herself transform into a wooden doll to Toyman, who was looking like he couldn’t be more pleased with himself, eyes gleaming as his foe was warped and perverted. “What did you do to me!?” She wanted to yell, to demand an answer, but her lips were sealed, and with them her magic. Her long, soft hair became a wooden clump, simply painted blank while her face was carefully carved into a slightly exaggerated version of herself, drawn-on eyelashes and solid red makeup while thick eyeliner and long eyelashes made it easy to see her at a distance. Her top hat didn’t bob around anymore, now glued to her head as her dull, happy expression failed to live up to the terror she was feeling inside.
With little other idea of what to do she rushed towards him, the clack of her high heels turning into a wooden clunk as her heels fused with her feet into one solid block. She ran as fast as she could, but to her confusion, she seemed to be getting slower and slower, failing to close the distance as her ankles turned stiff and her knees began to shift. The tall, broad man simply stood there and smiled and… wait, tall? Hadn’t he been far shorter than her before? All of a sudden he was towering over her! She looked down to see the ground rapidly heading towards her, her head spinning before she realised what was happening: she was shrinking! She had to crane her neck upwards to see the now comparatively giant man, a click as her now wood hair bumped against the back of her neck, barely coming up to his waist as her movements became awkward, more of a shuffle resembling a run as her hips gained ball joints.
Her thigh-high boots were painted onto her legs along with a fishnet pattern of ink for her stockings, simplified as all of her human details became carved onto a simple replica of her flashy magician’s outfit. Her head seemed to shrink slightly less than the rest of her, an exaggeration that fit her new doll nature. Finally, not even reaching his knee, Zatanna suddenly collapsed in a heap, unable to move a muscle, if she even had any left. Her body had completely transformed, Zatanna’s mind trapped in a useless wooden doll.
“Ah, you’re perfect, perfect!” Toyman giggled, rubbing his hands together and leaning over her as she begged for the giant man to leave her alone. Curiously he reached just behind her, Zatanna not realising why until she found herself lifted up by strings that had attached themselves to her at some point, and she discovered what she truly was: not a wooden doll, but a wooden puppet, a marionette on strings held by the Toyman as he effortlessly manipulated her, causing her to give a bow for a non-existent audience.
Zatanna wasn’t sure how this could get any worse, until she heard the familiar click of a grappling hook landing with a thunk on the warehouse, Toyman noticing as well.
“Ah, you brought friends?” He asked her with a chuckle, forcing her to nod as she dangled before him. She was turned around to the entrance where three bold and brave heroines arrived: Power Girl and Wonder Woman landing while Batgirl hit the ground nearby and caught up, not quite as fast as the flyers.
“Looks like he gave Zatanna the slip.” Power Girl remarked, arms crossed underneath her typically impressive bust. Wonder Woman stood tall and true, ready for action, while Batgirl stood by their side, ready to reach for a tool if a fight broke out. The three were as confident as could be, two superpowered heroines and the next best thing against one small-timer. How could they not be? All they saw was him cowering alone and playing with some puppet, not even making her out at a distance.
No, get away! Run! Don’t come any closer! Zatanna tried to yell, her lips sealed and her body at Toyman’s whims. Oh, how she desperately wished she could talk to them right now, if only for a second!
“That’s a good idea, my dear.” Toyman suddenly said, peering down at her. “The kids do prefer talking toys these days, after all.”
He squeezed the artifact again, Zatanna feeling something appear on her back. He held up the puppet and pointed it towards the three, and Zatanna discovered that he had created a drawstring for her as he pulled it back, gently releasing it. Zatanna felt her mouth slide downwards, a simple action, and for a single fleeting moment, she thought that he had gotten overconfident, that he would allow her to warn her friends just to demonstrate his power. Unfortunately, it was anything but, as Zatanna uttered three simple words she had no control over, coming out of her flapping mouth from a tinny but loud speaker:
“Emoceb a llod!”
The girls barely had time to raise an eyebrow at the strangely familiar voice before the full force of Zatanna’s magic hit them. Power Girl was the first to go, her confused look snapping to a wide smile, her exposed skin gaining a plastic sheen as her arms and legs were forced against her will into a simple, stiff pose, legs and arms straight.
“Hey, what’s-” was all she had time to utter before her lips were sealed shut like Zatanna’s, who was horrified at how effective her spell was within seconds of it being cast. She tried to force open her mouth again, to yell a counter-spell, to no avail. She could only watch with a sense of bitterness as Power Girl toppled over onto her back, shrinking rapidly mid-fall until she was no bigger than Zatanna by the time she hit the ground, frozen stiff with her vapid expression still on her face, more detailed than Zatanna but far less articulate, only able to slide her limbs up and down at her shoulders and hips. Her leotard and cape were still made out of real fabric, contrasting awkwardly with her glossy plastic skin and rock-hard bust, but were clearly stitched together from cheap materials and her thin cape would tear from any rough play. Her bobbed blonde hair resembled a wig, all synthetic and glued on. She resembled what she had been mockingly referred to by her detractors for her busty, attractive appearance: a Barbie doll. Unable to be heard by even her fellow doll, Power Girl mentally beat on the walls of the unmoving body she was trapped in to no avail, left only with confusion and indignation, having not yet realised what she had become.
While Batgirl stood there with her mouth agape, Wonder Woman, much more familiar with transformative magic thanks to Circe’s mischief, was alert and ready to react, her brain connecting the dots between the doll’s strange line and Power Girl’s transformation.
“Batgirl, that’s Zatanna’s magic!” She shouted, putting one foot backwards in a stance that indicated she was ready to take flight, either to dive in and take out Toyman, or grab Batgirl and escape. “Get ready to-”
Wonder Woman didn’t have time to enact any of her potential options, as her nose and lips suddenly sunk in, her face flattening as her skin took on the appearance of soft felt. She no longer had real facial features, simply a printed pattern that resembled it. She had time to try to touch her new blank expression in horror, her hands fused into round, simplistic mittens as her golden bracelets and leotard became shiny felt. Her hair also became felt, roughly shaped in her hairstyle. You could see the seams running down the sides of her body where she was stitched together as she too fell over, losing control of her body as she shrunk, barely resembling human anatomy as she had short arms and legs and a huge, friendly head, becoming a simple plush doll that seemed even more cheaply made than Power Girl.
At that point, with two of the mightiest allies she knew reduced to helpless toys, Batgirl turned on her heel and fled, almost making it out of the warehouse when she was cursed with the strangest transformation of all. She slammed headfirst into a wall that hadn’t been there a second ago, a huge box materialising around her, emblazoned with the bat-symbol on each side. You could see the box shake as she thumped on it from the inside for the first few seconds, although it quickly became totally still as the box shrank down to be barely bigger than the other two, although at the very least upright. A crank appeared on the side, winding itself slowly upwards until the invisible hand turning it let go, turning backwards while cheerful music played until finally the top of the box burst open, a grinning, simplistic plush doll springing out of the top, with dot eyes and a big friendly smile on her face, stubby arms with mitten-hands like Wonder Woman, and a rounded body vaguely resembling her costume. As she bulged out and flopped around she revealed that she no longer had a bottom half, only a coiled spring that eventually lost momentum and settled back into the hole, ready to be pushed back in and wound up again.
As Batgirl’s music faded they were left in total silence, their cries and protests lost to the world as Toyman laughed, Zatanna shaking as she was horrified by what she had unintentionally done to her allies.
“Better, much better!” He laughed, heading over to retrieve his three new toys. “You’re all so much funner than those stuffy heroes you used to be! Oh, we’re going to have such fun together! Now, let’s get you off that dirty floor.”
He scooped up Power Girl and Wonder Woman, then stuffed Batgirl back into her box. He hummed happily as he went back to the crates and put them all into a bag together.
“Don’t worry,” He promised as he zipped it up. “I’ll have lots more friends for you soon…”