The Wicked One

Chapter Twenty-Seven | Strife, Part One

The trio walked slowly through the darkened corridors. It was a slower trek than any of them wanted to make, but they had little choice.

"No ones following us still, right?" Red-X had to ask again. He glanced back to see See-More nod. The master thief shivered at how his comrade still appeared to be missing an eye, he was still trying to get used to it being stuck at the back of his head.

"I still can't see very well through my lens but, yeah, we're good."

Making sure that See-More still had a hand on his shoulder, he turned his attention back in front of him, where Fixit was leading the way.

The mechanic carried the now not so talkative Tamaranian on his back, the alien bound by some sort of weird wiring that just grew out from Fixit's body. Despite still having no arms, he showed no signs that the added weight bothered him.

Red-X flinched when a sudden pain flared up in his side. The Zinothium that seeped into his body after attacking the guard was working, as he had hoped, but it was a temporary pain killer at best, made even weaker as the adrenaline began to leave his body.

"Hey, tin man, how close are we to reaching the palace?" Red-X called.

Fixit did not respond, nor did he even turn around and acknowledge him. Red-X quickly grew annoyed. "Hey, bolt for brains, are you listening?!"

"Oh, man, I completely forgot!" See-More suddenly exclaimed, causing Red-X to look back to him again. "I kinda blew out his hearin' or somethin' like that. He's completely deaf!"

"Wha-" Red-X began before turning back to Fixit. Sure enough, there were two sizeable holes on either side of his head. "How did I miss tha--Wait, if he can't hear, than how was he talking to us in that cell room just a few minutes ago?"

"I taught myself to read lips over the course of our stay in the cell. It is not as difficult as one might imagine," Fixit suddenly announced, still not looking back at the two thieves.

"So, you got eyes in the back of your head now too?" Red-X questioned. In response, Fixit's head suddenly swiveled 180 degrees, emotionless red eyes gazing at the frightened skull faced teen.

See-More chose the wrong moment to peer through the front of his head. "Oh man! I wish I didn't see that!" he exclaimed before switching off his x-ray vision.

"No, I do not," Fixit replied before turning his head back in the proper direction, "I simply read your mind."

"Okay then..." Red-X spoke, slowly trying to recover from what he just witnessed. "Wait, so, you did hear my question then?"

"Yes."

"So...?"

"The answer is not important for you to know. Focus on the mission ahead."

"Why you little--"

"We will rest in a few minutes and I shall do my best to repair you and See-More. Until then, I suggest you conserve your energy, and your breath."

Red-X went silent with a humph, only to flinch as the pain flared in his body again. The walk continued for several more minutes before another thought dawned on the master thief. "Hey, do you even know where we're going? All these halls seem the same."

Once again, Fixit didn't answer right away and Red-X was about to ask again, much louder, when he finally responded. "I am navigating using the blueprint of the palace that Blackfire downloaded into my brain. Tamaranian architecture is very different from human's; many layers, no discernible patterns."