[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/uOLtaJA.png[/img][/center]
“[color=rosybrown]Who the ever loving [i]Блядь[/i][sup][sup]1[/sup][/sup] is Master Marcosa?[/color]” Illyana demanded, the tip of her staff now glowing in magic energy as she edged it towards the woman. Around them the corridor continued to burn, however she noticed that there was no smoke. No toxic fumes causing her pain. Just the disgusting scent of brimstone. 

“Master Marcosa is here to give us our hearts desires.” The woman turned on the spot as she spoke, before slowly moving away from them down the corridor. “We would do anything for that.”
 
“[color=DarkOliveGreen]Hearts desires? Sounds good, lead the way Madam.[/color]” Ragman managed as he pulled his ragged mask back down over his mask. “[color=DarkOliveGreen]Just let me catch my breath first…[/color]”

“[color=rosybrown]I still don’t understand what’s happening here.[/color]” Illyana questioned, pushing past Ragman so that she was walking side-by-side with the human-puppet.

“Why don’t you have a look.” 

At that the woman turned on the spot and stopped right in front of the front door to an apartment. As far as Illyana could see, there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary going on here, it just a plain old door. However, as both her and Ragman approached, it swung open as if on cue. Instead of being met with a dingy old apartment like they had expected, the two were greeted by the rush of cool air and the sound of loud cheering and fanfare. Below them was a football stadium, filled to the brim with colour and lights. A game was currently well underway, and you could feel the adrenalin from both the players on the pitch and those in the stands. Everyone all seemed to be focused on one player, however; A quarterback in the dark greens of the Gotham Knights, who found himself plastered all over screens across the stadium as he moved about the pitch. The name on the back of his jersey, Finch, also seemed to match what everyone in the stands seemed to be chanting, despite what team they seemed to be dressed to support. What more, “Finch” didn’t look like a football star whatsoever. He dwarfed the other players on his team, who quite frankly also all looked a good 20 years younger than him. 

Illyana watched from the doorway in awe; usually such activities didn’t interest her in the slightest, however the fact that this was all taking place in the comfort of a Gotham apartment was enough to interest anyone. Surely it was an illusion. It had to be. 

“[color=DarkOliveGreen]Toto, I don’t think we’re in Gotham anymore.[/color]” Ragman mused, peering in himself. 

“[color=rosybrown]What is this?[/color]” Illyana demanded, her attention snapping back to the woman. “[color=rosybrown]Where is this.[/color]”

“I told you Miss Rasputina. It’s our hearts desires.” At that she gave a wave of her hand. 

At once the corridor around them seemed to come alive as every other door in sight swung open.

"[color=DarkOliveGreen]Because that isn't super creepy...[/color]".

Illyana moved forward, leaving Ragman’s side. As she looked, each room was much more different than the last. One simply contained a happy smiling family, all gathered around the fireplace blissfully, with the next a large overweight man having the time of his life in a bed with a large number of beautiful Amazonian women. People played about in large swimming pools of cash, while others drove the streets of Monaco in sleek European sportscars. Each sight was strange and eye-opening, and the more she looked, the more Illyana knew that the woman was right. These illusions were exactly how she had described it. Their hearts desire. Surely this wasn’t bad right? Surely they were getting everything they wanted? 

That thought was erased from her mind as she got to the second to last doorway in the corridor. Once again she found the doorway opening out in the middle of the air. However, this time it wasn’t above a stadium, but was instead high above a city, with a gigantic aeroplane soaring past. Next it to however, floating through the air, was a young boy. He was probably about 8 or 9, and wore a suit of blue and red, and with it closely resembled that of the Supergirl Illyana had heard so much about recently on the news. He smiled gleefully as he flew through the air, waving in delight at the passengers of the plane through its windows. One would say that the sight was adorable, with Illyana even agreeing despite her tough-as-nails nature, however all she could feel right now was anger. If that kid was here, then that meant he was just like the woman next to them. A possessed empty shell. Just like she had been so long ago. Her hand tightened around her staff, as she reared round towards the elderly woman leading her, her face growing red. 

“[color=rosybrown]You’ve done this to a fucking [b]child?![/b]. What kind of monster steals a kid from their home and... and does this shit to them?[/color]” She realized that she was shouting now. Ragman was saying something behind her, trying to calm her down, but she wasn’t listening. 

“[color=PaleVioletRed]Now, now Miss Rasputina….[/color]” A chilling voice entered the room as a figure walked out of the last door of the corridor. ”[color=PaleVioletRed]You really need to curb your temper.[/color]”

Tall and harrowing, the man before them was an imposing figure. Thick bushy eyebrows, with a rasp of beard to match gave him a rather rugged look, that contrasted heavily with the rich suit of black and burgundy. The dark cloak he wore over this billowed around behind him, buffeted by a non-existent window. His teeth though seemed to be his prominent feature. He smiled as he spoke, showing off his central incisors, which seemed to be bejewelled with a flashing pair of rubies; the red so bright that it looked as if he had just rose from the neck of his last prey. 

However much like the scenes within the rooms, there was an air to the man that just didn’t seem real. As Illyana looked more carefully, she noticed that parts of his body just seemed to flicker. Flicker in and out of existence like static from a television. As if sensing her thoughts, he gripped his arm, where the flickering was most constant, before giving another smile of red. 

Instantly she turned her staff so that it was pointing straight at him. 

“[color=rosybrown][i]Master Marcosa[/i] I presume? Fantastic, now you can explain this shitshow in person![/color]” 

He simply reared his head back slightly and laughed, showing off his glistening teeth once more. 

“[color=PaleVioletRed]Nothing gets by you girl. But isn’t it obvious?[/color]” He mocked, motioning around him. “[color=PaleVioletRed]This is my soul farm.[/color]”

He spoke as if that should be obviously, however both Illyana and Ragman just looked between each other in confusion. 

“[color=DarkOliveGreen]Your what?[/color]” Ragman asked inquisitively.  “[color=DarkOliveGreen]And what on Earth have you done to your teeth?[/color]”

“[color=PaleVioletRed]Soul farm, my good boy. Pretty much just like those rags you’re wearing, except in this case I’m actually putting them to good use.[/color]” With that he seemed to breath in deeply, as if rejuvenating himself. At once his arm seemed to grow more solid, the flickering stopping, as his skin seems to grow more brightly. 

“[color=PaleVioletRed]Not that you’ll be able to stop me anyway. You’ll be too busy dealing with my associate.[/color]” 

He gestured to the door to Illyana’s right, the one opposite to the one with the “Superboy”. She turned her gaze and froze as she laid eyes on him. He wore the very same scarlet robes that he had worn on that first night, which draped carelessly over his pale red skin. A matching red tail snaked out behind him; the only thing overshadowing the sharpness of its point being the horns atop his head. It was Belasco himself, ripe from the pits of Limbo. 

The world grew silent around them. Ragman was saying something again. Probably warning Illyana  not to do anything stupid. However, she couldn’t hear him now. Her entire being was focussed on the man in front of her. The person who had plucked her from her home and damned her to a childhood of torture and hellfire. The man who had torn her from her family. She was screaming now. Staff raised high, she began running, sprinting as fast as she could towards Belasco’s smirking face. She felted Ragman tugging at her arm behind her, yet didn’t let him stop her, and instead pulled him forwards with her. Pulled him with her into the room. 

And it was as her whole world turned to black that she realized that she had made a huge mistake. 

[sub][sub]1. Fuck.[/sub][/sub]