Sorry I forgot to post this yesterday for a double chapter. So this is chapter 7. Read on!
When Phoenix and Robin woke up, they found theirselves in pods across from each other. They exchanged a worried look. Robin tried to grab something from his utility belt but his belt wasn't there. Shit. He tried to contact someone through his comm but it wasn't in his ear. He checked his computer in his glove. Nope. Not there. Even the stuff he had hidden in his boots and gloves were gone. So he went to a last resort; he started banging on the pod as hard as he could.
Phoenix tried to blast her way out, or use any of her powers, but they didn't work. Then she noticed that there was something cold around her neck. An inhibitor collar. Well, fuck. She reached for her utility belt, but it wasn't there either. And they took my belt! She went for her disk but she had a feeling it was no use to try. Her suspicions were confirmed when she felt nothing on her back. So she tried the first thing that came to mind; she pounded on the pod.
"Don't bother trying, you can't get out." A male voice said. It didn't sound familiar at all to them. They stopped pounding and turned their heads to where they heard it, but all they saw was shadows. The only light in the room was the spotlight shining on them inside their pods.
"Show yourself!" Robin yelled. Phoenix gave him a look that said 'are you really that stupid?' Villains never listen to heroes, so why would this one do any different? A dark laughter rang througout the darkness.
"Fine." The lights turned on to reveal the room they were in. It looked like a lab, with plain white walls and a couple of silver metal doors with no locks or handles. There was a white metal table, a little longer than Robin, with silver cuffs attached to it. Their was a stand beside it holding needles, knives, small hammers and other various dangerous things. There was a contraption Phoenix recognised as a machine used in the past, except the it was a shiny gray. It would stretch the person's body as a handle was turned, and a few bodies actually got torn in half if it went that far. There were also many other things the two saw but that wasn't their focus; the man they were looking at was.
He looked as if he was in his late 30's to early 40's. His hair was brown yet there was some grey in there. What caught there attention was his eyes. It seemed to hold knowledge that no one could counteract, and enough craziness to support it. Silver eyes looked at them, a smile on his mouth.
"Hello." His voice made them want to squirm and run away, but they stood their ground and stared back at him. It kind of amused him because by the end of this, or even the end of the first week, they'll see that he isn't easy to stand up against.
"What do you want?" Phoenix yelled at him, none of her fear conveyed in her voice. His smile got darker as it turned into a dangerous look.
"Many things. One I already have." A leather covered hand gestured to the pods. "Two, revenge on the Justice League–"
"–Oh please!" Robin exclaimed at him while Phoenix just rolled her eyes at the man. "Every criminal or crazy person wants revenge on them!"
"If you're getting revenge on the League, why would you want me?" Phoenix asked. He just kept giving her the same dark look.
"You'll see. And young man? You shouldn't base me off of every other criminal. After all, I have you two defenseless and in my capture, which is enough to get what I want." His look turned from dark to sadistic. Robin gulped. Not much things can give him a scare, but this person gave him shivers at his voice.
"First off, I want you," he pointed at Robin, "to take off your mask and you," this time he pointed at Phoenix, "to power down." They glared at him.
"No way in hell would I do that!" Robin yelled at him. Batman told him not to tell anybody, not even the team, so why would he show a criminal he doesn't even know the name of?
"Me neither! There is a reason it's called a secret identity." Phoenix told the creepy man. She doesn't give in just like that, no matter how scary the person is.
"Do you think I'm that stupid? I already know your identity. It's not that secret anymore…" he walked up to Phoenix's pod and stood right beside her. Robin went to back to banging on the transparent wall of the pod as the man approached her. He dropped his voice to a whisper only him and Phoenix could hear.
"… Alexis Jones."
Her eyes widened. How could he know? She took all precautions and made sure that no one would find out. She turned to look back at the man as he went to Robin. By the twitch in Robin's stoic face, she guessed that the man knew his also.
"I guess you still won't do it, so I'll just make you. There is a reason for those pods you know." He walked over to a wall and opened a compartment that was full of buttons and switches. He pressed two buttons and watched as the pods started to light up.
Robin got worried when the man pressed the buttons. He had a reason to. As the pod lit up in a red glow, the heat raised too. No sooner was Robin sweating and panting, trying to stick it out. He obeyed to no man. Well, almost none. He shook his head trying to focus on finding a weak spot in the pod to get out. He didn't find any in it.
The time seemed to go on for hours, though it was barely a couple minutes. His body was craving water, and his throat was dry. The air felt like it was getting harder to breathe. Wait a minute, heat burns oxygen, and if it burns all the oxygen in here… oh shit. There was nothing he could do about it though. He heard a scream and looked over at Phoenix. She wasn't doing any better than him. Though some things confused him about her pod, his own coughing brought him back to his current problem.
The heat was starting to get unbearable. He felt like he was in a giant oven. He would be screaming if he could, but with the lack of air, it seemed like an impossible thing to do. Robin felt lightheaded as his vision started to fill with black spots and he fell to his knees, his legs being too weak. So, for one final attempt at survival, he weakly banged on the glass and whispered, "Done."
Phoenix looked at Robin and though she was scared for him, she inwardly smirked. The immunity to any forms of heat was always apart of her, no matter if she was Phoenix or Alexis, so even if her powers were down, the heat still wouldn't affect her. That was until she saw the pod light up in an icy blue color.
The pod temperature started getting colder and that was when Phoenix started to get scared. Her body and how it reacts to temperature is completely opposite to a normal human's. Heat wouldn't harm her, but cold would. That and because of her powers, she's more vulnerable to the cold than a human. Her body felt like needles were giving her little stabs everywhere as the temperature went lower. It's painful, but she's going to suck it up until the guy turns it off. If he turns it off.
She suddenly heard a sound of gas releasing and gasped as she saw a freezing mist surround her in the pod. The pain increased as the mist was put inside the confined space. Phoenix let out a pain filled scream. She wasn't sure how much more she could stand. Her breath was coming out in short constricted breaths, trying to get some air into her lungs but the mist was suffocating her. The brightness in her hair was dimming, not a signal that she was powering down, but a signal that she was weakening. Her body was losing strength and she eventually fell to the ground, unknown to her that Robin was in the same position. With the ounce of strength she had left, she said one, defeated whisper.
"Done."
And that was chapter 7. What has these two gotten themselves in? Pleaase remember to review and see you next week. CC out!