Personal Infernos 2

It took exactly fifty-six minutes and forty-eight seconds for Dante to reappear. Not surprisingly, it took the exact same amount of time for Robin's headache to return.

The boy's silver skull mask smiled wickedly at the two Titans, his arms tucked behind his back. He glanced from Raven to Robin and back.

"I trust that your suite is to your liking?" he asked, tilting his head as if he were genuinely curious about their opinion. Robin was tempted to punch the guy in the sterling-silver face.

Raven got to her feet, wincing. Judging from her expression, Robin guessed that her headache had returned, as well. Robin wasn't sure what it was, but there was something about Dante that caused a type of pressure, like your head was trapped inside a very tight helmet. Just one more reason to dislike him.

Raven glared at Dante, pulling her hood up over her head. "About as comfortable as you'd expect a jail cell to be."

Dante nodded. "Excellent. Now, shall we begin with the negotiations?"

Robin got to his feet slowly, keeping a careful eye on Dante. He didn't doubt that Dante would shoot him in the back if given the opportunity. Actually, Dante probably wouldn't hesitate to shoot him before he turned his back. Neither of which sounded pleasant.

"If you kidnapped us, you should know a thing or two about us," Robin growled, dusting himself off. "We don't negotiate with criminals."

Dante turned to face Robin. Although it was almost impossible to tell through the skull mask, Robin could have sworn that Dante's expression changed to one of irritation, as if he didn't want Robin to open his mouth.

"You misunderstand, Robin," Dante said slowly, as if talking to an infant. "I never said the negotiations included you."

Both Robin and Raven raised their eyebrows in surprise. Robin couldn't decide if he were more concerned about the statement, or insulted by being brushed off like an insect.

"You're demanding negotiations without one of the people you kidnapped," Raven said slowly, as if trying to figure out exactly what Dante was thinking. "What kind of negotiations are you thinking of?"

Dante shrugged, adjusting the rose in his lapel. "Simple. I tell you what I want. You agree. And you two can go on your way."

Raven arched an eyebrow. "And if we disagree?"

Dante's mask held its sickly grin. "Well, then I'll have to persuade you otherwise."

Before either Raven or Robin could respond, Dante spun his hand, chuckling as he did. In a burst of rusty-red smoke, his staff appeared in his hand, the ruby claws on the tip glowing brightly. Dante slammed his staff into the ground, the tip making a piercing clang as it struck the silver floor tiles. Almost immediately, red sparks began flowing from the staff, racing across the floor tiles in an effort to reach two walls opposite of each other. The magic raced up the walls, rapidly forming edges and corners as they settled and melted into the walls. Within an instant, there were two vastly different doors carved into both walls, both steaming with cooling magic.

The entrance on their left consider of a pair of elegantly carved doors, encased within a bronze doorframe and carved out of what appeared to be solid gold. Intricate designs were carved into the doors, many of which were still sparking with rust-colored magic. A ruby doorknob protruded from each door, still glowing with heat. Overall, the door wouldn't have looked out of place in the Buckingham Palace.

In sharp contrast, the door on their right was carved directly out of the obsidian, the edges rough-cut and crumbling. The door was made of rusting iron, complete with a heavy door-brace prepared next to it. It looked like the entrance to a torture chamber, a sharp contrast to the elegant pair of doors across from it.

Dante looked up, gesturing with his cane to the two doors behind him. "Impressive, no?"

Robin might have been impressed if the doors hadn't meant imminent danger. So he was slightly surprised when he noticed Raven's posture stiffen, as if the doors bothered her somehow. Robin wasn't sure why. He had seen Raven do some astonishing things with magic. A pair of doors didn't seem that impressive in comparison.

Dante noticed Raven's change in posture as well. "You seemed impressed, sorceress" he noted, twirling his staff casually.

"Hardly," Raven said coolly, her expression remaining neutral. "I've seen more powerful sorcery from a child's magic set."

Dante chuckled, pressing his hand against his chest as if stabbed. "You wound me, Raven. I don't suppose that was necess-"

Dante was interrupted by the sizzle of burning flesh, like a slice of bacon tossed on a frying pan. At first, Robin assumed that Dante had attacked them somehow. He did a quick once-over of himself, checking for any roasted flesh or missing appendages. To his surprise, he was completely fine. Glancing back at Dante, however, Robin noticed where the strange sound had originated.

Tendrils of steam trickled out from between the teeth of Dante's skull mask, almost like he was exhaling cigarette smoke. Dante shuddered, then whipped around to turn his back to the Titans, wrenching off his mask's jaw piece as he did so.

Robin glanced at Raven, half expecting to see her eyes glowing with magic. To his surprise, Raven seemed just as shocked as he was. Whatever was happening to Dante had nothing to do with the two of them.

Dante covered his exposed face with his arm, coughing violently into his sleeve. Steam obscured Dante's face, hiding it from completely from Robin's view. From the looks of it, it almost looked like Dante's face had burst into flames behind his mask.

After a moment, Dante's violent coughs died down, and Dante slid his mask back into position. He quickly turned back to face the Titans, his skull mask still grinning wickedly. "My apologies," he said smoothly. Robin noted that he sounded slightly less arrogant, less confident than before. "I needed to address a… medical problem. Where were we?"

"You were about to let us go, and turn yourself in to the police," Robin supplied, his face as neutral as he could manage.

"Very funny," Dante snarled. He seemed to notice how angry he sounded, and quickly regained his composure. "But as I was saying, the negotiations will be fairly simple. I will speak to one of you in my study," Dante said, gesturing to the elegantly carved door, "While the other faces a challenge in the other room," he finished, gesturing to the rough-cut door.

"Let me guess," Robin muttered, glaring at Dante. "Raven's going into the study, and I'm facing challenge."

Dante nodded, twirling his cane nonchalantly. "Congratulations. You're not as imbecilic as you look."

Robin gritted his teeth to keep himself from snapping back. This kid was intentionally trying to get under his skin.

"There is no way we're doing this," Raven said coldly, glaring at Dante, who immediately stopped whirling his cane. "Split us up? That has got to be the oldest trap in the book."

Dante stared at Raven curiously, as if surprised by her opinion. "Why do you care?" he asked, his tone sounding genuinely confused. "No harm is to come to you while you're in my study, I swear to it. I simply wish to negotiate."

Raven shook her head, a look of irritation crossing her face. "It's not my safety I'm worried about. You're sending Robin into a death trap, and you think I'm concerned about my safety?"

Dante tapped his chin with his cane thoughtfully, as if he hadn't thought about it. "I see… the negotiations can't take place unless both sides are willing… hmm…"

Then he snapped his fingers, as if he had just come up with a brilliant idea. "I've got it. Your main concern is that of your boyfriend's safety, correct? That's why you won't start the negotiations. You refuse to let him enter the challenge room."

"She's not my-" Robin protest began, his face turning slightly red.

"So this leaves one option," Dante interrupted, not even glancing at Robin. "If you won't start negotiations if he has to go in there…"

Dante snapped his fingers. Before either of the Titans could react, a funnel cloud of dark red smoke whipped up around Robin, completely concealing him from view. In an instant, the smoke cleared, revealing an empty space where the Boy Wonder had been standing only moments before. At the same time, the heavy door brace slammed down over the iron door, fusing to the lock and sealing the door shut. Raven stared at Dante's grinning mask, horrified.

"…Perhaps you'll be interested in getting him out of there." The grinning mask seemed to mock her, the sneer stretching from ear to ear. "Now, shall we begin?"

Raven bit her tongue to keep her from lashing out at Dante. "Fine," she growled. "Let's get this over with."

Dante seemed to smile, even without taking the mask into account. "Splendid. I will meet you in my study. In the meantime, I have some… pest control I need to take care of."

With that, Dante disappeared in a column of red smoke. Raven swore under her breath. Great. Now Dante was using Robin as a pawn.

She sighed, and then turned to the massive double-doors. Might as well get this done as soon as possible. Hopefully Robin would stay alive long enough.

Robin hated feeling like a pawn. So far today, he had been subject to a counterattack from Dante, only to be saved by Raven, openly announced as "insurance" for Raven's behavior, and now teleported into a dungeon to, you guessed it, sway Raven's opinion. Didn't do wonders for his self-esteem.

Robin really felt useless. He hadn't contributed anything yet, and had to be saved several times by Raven in the first couple minutes. Since when was he the damsel in distress? So far he had done nothing but hang around and shout at Dante a little. Very helpful.

There was something about Dante that set Robin's teeth on edge. The magic, the reference to meeting Robin before, and especially the fascination with Raven, it all seemed, well, strange. Something was tickling in the back of Robin's mind. He wasn't sure how, but Dante was at least slightly right; Robin did have a sense that he knew him. Something about the magic was bothering him. That, and the fact that Dante had apparently scorched a part of his face off earlier. The kid wasn't exactly the most stable person Robin had ever met.

Robin quickly surveyed the room. The walls were still carved out of obsidian, but seemed to stretch infinitely in all directions, disappearing into the darkness. The only light in the room was from Robin's insignia, which automatically lit up to illuminate his immediate area. As if on cue, the uniform's light flickered slightly, temporarily plunging the room into darkness. Robin made a mental note to replace the batteries soon. The last thing he wanted was to be stuck in pitch-blackness without any light at all.

"Dante, when I get out of here, I'm going to strangle you," Robin muttered, sliding his staff out of his utility belt.

"You know," a voice said from directly behind him, "you might find that rather difficult."

Robin whipped around, swinging his staff instinctively. In one fluid motion, Dante, still surrounded by fading red smoke, caught the staff in one hand and swung his cane under Robin's legs. Robin went crashing to the ground, disarmed and knocked down in one action. Yep. Just another reason to hate Dante.

Dante studied Robin's staff for a moment, as if judging its worth. After a moment, he made a sound of disgust. "Worthless," he muttered, carelessly tossing the staff aside and allowing it to clatter to the floor. "Not even a drop of magic. Completely and utterly worthless."

Robin leapt to his feet, snatching his staff as he did. "I don't have magic, so what? I can still kick your butt without it."

"You really are an imbecile, aren't you?" Dante growled, his grip on his cane tightening. "Magic isn't something you take for granted. It's precious. Valuable. Extremely rare. I don't even-"

Dante stopped short, cutting himself off. Robin noticed that Dante's statements didn't seem as elegant or confident. They sounded rawer, more angry and agitated. Dante's entire composure seemed to have changed. He wasn't holding himself like a price anymore. He gripped his cane tightly, as if it were an anchor during rough tides. He kept glancing over his shoulder, as if expecting an attack from any angle. Dante seemed like more like a paranoid fugitive, expecting death to swoop in at any time.

"Something wrong, Dante?" Robin ventured, trying to make his tone as mocking as possible. "You aren't losing your nerve, are you?"

Dante's mask refracted the faint light from Robin's insignia, only adding to its unnatural appearance. "Don't press your luck, kid," Dante growled, tapping his cane into the ground impatiently. "You're not my goal. You're expendable. Insurance. A pawn."

Robin glared back at him, clutching his staff tightly. "And you're a monster. What's your point?"

Dante's mask seemed to glower at Robin. "Don't ever call me a monster. Especially with your track record, Robin."

Dante tapped his mask's chin with his cane, as if he had given himself an idea. "Actually, that's a good place to start. Monster. Your track record. The eighth layer, bolgia seven."

Robin had no idea what Dante was talking about, but it didn't sound pleasant. Dante lifted his cane into the air with one hand, muttering what sounded like a foreign language under his breath.

"Elcirc thgie," Dante muttered, making quick hand signs with his empty hand, "Reyal neves!" Dante's skull grin glittered evilly. "Let's see what's lurking in that head of yours, birdboy."

Dante slammed his staff down onto the ground, the top erupting with scarlet sparks. The sparks raced across the ground rapidly, forming an enormous grid on the room's floor. The ground rumbled, and suddenly sections of the floor began to rise into the air, slamming into the ceiling to form new walls and hallways. In an instant, an enormous black labyrinth surrounded Robin.

Dante wasn't finished. The magic continued to pour out of his cane, forming a rust-colored pool of magic in the center of the floor. Dante pointed his empty hand towards the pool like a finger gun. "Esir GERYON!"

The pool of magic began to bubble nastily, turning as black as tar. For a brief moment, Robin thought that the substance was about to explode. Instead, the inky liquid began to rise up, creating a roughly humanoid shape about Robin's size. Then details began to emerge, as if forced through the tar. The figure became more lean and muscular, its stumpy hands growing fingers which spasmed wildly, searching for something to grab hold of. The tar closed in around the head of the figure, forming a skull-like face. Almost as a finishing touch, a white streak appeared in the tar, carving a smudged white X across the face.

Robin stared at the figure before him with a mixture of amazement and terror. Standing rigidly before him was a nearly exact replica of Red-X. The figure was an inky black, with only the narrow eyes and bright white X hinting at color. The edges of X were smudged, vapors of magic steaming off of him as if he were boiling hot.

Dante paced around his newly-created villain, examining it carefully. "Not my greatest work," he admitted, "but he'll do nicely."

Robin coughed, trying to appear unimpressed. "Wow. Congratulations. You've recreated Red-X, a villain I've defeated several times before. Foolproof plan."

Dante glanced at Robin. "Red-X, so that's his name. But no, Robin, this isn't Red-X. It simply has his form. The thief. The liar. Pulled directly from your mind. This, my friend, is Geryon."

As if on cue, the Red-X lookalike twitched. The mask quivered, and suddenly the eyes seemed to roll forward. Robin realized, with slight revulsion, that the iconic Red-X mask was no costume for this creature. It was its face. Two pupils rolled forward in the narrow eyes, forming black reptilian slits. They surveyed the room quickly, as if taking in every possible angle. Then, to Robin's disgust, the mask split open, revealing an ear-to-ear mouth lined with needle-like teeth, dripping with the inky liquid. The creature snarled and writhed, its claw-like hands jerking towards Robin in an attempt to strangle him. To both Robin and Geryon's surprise, Geryon couldn't take a step forward. Glancing downwards, Robin saw that the creature's feet were still undefined, still lumps of cooling magic.

Dante chuckled, flipping his cane over his shoulder. "Ah, yes, I forgot to mention. In an attempt to be sporting, I'm going to give you five minutes. By then, Geryon will be able to leave his perch, and you will become its prey. My advice: use the labyrinth to your advantage, birdboy. It'll buy you a few more minutes."

Robin took a step backwards, glaring at Dante in the faint light of his badge. "You're a madman," he growled.

Dante clicked his tongue. "No, Robin. I'm just after my best interests. And, unfortunately for you, your survival isn't part of it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some negotiations to attend."

Something inside Robin snapped. If Dante was willing to go this far just to get Robin out of the way, whatever he had planned for Raven couldn't be good. Robin couldn't allow that. He dove at Dante, drawing a bird-a-rang from his utility belt. Inches before contact, Dante vanished in a cloud of red smoke, and Robin went skidding across the floor.

Robin got to his feet, swearing. He needed to find some way out of this labyrinth and get to Raven. Somehow, he was going to have to beat Dante's game.

A sickening shluck, like a boot being pulled out of mud, caught Robin's attention. Turning around, Robin saw that Dante's abomination had managed to yank one of its inky boots out of the shrinking pool of magic, and was starting to claw at the other. Five minutes was probably an overestimation on Dante's part.

Robin swore again under his breath. Then he did whatever a reasonable person would do. He took off into to labyrinth at full speed.

Raven, stay alive, he thought. Whatever he was facing, he doubted Raven was facing a anything better.