He realised pretty quickly that the easiest way to KEEP his slaves under his control was to break their will.
He also realised that the easiest and fastest way to break his most important, most powerful slave's will was to kill everyone he loves.
So he blew up Amity Park. Maddie and Jack? Dead. Jazz? Dead. Sam and Tucker? Dead. Even Mr Lancer and the A-Listers were dead.
He couldn't bring himself to resist anymore. At least if he's with Freakshow he won't become Dan, right? It's so easy to give in, to not have to think or feel or suffer or fight anymore. Not when everyone who matters is...
Circus Gothica takes its act on the road. Eventually, they end up in Gotham. They start yet another untraceable crime spree, robbing banks and mob bosses alike.
The bats catch on, of course.
They fight this gang of criminal metas(?) and they can't land a hit on any of them.
There's something strange about them, though. They throw around the usual theories - nanobots, clones, meta trafficking.
They realise that they can hit the ringleader if he's distracted.
The other thieves scatter and vanish, back to wherever they came from.
They keep the ringleader for questioning.
He sits in silence for a while, unmoving.
They try to question him. He doesn't respond. He just stays where he's put like a puppet with cut strings.
They get up in his face, they readjust his limbs, they start wondering if he's truly more puppet than man.
They don't think about how young he looks.
One of the bats makes an unexpected noise and he flinches.
It's as if that small movement sets off a chain reaction. He moves his head, then his hands, then his arms.
What the fuck is he supposed to do now?
*Semi-inspired by this prompt by @novelistwriter