DC's Hivemind

Out of all the Gods, DC has some of the best control over his powers. Because of this, he's been able to heavily restrict the use of his Magic to the point where it's quite literally become deadly to Mortals who misuse it. Those who can't play the game by the rules will get infected, and those who are infected eventually end up as a slave in DC's Hivemind.

The Hivemind, known to Mortals as "Fiends", is made up of the countless soulless bodies of the people he's infected over the years. Their souls have all either been destroyed entirely or have been damaged and sent to the Void. None of his Hivemind have souls, so technically speaking the entire army is that of undead. DC's Magic acts as a preservative in an odd way; keeping their bodies ageless for as long as he has use for them.

No individual in the Hivemind has its own free will. Each and every one of them is under the complete control by DC. They act like puppets for him to control and use for however he sees fit. Any actions taken by a Drone are being directly puppeted by DC. If one of them talks, it's him speaking through it. Not only can he control them, but he can more or less control as many as he wants at one time; essentially allowing himself to be everywhere at once.

While a lot of the time DC wants his Hivemind to stay in the shadows, he takes great joy in tormenting Mortals and Demons alike. When speaking through a Drone, DC will often use "our", "we", "us", etc instead of the singular version, just to hint at the fact that something strange is going on. The vast majority of people don't actually know that DC is the one behind their actions, so people have yet to realise just how much he's stroking his own ego with all of this. He does make his Hivemind adress him as "Our Lord", after all.

## **Physical Appearance**

Those infected with Red Magic are overtaken by it. It floods their system, which usually results in these individuals physical appearance changing. Almost all of his Drones have at a minimum red eyes, although the majority have far more red markings than just that. The inside of their body will also be stained with red, making their internal organs glow with a dull red hue. This goes unnoticed most of the time, but depending on the creature's anatomy it can sometimes be seen through the skin. A lot of the creature's pigment will change as well, with lighter and unnatural colours changing first.

Because Red Magic is that of death and decay, many members of the Hivemind have very prominent open wounds or other injuries that are unable to heal on their own. DC will keep his favourite Drones in more pristine condition, especially if he uses them often, but the lesser or unimportant ones will undoubtedly have some sort of injury on them. As long as the injury doesn't impact their quality of work DC will ignore them. If one of his Drones happens to get too badly injured, though, he'll remove his Magic from their body and allow it to decompose once and for all. Despite the fact that they are undead creatures, none of the Hivemind smells of rot or decay. Many of them, especially ones with injuries, may smell of blood or iron, but as long as they're constantly being supplied with DC's Magic they're unable to decay.

## **Undesirables**

Members of DC's Hivemind are separated into ranks. The first rank are what he's deemed the "undesirables". Many people, animals, and otherwise unintelligent creatures get infected by Red Magic accidentally. It spreads like a disease, after all. DC's bound to catch a few creatures in his web that weren't supposed to be there.

Undesirables are typically small and weak creatures. Things with a very large population that are easy to replace. It's not to say DC never has a use for these creatures, but something like a mouse is so small, weak, and easy to replace that a lot of the times he wouldn't even bother keeping them in proper working order. DC will simply purge the undesirables to make room for more useful Drones if need be.

## **Drones**

The second and by far the most populous rank. Drones are general use creatures, mostly Pure beings that can very easily slip into Mortal society unnoticed. He may use these people to spy on the living world, supply them to allies, make them do busywork around the Underworld, or otherwise have them tend to his needs. Drones will usually have clothing suited to their needs.

Generally speaking, DC does a better job at taking care of his Drones than the Undesirables. He'll take greater care to hide their wounds or keep their bodies pristine. He also cares more about their well being, doing his best to prevent them from getting killed if he can avoid it. That said, a lot of the times he sends his Drones out into the world fully knowing they aren't coming back.

## **Trophies**

The last tier of the Hivemind. Trophies are people DC has taken a particular interest in in some way or another. People who he feels he rightly won in his game. Many of them are long dead political figures, celebrities, warriors, or anybody else he had a challenge manipulating. He also keeps a lot of his biggest adversaries as trophies; mostly as proof of his past victories.

DC's trophies very rarely leave the Underworld. He simply doesn't want them subject to the same wear and tear his lower Drones get on a regular basis. Many of his trophies are dressed in very expensive or lavish outfits in order to be used as decorations. Whatever he does with his trophies are for his own entertainment. While he won't admit it, DC has spent many hours dicking around and making these people say or do stupid things just for a quick laugh.