The Controlled Clown?

In a secret room at a secret base in New York, four figures stood outside a pitch-black pool of water, their expressions somewhat respectful.

On the other side of the pool, on the wall, a red Mask was staring at them, Mask emanating an eerie Dark Power.

This red Mask is the embodiment of the consciousness of a dark powerhouse named Tarak, the supreme leader of the Shadowkhan, a mysterious powerhouse from the Dark Dimension.

The four people standing on the other side were the other four fingers of the Hand, named Alexandra, Bakuto, Sowande, and Murakami. Together with Madame Gao, they were known as the Five Fingers of the Hand, or the five leaders.

These five leaders each developed their own the Hand forces in five different regions around the world, and with the power granted by Tarak, they all grew to a considerable size in their respective territories.

However, the five leaders of the Hand did not usually keep in touch, which is why Madame Gao's death went unnoticed for so long.

That makes sense, since Madame Gao didn't even leave behind a body, and couldn't even get the news that she was dead, it was indeed very difficult to discover her.

Furthermore, given that these five leaders were already elusive, Madame Gao's disappearance did not arouse any suspicion among her subordinates.

If Tarak hadn't come to her senses this time and discovered Madame Gao's tragic state, the rest of the Hand would likely have been delayed in learning of Madame Gao death for even longer.

Meanwhile, Tarak was demonstrating his divine power to his followers. In the pitch-black pool, the water surged and churned, and streams of Dark Power emerged. A figure slowly materialized from the water.

When they saw this figure, a hint of fanaticism flashed in the respectful eyes of Alexandra and the others, because they knew that this power, comparable to resurrection, could bring them back to life even in the face of misfortune, which was equivalent to giving them the power of immortality!

With a "whoosh," Madame Gao's figure quickly materialized, dressed in black, and slowly stood up from the pool, her gaze fixed on Alexandra and the others.

"Welcome back, Madame Gao." Alexandra and the others nodded to Madame Gao and welcomed her with smiles.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you, Master. It's all my fault!" Madame Gao nodded, turned around, knelt on the ground, kowtowed to Tarak's Mask, and said with a guilty voice.

"What happened? How did you die?" Tarak's voice was calm and indifferent as she asked.

"A mysterious powerful figure stole the power of the Shadowkhan. I don't know if he possessed Mask or what, but I was investigating when I died at his hands," Madame Gao said with a hint of resentment.

"In that case, continue the investigation. This is the task I'm giving you five. You must retrieve the remaining Mask, no matter where they are!" Tarak said in a deep voice, looking at Alexandra and the others.

"We will certainly complete our master's mission! We will go through fire and water without hesitation!" Alexandra and the others immediately knelt down and replied respectfully in the same voices.

"Well, you can all go out first. I have something to say to Madame Gao..." Tarak said softly and then closed her eyes. Alexandra and the others exchanged glances, then obediently got up and left the secret room.

"..."

"It took me a lot of effort to create this body, but thankfully, now I have a body that can walk in the human world." Tarak said softly, looking at Madame Gao's body, and then a consciousness completely took over Madame Gao's body.

Madame Gao never resisted, not because she truly worshipped Tarak to that extent, but because Madame Gao body itself had no consciousness; it was merely a performance for Alexandra and the others.

Reviving a body isn't that difficult, but restoring consciousness and soul is not so easy. At least, Madame Gao isn't worth Tarak paying such a price.

The information Madame Gao just mentioned was merely the information Madame Gao had reported before she went to find Johnny Storm and the others.

"Not bad. If I can find more Mask, I can make this body even stronger..." Tarak, or rather, Madame Gao, nodded, satisfied, and walked out of the room to relay her orders.

Immediately, countless Shadowkhan and the Hand members scattered, searching for the Mask's whereabouts throughout the world.

Meanwhile, in a city filled with an aura of darkness...

To be precise, it was in the outskirts of the city, in the darkest place, in Arkham Asylum, which Clark had mentioned to Robet.

A man dressed in a retro suit, with a gentle face, kind eyes, and a smile that made him seem approachable, was playing with a blue Mask in his hand. What was most peculiar was that this blue Mask could actually speak!

"Wear me! Wear me, and you'll have the power to control the Shadowkhan. You can leave this wretched place and regain your freedom... Waaah! Waaah!" Just as the Demon -like blue Mask began to tempt the man, the man took out a cigar from somewhere and stuffed it into the Mask's Barry.

"Don't talk nonsense. This place is so much fun, and there are so many interesting patients, all of them are talented and have such nice voices. I love it here! Why would I leave so easily?" The man looked kindly at the blue- Mask twirling the cigar in his hand and said with a light laugh.

"The only slight regret is that the guy who suffers from the same mental illness as me, who likes to wear all black and imitates a bat at night, didn't come here. Otherwise, this place would be even more interesting... Do you think you have the ability to bring him here?"

"I... Waaah! Waaah! I can!" The blue- Mask, his cigar swirling in his mouth, couldn't utter a complete sentence. The Mask trembled slightly, as if trying to break free from the man's grasp.

"You're quite an interesting little guy... Hmm, let's give it a try!" The man looked at the struggling blue Mask in his hand, which still had a somewhat adorable look on it, and a gentle smile appeared on his lips. He took out a cigar and then put the Mask on his face.

"Yes! That's it! Wear me, and you'll possess immense power! This is the power of General Ika!" The excited and frenzied voice of General Ika, wearing the blue Mask, echoed throughout the room.

"Unfortunately, your body will also belong to me! Because once you put on the Mask, the evil deep within you will be completely unleashed, your kindness and conscience will be corrupted, I will completely devour your mind, extinguish your humanity, and turn you into a cold-blooded, ruthless, and terrifying devil! Hmm? What's going on? How terrifying... No! What did you do? Stop it! No..."

"How interesting, what an interesting little fellow. It's a pity that I don't seem to have any kindness or conscience to begin with! Is this the Dark Power? What a rich and sweet power! It has increased my strength by so much! I can sense that my body has improved countless times compared to before!" The man's lips curled up slightly, and he replaced General Ika's voice, continuing to speak in a gentle yet slightly sickly tone.

"So, the stronger the evil thoughts in one's heart, the stronger the power one possesses after transforming into Demon form? Hehe, so my heart is this wicked? Suddenly, I really want to see if his heart is just as wicked..."