Jester Lord's nefarious nature was equaled by his short attention span. A weakness that was often employed by the heroes of this city. Having turned his back on the novelty monitors his gaze rested upon the vial of pure golden essence he had extracted from Forceman. He reveled in the success of the green compound that had robbed Forceman of his musculature, the pink fluid that distilled his powers and will into a extractable form and the mini propeller baseball cap that, combined with Forceman's reduced willpower, allowed Jester Lord to assume control. He studied the golden vial as if it were a gripping story.
"Good read?" came a voice from the door that in his excitement, he had forgotten to shut.
The master clown pirouetted skillfully and snatched a nearby umbrella in readiness.
An averagely proportioned male stood confidently, hands tucked into the side pockets of the open black trench coat that loosely adorned him. His medium brunette hair was scruffy as if he had just got out of bed. His charcoal dress shirt was open revealing close-fitting metallic black armour which also wrapped tightly around his lower half. A silver tie and silver shades completed the attire.
Jester Lord relaxed his guard. "Johnny Darknight! You mad inventor!"
The mystery man raised his silver specs to glance upon the golden vial.
"I see my little machine has worked!" he smirked.
"Yes!" replied the clown, "better than you would have expected! It seemed to have extracted many of his memories too, I've spied the identities of several of the young heroes swimming around this essence!"
The dark figure opened his hand in reception.
"You know that the essence is what I came for. That was the deal!"
"Yes!" proclaimed the clown in response "of course my mad doctor, I remember the bargain! You get the essence and I get the body!" and tossed the vial in the direction of the figure but fell short of his reach.
The man passed a gesture and the vial floated into his black gloved hand.
Jester Lord pranced with glee. That trick always impressed him. He only wished that he had more vials to throw at his 'partner' in crime.
The man raised the vial to eye level. " Well you are correct," he said matter-of-factly, "but it is all part of my bigger scheme!"
He brought out a straw and inserted it into the vial and took in the golden essence like a malt shake.
The man looked as if he was in pure bliss. "The power!" Slowly the man's body increased in muscle, the sleeves of the trench coat inflated as the muscle pressed into them. His messy shock of dark hair pulled in to a neat short square cut and gradually bleached in colour to end up a lustrous burning blonde. The man's slender face seemed to get younger and more angled behind his shades. When he finally took his spectacles off, Jester Lord could see another part of the doctor's master plan come into play. The brilliant green eyes confirmed it all, he had become a perfect replica of Forceman, albeit in a dark armour.
The Forceman clone placed the empty vial into his pocket and took out another vial but this time filled with metallic black fluid, and launched it in the clown's direction. Jester Lord mocked a fumble as he caught it. "A little extra for your help!" he teased, "It will do wonders to your new sidekick! Might even make his mind see the world the way you do!" and gestured toward the monitors.
Jester Lord turned to the monitors which were all displaying a skirmish between Kid Clown and another of the city's goodie two-shoes.