The Traitorous Friend (Rewritten)
By: Aubrie1234
Dear Readers, here is the Rewritten version. I hope you like it. By the way, it's set after the series, but where there's still EVOs. We wouldn't have Generator Rex without them, now would we?
"Are you sure they're here?"
"Positive. Besides, I think you guys would get along well."
"Uh huh."
"Come on, Noah! It's not like I'm leading you into a trap! I really do know these guys."
"Last time you said that, we were captured and I had to save you."
"...Yeah, not a good time for my heroism."
"Just shut up and lead the way."
"So you do want to see them!"
"I'm only coming to make sure you don't get into trouble."
"Just ease up a little, why don't you?" Rex and Noah were walking through the streets of Hong Kong, looking for Rex's old gang in the back-alleys and such. Noah sighed.
"I'm your friend, it's my job to make sure you don't get into trouble." Rex rolled his eyes.
"Anyway, if there's not in the alleys, we might be able to find them in the sewers."
"You're kidding." Rex used his BFS to pry open a manhole.
"Best Friends first." Noah gave him a glare, but went down anyway.
"When this ends in a trap, don't come running to me."
"Yeah yeah, I'm telling you it won't."
"Is it a surprise I don't believe you?" Rex paused.
"...Actually, no."
"Of course you don't. You should know that by now."
"I do. And yet, sometimes, it still surprises me. Anyway, they should be around here somewhere..." After a while of walking was when they spotted Circe and Skwydd.
"Rex! Noah!" Circe spotted them first, waving them over. A quick introduction between Noah and Skwydd was made before the two EVOs took the lead, showing them out of the sewers and to their semi-permanent home, an abandoned fishing shack on the coast, near the harbor.
"So, how have you been?" Rex asked after Tuck and Cricket had been introduced to Noah and the other way around.
"Great. You?"
"Good."
"I'm surprised Rex managed to convince you to come along, Noah." Circe said.
"What? I could have not come along if I wanted to!"
"No, what I mean is that you're hard to convince."
"...True. But that's only because I think of everything that could happen, like Murphy's Law."
"If anything can go wrong, it will." Rex smirked at Noah's annoyed look.
"I knew it was a bad idea to get you to come to my school."
"Again, you worry too much." Circe gave Noah a small pat on the back.
"Now that I think about it, you kind of remind me of an old member we used to have, Noah." Tuck said.
"Really?"
"Yeah, now I remember!" Skwydd said, "You sort of look like Foxy."
"Who's Foxy?" Rex asked.
"Back when it was just the three of us and you, Rex, another EVO was with us. He was a traveler nicknamed Foxy, even though he was more wolf-like." Cricket said, "He was called Foxy because of his cleverness. He just appeared one day and stayed with us for a while, until you...you know."
"Yeah, I get it." Rex rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, glancing away, "But I didn't see him when I freed you guys. So what happened to him?"
"He disappeared before Quarry could get his hands on him, but only for a short time." Tuck said, "He came back a few times to check on us, but eventually, he left. Not before thrashing Quarry, though."
"He was strong, but not enough to take Quarry head-on, and he knew that." Skwydd added, "So he used his smarts to trick Quarry into doing certain things that would backfire on him or certain places where Foxy could fight him evenly, such as in a small space."
"So why weren't you freed?" Circe asked, "Didn't he try to free you, then?"
"Yep, but because Quarry was always loose and never caught, he kept catching us shortly after Foxy freed us." Cricket continued, "Like Tuck said, he eventually left, and we don't know where he is now. He might even be cured, for all we know."
"But how do I remind you of Foxy?" Noah asked.
"Well, you sort of look like him, and from what Rex has told us, you're just about as clever." Noah blushed at the compliment.
"Thanks."
"If he joined us while I was the leader, then didn't he get a nano-ink tattoo as well?" Rex asked.
"Yeah, his was on his left leg, wasn't it?" Cricket and Tuck nodded at Skwydd's question.
"Strange place to have a tattoo." Circe commented.
"He was strange in general." Tuck said, "He was always busy perfecting tricks and traps, which we got caught in often. Name it, he'll use it in a trick or trap. Nails, fly paper, concrete bricks, anything."
"He was also pretty secretive, so much of the time, we didn't know what he was doing until it was finished or where he was. Sometimes, he couldn't even tell us." Skwydd sighed, "He's also the reason we think you sold us to Quarry, mainly to get rid of him."
"At first we didn't think he was the reason, since you two acted like such good friends." Cricket put in, "But over time, we realized it had to be him, since he was the only one of us who never revealed who he was, where he was from, anything about himself at all. But I still can't believe our friendship was a lie." She shook her head.
"Well, maybe it wasn't." Noah said, "Did you ever try to follow him when he went somewhere?"
"Of course. However, he lost us easily every time." Tuck said, "We could never figure out here he was going. We thought he might be seeing Quarry, but that can't be right, since the guy had never seen us before until he bought us."
"Did he tell you about anyone he knew?" Rex asked.
"A little. He mentioned his family once or twice, but only how he loved them." Skwydd shrugged, "That's all he ever said."
"Well, maybe he was like us." Circe said, "Maybe he was rejected by his family and had no where to go. Did he ever mention where he was from?"
"Not a peep." Tuck said.
"But remember how we would get those strange donations of money sometimes?"Cricket suddenly said, "Foxy could have just been going out to do odd jobs to get us money."
"If that was true, then why would he never tell us?"
"Maybe because it was something illegal, or maybe because he felt bad about how he was getting the money."
"Hold it!" Rex interrupted before things could get out of hand, "So, what you're saying now is that Foxy could have been doing odd jobs to be getting you money?"
"Right." Skwydd nodded.
"You know, since you don't really have anything else to do, why don't you search for Foxy?" Noah suggested.
"Well, the problem with that is he never told us where he was going." Tuck said sheepishly, "So we have no idea where in the world he could be by this time."
"Still, wouldn't hurt to look." Cricket said, "I'd love to see him again, honestly. Maybe now he could tell us who he was seeing and how he was getting us money."
"We need to have an idea of where he could be, though." Skwydd protested.
"Well, from the way you described him, maybe he would like a secluded place in a city." Rex said, "Maybe he's even selling those traps he makes and making a profit from sharing his tricks."
"No, he wouldn't do that." Cricket shook her head, "He always seemed reluctant to go out on those special trips, and he never told us about his tricks or how he makes his traps. He wouldn't sell them unless he was forced to, maybe not even then."
"Then what else can we go on?" Tuck asked, "We can't just go out and say Foxy's tattoo's secret word wherever we go."
"What's the secret word, anyway?" Circe asked.
"It's springboard. He had the tattoo on his leg since he usually wore short pants. Like ours, it has a signature color. I think it was orange." Skwydd said, "It was in the shape of a wrench with a large bolt over it."
"So he was also around long enough to deal with Scarecrow." Rex mused, "Hey, what if he became an amnesiac like me? It would explain why he hasn't seen you in years."
"True, but then why haven't we seen reports of a wolf-boy on the news?" Noah said.
"Point taken, but it's possible. As long as he covers his wolf ears and tail, he could pass for human, or at least a strange one." Cricket said. She glanced out the window, "It's also pretty late, too. Why don't you two stay for dinner and we can talk more about Foxy and finding him tomorrow."
"We'd love to!"
"Sure."
After dinner, Rex and Noah returned to their hotel room, where they were staying while they were in Hong Kong (more like hiding). Let's just say they left Providence without telling them. Again.
"So, until now, you've never heard of Foxy?"
"Nope. Interesting though, that we had another member." Rex looked away as he undress, Noah's back to him, "I wish I hadn't traded them for my freedom, though. I'm glad that they've gotten over it, but I wonder how Foxy will react."
"You have to find him first. And do you really think he might be an amnesiac?" Rex shrugged.
"It could be possible. But do you think those guys Foxy was visiting were the Pack?" Noah glanced at him.
"You're being paranoid. What are the chances that Foxy would have gotten that money from the Pack?"
"Murphy's Law." Noah growled.
"Oh, will you shut up about that?!" Rex laughed as he dodged a pillow thrown his way.
"You couldn't hit a wall with a shot that wide!"
"COME OVER HERE SO I CAN HIT YOU!" The two then began a large pillow war that lasted into an hour or more. By the time it was finished, both were flushed from exertion and laughing their heads off.
"If it wasn't...for the fact...we're exhausted," Rex panted, "I would say...'let's do it again!'"
"Of course...you would." They finished getting ready for bed and Rex was off to sleep in seconds, but not Noah. He left their shared bedroom and closed the door. Glancing around cautiously, he made his way over to the couch. Once sitting, he rolled up the left leg of his pajamas.
"Springboard." As Skwydd had said, the tattoo came up, glowing a bright orange, before slowly fading away. Noah had felt the tingle of it activating earlier, when the word had been spoken, but he just couldn't believe it.
"Maybe Rex is right." he let the cloth fall back down his leg, "Maybe I am an amnesiac Foxy. But how?"