Author's Notes: This isn't my first Speed Racer fanfic, though it is the first one that's "finished". I've got many in mind, and I love to bounce my ideas off people to see what they think. If you want to beta my stories, or just listen to my ideas, please feel free to AIM me at TsaPaper and we can have a little chat. I'll gladly listen to stories of yours, as well.

I'd like to thank the friends who beta'd this fic through its development, specifically: Americanrose, Atreyu452, and Song the Allmighty Pineabble.

And so, without further ado, I bring you "Yes or No".

-Marisa

Yes or No?

By Marisa

The forest was cool and damp, as if it had just stopped raining. Mist swirled about, catching the small bits of sunlight that fought its way through the treetops.

Rex was wandering aimlessly, his feet crunching through the soppy, mossy ground.
What is this place? What am I doing here?
It seemed familiar to him, as if he had done this before hundreds of times. How did I even get here? There was something so...normal about this. On some level, he knew this was a dream, but the realization didn't consciously dawn on him. He knew that what he was doing was dangerous to his identity, and felt horribly exposed – he was wearing his Racer X outfit, sans the mask. The air against his face almost felt... foreign.

That mask is like a second skin to me. Rex sighed. I've worn it every day for so long...

"Yes or no?"

Rex looked down. There was a small boy standing at his feet, maybe two or three years old. He was quite short, coming only to Rex's waist. What shocked Rex, however, was the fact that the child looked very much like himself – right down to the miniature Racer X outfit they both were wearing.

"Yes, what?" Rex raised an eyebrow at the child, who in turn grinned.

"Yes, then?"

Rex blinked. "No..."

"...No, then?"

Rex shook his head. "No, I mean... what does 'yes' mean?"

The child stared blankly at him, then frowned. "What, is this some kind of trick question?"

This obviously wasn't going to work. Time for a different approach. "...Who are you?" Rex asked.

"I'm Rex Racer," The boy answered. "Yes or no?"

"No!" Rex exclaimed. "You're not Rex. You couldn't possibly be—"

"Yes or no?" repeated the child-Rex.

"I already told you—"

Child-Rex shook his head. "That's not what I'm talking about," He snapped his fingers, and the forest cleared away as if it had never existed. Instead, Rex found himself surrounded by scenery that reminded him of an old picture of Salem, Massachusetts he had seen in a book about the infamous witch trials. Rex whirled. The child was standing on the gallows where hundreds had been put to death. "Get down from there, Rex!" He called after him, "You'll hurt yourself!"

"Get down, Rex!" mimicked the child with a giggle. "Is Rex the only person you're looking out for?" As child-Rex hopped off the gallows, someone else appeared on them, complete with a noose around his neck.

"Speed!" Rex exclaimed, ready to rush forward to come to his brother's aid. For some reason, however, his feet refused to move. He struggled desperately against whatever force was holding him, but his feet refused to move.

The child-Rex now had his hand on a lever to the side of the gallows. "Yes or no?"

Rex's gaze fell on the boy. "You're not serious!" That lever could easily spell Speed's death! What was wrong with that child?

"It's okay, Rex," Speed whispered, yet Rex could hear it loud and clear. "I trust you. I know you'll save me."

"Yes or no, yes or no," sang the child-Rex, "will Speed Racer stay or go?"

"NO!"

Child-Rex stared at his older counterpart. "No?" he echoed, "No more Speed? Well, okay!" With that, he yanked on the lever, and the platform below Speed dropped.

Rex's eyes widened, and his feet suddenly regained their ability to move. He rushed forward and tried to catch Speed, but it was too late. Rex had barely taken two steps when the rope tightened around Speed's neck and he heard a horrible snap.

"NO-O-O-O!"

"Sheesh," child-Rex rolled his eyes. "I heard you the first time."

Rex whirled, ready to strangle that boy, but he was gone. The whole town was gone, and a cold, black nothingness pressed against him. Rex fell to his knees, wrapping his arms around himself to keep warm..

"I failed him," He mumbled. "I made the wrong choice, and he had to pay for it..."

Scrape.

Rex turned slightly and got to his feet. The void had vanished, and he found himself standing in a cemetery. He looked up at the gray sky, and a raindrop fell on his nose, followed closely by a light drizzle as thunder rolled in the distance.

Scrape.

Rex turned again, determined to find the source of that noise. A young boy, about the age of ten, was slowly shoveling dirt on top of a grave. Rex knew immediately that this wasn't the mischievous child doppelganger he had encountered before; sweat, rain and mud matted the boy's brown hair to his forehead, and his clothes were battered and dirty beyond description. Finally, after what seemed like hours of watching, the boy jammed his shovel deep into the dirt with a hard thrust and leaned against it. His shoulders quivered and Rex could tell he was crying, but his tears were hidden in the rainwater pouring down.

Rex wanted to say something comforting, but found no words available. Instead, he circled around behind the boy, hoping to catch a look at the tombstone.

His heart stopped.

HERE LIES GREGORY RACER
R.I.P.
BELOVED SON AND

Next to the word "and" was an engraving that had been eroded away almost beyond recognition. Rex stared at it for a moment, barely being able to make out the word "brother". There was a sharp twang of guilt in his chest as he stared at the engraving.

"Greg was useless," The boy said, as if answering the questions Rex hadn't the chance to voice. "Greg couldn't make mommy and pops stop fighting," He shifted his weight from the shovel to his feet and tried to wipe the mud from his forehead, only smearing it instead. "And Greg couldn't make Rex come home."

"That's not true," Rex breathed. "That's not true at all. Greg had nothing to do with me leaving!"

"Greg couldn't stop you," The child dropped his shovel and turned around to stare Rex in the eyes. "So I stopped being Greg" he whirled, and to Rex's shock, spat on the grave. With a dark scowl, he ground it into the dirt with his foot, and turned to face Rex once more. "I'm Speed, now."

Rex kneeled down slowly, gazing unblinking at the boy's face. Those were indeed his brother's eyes, but... he'd never seen them look so tired and sad before. What happened to his cheerful little brother? Where was the bright-eyed young man that had won so many races?

"Yes or no, Rex?" The young Speed had asked it so softly, it was almost totally drowned out by the heavy rain.

Rex was really starting to hate that question. Shakily, he placed his hands against his little brother's cheeks, wiping some of the mud away from his eyes. "No, Greg."

"Speed."

"Greg" Rex grabbed him by the shoulders, mentally scolding himself for being too harsh. He took a moment to calm down, then added"My answer is no. I don't want you to change who you are because you think it will make other people happy" with that, Rex pulled Speed into a tight hug. "It's not the right thing to do."

The young Speed pulled away from the embrace and shivered as he backed away. "Are you sure" There was a flash of lighting as Speed turned his back to Rex, and thunder roared as he began to run off.

"Wait!" Rex called after him, "Come back!" He jumped up and pursued the boy, but slipped in the fresh mud. With no time to try and gain his balance, Rex fell flat on his back and skidded forward, tumbling into an open grave. With a cry, he grabbed the edge of the hole, trying to pull himself up. He glanced to the right at the tombstone at the head of this grave.

HERE LIES REX RACER
R.I.P.
SUFFOCATED UNDER A MASK

Rex lost his grip and plummeted into the darkness below. As he fell, he felt that horrible nothingness pressing against him again, biting at his skin like a December blizzard. He felt as if his eyes were shut, but knew they were open. He fell for what seemed like hours, until finally he somehow painlessly met with something solid. In fact, he had managed to land on something hard and... wooden? He glanced around, finding himself to be in the audience of a courtroom. "What on Earth...?"

"SPEED RACER!" boomed a loud voice from the courtroom floor. Rex jumped with surprise, finding that the voice came from none other than Pops. He was sitting high in the judge's stand with a robe draped around his shoulders and a powdered wig atop his head. "You have been charged with the crime of driving your brother, Rex, away from the family! How do you plead?"

Rex stared at the defendant's chair. Speed Racer, alive and full-size, was sitting alone. He stood up and bowed his head sorrowfully. "Guilty," he muttered.

Judge Pops slammed down his gavel. "Guilty!"

"OBJECTION!" Rex snarled, jumping up from his seat. "Speed had nothing to do with this! It was my decision, Pops!" Before he realized what was happening, Rex found himself at the witness stand. Judge Pops was looming above, gazing down at him scornfully.

"Rex Racer!" Pops roared, "Why did you leave the Racer family?"

"Because I—"

Pops slammed down his gavel. "Yes, or no"

Rex blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Yes, or no?"

Rex scowled. "That's just like you, Pops" he spat"Always shoving impossible choices on me! Not everything has to go your way, you know" As Rex spoke, he could actually hear Judge Pops' grip on the gavel tightening. With a loud growl, he slammed the gavel down with enough force to crack the Judge's Stand. Rex smirked, enjoying how vexed his father was.

"Answer my question" Pops roared, his eyes burning with rage.

"NO" Rex spat with disgust. Only moments later did he realize his mistake.

"GUILTY!" Pops announced. "Speed Racer, you are hereby sentenced to death"

"Leave him alone" Rex jumped from the witness stand and reached out for Speed. "No, Speed! You can't let them do this! You can't!" He grabbed his brother's arm, but the younger Racer disappeared within his grasp. In place of the arm, Rex now found an axe in his grasp. The courtroom had disappeared, replaced once again by that dark, black void. Rex stared at the axe in his hands, then threw it down. "No! I won't do this. I won't hurt my brother any more!" The weapon faded away into the darkness. "I hate this! I hate that question!" Rex shouted at the emptiness. "Why does everyone think it's all black and white? I can't answer every question with 'yes' or 'no'! I've done things in the past that I regret, and I have my reasons for doing them! I—"

"Rex? Is it really you?"

Rex whirled. "Speed! Oh, God, Speed... are you all right?" He reached forward and cupped his brother's cheek in his palm. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to—"

"Do you love me, Rex?" Speed whispered. "Do you still want to be my brother?"

Rex stared at his younger brother silently. Finally, he smiled. "You're my flesh and blood, Speed. What choice do I have?"

Speed's expression was blank as he answered. "Yes or no."

"Yes," Rex pulled his brother into a tight embrace. Speed didn't return the gesture. "Yes, I do," Pulling away, Rex placed his hands firmly on Speed's shoulders. "But here's the real question, Speed. I... I've hurt you so much over the years. I made a bad decision, walking out on you, mom and Pops like that..."

Speed's expression was still blank. He was staring directly into Rex's eyes.

"...but tell me, Speed, can you ever forgive me?"

There was no answer. Rex's heart began to sink. "Just answer me, Speed. Please," he begged, letting a tear roll down his face. "This means more to me than anything else. Yes... or no?"

Speed opened his mouth to answer.

BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT! BZZT!

Rex's hand slammed against the alarm clock. He sat up and pressed his fingers against his temples, rubbing slightly. "Just a dream," Rex muttered to himself"That same nightmare..." he glanced over at the clock.

I wonder...

-

Speed was just at the bottom of the stairs when the phone rang. "Who could be calling at this hour in the morning?" He yawned, picking up the receiver. "Hello?"

"...Speed?"

Speed yawned again. "Racer X? What are you doing up?"

"Believe it or not... I had an odd dream. I... wanted to make sure you were all right."

Speed blinked. That certainly didn't sound like the Racer X he knew. But then again, what he knew about Racer X couldn't fill a thimble. "Well... thank you, but I'm fine." He paused. "Are you all right? I mean, it's not like you to—"

"Yes or no, Speed?"

"...excuse me?"

"Yes or no?" Racer X repeated.

Speed frowned. "I don't know what you're—"

"Then just guess."

Taking a deep breath, Speed thought this over. "...Yes."

Short silence. "Thank you, Speed." Racer X sounded so... relieved. There was a click at the other end.

Speed took the receiver from his ear and stared at it for a moment. Smiling and shaking his head, he muttered, "He's a strange one, all right."