Falls and Rises - Chapter 1
By Linda/Linables
Rated T/Possible M
Wow, look at me writing a multi-chaptered story! I honestly cannot tell you when the last time that I did that was. But I haven't been able to forget this idea that I had, so here you go, it's chapter 1. This will become a Noex story in the next couple of chapters - I expect to have three or four total. Please enjoy!
Rex ducked back into the alley, breath heavy as he slowly stuck his head out to observe his surroundings. The small team of four agents behind him waited, anticipating his signal. When Rex was sure that the coast was clear, he slipped out of the alley, motioning for his teammates to follow him. The group moved quietly along the dark street, a pair of eyes turned towards each direction.
Missions such as these weren't quite as common anymore, since the unstable EVOs of the world had been cured, but as Rex had many times confirmed, 'there will always be something'. Most of the time, the problem wasn't caused by an EVO, as only a handful existed now - only the ones who had both stable minds and nanites, and were willing and able to fight the worldwide cure. This of course meant that the ones who did exist were more dangerous than ever, because they were virtually all human EVOs, who of course had brains that were more developed than any old rat or lizard running around the city. And since they had consciously fought the cure, they all had to have a reason to want to keep their powers, which was a worrying sign as well. Still, the fact remained that there were few of these enemies left to fight, and most of the ones that Rex faced these days were humans who were armed with advanced technology and fighting skill. Tonight's mission involved such a character; a man called Steel Claw who wore a suit that could produce weapons from all of its extremities. He had previously proven to be as dangerous as any EVO.
This was why Rex hadn't found himself completely out of a job after the cure, in fact, he kept a steady schedule of appointments with Providence, which had been re-taken by White Knight after Black Knight and the consortium had fled. Providence also had a batch of new recruits, having attracted the attention of many young men and women through it and its star's heroic actions in ending the EVO war. One of the recruits was a very familiar blonde teenage boy, who had felt the need to take action after witnessing the end of the war, particularly the possibly sacrificial actions that Rex had taken to fight Black Knight and the consortium. Simply put, Noah could no longer watch from the sidelines as Rex risked his life. The time he'd spent with the EVO hadn't gone without leaving its mark on the boy, and Noah had some time ago realized just how much he cared about Rex. This was why he was now at his side, helping him in the field at every chance that he got.
At that moment, the group leader's communicator beeped, and Rex immediately answered it. After a short conversation, he shut it off and turned to his team.
"Okay guys, they found him, he's four blocks away from here, and heading north. Let's go!"
The group took off on foot, their pace slowing as they approached the supposed location of their enemy. Four blocks from their starting point, Rex held out a hand to signal a stop, and carefully scanned the area. Upon seeing a lightning-fast flash of a shadow on the side of the street, he signalled his team to action and produced his Boogie Pack, shooting off into the air as the other agents cornered the enemy, one blocking his escape route in every direction. Rex quickly sent word to Providence over his communicator, and when help was declared to be on the way, he zoomed down with the intent to tackle Steel Claw.
He missed, and the villain unveiled an array of thin swords that sprung from his suit's fingertips. Rex formed his BFS to counter the blows, seeing his team approach from all sides to back him up. Over the clangs of metal hitting metal, the teenage hero used his free hand to active his communicator and send a command to all agents. By this time the backup from Providence was arriving, and they swiftly fell into position, in accordance with the plan that Rex had called for. Seeing his allies dispersing, the boy himself gave a heavy thrust with his weapon, knocking Steel Claw back a good few meters and giving Rex time to form his hover board and speed off.
As expected, the villain took off in hot pursuit of the boy, although he lagged well behind the speeding hover board. He persisted though, and Rex led him quite a long distance down the street, steadily decreasing speed by the slightest amount to give the villain a sense of false confidence in his chase. Just as Steel Claw was getting within five meters of him, Rex quickly turned a corner into an alley, the villain on his heels as planned. Narrowing his eyes, Rex shot a look upwards, checking to make sure that his teammates were where they should be. Upon confirmation, the EVO gritted his teeth and turned his hover board up at a 90 degree angle, right before he hit the wall of the dead end alley. From the air, he watched the plan fall into place, as the unaware and overconfident villain crashed into the wall with a great clash of metal hitting brick.
At the same moment that Steel Claw stumbled back and hit the ground, a group of Providence agents jumped from the roofs of the surrounding buildings and formed a barrier around him before he could come to. Rex dropped to the ground and ran to the villain just as he was regaining his senses, but before he could make it, Steel Claw jolted up, his legs swinging upwards first as curved blades erupted from his feet. The agents immediately jumped into action, three on either side immobilizing him. Two stepped on the blades at his feet, but not without some trouble - Rex watched in horror as one of the blades made a shallow slice into the leg of the agent beside it. Usually, Rex would have been able to keep a cool head in such a situation, but this time, the grunt of surprise and pain that came from the agent's mouth was way too familiar.
Rex felt a strange combination of sensations, his heart swelling at Noah's dedication as he ignored his injury and ground the blade harder into the street under his foot, and his blood boiling over with his now personal vendetta against the villain. Not trying to suppress the war cry that erupted from his mouth, Rex charged at Steel Claw with more energy than ever, thrusting his BFS at his target so hard that it made a gash in the metal suit. Seeing that he had the man's attention, Rex signalled for the other agents to step aside, which they did. The moment they did so, Rex formed his Smack Hands and smashed Steel Claw into the brick wall behind him.
"Gig's up, scum!" he snarled as another agent ran up behind him, carrying a large-barrelled weapon which was much like the stun gun that César had used upon his first arrival at Providence. Now that most of the enemies that they fought weren't EVOs, Rex couldn't calm them via a cure, and they needed another way to subdue them. This was the answer that had been decided on, and it had served the organization well so far.
Rex tore the top of Steel Claw's suit off, giving the agent a place to strike. He ducked, and the paralysing blast shot out over his head. As soon as the villain stiffened up and fell to the ground, Rex's hands, now normal again, were off of him. Instead, the young hero made a beeline to the wincing blonde agent leaning against a wall nearby, leaving everything else to the rest of the team. He couldn't less about anything else right now.
"Noah!" he shouted, crouching next to his friend. "Are you ok? I mean, of course you're not okay, but are you holding up?"
Noah managed a since smile at his friend's words, despite the stinging pain in his left leg.
"Rex, it's okay. I'm okay. Or I will be soon, I promise. Look, they're already coming with first aid."
Noah pointed to the Providence vehicle pulling up, out of which agents were running with a stretcher and medical supplies. The agents came and hoisted Noah onto the stretcher, one hurrying over to wrap his injured leg to stop the bleeding. Rex watched, unsure even when his friend shot him a comforting smile and a thumbs up as he was loaded into the Providence vehicle. Somehow, the hero couldn't just let his friend be taken away, out of his sight. Right as the driver was boarding, Rex ran to the vehicle and yelled for it to not leave yet. He tore open the doors to the back and got on.
"Rex?" Noah asked, surprised.
"Hey," said the Hispanic boy, settling down into a seat near Noah's stretcher. "Somehow I just really wanted to be on the ride back with you."
He smiled somewhat sheepishly at his friend, who was sure he could feel himself blushing. Noah knew that Rex cared about him, but this was surprising. In the best way possible, though. Noah was touched.
"Are you sure you'll okay?" Rex asked, eyeing the bloody tourniquet around his friend's leg.
"Rex, I promise." Noah answered. "I'm going to be fine. The bleeding's already stopped. They'll patch me up and I'll be as good as new in no time."
Their eyes met. Rex didn't know why he felt so anxious, he knew that Providence's medical team could heal Noah's wound pretty easily. Maybe...maybe he just felt a little bit guilty. Guilty that Noah had been hurt on a mission that he had been leading. He knew it hadn't been his fault, everything had gone according to plan - except for Noah getting hurt, of course. It was no one's fault except for Steel Claw's. But somehow Rex felt that he should have been able to protect Noah better. He was just...important to him. Rex was about to open his mouth to tell this to his friend when the vehicle came to a stop. They had arrived back at Providence.
So Rex just gave Noah an encouraging smile as he watched him being wheeled into the medical bay. He would be okay, he knew it. But for whatever reason Rex just couldn't shake his need to be as close to Noah as possible right now.
Well, that's a load off my back! As you might have guessed, my specialty is certainly not writing action scenes. That might have been the first one that I've written in many years. But I tried not to take the easy way out and skimp too much on detail, I hope it worked out. Upcoming chapters will be much more my style. ;)
