Meanwhile, at the S.S. Doom, Beta Ray Zero landed back on the deck with an unexpected passenger. Professor Lawrence Z. Crane, alias Mister Scary, had hijacked the Purple Joker's intended transport and hung the clown out to dry. While yes, the two had grown a professional respect for each other over the years, personally, Crane found Kilgrave absolutely repugnant. So, no love was lost at snatching away Joker's getaway.
Once Mr. Scary had worked his chemistry on the mysterious swordswoman, he fled to the roof of the Asylum. Bane's rampage provided the perfect distraction for him to flee upward. Once he had ascended, Crane called out to the false Asgardian and ordered him to bring him to the Legion's flagship. It didn't take a lot of convincing for Bezarro to oblige, as he had also hated Joker. The poor sap was still worried about dear Joan, but he would get over it. Everything that had transpired in the Asylum had gone to plan. Not to Loxxi's, but to Nygma's.
Lawrence hopped off Bezarro's back and approached the door, "Traveling off you was wonderfully swift, my friend. You are a truly fascinating specimen," he said to the beast in a very positive tone. Professor Crane was a master of psychology, and when it came to Bezarro, he knew how to utilize reverse psychology to confuse the monster with a clash of words and tone. He took pleasure in stupefying the big lug.
Beta Ray Zero stalled as he tried to figure out what exactly Professor Crane meant. He was working hard to try and understand things the way everyone else did. The tone implied something positive, but the words meant something so harsh to him. He missed the Jester; she was simpler to understand. "Ugh…me brain hurt," He clutched his head in confusion as he tried to understand.
Mr. Scary tugged at his leather gloves before knocking on the door. As he awaited its opening, he adjusted the rest of his attire so he could make a good impression for the rest of the villains. When his ex-co-worker told him about an exciting new venture, Crane was initially averse. He was a medium sized fish in a small pond. Moving to the ocean, literally in this case, seemed too much for the scientific minded menace. But when he learned that he'd be working alongside Yon-Sinestro, the cosmos's master of Fear, he was instantly sold on the basis that he'd work with his idol. With one of Sinestro's yellow rings, Crane could unlock the secrets of terror and horror in ways he never could have dreamed.
The front door shifted open to reveal the ship's interior. The seven current inhabitants looked to the front to see Mr. Scary, receiving mixed reactions. Of the myriad, the primary one was confusion. "And now, let me properly welcome the Clown Puppeteer of Crime…eh, what?!" It had seemed that Loxxi was preparing to introduce Purple Joker to the Legion with some dramatic speech, only for it to be all for naught when he hadn't been the one behind the door. "What the hell is he doing here?!" Loxxi shouted in fury.
Minerva popped her claws in response to Luthorson's visceral reaction, "Who is this grim reaper, wannabe?"
Kamala was the first to chime in and answer, "That's Mr. Scary, he's one of the guys who worked under Kingpain in Goth's Kitchen. He uses a gas to make people live their worst fears through hallucinations," she quickly expositioned as if on cue.
Sonic Manta scoffed at hearing Crane's alias, "Mister Scary, that's the most ridiculous moniker I've ever heard. What, was medical school so difficult that you couldn't call yourself Doctor?" he mocked with a reverberated laugh.
Meanwhile, Toymandarin paid no attention to Mr. Scary. He was fidgeting away at a tablet, browsing through the internet to see how many new toys had come to light since he'd been put away. He was also looking at inspiration for new designs for weaponry.
Yon-Sinestro cocked an eyebrow in intrigue, "Quiet, fish man. The man in rags piques my interest." He clenched his fist, causing his yellow ring to glimmer. A beam of light shot from Sinestro's hand, itself also becoming a hand, grabbing Mr. Scary from the entryway, and dragging him front and center before the other Legionnaires.
Crane was starstruck upon contact with Sinestro's construct. He could feel the energy radiating off it, and his adrenaline spiking to levels akin to terror by just being in its presence. It was exhilarating to him. He looked up to the roundtable he sat in the center of, primarily to Yon-Sinestro. "Mister Sinestro, sir, I must be transparent. I am a big fan of your work," he said with great reverence. Once Kree released Crane from his grasp, he immediately kneeled before them.
Finally, Nygma decided to speak up, "Welcome Lawrence, we've been awaiting your arrival for some time. I assume everything in Ryker's went to plan?" the Inquizitor inquired as he adjusted his glasses.
Scary smirked behind his mask, "It went swimmingly, Wesley. Ivy's actions towards Quinzel were as predicted, my emergency venom did wonders for our old employer, and I have never seen the Blind Bat so bloodied. Not to mention how many prisoners were subjected to my toxin. I must say, this has been one of my better days."
"Yes, well, this reunion is very nice and all, but can you please tell me WHY ARE YOU HERE?!" Loxxi seethed with frustration. "The plan was to bring Purple Joker here, so we could harvest his blood, and use its properties to pacify anyone who resists our changes to reality. But I see no Joker, and that means that whole operation was a waste of time!"
"Well, maybe he got out with the rest of them. I can blitz around the Kitchen, and snatch him out," Minerva offered up, trying to remedy her leader's anger.
"Oh, no. That won't be possible," the Toymandarin spoke up in his eerie voice.
Loxxi grimaced, "And why is that Mr. Winwu?" He asked as his eye started to twitch.
"Sorry to tell you, Mr. Luthorson, but the Puppet Master's dead," Winwu answered as he held up his tablet to reveal a news report from the Goth's Kitchen Gazette announcing as such. "A lady in a green cloak with a magic sword did it."
Loxxi Luthorson's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his skull. He raised his hand in the air; it started glowing with green light as Nygma's whole body did the same. The two entities then collided as Wesley was telekinetically dragged across the table. His neck was then clasped firmly in Loxxi's grip as if he called forth Thor's hammer.
Everyone around the table was in shock. Minerva popped her claws again, prepared to dispose of the body if needed. Kamala embiggened her fists to rather separate them and deescalate the situation. Winwu and Sinestro readied their rings, and Manta his cannon to defend themselves in case they were next.
Loxxi held Nygma in a death grip, it was the same one Ghanoseid had used six months prior to nearly kill him. "This was your doing, wasn't it? You betrayed the mission just to dispatch your old rival," he accused with venom in his voice. "You are a small, petty, weak-willed coward of a man. Give me one good reason not to eliminate your measly existence, right now!"
Nygma squirmed in Loxxi's grasp, helplessly trying to escape, "Understand I had your best interests at heart, sir. Joker would have been a severe liability to the cause, I did what I knew would benefit you in the long run. And you still need me to decipher the logistics!" Wesley answered in a panicked frenzy.
Loxxi chortled, "You think you're the only one who could have done it? You one-man think tanks come by the dozen. You were just the first one who ate up my offer. What I don't have is a man who can alter perception of reality without telepathy!" He began squeezing harder on the Inquizitor's windpipe, ready to expel his frustration.
Nygma barely had the air to choke out, "Actually…you do." He weakly raised his arm to point towards Mr. Scary.
This was Crane's time to shine, "Don't you worry, sir. You won't need him to provide you with a proper cognitive anesthetic," he assured. He reached into his cloak and retrieved a vial hidden within a compartment on his fear gas cannister. As he opened it, cold mist billowed out from beneath his rags.
"Forgive me, but terrifying billions into accepting their new reality is not what I intend to do. I'm done trying to rule the world through fear. This requires a gentler touch," Loxxi denounced as his remark earned a glare from Sinestro. During this, he dropped Wesley to the ground. The matchstick man reeled on the ground, trying to catch his breath.
"Oh no, of course not. This is something far more special," Crane shined the vial against the spotlight hanging over the table. The liquid within carried a magenta hue. It looked like Joker's blood. "I've been taking samples of Joan Quinzel's blood. Nygma and I captured her once during a gang war we had with Joker, years ago. Given her proximity to Kilgrave, and how he enjoyed her company, there are select traces of his blood, and therefore pheromones, attached to her DNA. It's how I synthesized those inoculations for you all. Funny how that ended up being unnecessary." He explained with a chortle.
Loxxi was impressed by Crane's ingenuity, "So, does this mean that you can mass produce his pheromones for that stage of the plan?"
Mr. Scary stored the vial back in his cannister, "I'll need time and the proper resources, but yes. You'll get what you want, and so will I."
Loxxi glanced over to Wesley, "I assume you've brought him up to speed on everything?" he asked nonchalantly, as if he didn't nearly just strangle the Inquizitor to death a minute prior.
Wesley slowly rose to the table, sat back in his chair, and readjusted his tie and glasses. "Yes sir, this was always my intention to replace Joker's utility with someone I knew we could trust," he explained in a hushed voice. He continued to hold his throat after that terrifying experience.
The Inquizitor was hardly given the respect he felt he deserved. He was extremely intelligent, but he felt that competence was constantly overlooked because of his mild-mannered demeanor. The Kingpain had always treated Wesley well, but the disparity in their statures led to few criminal cohorts having the same reverence. His quiz and riddle gimmick garnered some ire as well. The criminal underworld saw Wesley Nygma as a joke, nothing but a lapdog to the Kingpain.
He was desperate to prove himself a competent solo-supervillain after the fall of Bane. His employer had entrusted him to run Goth's Kitchen while he was away, and he failed miserably. He had the plans, but he couldn't command the same presence he relied on Bane for in the past. Nygma always felt he was doomed to play lackey to someone else, and now he was working for someone who didn't even value him. Nevertheless, he remained devoutly loyal to whoever signed his checks, hoping his talents and merit would eventually win out in the end.
Loxxi looked towards Mr. Scary and grinned, "Well, with all that in order, welcome to the Legion of Masters, Lawrence." He extended his hand across the table to officially bring him aboard.
Lawrence Crane pulled back his hood and popped off his gas mask. A hiss of air rushed out as his face was revealed once again. He held the mask to his side so he could look Loxxi in the eyes as he shook his hand, "The honor is all mine, Mr. Luthorson."
"Please Lawrence, we're peers now. Call me Loxxi," and so, a new Legionnaire was born.
Within the ever-shifting floors within the Tower of Fate, Jessica was undergoing some familial bonding with her dear Uncle Khlarion. And by bonding, I mean rigorous training exercises. Within the non-Euclidean layout of the tower, the Emerald Witch tried to navigate the confusing landscape. Walls and floors levitated around the confines of the tower, creating new corridors to everywhere, staircases to nowhere, and battlegrounds which did not fully operate within the laws of conventional physics. She made a series of wrong turns and escalations, forcing her to be completely turned around.
Jessica was currently upside down on the bottom of a slab of stone aimlessly drifting through the liminal space. The fluid gravity made her feel somewhat queasy. "Uncle, are you sure that this is necessary for me to work with? Gravity is pretty standard wherever I go," she asked unsurely, as she flared her ring with light. The emerald glow was now combined with black crackles.
The darkness within the light was Khlarion's doing. With Jessica's lantern's stores of willpower locked behind an oath she forgot; the demon child used his powers to force the energy within it directly into her ring. Magic of the Green Mystics was beholden to restrictions and disciplines, Khlarion's chaos magic spat in the face of all of that and brute forced reality to his own will. That willpower now being what powered Jessica's ring.
The witch boy in the wheelchair sat above on a ledge overlooking the scene akin to Relativity by M.C. Escher. All the while, he gently petted his precious raven. "Completely, Jessie! Our power derives from what can be! The less you focus on what should be, the better!" By expanding the realm of possibilities to a theoretical environment, her capabilities should also potentially increase. "Now, let's make things interesting," he said as he snapped his fingers.
The bird flew from her perch on Khlarion's chair. Miss Tiquel spun around mid-flight. Dark blue feathers swirled around the familiar as she took on her true, more humanoid form. She landed at the other side of the room with a flourish. Piercing yellow eyes stared into Jessica's soul as the feathers on her wing-arms sharpened into blades. She never spoke a word that the Witch could understand, but Jessica could always sense the birdwoman was communicating with her uncle.
The Emerald Witch looked at Miss Tiquel uneasily, "She's not going to seriously hurt me, is she?" She asked looking up to Khlarion.
"Probably not, but who am I to say she's not going to slice you to ribbons," the boy answered, emphasizing the last part out loud to his familiar.
Miss Tiquel quickly ran across the warped arena. The lissome avian traversed the treacherous terrain with ease. She ran on walls and even under floating platforms before jumping down to slash at Jessica with her feathers.
Jessica instinctively put up a shield of emerald light with her ring to defend against the initial strike. She took a step back and turned the shield into a large fist and send it straight forward to knock Tiquel back. She was rusty with her constructs, but she still knew the basics of using it for combat.
The bird lady rolled with the punch, but she ended up tumbling through one of the ever-shifting staircases. She dashed through the halls, emerging from one side of the tower to another. The raven sent flurries of razor-sharp feathers from her wings whenever she passed by a opening as she traveled the non-Euclidian space.
Jessica had no way of knowing where her feathered assailant was going to pop out from next. Anywhere she ran would end up leading somewhere different. The feathers darted through the air and flew around Jessica. She ended up creating constructs of fans to blow the feathers away. Some were blown away, but the mystical nature of the shots sent them flying back to their target. Most stabbed into Jessica's jade jacket, but others passed through and pierced her skin. She flinched, but she wasn't badly injured.
The Emerald Witch thought for a moment. There was no use chasing Miss Tiquel through the tower. Getting anywhere in a place like this would be a fool's errand. But if she stayed in one place too long, more of her feathers would cut her up.
And as she stood in rumination, the next assault came from below her. Somehow the raven had gone across a horizontal staircase and ended up a floor below. As they careened towards Jessica, she retaliated with a blast of energy. The shot crackled with both green and black light as it punched straight towards the direction of the feathers. Tiquel would retreat through the staircase and end up somewhere else, but Jessica maintained her will. Instead of being a single blast of light, it was a continuous stream of energy which chased the bird through the tower. It would follow the bird wherever she fled.
Jessica watched as the bird scrambled through the terrain. The blue figure soared around the space as the green beam chased her like a comets tail. At the same time, keeping this extensive construct up was exhausting. Consistent output like this was like tensing a muscle, and she hadn't left her home for six months. But within minutes, the entire interior of the tower looked like a laser security grid straight out of a spy movie.
Miss Tiquel tried circling back to hit Jessica head on. Admittedly, the familiar underestimated the girl. The Emerald Witch was cleverer than she originally let on. She had been Khlarion's fateful companion for decades, meaning she had known Jessica's father for just as much time. The bird understood the relationship the Nelson brothers had, and deeply respected Erik for his work. Regardless, she still hated him because his work was in direct opposition to theirs. Now that he was gone, her master could finally wreak chaos upon the world like she was created to do.
Eventually, the bird would emerge from a staircase leading to the ceiling from a window leading outside. How she ended up outside was unclear. Miss Tiquel leapt from the corner where the axis bent and prepared to slash two bladed wings across the young woman's face. But unfortunately, she was not faster than the laser, and it punched straight through her. All the way through.
Khlarion's eyes bulged as he saw his familiar so brutally maimed by the powerful attack, "Oh damn."
The bird lady collapsed to the ground, losing all aerial momentum. She looked down to see a hole going all the way through her torso. Jessica was horrified at the idea she'd accidentally murdered her uncle's familiar. Her concentration shattered as the laser dissipated.
Khlarion had told her, as his anchor, if Tiquel died, he'd be cast from his dimension. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" she said in a panic. Jessica ran to the bird woman as she started constructing what looked to be a large Band-Aid.
Tiquel only tilted her head in curiosity like any bird would, as the hole in her body repaired and refilled itself. She seemed unfazed by the impalement.
"She's a shapeshifter, Jess! Also, she's magic. It's not like you can actually kill her like that," Khlarion called down from above, followed by a sinister sounding chuckle. He found her shock and awe entertaining. "Good job, though! Just fantastic!" He then applauded.
Jessica reached her hand down and helped Miss Tiquel back up on her own two feet. The bird woman gave her a nod before transforming back into her simple, raven form, and flying back up to her master's chair. "Hey, would you mind changing the tower back to normal? I don't know where you put the kitchen."
Khlarion looked around at the chaotic mess that was the tower's current floorplan, "But this looks so cool!" he pleaded back like the petulant child he appeared as.
Jessica stared up at her uncle on his platform and fired out a large green hand from her ring and grabbed the platform. She then slammed the slab of stone straight down to her level, shaking Khlarion quite a bit. "Now, Uncle Charles. Please." She was not amused whatsoever.
"Ugh, fine. That's all you had to say, kid. Words can be magic too, y'know," Khlarion said sarcastically. Once the boy regained his bearings, he snapped his fingers and the setting of the tower returned to how it was before with a large shock wave of black magic. While his abilities were not usually so unlimited to where he could warp space to the extent it was, the mystical architecture of the Tower of Fate gave him a boost in potential.
Jessica looked around as everything in her home returned to how it should be. She looked at Khlarion with concern. How could she be sure that he is who he says he is? He wears her late-uncle's face, but is he really her uncle? What if she made a massive mistake by working with him? She could very well have made a deal with the devil and doomed the world; because she didn't want to grieve her father alone and be strong enough to succeed him.
"You know, for somebody who's powers come from their force of will, you got a lot of fear on your mind, Jessie," Khlarion commented, resting his chin on his fist which was on the armrest of his chair.
His comment startled her, "Gah! What do you-" Jessica asked, after a jump.
Khlarion tapped the side of his head with his other hand, "Telepath, kiddo," he answered with a smirk, "I get it. You have every reason not to trust me. I came out of a portal to Hell, completely admitted to being your dad's nematode," he continued before being squawked at by his bird. "Nemesis, right."
Jessica conjured a hand from her ring and stretched it out to grab the inert Helm of Iscariot. She then jerked the arm back to bring the helm back to her, and she placed it over her head. While it didn't have any magical properties anymore, the metals used to forge it negated Khlarion's telepathy. The idea behind its creation was that no one could inhabit the mind of Nabu's host but himself. "Stay out of my head, Uncle Charles," she ordered meekly from within the helmet, a metallic ring accompanying her voice.
Khlarion chuckled, "Sorry, can't help it. Your thoughts are really loud." He rubbed his temples afterward, "Not bad today, though."
Jessica mused as she folded pieces of the helm back. It had different retractable layers used to control what parts of the face could be seen. She was uncomfortable being fully obscured by the helm, even if its power was inert. The created opening resembled a heart shape around her face. "Thanks, I'm honestly just glad I didn't accidentally kill your bird. Do you think I'm finally ready to get back into action? I promised the League to put me back in rotation soon."
Khlarion chuckled sinisterly and shook his head. "Yeah, I wouldn't guarantee it, you still got a long way to go." He looked at Jessica's ring in posh disgust, "I'm not a fan of the ring-slingers as a group, but their weapons are my whole deal. Limitless possibilities confined only to your imagination, and you create a straight a line?"
Jessica shrugged, "I don't know, I just went with seemed practical. I don't want to drain my battery with anything too elaborate." She seemed a little hurt at her uncle's disappointment. She was really trying to do what seemed right for the situation.
"Practical, she says, get a load of that," Khlarion said sarcastically to his bird. "You're a mystic, kid. Even the ones I'm contractually obligated to fight against have a little flair! Be honest, why are you holding back?"
Jessica stood in silence as she pondered the question. She knew what she had the potential to create with her ring. Those constructs struck terror in anyone who saw them unprepared, even those she used them to save. "I don't want to scare people. That's not how we're supposed to function."
Khlarion rolled his eyes, "You call yourself the Emerald Witch, that's not a name that inspires the most continence," he said before his bird squawked to correct him again, "Sorry, confidence. Wait, what did I say?" The boy heard another response from Miss Tiquel, "Wait, that's what that word means? Okay, my word still works," he concluded with a smirk.
Jessica felt awkward just standing there, only listening to half of a tangent conversation, "Anyway, I became a hero because I didn't want people to feel as powerless and scared of the world around them as I did on my worst day. Back when I was terrified to leave my home for anything, it gave me strength that overcoming my fear would bring out the same strength in someone else."
Khlarion whistled in amusement, "Wow, how noble. How did that work out?" he asked rhetorically, knowing exactly how that played out.
"Not…well," Jessica answered ashamed. "That fear, it manifests in ways I don't want it to. My constructs, when I'm not holding back, become monstrous. A little girl shouldn't stare into the eyes of a horned demon while a building is collapsing on top of them. Sometimes, they'll think I'm the one causing the danger rather than protecting them." She took a deep breathe and sighed in resignment, "Despite my efforts, I can't control how the world sees, so I gave up, and let them see me as a Witch."
"And the League never supported you, never tried to help rebrand you? They just let the world see you as a freak while they used you to police the world, or "save it" as they sanctimoniously claim!" Khlarion spouted proudly.
"It's not all like that. Yeah, Stark is like that, but they're like family to me. And now, they're the only family I got left," Jessica retorted defensively. "Sergeant Garrick, Diana, and Logan knew my father back when he was a kid; they're like great aunts and uncles to me, Thunderman was there for me when Minerva turned, and in these past months, Captain Gamma came to check on me every weekend."
Khlarion cocked an eyebrow, "You don't think they came to check on you just to try and get you back on the team? They were in need one of their biggest weapons, and that's what you are to them. Just like Erik was, for both generations."
Jessica was getting annoyed with how her uncle was badmouthing her extended family. Her ring flared with green and black energy as she pointed it towards Khlarion, "I'm not a weapon to them, Charles. I won't let your words turn me against them. I get causing chaos is your job, but I won't let you manipulate me into forsaking them."
Khlarion raised his hands into the air and snickered, "Okay, okay! You caught me. I was just testing you to see how loyal you were to these guys. I can't help but stir the pot and call the kettle black," he joked nonsensically, unaware his butchered idiom meant nothing. "Don't get your tights all bundled up, I won't bring it up again unless you do, fine?"
Jessica calmed down and cooled her ring, "Fine." Silence hit the room for a few moments, "Wait, what did you mean by both generations?"
Given that Jessica mentioned it, and not him, Khlarion was elated to oblige her question. "You realize me and Erik were kids when all that went down, right? He hadn't even hit puberty yet, and I haven't for 80 years," he said bitterly.
"I am aware," Jessica answered with a sigh, "But, the Helm of Nabu turned his body into an adult's while he was using it. It's not like they were using him as a child soldier. He was one of the MSA's strongest members," she justified.
"Jessie, it wasn't just some kerscuffle between two sports ball teams, this was a damn war. And they sent a kid who'd lost both his parents and me to the biggest blight on humanity's history to fight alongside them. Spin it however you want, but you can't roll a square wheel. And right after the war, they abandoned him," Khlarion asserted.
"What? That can't be," Jessica denied, "Why would they just leave him alone?"
"Because that's what heroes do, kid. You're only family when you have something to fight over," Khlarion answered. "It's been really peaceful since Erik saved the universe from that big blue guy. And since then, only one of them has come to check on their martyr's precious daughter. That was, until things started getting bad again," he continued as he gestured to her ring, "And they needed their weapon again."
Jessica started to believe what he was saying, but her initial doubts resurfaced. All of the circumstances which led him into her life were completely insane. Nothing he did really made sense, and he prided himself on it. She remembered an adage the Blind Bat had told her once; that many accusations are actually confessions. "And how do I know you're not just doing the same to me?"
Khlarion chuckled, "Because I'm your uncle, and uncles and notrociously trustworthy!"
"How do I know that you're even my father's brother?! He's never mentioned you turning into this. You've openly claimed to be working against my father for decades. And everything you've done has been to keep me away from the League so they can't try and oppose you!" Jessica listed off, feeling like a complete fool for assumedly falling for an idiotic ruse because of her grief. "You have a passing resemblance to an eighty-year-old photo I saw in an album a month ago, and that's it! How could I be so blind?!" She raised her ring towards Khlarion to fire a blast of energy, but it sputtered and crackled out impotently. Jessica's resolve instantly shattered.
Khlarion held up a clenched fist, "Well kid, you were blind enough to let me infect your ring with my power. So that's on you," he said pointing at her with his other hand. His wheelchair then began to levitate into the air, surrounded by a black and red aura. The demon child's skin turned pale blue and his smile crept across his face with inhuman proportions. He then let out a sinister cackle as his voice distorted to something monstrous.
"Now, this is the part where I'd use my powers to flay your skin off your body, incinerate your flesh, and send your conscious mind through what would be an eternity of endless mental torment as you relive every single piece of trauma on loop in gruesome detail!" He described graphically as he guffawed with dark glee. Blood began to ooze from the walls of the Tower as a ring of green fire rose up around them.
Jessica's rejection of Khlarion's premise awakened the darkest parts within him, preparing him to unleash everything he had upon the insolent woman. She shuddered in abject horror at the concept of everything he just said. She felt absolutely helpless for what was about to happen next. It was a feeling she was all too familiar with. "No, wait please! I'm sorry. Please don't, I'll do whatever you sa-," she begged and pleaded for mercy until she was cut off.
Miss Tiquel cawed at Khlarion, causing the boy to simmer down, "I mean, I would if I wasn't completely truthful in everything I just said. And a good uncle would never do that to his darling niece," he responded in his normal voice as all the hell he brought loose receded back into nothingness. Everything returned to as it should have been as if it never happened. Nary a single drop or cinder left behind.
"I-um-huh? What? What?" She stammered as Jessica shook in fear of what she witnessed. Her brain was in panic mode and was only slowly coming back to reality.
"I was just joking, kiddo. I mean you no harm whatsoever. I just want to get the family back together, honestly. I guess I got a little carried away with the theatrics. My bath," he awkwardly apologized as he looked at the quivering witch who was now huddled up on the floor.
"A little?!" Jessica cried out, "What the hell was that?!" she asked followed by putting her head in her hands.
"That is a fraction of what my power can do," Khlarion answered, cracking his knuckles. "But I'm guessing if we're going to continue our fun, I owe you some proof. It's the least I can do after that."
Jessica looked back up at the boy, "You have proof? What is it?"
Khlarion lifted his finger and twirled it in a circle. The motions spawned an inky black portal swirling on the floor, "We're just going to see an old friend who can corroborate my story. Get in."
Jessica stared down at the portal with dinnerplate eyes, "You really expect me to jump through that thing?"
"I mean, kind of," he answered with a shrug.
"This isn't going to trap me in another dimension for five hundred years, is it," Jessica asked hesitantly. She shook her fist a little bit as her ring flickered back to life. It'd seemed Khlarion had ceased his control over his supplements within it.
"Five hundred? Yes. Years? No," Khlarion answered before snapping his fingers. A large hand emerged from a portal behind Jessica, shoving her down the chasm. Jessica screamed loudly as she plummeted through the abyss. "Just sit tight, I'll meet you there!" he called down before he gestured his fingers in a cutting motion. Just like that, both the hand and the portal disappeared.
Khlarion snapped his fingers again and summoned a small, wooden clock to float beside him. "Okay, I got eight minutes and fifteen second-fourteen se-thirtee-twe-screw it!" He put his fingers to his temples and sent out a telepathic signal. He called out to Loxxi Luthorson. Surprising no-one, Khlarion was Loxxi Luthorson's mysterious mystical benefactor.
"Talk to me number one, do you have the purple man?" he thought towards the villain. His mental voice was deep and rich with a silky English accent. It was befitting of someone who was the actual age Khlarion would have been had be not died. He was hiding his true form to Loxxi, likely so he'd be taken seriously by him.
"Not exactly, Mister X. The Purple Joker's dead," Loxxi thought back. He was currently sitting in the captain's quarters of the S.S. Doom which he had commandeered from Sonic Manta. He was staring out at the portholes with contempt for the current situation.
Khlarion was greatly annoyed by this development. He had great plans for Jack Kilgrave going beyond. He claimed himself an agent of chaos, and the boy was as excited to use him tactically like a child would the hot new toy on the shelf. His frustration manifested in an extremely loud internal scream.
Given Khlarion was screaming in his mind, and Loxxi was connected to his mind right now, he heard all of it. It sent Luthorson flying from his chair into the window in front of him. His head was reeling from both the faceplant, and the mental sound. "I know you're upset, but we have a backup plan. Nygma undermined my commands, but he wasn't so foolhardy not to replace Joker with someone else. Lawrence Zoltan Crane, known here as Mr. Scary. He says he can replicate Kilgrave's pheromones."
Eventually, once the boy had calmed down, he responded. "How much of a setback are we facing here, number one?"
"Without Joker's instant sedation, we'll be set back about two weeks. We'll also require some extra help with raiding the Iron Vault. Using him to surpass the guards was a big part of that plan," he explained as he sat back in his chair. "How is the battery coming along," Loxxi asked in turn, not aware that the battery in question was the Emerald Witch herself.
"It's getting there. There's been certain roadblocks which are blocking the rise in potential magic. But give me enough time, and we should remain on schedule," Khlarion answered. "Do you have a plan to get into the Vault without the Purple Joker?"
"I know the perfect people to handle a heist like this," Loxxi said conjuring what looked like a rolodex, and setting it on his desk. He flipped through the old-fashioned trinket until he found the proper information for one Leonard Buchanan Barnes.
"Good, while I have you, I do have some questions as far as who you've been bringing onto the team," Khlarion interjected. "You needed the cat for her speed, the fish for the ship, the doll kid for the design specs, the lawyer for the connections, the fascist for space travel, and the horse guy for muscle. Why'd you want me to help break out the stretchy girl? You already have my shapeshifter at your disposal, and Bezarro is way stronger than her. Isn't she kind of redundant?"
Loxxi mentally chuckled, "Oh Mister X, this is why you pursued me to start this whole thing. You may be psychic, but I'm the one with the vision to see where this is all going," he said proudly. "You create the world we both desire, the people in it have to believe that our Legion has what it takes to be its saviors, its heroes. Many of us can try to be good, to play it for the cameras, but she still believes that she can be. That illusion of hope for herself gives us legitimacy."
"Do you think that illusion will keep her loyal to you?" Khlarion asked, a bit miffed by Loxxi's condescension despite the façade he was putting on his mental broadcast.
"She's adjusting. Sinestro is keeping a tight hold on her, draining her of her capacity for fear. Once we send her out in the field, I think her loyalty will be fully cemented," Loxxi said tactically.
"I'll leave that to your discretion, but do not fail me again with your next mission. Understood?" Khlarion asked trying to sound threatening to Loxxi and assert dominance.
"Understood, Mister X," Loxxi responded with a smirk in his mental voice. It wasn't working. And just like that, the transmission between the two was over.
Khlarion checked his floating clock. Six minutes and forty-five seconds had passed since he had last checked. He didn't have much time. "Gee, I've been letting her fall in the void for a while. I gotta get over there!" He then twirled his finger again, this time creating a portal above him. With a pump down of his arm, the portal rushed down over him and his bird, sending the Witch Boy to someone he hadn't seen in a long time.
