Possessive Behavior

The food on offer was quite varied.

Chinese-style fried noodles with chicken, some kind of soup, fries, a few steaks....and everyone had a drink too. Boneyard drank water, Darwin Gin, Alice soda, Mister Button......something red.....and I was given a glass of beer. Classic.

The final meal Alice brought out was for the male twin. She set it down in front of the undead lug with a little giggly twirl.

The arm looked to be cleanly severed and had either been baked or cooked, with a few sprinkles of salt glittering under the light.

My stomach was somewhat queasy but endurable. Maybe I was getting used to this shit.

I hoped not.

"Can I have a finger? Mister Button wants something to snack on." Alice asked sweetly.

The female twin ruffled her hair.

"Of course, darling."

She made a gesture in the air and the ring finger was sliced off.

"Yay, thanks!"

Trying to ignore....that....I decided to grab a steak of my own when the Haunting Nightmare spoke up.

"As you all know, we have a new performer to introduce to our troupe. Unlike our last admission, you should've all heard of her before. She de-haloed the Herald Queen. She murked the Sidebinder. Killed a bunch of hero-worshipping civvies. And of course, she cut The One's head off in front of millions of live watchers. Please, friends, welcome with me.....the Master Controller."

A light applause rang out across the table. Ariadne clicked two of her spider legs together. Both Alice and Mister Button clapped enthusiastically. The female twin and Darwin were more restrained.

The boss looked at me expectantly.

With a barely audible sigh, I got up.

"Hey there. I'm very flattered to be allowed to join your....illustrious group. It took quite a bit of work, but it seems it all paid off in the end. I'm looking forward to working with all of you."

I hoped I sounded convincing.

"Jesus, lady, lighten up. We're not a Fortune 500 company." Darwin laughed as he sipped from his drink.

Twin nudged him in the side.

"Don't be that way. Not all of us grew up on the streets. She just has manners."

Alice shook her head.

"No, no, nonono! Darwie is right! That's yapping! Stop yapping! Talk instead!"

I closed my eyes for a second to relax my mind.

You are the Master Controller.

Forget Mallory.

What would the Master Controller do in this situation?

When I opened my eyes again, I took my glass of beer, downed it in one, and let myself fall back on my seat with a smile.

"Glad to fucking be here then. Let's tear some shit up!"

"There we are!" Darwin celebrated as he refilled my drink.

"My friends." Boneyard said softly. "There is more to disclose."

"Indeed, B. Indeed." the boss agreed. "Listen, friends. Our new comrade here isn't quite who she appears to be. In fact, she's famous."

My heartbeat quickened. I knew he'd tell his crew, but still....it was always nervewracking to have my past dug up and thrown out in the open like that.

"Her real name is Mallory. Quite the distinct one, I gotta say, but you probably know her better.......as Satori."

Silence.

Even the eating noises stopped.

"The dead one?" Darwin asked.

"T...that's sooooooo cool!" Alice shrieked and looked up at me with stars in her eyes. I absentmindedly stroked her hair, feeling her practically vibrating with excitement.

"I'm sorry....I'm afraid I'm not familiar." Twin said sheepishly.

The Haunting Nightmare rubbed his chin with his human hand.

"Oh yeah. You wouldn't be."

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"She's a lightbulb." Darwin answered. "One everyone thought was broken. Guess she just switched sockets. This is very intriguing. I have a lot of questions."

"You can ask them later, in private." the boss said. "For now, all you need to know is she was held captive by the SOP for 5 years. When she was released she had a change of heart and wisely decided to join the winning side."

Boneyard nodded slowly. "We are working hard on a plan that makes use of her past, but it may still take a while. Please be patient."

"You and me....we'll talk later." Darwin said while returning to his fried noodles.

"To continue with the introduction...." Nightmare began and pulled a little playing card out of his pocket. It featured a laughing joker with a speech bubble exclaiming "You're It!".

I knew exactly what this was.

"A Vendetta Card." I whispered.

He chuckled.

"Of course, a former Hero of your standing would be familiar. Yes, this is a Vendetta Card. Every new member gets the opportunity to send one. Just one though."

"I wish I'd kept mine until my bitch sister defected." Darwin grumbled before the spiel continued.

"Choose someone you want dead, for any reason. Then sent them the card. After it arrives, you have seven days to kill that person. The whole team is yours to request for help, and we will do whatever we can to see that useless sack of meat strung up by his or her own entrails.....if that's the way you want them gone. We'll do it in whichever way you prefer. Should you fail to pull this off in 7 days though, the Vendetta is over. You will leave the target alone. Clear?"

"Crystal." I said as I grabbed the card.

"I have one request for you though. If you plan to send this to any of the Enlightened, hold off with that for a bit. They may or may not factor into one of our plans later on. Still undecided. Can you do that?"

I looked at him and nodded. I wasn't going to use it on any of them anyway. I knew exactly who deserved this thing.

I just had to wait for her to slither back into the country.

"Sure. I'll let you know when I'm ready."

"Good, good. There is one more thing to talk about." he said and pointed at me with his monstrous finger.

"You, my friend, need a makeover."

I raised my eyebrow.

"A makeover? What, are we doing a teen girl slumber party right now?"

"It's your theme. It doesn't fit." Boneyard whispered.

"Exactly." he nodded and gestured around the room. "You either need to be visibly freaky or look like you belong. Your costume barely has a theme as is. It's not very memorable. And Master Controller is a name that lacks any pizzazz. Other Villain groups might be more lax with this shit, but we take it very seriously."

"And why is that?" I asked, a bit annoyed at this sudden attack on my persona. I loved the Master Controller. She was confident, strong....no pizzazz my ass.

It was Darwin who answered while devouring his noodles.

"You probably know that Freakshow ain't the original. We spun off from a Villain group operating as a wandering circus worldwide." He forced the last big bite down his throat before finishing. "The Big Boss Boris, he left each tent with specific instructions that all have to follow. Number 3 - Stay Consistent, Be Recognizable, Stay on Theme."

The Haunting Nightmare sighed.

"Look, I'm not too big on it either, but this stupid list, it's like the Group Constitution. It allowed us to stay so well connected and influential. There isn't a single tent that has gone fully rogue, all are one unit. Because we all pull at the same rope. More or less. You understand?"

"I guess....." I muttered. "So what should this makeover look like?"

His mouth split into a grin, one side wider than the other.

"Boneyard gave me a pitch a few days ago I really liked. Take it away, B."

The thin woman reached into her cloak and pulled out a little binder filled with surprisingly decent drawings.

All were outfit pieces and while most were very different (some bigger, some smaller, some more frilly and extravagant, some less) they were all clearly designed around the same theme.

"The Ringmaster." she croaked out, her eyes lit up. "I figured this way you could keep half of your previous villain name, helps with the transition."

"And the only other Ringmaster-inspired performer is in Bulgaria, so you aren't stepping on anyone's toes over here." the boss added.

"But...." I started. My head was swimming a bit.

"I like it." Twin interjected as she petted her brother. "There are parts of her look we should let her keep though. I....have only started researching her very recently, but from what I could glean her gasmask seems to be a pretty iconic part of her outfit."

"The cape should stay too." Darwin added. " 'S not as integral as the mask, I know, but having a cape while being a Cape is always fun. She doesn't need to be super mobile either, I think, so it wouldn't be a big hindrance."

"Alice has something to say too!" she squeaked happily. "Ringmasters are loud and bombastic! It really fits with your Villain Yapping you did at the rally and the graveyard!"

Oh. Great. My favorite thing in the world. Attention.

"Look, guys..." I started again, but once again I was interrupted.

This time by Zen.

"You should work on your Power too."

I looked at him.

"Excuse me?"

"I saw it when I looked at you. You have achieved all the Powers you can get. But there's still room for growth. In the beginning, you could only read minds, right? But you trained that power further and further until it developed into Thought. During your captivity, the unending pain and stress caused a crisis response that developed it even further, granting you Deep Thought. These may seem like 3 separate Powers, but they are just 3 stages of your particular brand of mind reading."

"....Your point being?"

He smirked. God, I hated him.

"On the very last day of your captivity, you became capable of Full Possession. But you never trained it. You just used it as is."

I crossed my arms.

"Full Possession is the end of the line."

The floating villain shook his head.

"No. It usually is. Most others with similar abilities start with Partial Possession and have to develop it into Full, but not you. Full Possession is your starting point. I figure that is why the Powerbreaker wanted you in the first place."

I...was taken aback by this, to say the least.

"Well....I....How would I even go about training it?"

"I will help you. I'm confident I can produce at least some noticeable result within the timespan."

"You? Help me?........Wait, timespan? What timespan?"

I was startled when the Haunting Nightmare slapped his big claw on the table.

"For our next big run. Your debut. It'll be a big one." he growled.

"I'm so fucking giddy." Darwin said with a razor-sharp grin.

"In 3 months the Hero-Team/Entertainment Show Combo Alberti's Hovering Circus returns to LA. Darwin's sister, The Fittest, the poor little bird who ratted us out a few years ago, will be with them, performing her traitorous little heart out. I say we all attend her performance as a team, and Darwin here can catch up to his heart's content."

"We have so much to talk about." he chuckled.

"And this is where we will debut our newest member. Mallory. You'll be the star of the show. A new name. A new costume. New abilities.....A new purpose."

"I......"

For the third time this dinner, I was interrupted. This time by Alice. She threw herself around me and cuddled close.

"A whole new you!"