The creature called "Object X" squatted in his inhumanly cramped cage and watched the doorknob turn. He felt like a dog awaiting the return of his master. He was eager for a reward, hungry for a treat, desperate to be allowed out of the cage for even a moment. How could the being next to him continue sleeping at such an auspicious time?
Object X tried to steady himself in his agitated state by grabbing onto the bars of his tiny prison. The door opened slowly... slowly... and soon he saw the form of his master, dressed as ... The Batman.
I knew it, Object X told himself, his mind ricocheting in a thousand directions, all of them equally crazed. This is no dream. This is reality. He has become what I once was. I didn't deserve that role. That's why he took it from me. It was destiny. It was fate. I am nothing. I am shit. He is everything. He stole my life. It's his now. I belong to him. He's in charge now. He's teaching me a lesson. I must learn well. I must serve him. Serve my master.
X felt his cock harden once more, and without even thinking he moved his right hand to his shaft and began jerking himself off yet again. Need to show him I'm a good puppy. Want him to be proud of me. Want him to reward me.
But the man in the batsuit did not seem to notice or care about the naked man in the cage. Hugo Strange stumbled around the room as if he were drunk, knocking books off a desk, overturning a chair, nearly falling and then grabbing onto a table for support.
It was only then that Object X noticed the huge gash in the costumed man's clothing, saw the blood, realized in a horrible flash that the man was dying.
This can't be happening, X thought. I can't let this happen. I can't let him die. I need him. I ... I love him. The words racing through his head stunned him, but there was no time--and no opportunity--to think them through.
There was a loud sound several rooms away. A steady thumping sound. Pounding. Front door of the building, most likely. Far away, yet somehow close. And then a voice:
"Police. Open up. We saw you enter the building. Come out with your hands up or we'll break down the door."