Chapter 6
Central City was considered an up and coming city in Missouri and the Midwest United States altogether. It already gained national attention with having its own premier meta activity with the Flash and his own unique rogue gallery, but it was slowly approaching the importance of a Metropolis or Gotham with regard to becoming an entertainment hub of that part of the country. In one of the hottest nightspots, a theater that began attracting the hottest acts to perform, it got to the point one night where some acts were double-booked, much to the disappointment of the act about to be snubbed.
"Excuse me," Jervis Tetch spoke to the organizing manager of the theater, fully-dressed for his event, arriving ahead of time into the city limits to notice a bigger name billboarded across the town, arriving to find they were filling his allotted time.
"I apologize Mr. Tetch, I realize this was an error on our end. We're prepared to fully refund you, but-"
"My booking was finalized more than two months ago, and I received no notice of any change, let alone being completely replaced," the perturbed tone the stage hypnotist took with the overworked organizer told her that an apology and refund wasn't nearly enough to assuage his bruised ego.
"I understand Mr. Tetch; one of our organizers got excited at the prospect of Zatanna Zatara doing a show here, and set the booking for when he thought timing was free...."
"Which ended up being my spot, a spot that should have been reserved to begin with," he finished sourly, on the verge of angry. "Why don't you ask the magician to move her own slot?"
"I'm sorry, sir, but my superiors basically agreed...well, it's Zatanna Zatara, sir..."
His eyes narrowed at the woman, his sharp mind already plotting out thorough retribution. It wasn't that he didn't understand the size of the crowds Zatanna brought in versus every other performer. Magic shows always outperformed stage hypnosis ones, even the ones that didn't involve faux magic. Zatanna's being real, on top of being a known hero, just made her appeal sweeter to venue organizers, easily leaving former-small-time-criminal performers like him in the dust.
"Look Miss-whatever-your-name-is, I need to go over this one more time," he pulled out his pocket watch, opening the cover to introduce the woman who couldn't believe she was still entertaining the lesser, snubbed act about the injustice done to him. "Time was afforded to me because I made arrangements first, a full month ago...ahead of the other act that reschedule later...because I made the arrangements first....so time should be afforded to me...because it's my time slot....mine alone....you wouldn't deny me what is mine....so you will not...."
An overcharged mind so full of other people's problems began losing them faster than they could form or grasp the ones floating away with every tick subverting her thinking to what Jervis wanted.
"Excuse me, Mr. Tetch..."
From his back, Jervis turned to see thee Zatanna Zatara, dressed in her full performance attire, tapping the end of her wand in her free hand rhythmically, obviously having a problem of the advantage he was taking over the young woman.
"Excuse me, Ms. Zatara," he said, turning away from the listless organizer, still keeping his pocket watch open.
"I thought the Mad Hatter was a past gig for you, that you'd gone straight," the magician eyed him carefully.
"I had, and have gone straight. I guess tonight I'm playing hero now, righting a wrong, fighting injustice," Jervis nearly smirked. "I suspect you weren't aware that the slot you were given was contractually mine."
"I understand that there was some overzealousness on their part and that you got screwed. You're right that that isn't right, and you didn't deserve that. It doesn't mean they deserve what a Mad Hatter could do to them. Lawyers could handle your injustice fairly easily."
"No matter what my station in life, I've never been one to leave actions to someone else."
"The career of the Mad Hatter vehemently says otherwise."
"It depends on how you look at it, Zatanna. Maybe they wanted to do those things for me, maybe people just find it very right to please me...." using his focus, he brought the ticking of the open watch her way.
"Uh huh, and maybe tekcop hctaw desolc." Magic words shut the Jervis' watch for her, surprising the man who had hoped to receive more compensation than anyone was really willing to offer him. It didn't deter him fully, bringing his attention back to the woman who may not have known all Mad Hatter was capable of.
"Oh good, I kept meaning to close that as sometimes it gets in the way of a sound you want to hear, of a conversation you want to engage in. Cause what I was trying to eventually get to was wishing you good luck in your show Zatanna, good luck for-"
"spil desolc oot."
Jervis' lips shut of her volition and couldn't be pried open.
"You guys never learn, supervillains or stage hypnotists, just can't help but monologue. Now, I need to get ready for my show. If you stick around and behave yourself Jervis, I'll help you out with your venue troubles."
Zatanna left him in the incommunicable state to tend to the beginnings of her show, which wasn't much, but she liked to be ready. She wasn't ready to find herself in-front of a freaky carnival dressed man in green and purple with a strange swirling top hat.
"Why don't you stick around, and behave yourself little miss Zatara," he said with a leering smile hidden behind cyber waves of a spiral she was trying avert her gaze from, and mostly failing.
"Who are...no...stop..."
"I don't think I will, but this will be made much easier for you if you stop fight. Stop fighting," he commanded pointedly, increasing the spin the of the spiral.
"P...p...pots!" she forced out of her mouth before the shock of his spirals got to her, her reverse spell made the man stop his hypnotic trap in the midst of capturing her. He was stunned that he stopped, and looked for the wherewithal to continue as she forced her faculties to fully return.
Before she could begin to right her mind to speak coherently, she felt herself tackled by the silent man observing the new exchange. Zatanna saw it was Jervis, coming to the aid of the stranger to both of them for some reason. He tried to cover her mouth, but she bit his hand and uttered a new spell.
"enolc tsissa." In an instant, another fully-formed version of Zatanna appeared, about to pull Jervis off of the original before the clone noticed the newcomer was trying something new with his hat. He managed to do something weakly as he caught the magical clone mid-sentence of a new incantation; they both struggled for supremacy as Jervis and the original Zatanna did. The Zatanna's felt the tide going their way as their opponents were weakening, until the carnival man pulled out a second disc from his pocket, this one operating at full strength as it broke the clone Zatanna's concentration and will completely, followed by the real one and a dazed Jervis momentarily.
"And now that I have everyone's attention, I am Ringmaster, and you will obey me."
"Obey...Ringmaster," the three hypnotized performers uttered, or tried to as one of them was still having trouble.
A curious eyebrow raised, he stared at the man and gave the man a new command.
"You can use your mouth and faculties as before."
Suddenly, Zatanna's physical spell was broken and he could speak and open his pocket watch without issue. Clearing his throat from the indignity suffered, he gave the other top hat wearing man a nod and a sincere "thank you, I didn't see that coming."
Ringmaster acknowledged him with a slight nod. "And who might you be?"
"Jervis Tetch, though this one knew me more as Mad Hatter from Gotham."
"Fritz Tiboldt, but those who know me best call me Ringmaster," he nodded cordially. "Gotham city? I heard that place was pretty dark."
"Like you wouldn't believe," Jervis laughed.
Ringmaster laughed too, though he paid more attention to the fact that there were two Zatanna's standing in their midst, each fully independent, and both men wondered how. "I never knew Zatanna could do something like that," Ringmaster commented.
"Most heroes and villains have yet to see a limit to her powers; it'd probably be prudent of us to make sure each one stays under."
"A fine idea indeed," Ringmaster tipped his hat to Mad Hatter, before aiming it at Zatanna's clone.
"You are enslaved now, Zatanna. Your mind belongs to me. You are and will be exactly what I want you to be, when I want to you be, how I want you to be, without complain or resistance..." Ringmaster began.
Hatter in-turn, opened his pocket watch and let the relentless ticks invade original Zatanna's ears; reacting from one trance to another, a strange flicked on her face noted the transition before all her facial muscles smoothed and accepted the words spoken.
"It's time to enter the rabbit hole now, Zatanna. You're late to your own party, but it doesn't seem to matter, because time is what I say it is. The show you think you were putting on was a mere illusion, a projection of my imagination that leads to your procrastination and your mind's stagnation before it reaches the satisfaction of your compulsion to surrender yourself to my compositions, until they become your infatuations..."
Each hypnotist worked thoroughly on Zatanna until it was twenty minutes away from the gathered audience at the theater expecting Zatanna to appear. Both version stood stark still, in a state of mindlessness each hypnotist had rarely seen or rarely put so much work into with one subject.
"Well done, Ringmaster," Hatter commented, paying slight attention to his induction and admiring the tricky device on his top hat.
"You as well, Mad Hatter, love your wordplay and imagination." Hatter tipped his own hat to the compliment.
"Were you here to steal her slot too?" Ringmaster asked in curiosity.
"Nah, I had it first, but then they gave it to her right from under me. And suddenly my felonious persona wasn't retired anymore."
"It's always hard to resist that call; they make it so easy sometimes," Ringmaster patted her blank face.
"This may sound crazy, but I think we should let her perform tonight...with some caveats." Hatter suggested, appreciating how the other man didn't fully write off his suggestion, sensing a devious opportunity.
"Intriguing, do tell..."
A few minutes later, both Zatanna's were standing near one another, and Ringmaster activated his spiral disc, hitting both at once.
"Hello Zatannas, I want each of your open, unyielding minds to find themselves attracted to the idea of rabbits, of being like bunnies. Silly, carefree, hoppity, unthinking, bountiful, busty, so willing to please, so willing to leave thinking to those suited, like your masters. You may have thought of bunnies like the animal, but what you think doesn't really matter, only what I say, what your masters say, matter to you. Is that understood?"
"Yessss....Mastersssss..." both muttered, slight smiles on each of your faces.
"This attraction to our suggestions will begin to grow and well up in you. You won't want to fight at all before long...it will be too sexy to resist. It will be too sexy to not assist hypnotic villainy. It might not be long before hypnotic villainy will become the only outlet for your mind that wants to think. When you think, Zatanna, you will be like us...serving us...and otherwise, you'll be a mindless bimbo of a bunny...just for us. Is that understood?"
"Yess Mastersss...your bunny...bimbo..mindless.."
"And I want you to solidify all of our suggestions, by bringing your cloned self back into or original. And when you do that, the strength of all our suggestions will double in your mind, wiping any chance of resistance out of you completely. You will begin to chant that backwards chant now, leading to that backwards life we have planned for you..."
Even in their mindlessness, the one closest to Mad Hatter knew she was the original, chanting as directed.
"bimbo...hypnotized...busty...mindless...bunny...
bimbo...hypnotized...busty...mindless...bunny...
bimbo...hypnotized...busty...mindless...bunny...
combine!"
In a flash of light, the two magical entities were returned to one receptacle, fully under the most powerful hypnotic spell either male performer had managed yet, and her body even curvier and bust larger, with little thoughts flowing through her head as she erupted in random giggles, just happy to be in the presence of superiors she would literally look up to and follow.
"She'll make a fine slave, I think," Ringmaster commented, enjoying watching the bimbo be her new self.
"Just like I think she'll make the show even more exciting..."
***
From backstage, both men enjoyed watching the Zatanna introduce herself and perform and pretend to be normal, at first. But as the show moved on, things got stranger, racier. The first time she brought one of her signature white rabbits for a demonstration, she began to get aroused, and that was somehow hidden through unprompted giggling from jokes no one was telling. She tried emulating and being the bunny at one point, most of the men in the audience didn't seem to matter as they loved watching her bounce up and down with the new bust her shirt could barely contain. And for several women in the audience giving her a stink eye, a wicked persona armed with more decision-making brought a few women on-stage and used her suggestions to make rabbits out of them - playboy bunnies specifically.
It certainly wasn't the show anyone expected, but Zatanna being the premier performer she was, critical thinking or not, got a standing ovation from all her fun antics.
It was later in her hotel suite in Central City, where several clones of Zatanna were serving their masters however they wished as they discussed business.
"So you're thinking about a club in Gotham?" Ringmaster asked.
"Yes, a small, tucked away place that is available, prime real estate and a lot of potential, especially with skills like ours. Just imagine a playboy bunny themed establishment where we can take whomever we want and make them performers like our Magi here."
"Our Magi of Mindlessness certainly proves your point," Ringmaster laughed, and the majority of clones laughed with him.
"Thank you, Master of Carnivals," Hatter teased, but it was taken as a great title.
"And thank you, Master of Fables," Hatter took his new title in stride as well.
"Just imagine if we get some more heroines like Zatanna here."
"That's the point, good sir," Hatter smiled. "There's plenty of fish to catch in a city like Gotham; they attract all kinds, as I'm sure we eventually will."
"Well, the name you have for it makes a lot more sense now, and I guess I have a new endeavor while the circus game is enduring its off-season. What the hell, to the Cottontail Colloquium."
"To the Cottontail Colloquium, partner," Gloved hands shook before going back to fondle their Magis and envision their prosperity.