Dr. Psych's device hummed, its tendrils snaking around Josh, rendering him completely paralyzed. He couldn't even twitch a finger, all to prevent him from using his powers… or at least that was what the doctor thought.

  Lady Gorgon loomed over the monitor, her gaze sharp and predatory. "Cooperate, Josh," she hissed, her voice laced with venom, "or I will make your parents' situation… much less comfortable.”

  Josh's jaw tightened, but he relented, a bitter taste in his mouth. "Fine," he growled, "scan my memories… but I warn ya, not all of them are for the faint of heart," he spoke ominously.

  The machine whirred to life, and images flickered across the screen. Lady Gorgon's eyes widened in disbelief. Instead of seeing extermination experiments or secret meetings that would explain his abilities as she expected, the villainess instead saw him training under the tutelage of his boastful and powerful Oni master, Kunshu, teaching him to harness his ki. Then, a wiry, eccentric goblin, Gurk, guides him through the intricacies of alchemy. Finally, a graceful, ethereal elf, Urui, teaches him the art of magic.

  "What is this!?" Lady Gorgon snarled, her patience evaporating. "Stop this charade, and show me your real memories now!”

  Josh remained impassive, though a flicker of defiance danced in his eyes. "These are my real memories."

  Lady Gorgon rounded on Dr. Psych. "He's lying! Tell me he's lying!"

  Dr. Psych, his face a mask of professional detachment, shook his head. "If he truly believes what he's seeing, there's nothing I can do. The device is reading his subjective experience."

  "Subjective experience?!" Lady Gorgon's voice rose, cracking with fury. "What kind of deluded fanboy believes in fairy tales over his own parents' lives!?"

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  Toxic Skull shrugged, a gesture that earned him a vicious glare. "Maybe the kid is telling the truth? Some people are just... like that."

  Lady Gorgon's patience snapped. One of her hair-tentacles lashed out, slamming Toxic Skull against the wall with a sickening thud. "Do you take me for a fool?" she hissed, her voice a low, menacing growl. She turned back to Josh, her eyes blazing. "Show me the real source of your power, now! Or I not only will I kill your parents, but I will make you watch them scream and burn alive!”

  Suddenly, the images on the screen shifted. The vibrant scenes of training dissolved into darkness, a blackness so profound it seemed to emanate a tangible aura of malice. A new image coalesced: Josh, clad in his ornate, knight-like armor, standing before a colossal, armored titan. The titan radiated a dark, forbidding energy that made Lady Gorgon's blood run cold. A feeling she’d felt only once before... from her own master.

  Josh's voice, surprisingly calm, broke the oppressive silence. "That," he said, "is a memory of me battling the Dark Lord. A fight that took place on a physical, spiritual, and mental plane. And even as just a memory, its sensation might be too much for your machine to handle.”

  Lady Gorgon's face contorted with rage. She raised her tentacles, which then wrapped tightly around his throat. "If I can't have your power," she snarled, "then you and your family are useless to me!"

  However, before she could crush his windpipe, a section of the wall exploded inwards, ripped apart by a gigantic dark green reptilian claw. A moment later, a sleek, ebony dagger severed the tentacle constricting his neck.

  "Hey, Kid!" a deep, resonant voice boomed. "Are you okay? Starlight and Blue Lock managed to rescue your parents!"

  A smile flickered across Josh's face, the first genuine emotion he'd shown. Flashing orange Ki began to radiate from his body, a visible manifestation of his power. Then, faster than Lady Gorgon, Toxic Skull, or Dr. Psych could react, he unleashed three rapid-fire Ki punches. The force of the blows sent the villains crashing into the opposite wall, the impact shaking the entire hideout.

  Ebony Blade then spoke, impressed. “Well now… it seems sending you alone wasn’t a bad call after all.”