Ghosts of the Past
Alexnandru Van Gordon
Okay…for sure I know who I'm going to kill, and you'll probably feel a little bad about my decision…But I think you already know who I'm going to kill. It's just my angsty way…
Oh—and paragraphs in italics are memory lane like things—but I think you already know that.
DISCLAIMER: Refer to chapter one
CHAPTER EIGHT: Pressure
Fishing was fun…even though it was boring. When you went trolling with the boat gliding along the water, fish came faster and the scenery changed for the sake of your sanity. He really didn't like fishing…and he stayed away from water when he felt…odd. It had been his best kept secret from his family—excluding Kyle who also held the same secret—that he too possessed powers. He hadn't been caught yet…but if he slipped into the water while he was feeling as hot and edgy as he was now, he'd surely electrocute himself to death.
Then how come Joyce was never afraid of falling in when she was loaded to the brink with her strange electricity? He saw a ring of lightning zap in irritation along her right arm only a moment ago, but she ignored it entirely…Really odd.
"I haven't caught anything yet…" Kyle muttered to Vincent's right, Joyce on the left. "How come?"
"Because—" Joyce froze in mid-sentence when Vincent lunged forward, holding onto his fishing rod for dear life. Falling into the water wasn't an ideal thought to him. Luckily, Kyle caught him around the waist, falling back in a heap on the small motor boat as Joyce almost fell out of the boat to catch the rod. Unluckily for her, it slipped from her reach at an amazing speed as the supposedly caught fish tugged it away.
"Aw—craters." She murmured, adjusting her glasses and sitting down next to her brothers. "Dad ain't going to be too happy about this. That's the one he used for all his sporting games."
"Sorry…" Vincent whispered. He was always sorry for something—even if it wasn't his own fault.
Joyce grinned and stood, rocking the boat. "No prob—" She laughed before jumping into the water unceremoniously and creating a splash that soaked both brothers. There was silence until she emerged from the water, rob in her hand. She gripped the end of the boat and—pushed away from it.
"What are you doing?" Kyle called as the twins stood—before they say a small spark above Joyce's head. "Oh…"
"Move the boat!" She shouted and Kyle revved up the motor before Vincent knew what was happening. They're parents, standing out on the shore nearby, could hear the shouting and called back to ask what was wrong. Well…they soon learned after the light show that followed.
Joyce was rushed to the emergency room for the second time that year and she was close to the brink again, burned and hooked up to a machine to breath. Vincent always supposed it was a part of her powers to heal quicker than usual when it came to electrocution…and he could remember crying his heart out when she almost died again a while later, this time taking a couple of muggers with her to the hospital. Then the scary guy from Gotham came and…she left.
"Don't cry, buddy." She grinned, loosening her embrace on the shorter, shaking figure. Kyle had had his turn at crying an hour ago and now he was saying goodbye the day before she was supposed to leave, having just returned from the hospital. "I'll be seeing you real soon, okay…here."
She gave him the charm and that was the last he saw of her. But she was right about seeing her soon—he had accepted a long time ago that he wouldn't live through this ordeal. The man called Wintergreen gave him some sort of drug and…his tongue loosened to their questions. He couldn't remember what he said, but he vaguely recalled something about Red-X…a big mistake. Maybe know they knew that Robin needed X for his plan…whatever that was…
Returning to the world of the conscious, Vincent slowly opened his eyes and stared at the far wall. He was lying on his right side, hands tied behind his back with a rope caked with his own blood. That was attached to a longer rope pinned to wall. If he tried to phase through the floor he'd only end up breaking or dislocating both his arms, pulled back up by one of his captors. Speaking of which, he couldn't get over the fact that one was his brother—helping the man that killed Joyce…
The bastards.
Slade…he was pacing the room, ignoring Vincent successfully. All he heard was the name Robin before he slammed his fist into a table, a small vial of some light pink liquid falling to the floor. When Slade bent to pick it up, he noticed Vincent looking at him…
Vincent shivered internally but didn't break eye-contact. He was too tired to be afraid…too sore…
"Awake, I see." Slade murmured, starting toward Vincent with the vial still in his hand. "Do you know what this is?"
Vincent didn't answer. His lips felt like they were glued together, his throat sore from yelling and gasping for breath after the beating he received. All he could do was watch in silence as the man knelt before him and showed him the vial.
"I stole these from a man…and it is one of many serums I have in my possession that manipulate the emotions of human beings." He explained. Vincent remembered X telling him something about a time issue in Gotham and Jump City…something about Slade and Robin coming from a potential future that started this long war. "This is one of my own, of course, something I created after I found the originals too…quick in action. This is the one that I used on your brother…"
…He never did find out why Kyle joined the guy…
"Rage…" the man stared at the vial, weighing it in his hand as he examined it with his one eye. "All your brother knows is hate—substitutes all memories with feelings of rage. Everything that was once precious to him seems to anger him, a loyalty to me built from a small single dosage of this serum. He—of course—is only important to me for the time being…a test subject."
A test subject…So Kyle really wasn't insane. It brought comfort to Vincent knowing this, even if it was a small amount to ease the ever growing pain. This new Kyle…it was still evil, a monster in the place of his twin. And what Vincent feared more than anything in the world at that moment was that he would never get the old Kyle back—that his old brother was as dead as his only sister.
But what was he a test subject for?
Slade seemed to read minds, glancing only briefly at Vincent before he answered to the thought. "World leaders…anyone of importance…all of them will be under my control. But first…the untouchables…"
The man stood and stalked back toward the table, placing the vial on a small rack with the rest of its kind. "Of course, you know Robin will be first to try the finished product. I'm at my patience's end with him and I think he can't stand much of a struggle anyway."
No more games…The war must have lasted a long while. In the news, this man—Slade—was a danger to mankind long before Joyce went to Gotham. And then the Titans were always mentioned, the only ones who had so far stepped in his way—continuing to do so even when the JL interfered and wanted to take over the case. They were pretty tough for their age, and that stubborn attitude of theirs could have been adapted from their leader—Robin. It only made sense he and Slade would have a one-on-one war going on between them in the background. But Red-X filled Vincent on everything that happened in their history.
In the mercenary's eye, Robin was just a child—a side prize from the world, but something he wanted nonetheless. When Slade wanted something he got exactly that—and everything. Never just one or two of the things on his list…everything, and when Robin became someone of importance on Slade's list the boy sealed the fate to his own inescapable doom. Slade was—if you looked at it from a bystander's point of view—just as stubborn as the boy. Now that someone thought about it…they were both strong, agile, and smart…they had a lot in common…
A loud thud in the hallway on the other side of the room's door interrupted him from his thoughts…
-S-
Distracted from his thoughts, he watched the door with mild interest as Kyle phased through it into the room and dropped Red-X instantly onto the floor at his feet. The much younger boy, though he had been stronger than one would expect, appeared as though he had been through hell and back again. Evidently, using his illusion powers too much was taking a toll on him greatly and a crash was doomed to come bounding around the corner the moment he laid down to rest.
Slade ignored the boy who stood where he was, waiting for an order as the man examined the unconscious and renowned thief with his one good eye. So…this teen was part of Robin's plan—and why? What was so special about him, or, as Slade had gotten out of Vincent, his suit?
Bending down, he unfastened the slack belt from around the waist of the thief and spun around as he headed toward his table. Wintergreen, just happening to enter the room then, froze when he saw the body before crossing his arms.
"What do you want to happen to the boy?" The older man asked.
Slade looked up from the belt in his hands and sighed. "Tie him up and lock him up somewhere where he can't make any distractions. Question him when he wakes—find out if Robin told him anything."
The man nodded and Kyle followed silently, sighing heavily from exhaustion. Meanwhile, Slade started taking the piece of equipment apart…find nothing out of the ordinary. But if Robin needed the suit, what could he do with it that he couldn't do the first time he posed as the original great thief Red-X? Surely a few disappearing acts weren't going to do him any good in a battle against Slade. It had to be something different…something that he didn't want to do last time, or an advancement to the suit that he didn't have time to make until he retrieved the belt back from his successor, the current Red-X.
Something was there that Slade was missing…and he didn't like it…
-R-
After pacing the room at least three hundred times, he stopped and leaned against the wall by the door with his back. There was really nothing he could do now unless he was set free. The instant that that happened, he could find Red-X, get back to the tower and beat Slade once and for all. All he needed was a small escape plan and it would all work out…He had a plan and everything…
The door was opened briskly and that startled Robin. He stayed leaning against the wall and watched quietly as Slade stepped into the room. Standing to the right of the man, Slade didn't notice Robin until he turned his head, not the happiest of looks in his only eye.
"What is it?" Slade hissed, advancing toward Robin. Robin, of course, would have taken up a fighting stance, but with the help of the straitjacket all he had was his legs…and simply kicking wasn't going to win against someone like Slade.
"Be more specific." Robin muttered. "What is what?"
"Red-X." The man demanded, grabbing Robin by the front of hi jacket and lifting him easily off the ground with one hand. "What is it you did?"
He scowled—something he knew he probably couldn't get away with in his position, but he could try—"And how exactly could I do anything where I am? If you haven't noticed, my hands have been kind of tied up lately."
Slade shook him once and Robin felt his old headache returning from the unwelcomed jolt. "I know you called Red-X to the city because you needed to suit. And why would that be, Robin?"
Okay…so someone had a loose tongue. That wasn't exactly a good thing and that really put him in an uneasy position. Slade was the type of guy that would literally beat information out of you. It wasn't that Robin couldn't stand a good beating, but he knew Slade had other methods of persuasion…
"Just an ally." Robin lied—and he knew Slade could tell he was lying. "I want to destroy the suit and you know that."
Hopefully Slade didn't catch on to his plan. If he ever found out about Robin's little secret…Jeez, he'd been in a load of trouble, even with his friends. He had a knack for getting into trouble.
"Don't…lie…" Slade warned menacingly, adding a second shake to emphasize how serious he was being. "I know you, and I know there's more to this than what you want anyone to know. Tell me—what did you do now? What else do you regret doing?"
…He was good.
Robin was dropped and landed on his feet, backing away a few steps. One thing he hated more than being lectured was when someone read his mind…and Slade seemed to like doing that to him.
"You never will admit it, will you?" Slade shook his head. "Such a sinner, Robin…Lying and stealing, inflicting pain even though your God tells you to turn the other cheek…Tisk, tisk. Quite the villain you are, Robin."
"Doesn't matter—"
"You're right, it doesn't." Slade's eye drifted up to the small ventilation system near the tall ceiling. "You're going to tell me everything I want to know in approximately an hour."
….What? Where'd he go off putting together that idea? There was no way…
Robin's eye drifted up to the ventilation system and he listened carefully. There was a soft hissing sound…
"What the hell are you doing!" He asked, suddenly panicking.
"Nothing new. You've been breathing in one of my newest serums for the last couple of hours."
Out of a sudden burst of rage he shot out a kick at Slade and nearly caught him in the face before he leaned back, laughing. He stepped closer then, a menacing form looming over Robin like a storm cloud on the brink of bursting rain. "Don't push my buttons, Robin. This is nothing new. You're attitude will take a turn for the better, but not before you feel like hell."
"Too late for that." He muttered. Like this wasn't hell already…
"No, I'm being literal. It'll feel like dying from some unknown disease, but when you wake your mind will flip. Just give it fifteen minutes. Start outs as a fever…"
How could he say that so casually? How he could just talk about pain and suffering as though it was nothing? Then again, how could he do anything of what he had been doing for the last long while? Taking over cities, killing people, driving people (mainly Robin) nuts, experimenting with chemicals to control others…the list went on. Robin was starting to believe that there was no method behind the madness, that it was just…madness.
"Lie down." Slade suggesting, now in the doorway. "You've taken enough of the chemical for it to take effect in a short while and I'm not joking about the pain. You're in for quite the ride."
Then he was gone and Robin was left worrying. He did feel hot but he just passed it aside before. Slade had to be lying…he had to be….
-A-
Sorry for taking so long. I had to rewrite this a couple of times because it kept getting deleted. Anyhow, I have finals coming up for this whole week and Monday of next week. If you don't here from me (despite whatever Victor may same) I am not dead…just dying…
Until Again
Alexnandru Van Gordon