"Wo-hoah! This place is totally rad!"
Pepper stood in awe of the Vorton Portal Hub. Very little had changed about the environment- it was still mostly purple rock intertwined with metal and glowing blue circuitry.
The warp gate itself, however, had been revamped. It was now clad in sections of light gray triangular plating to cover up some of the areas that had been only been bare beams before, giving it the appearance of a large camera shutter. The dark blue sections had been recolored medium azure and still held the keystones. Two small tesla coils flanked the portal, sparking at random intervals.
"Well, thank you," X-PO replied. He had also gotten an upgrade into a sleeker design with two gray wings extending from his shoulders. "Since we've opened up limited travel between dimensions, I've had the chance to upgrade and stabilize the gate."
"We need to focus on the task at hand," Batman stated. "X-PO, what were those spider things at Camp Wawanakwa?"
"Ah yes, the spiders." The robot hovered over to the portal's computer system. "They are Skull Spiders from the Island of Okoto. Nasty things, but it could have been worse."
"How, dare I ask?" Wyldstyle dared to ask.
"Okoto resides in what is known as an 'Offshoot Dimension'; particularly, it was spawned from the BIONICLE Dimension, which has remained closed off from the other dimensions simply because it is MUCH larger and full of nastier species of Rahi which would have undoubtedly been far more difficult to properly handle," X-Po explained.
The three minifigs replied with blank stares.
X-PO made a signing sound. "We're fortunate a random portal opened in the smaller, less scary dimension instead of the bigger, more terrifying one."
"So the portal that they came through was random?" Batman asked.
"As far as I can tell, yes. Which is something that should be impossible." X-PO pointed to the gateway. "Since Vortech is trapped in-between dimensions, there should be no portal activity other than what goes through the hub I'm running here."
"You're saying Vortech escaped?" Wyldstyle inquired.
"Not necessarily. This portal hub and Vortech are the only KNOWN sources of the dimensional portals. It seems there's another one that we haven't discovered."
"Then we better find it before it causes any more trouble," Batman stated.
"Right!" X-PO turned back to the computer. "Before you guys brought this up I had occasionally detected a portal anomaly in random dimensions. At first I thought they were bugs in the new system, but thanks to this new information it's safe to say that they're actual portals." A log of the anomalies appeared on the screen. "I've tracked most of the energy signatures to one particular dimension- that being an unintentional pun, since this place has plenty of 'tracks'. Train tracks, to be exact."
"Trains? Awesome!" Pepper exclaimed.
"I didn't know you liked trains," Wyldstyle said.
"Who DOESN'T like trains?" Pepper grinned.
"Fair point."
"And coordinates are set!" X-PO reported. "Ready when you are."
Batman walked up to Pepper. "Are you sure you want to do this? What we're facing is probably going to be a lot more serious than the mere crooks you've faced in the past."
"Hey, I can handle it!" Pepper replied. "Besides, it wouldn't be very cool of me to just leave you dudes on your own."
The Caped Crusader nodded. "If you're sure, then let's move."
"And then they just RAN OFF, leaving me in the tree! Can you believe it?!" Chris McLean complained. "They didn't even bother to clean anything up! Do you have ANY IDEA how far back this is going to set my shooting schedule?!"
"Don't worry, sir, we'll take care of everything. You and your show will be reimbursed for your troubles," a Space Police officer informed him.
Dozens of Space police and regular Police officers had arrived at Camp Wawanakwa soon after Batman, Wyldstyle and Pepper had beaten the Skull Spiders. Now the creatures were being rounded up for transport back to Okoto.
But unbeknownst to either of the police forces, high above the Island was a craft that belonged to neither organization. It was a massive gray blimp with a dark brown cab, thought it was impossible to tell since the entire craft was completely invisible thanks to a cloaking generator.
A periscope was sticking out of the bottom of the vehicle, giving the driver a clear view of the Space Police putting the Lord of Skull Spiders in a massive cage.
The figure watching was clad in a tan overcoat and white sun hat and epaulettes. In place of his left hand was a gray hook. He had a curly mustache, as well as a monocle in front of his right eye. He pulled a communicator out of his back pocket and switched it on.
"Sam Sinister to base, come in," he started. "The so-called 'heroes' have defeated the Skull Spiders and left the dimension. They have no doubt figured out about the secondary portal system and are tracking it as we speak."
He listened to the reply. "Understood, sir. I will alert the others. Over and out."
His work done, Sam Sinister turned to the controls and directed his craft away from the island. Once he was far enough for adequate cloud cover, a large dimensional portal opened in front of him. However, unlike the normal blue portals, this one was varying shades of red.
And with that he drove the blimp through the portal, leaving without anyone below knowing he was there at all.