Sarah, it turned out, was not the only one who had lived a lifetime as a villain for a few seconds. It turned out, in fact, that all of them had taken a villainous role in the stories into which they'd been absorbed, though none of them knew that yet.
They did, however, very swiftly deduce that something powerfully magical had happened to everyone in the room, and further it couldn't have been all that dissimilar to what had happened to them. In fact, the awful and powerfully disorientating moment, wherein each return to real bodies in the real world, did not last long precisely because someone swiftly spoke up to address as much.
"Okay," he sighed, "I'll go first. I'm guessing, by the looks on your faces, that most of you probably recognize me as Jay Duncan, but likely wouldn't be too shocked were I to reintroduce myself as Adrian Veidt, or more fancifully as Ozymandias if anyone here were familiar with my history as a costumed hero. You may call me as you prefer, for now. And no, I have no idea why what happened to me did, nor what happened to any of you; all the more reason, perhaps, that reintroductions are in order?"
"Uh... huh." It was Jon that spoke up next, after a moment to compose himself again. "Dr. Henry Jekyll, among other identities. Pleased to meet you all. Again." His tone suggested otherwise, unlike Karyn's right next to him.
"Oh boy oh boy oh boy, doctors! That'll diagnose what's sick with us right away!" She bounced with a cheer she hadn't had at all before. "I'm a doctor, too! Doctor Harleen Quinzel, here to treat-"
That was about as far as she got in the sentence before Biff came barreling towards her like a particularly enraged freight train. A few very intense and combat-rich blinks of the eye later, Karyn/Harley had hit the ground, hard, and Biff had her pinned there, kneeling on the small of her back and keeping an arm pulled uselessly behind her.
"Someone give me a shirt or a belt or something and help me tie her up!" Biff authoritatively yelled out over Karyn/Harley's constant chirps of "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" "Whatever happened to us here, this woman most likely had something to do with it!"
Nobody did; most were looking on in a mixture of shock and fascination at the commotion, some approaching for a better look at what had happened. A few went the other direction; they had been made to realize if they hadn't before that revealing their villainous identities so quickly may not have been best for their health.
"You know this woman?" Sarah/Thanos asked curiously, on the approach. "And I was called Thanos when I was not this human, if you'd like to know," she added as a quick introduction.
"Yeah. Her boyfriend murdered me stone dead when I was just 15, amongst a litany of other atrocities, if you'd like to know." Biff's voiced just seethed malice as he said it.
"Oooh, no no no no, Jason, that was so long ago!" Genuine terror suddenly made itself known in Karyn's face and voice when Harley realized she was dealing with Jason Todd, aka. The Red Hood. "I wasn't even there! I had nothing to do with it, and that was so long ago, right, all water under the bridge? Besides you know puddin', he just meant it as a joke, he's funny like that, it's nothing personal, riiIIIAAAHH!!!" Harley's pleading turned into a scream when it backfired, as Biff/Jason had spontaneously decided to relieve her of the use of Karyn's shoulder. All it took was a pull to her arm, and soon enough a sickening pop accompanied that screaming.
"Okay, okay, that's enough," Adrian finally intervened, volunteering Jay's shirt as consolation at last. "I'm not opposed to tying her up and subduing her, but anything more is senseless. We're all in the same boat here, aren't we? And yet you seem to have scared off some of our other companions in woe," he reprimanded sharply, indicating the disappearance of Kyla, Athena, and Nadine.
Said 3 girls began to speak amongst themselves when safely out of the library and out of earshot of those in it, starting with Kyla. "Am I correct in presuming, fellows, that we are all of sufficiently depraved character to recognize the unprofitability of interaction with those in the library?"
"It's too bad," Athena complained. "Things in there looked they were getting fun to watch!"
"Agreed," said Nadine. "And to your implicit statement, agreed as well: we're doing ourselves no injury in sharing secrets with those that wouldn't share their own, yes?"
"In the best case we agree to cooperate, and in the worst we simply go our separate ways," Kyla agreed. "Yes, you are correct. I was one Hannibal Lecter, in my own story; I'm sure you know which. And you, madam?"
"My story was Paradise Lost," Nadine said, lips curling into a wicked smile. "I'm sure you know whom. For now, though, please do call me 'Lucy' while we still dance this charade of anonymity."
"Of course, Lucy," agreed Athena. "I had a number of names myself, where I came from. Most of the common folk called me 'Sauron', though I personally still prefer my older name, 'Mairon'. Though I suppose there's nothing preventing and everything encouraging me picking up some entirely new name, now that I'm finally something substantial again; I'll have to give this some thought. For now, though, call me Athena."
"That I will, my fair ladies," Kyla/Hannibal said with all respect accorded the fairer sex, apparently entirely unphased by the company of two dark lords of evil. "But I'm afraid I may not get much opportunity to in the near future. Unfortunately, better judgment has admonished so strongly against dealing with you it has become cliched."
Athena laughed. "Having served under one myself, I can attest it's not really so bad. He got knocked waaay before I did!" She laughed again, then waxed nostalgic. "And besides, having fallen this far I'm no more powerful than any mere man now. Gone are the days of shapeshifting and ringmaking and leading armies from atop the world, and I once again find myself back at square 1; I'm afraid I wouldn't have much to deal with as I am now, truth be told."
"Athena's right," Nadine/Lucy affirmed. "If you ever see me, ahem, 'in the flesh', it's going be a very different experience than talking to a mere girl with a brain dunked in 11,000 lines of Milton. Still, I understand your decision. Will you not address us as befits our station in your parting?" She offered a hand.
"Of course, my lady, Your Great-and-Terribleness." Kyla/Hannibal knelt down and kissed the hand regally. "I never supposed we were on poor terms in my own story, and I don't mean to start that now. Farewell, and congratulations on your reincarnation!" She gave Athena a similar treatment, and then parted ways before any in the library could come after them.
