The ominous fissure in space stood beside Warp's exhausted figure, radiating an eerie sanguine aura. Through the portal, all one would be able to see was a chaotic, vibrant mix of colors.
The edges of the fractured space pulsed rhythmically, as though it was a vein of a living being.
Looking at the abominable construct before them, everyone in the surrounding unconsciously stook a few steps backwards.
"Oi, you seriously want us to go into that?" one of the villains Oblivion couldn't help but voice out.
Warp didn't reply; he simply waved the remote, reminding them of the stakes of disobedience.
Rebel's eyes twitched as his brain went full power, trying to figure out a better option.
But the conclusion he always ended up with was that they either followed Warp's instructions or they could kiss 'Code X' goodbye.
His arms clenched tightly, and his vein bulged, 'Who the hell orchestrated this whole thing and why?' he wondered furiously.
Meanwhile, on the heroes' end, they didn't have much of a choice; unlike villains, who prioritized individual interests above everything else, they had to choose to save lives no matter the cost.
The first person stepping towards the fissure was starlight.
"How do we guarantee you wouldn't just detonate the bomb after we've left?" Her melodious voice rang out her doubts.
The others couldn't help but nod in agreement. What was the guarantee that Warp wouldn't just act after they complied?
After all, the remote worked with pressure, and with how weak he looks right now, it would be a miracle if he could keep conscious without passing out thirty minutes from now.
Shrugging nonchalantly, Warp replied, "You lot just have to trust in me then. Don't you?"
Hearing this reply, even the ever stoic Titan frowned, his face twitching in annoyance.
Just as he was about to voice out the ridiculousness of such a statement,
Sparks spoke, his voice cutting through the tense atmosphere, "You can't close it… Can you?"
Hearing Spark's words, Warps' confident demeanour faltered, his expression darkening, "I don't understand what you mean by that."
A smile crept onto Spark's face as it widened into laughter, "hahahaa nice one, you almost got me there"
Confusion, yes, the tense atmosphere became filled with confusion as all eyes in the scene gazed at Spark with confusion.
'Has he finally gone totally over the edge?' they all wondered in unison.
Seeing the confused glance everyone was giving him, Spark finally decided to clarify himself. He pointed at the portal, "I mean, you can't close the portal… can you?"
Warps confidence collapsed, his blood raced, fear gripping his heart as he swung the remote in his grasp, "I-i c-can -"
Spark didn't even wait for him to finish whatever he was about to cough up, as his piercing gaze examined Warp's figure as if scanning the entirety of his being. "Lemme guess… the remote is a dud. Right?"
Immediately his statement ended, his figure flickered as he moved at impossible speeds.
Before anyone could react, Spark was back to his position, but he had something in his hands.
Arghhhhh!
Warps' miserable squeal reverberated out loud, as one of his arms was missing, ripped right off their joints by none other than Spark.
Even Velocity, a speedster, got goosebumps at the scene. He could barely see a blur the moment Spark moved; he shivered in fright, taking a few unconscious steps away from the starlight.
Clang!
The remote fell onto the ground.
Everyone's expression changed, 'The crazy bastard ripped off the arm holding the remote!' They realized too late.
Gritting their teeth, the heroes braced themselves for explosions, while the villains gave distance, preparing to escape…
Seconds passed
And nothing but Warps screams was heard, realization struck! It was all a lie.
Warp was bluffing all alone;, he was leading them by the nose, and the almost fell for it.
Different furious auras could be felt flaring up, if not for Spark…
Meanwhile Spark still wearing a nonchalant smile tossed the bloody limb away, he began making slow measured steps towards, Warps pathetic figure.
"N-no stay away.." Warp screamed terrified, using his remaining three limbs he tried crawling away, but because of his earlier exhaustion plus the pain of the newly missing limb, he wasn't doing much of moving.
His fear of Spark had maxed. Long before this, he would never have had the balls to show up within the sight of Spark normally.
After all he knew fully well the fates of those villains who confronted Spark.
But he was coerced, he was told that as long as he held the remote, both the Aegis Nine, the top villains and even spark would be restrained.
After all the risks were to high for them to call his bluff… Unfortunately they all underestimated how much of a mad man Spark was.
Short of breath, trembling Warp looked backwards towards the steady looming gait of his predator, "W-wait d-dont" he squealed, he didn't see Spark as a human, all he saw was a grotesque looking beast hungrily salivating for a meal before it.
His teeth chartered as a warm current flowed through his lower region accompanied with a foul stench, soaking his pants wet.
Spark finally started speaking "you almost fooled me you know? The plan was almost perfect."
His smile widened "if you blackmailed only us heroes, I would have been fooled… heck I might even be the first to step into the portal."
Then shaking his head as if disappointed he continued "but you just had to add these scums to the equation, you tried blackmailing the vilest, greedy, and most selfish humans on the planet. And if there's onne thing I've learned through my few years as a hero is that, a villain cares about nothing more than they do their lives."
"Whatever this Code X is, it must be important enough, for them to show up here, but I truly doubt it is important enough to them more than their lives, so you trying this blackmail method is inherently flawed, even If the heroes are willing the villain wouldn't be."
"Plus the fact that you supposedly put the bomb control and the vedio leak activation on the same remote, didn't help either. Because either way even if the heroes comply and the villains don't, you will detonate the bomb either ways."
"That brings us to the only possible conclusion, your job all along wasn't to lead us into the portal, whoever was pulling your strings just needed you to gather us here and open the portal. Meaning the remote would surely be a bluff."
Clap! Clap! Clap!
The moment Seth finished his deductive speech, an applause rang out.
A chilling voice cut through the silence that followed "As expected of my own seed"