Ok, you're all gonna be slightly annoyed at me for this, but I felt that the story needed to expand more, so the next chapter will be the Calling all Titians chapter, I promise! Hides
A rectangle of light slid open in the darkness.
After a few seconds, a silhouette of a head blocked a portion of it out. It tilted slightly as it peered round each edge of the door, and then pulled the rest of the body in, still looking warily from side to side.
The rectangle of light slid closed.
The person looked back in surprise, but turned back, walking slowly to stand next to the spotlighted metal chair.
A beat.
"Sit down." The disjointed voice commanded.
Kyd Wykkyd hastened to comply, rocking the chair backwards slightly as he did so, but before it could tip over, he sat up straight, folding his arms. After a second, he unfolded his arms slightly, an uncomfortable look on his face as he decided what to do with his hands.
"Stop fidgeting." A bored voice ordered as the person's dark shape folded its arms. Wykkyd quickly grabbed onto the edges of his spotlighted seat and sat almost completely still, except for occasional nervous glances from side to side.
"…Do you know why we called you here, Kyd Wykkyd?" The voice asked, pronouncing 'Kyd Wykkyd' in an odd way. Wykkyd twitched his head from side to side quickly, signalling 'No.'
"…Vhere are you loyalties, boy?" A strangely accented- Russian, Wykkyd guessed- asked him from directly in front of him. Kyd Wykkyd frowned slightly, puzzled at the question. "…Vell?" She asked again after a few seconds of silence. He twitched slightly at the coldness of the voice, then, hesitantly, pointed both index fingers at the floor, moving his hands up and down slightly. Here.
A few seconds silence. Wykkyd shivered slightly.
"You are positive?" The disjointed voice queried with an attitude of eerie calm. Wykkyd nodded immediately. "Then, in that case, I am puzzled. Extremely rare for myself, no doubt, but I digress. If you are aligned with the Brotherhood of Evil and all its plans, then perhaps you would care to explain… this?"
A black gloved hand grew from the darkness, meandering slightly as it extended, its fingers extended to completely cover the object it was holding. It continued to stretch until, to Kyd Wykkyd's discomfort, it stopped directly in front of his nose. The fist slowly turned upside-down, then, after a pause, gently opened up, fingertips brushing his face, revealing the Titan Communicator resting in the palm of the hand.
His jaw slowly fell open, a feeling of terror burning in his chest, halting his breathing as he stared at the emblazoned 'T' inches away from his face.
"This was found in your belongings…" Madame Rouge said smoothly, waving the communicator slowly from side to side under his nose. Wykkyd's eyes followed its path, trying to maintain a calm pace of breathing, and failing. "Vell…?" Madame Rouge prompted, moving the item away from his face slightly so he could react.
He sat, frozen, eyes flicking from side to side as he tried to think of a reasonable excuse for it. He couldn't think of one. Therefore, in desperation, he tried the oldest one in the book. He closed his eyes briefly, steeling himself up to 'say' it.
Gulping gently, he pointed at the communicator with a shaking hand, then at the shadowy figures in front of him, tensing slightly for their obvious reply. For… You…?
"(…You must be joking…)" He heard Madame Rouge mutter under her breath. He saw her silhouette's head turn towards The Brain.
Before he could register it, her other hand shot forward and slammed viciously into his throat, cutting off his air, jerking his head back and blotting out his vision, a loud ringing in his ears.
He instinctively grabbed at the fingers digging into his neck, kicking his legs out, trying to gain purchase to try and resist it, but he kept slipping, unaware of what the two were saying.
Just as he heard his heart pound loudly in his ears, he felt the pain lessen, her fingers slowly releasing the pressure on his throat, but still encircling his neck. Wykkyd coughed silently, scrunching his eyes up as he leant forward slightly, struggling to breathe.
"…-ave an in-eresting proposition for you, my shadowy minion," The Brain said, the voice sounding more disjointed as the ringing slowly subsided. Wykkyd frowned as he coughed, feeling slightly insulted at being called a 'minion'. "You will not be punished for this. Yet. I will order Psimon to watch you closely, to monitor your thoughts. At the fist sign of treachery, you will be destroyed. The very first sign."
Wykkyd scrunched his eyes up as they watered, nodding as he let out a controlled cough to clear his throat. He felt Madame Rouge's hand slip off his neck as he leant back, his breathing returning to semi-normal. He tenderly raised a hand to feel at the bruises now present from where Madame Rouge's fingertips had squeezed.
"Remove yourself from my presence." The Brain ordered, the rectangle of light appearing behind Wykkyd. "I suppose I should thank you, in one way. I now have a backup lest anything go wrong with the one in my possession."
Wykkyd got up slowly and made for the door, gently rubbing his aching neck with one hand.
"Remember," Wykkyd stopped in the doorway, gritting his teeth in frustration and tenderness of his muscles. "Psimon will be monitoring. I am not called 'The Brain' for nothing, you know…"