"You were never mentally manipulated or dosed with pheromones" Mercy blatantly lied hoping that Dekan could be made to accept this as the truth "You came to all of your conclusions on your own and you have no thoughts that are unusual"
Given Dekan's prodigious talent for rationalization and self-justification in the service of his own ego, this seems rather clever to me.
"You don't mind answering a few questions now for me do you?" Mercy dryly asked Dekan as he came to. This was a way for her to test the waters and see just where Dekan was mentally.
"I do but only because I have to answer anything a LexCorp employee asks me completely and honestly" Dekan fired back contemptuously, not realizing that he'd essentially repeated back the same instructions Mercy had given to him "Lying and keeping secrets from LexCorp will get me killed so I'd rather not be forced into such a position"
The mind control pheromones remain
not subtle. Also:
Mildred Graves:
"And by 'into such a position,' he means 'into a shallow unmarked grave in a swamp on the Eastern Shore."
[chuckles]
"I believe that Rebecca Carstairs lacks a soul because my instincts told me that was the case. There are holes in my memory as to what the exact reasoning was but I'm certain that this is correct." Dekan sarcastically fired back unaware that he was spilling his guts to Mercy "I came to all of my conclusions on my own and have no thoughts that are unusual"
Ahh. The drawback here is that Mercy's choice of words
also means he'll rationalize any beliefs
Felix Faust implanted in his mind as being "on his own" and not "unusual."
Then again, he was probably doing that anyway; Felix Faust is not a stupid man, and Dekan Drache
is.
"I felt the need to hide my interest in robots and exo-suits because I am not interested in robots and exo-suits but I was interested in them for reasons that I can no longer remember and don't need to dwell on"
Hm. Clearly, Dekan Drache's actions are not being controlled by Dekan Drache's brain.
Probably the best thing that ever happened to him.
All of a sudden Dekan once more slackened and the bad intent wards deactivated. Whatever was going on with Dekan he was dangerous and Mercy had no intention of giving him an opportunity to wreak havoc. Whatever Dekan had let into his brain, that thing was clearly in charge and calling the shots.
Or not.
Mercy readied herself to shoot as she imagined Lex did when Dekan suddenly shouted.
"Felix!" he screamed out before he vanished, right before a hailstorm of bullets would have torn him to shreds.
Wait. Vanished
how? Like, do we know? Teleported away? Flew out a window when windows in our tower should be nigh-impossible to open? Phased through the wall?
Felix Faust
It was irksome having his pawn be exposed so swiftly but that's what happened when you let the jester bumble around to amuse yourself. He wouldn't be returning to LexCorp anytime soon and he'd fabricate suitable memories for his patsy to ensure he never wanted to return their either once he brought him back to consciousness.
It was unfortunate that his search for an ideal body without a soul had been interrupted but he'd managed to gain even more control over the fool he'd been making use of. Not an ideal body but a serviceable one. The soulless homunculus would have been a better body and if he could figure out how a mechanical body might work he'd happily transfer into that but Felix Faust was nothing if not resourceful and adaptable.
The gods themselves had failed to kill him and despite things not going as well as he'd initially hoped, Felix Faust still once more walked the earth. He'd make due with what he had and continue his schemes elsewhere.
The buffoon would need to be dealt with more permanently now that Dekan was definitively making use of his body. He wouldn't really be able to put up much of a fight anymore but he'd already caused problems with the compulsions installed into him and Felix Faust was unwilling to tolerate a body that could disrupt his control at critical moments. It had been amusing to let him bumble about like a dog on a leash that was convinced it was leading its owner but it had been a mistake to do so in the long run. The time for japes had ended and now Felix Faust would be getting rid of Dekan Drache permenantly.
Huh. Well, at least we seem to have gotten the asshole killed.
It's kind of a pain that Felix is seemingly not even considering the idea of just cutting a deal with us.
Loyal Lieutenant subvote
You've agreed to the terms of Ra's al Ghul's alliance. As such you need to send a hero unit to observe the League of Shadows actions. The unit you select will not be available to you so long as the alliance remains intact and you do not replace them with another hero unit. Please pick your favorite option from the list below. Write-ins are available for this subvote and are encouraged but as always all write-ins are subject to QM approval. As always there is a 1 hour moratorium on voting.
[ ] [LL] Mercy Graves
[ ] [LL] Roxanne Sutton
[ ] [LL] Edward Wells
[ ] [LL] Katherine Kane
[ ] [LL] Edward Nygma
[ ] [LL] Helena Bertinelli
[ ] [LL] Leonard Snart
[ ] [LL] Write-in
Hmm.
Edward Wells isn't actually one of our trusted lieutenants; either Ra's would run rings around him, he'd sell us out to Ra's for a can of beans, or both.
Edward Nygma would have us at war with Ra's within a matter of days.
Leonard Snart is too personally load-bearing; the Rogues aren't nearly as effective without him.
Helena Bertinelli's too new though she'd be a great choice if we'd had her on-side for another year or two.
I'm thinking Roxy, Mercy, or Katherine.
You did get rid of Dekan way sooner than I expected you to which is a touch disappointing
Well, the thing you have to remember is that Dekan Drache is such an unmitigated ass that we wanted him gone practically before he walked in the door.
As a result, it was almost inevitable that we'd try to get rid of him.
...which can be traded to a lot of people for a favor (Hades, Tala, Black Adam and more straight up hate the guy and would be grateful to know he's alive and what his host looks like)...
Oooh, good point.
Furthermore with Felix's name you'll be able to take actions to research him secondhand which isn't as effective as having Felix Faust work with you but is also way safer than Felix Faust working with you.
Also a good point.
