The Wicked One

Chapter Nine | Gateway, Part Two

Red-X awoke with a heavy moan. He couldn't remember the last time his body felt so bad since his last fight with the Titans, and that had been months ago. The master thief sat up, groaning softly as his aching body protested against the action. Directly in front of him, was an almost blank, white wall with what looked like a painting of a boat resting on the water. Floating beside that painting was an all too familiar looking black orb.

"Failed your mission, I take it?" Blackfire's mocking voice echoed in the room.

Red-X could sense that the red lens was staring at something past him, so the thief turned to see that the other half of the room had been thrown into utter chaos. The ceiling had completely collapsed, the floor was littered with debris that piled up through the gaping ceiling, and bodies— of scientists, soldiers, and what looked like the receptionist— lay lifeless amongst all the carnage.

"A minor setback," Red-X commented, forcing his strained body to its feet. "Nothing a few well placed detonations won't fix."

"You're joking, right?" Blackfire asked as the robotic orb watched the thief walk over to the massive pile of rubble, rubbing his hands eagerly. "I thought you might have learned by now that simply blowing parts of this building may not be the best of ideas."

At that Red-X froze in place. "Nope," he replied before slowly turning his head around to face the floating robot. "Though I did learn that this place is quite dangerous."

"Really now? Learned that all on your own did you?"

"I mean more dangerous than you first implied," Red-X explained, folding his arms with a twinge of pain. "I would also like to add that I'm pretty convinced that this building is out to get me. Does that make me crazy? Or is that not far from the truth?"

At that, the hovering robotic orb fell silent. Red-X waited patiently, arms still folded and watched the android through his skull mask.

"To put things as simply as possible, this building is basically on the line between our dimension and another one, threatening to implode if too much of the other dimension creeps its way into ours."

"Pardon?" Red-X asked, leaning in closer. "Maybe I am going crazy, but did you just say that we are...in between dimensions?"

"I'm having Fixit find out more information as we speak," Blackfire replied— exasperated, more like. Her tone clearly indicated she knew little more than he did. "But it's been very tiresome. Wireless communication is risky as we don't know if the properties of this dimension have a way of traveling through electronic waves and entering one's head."

"Er...they can do that?" Red-X muttered, remembering clearly the little device Blackfire had him put in his ear.

"I've been to planets where its species had such capabilities. Better safe than sorry."

"Right..." Red-X then started pacing around the room, standing still in one spot too long always made him antsy. "So, if we can't leave this room, or contact anyone who may be outside this building, then...what do we do?"

"We wait."

"Wait!?" Red-X exclaimed. He looked around the room, quickly spotting the doors that led outside. "What about those doors? If we get outside, we can try to find another way up."

"Not an option." Blackfire insisted, the red lens surveying the doors as well. "I tried earlier and simply opening them sent me plummeting out of this room's ceiling."