Chapter 21: Friends in high places

(A surprise appearance!)

Every fibre in Rex's body screamed from the crushing force. He was sure his bones would have all broken if his instinctive, internal defense mechanism had not kicked in on time. His nanites encased his entire body with a metal suit right before the ten-ton chunk fell atop him. Still, the impact was forceful enough to knock the breath from his body.

Noah was screaming from his ear, and even Six was shouting after him in frenzy, so Rex guessed that they must have felt the ground tremor, even if they had not seen the rock slam over him.

Knowing that, Rex couldn't let himself remain stuck like this. His teammates still depended on him, trusted him to deal with the Meta-EVO.

"Rex, I'm serious, you better fucking answer me. I'm not going to let you go down on my first official mission with Providence. You hear me? Or you're going to owe me for life!"

Rex chuckled weakly on hearing Noah's words.

That's right, I can't let things go down like this.

Rex wasn't sure how he managed to find the strength, but he pushed the heavy weight off him, back screaming against the strain. The rocky slab fell backwards and collided onto the ground, sending another tremor through the earth. Rex massaged his sore and aching back, surprised he could still stand up, though he bowed over like a willow tree.

"I hear ya, Noah. Don't worry, I'll be accompanying you through the rest of your missions," Rex announced through ragged breathing.

"Rex! Are you okay man?" Noah's relief seemed to wash over Rex, and he found the will to stand up straighter.

"Yea, I'm cool. Still kicking."

"Good to hear that, Rex. Now come on over to the pass. Dynamo-Meta just zoomed overhead. I think he's after Donny," Six ordered.

"Be there pronto."

It was easier said than done, of course. Rex had never flown more slowly on his hover bike than he did now. He was like a grandpa on wheels, barely even reaching half of his top speed. But it was the max that he could push himself.

Donny was in the backseat of Shadow's jeep, hightailing down the snaking alley that cut through the ravine with a jagged face soaring upwards from the desert ground in the color of burnt sienna, pointy cliffs like claws reaching for the sky.

Six was in another jeep, racing behind them alongside Razarul jeeps, while Dynamo-Meta quickly passed overhead.

"Rex, get your game back on. Shadow needs our assistance," Six gave his usual, cheerless pep talk. This time, it didn't nearly give Rex enough nanite rise and Rex knew that the rock slam plus the broken ankle had taken more out of Rex than anyone realized.

"I will once I get to that Parasitic Anthony."

"Good, because I've been itching for another blow at it since just now," Noah shouted from another jeep that pulled up beside him.

Without warning, Noah suddenly jumped aboard, which was a feat since he lugged the bulky and heavy missile launcher with him.

Noah was unbalanced when he got on and faltered, about to fall off sideways so Rex quickly caught his waist and pulled him close.

"You're crazy, you know that?" Rex chastised him for daring that stunt at high speeds, though he couldn't keep a grin off his face.

"Yea, and that's why we're buddies," Noah pointed out as he repositioned himself for better leverage. He plunked down on the seat behind Rex, sticking right behind Rex's butt since there wasn't much space. He pressed his thighs against Rex so he could hold his balance while he loaded the missile launcher.

"Sorry," he continued, tone suddenly sombre. "I missed watching your back earlier," Noah apologized, sounding hard on himself.

Rex shook his head, knowing that Noah felt like he had let him down.

"No sweat. You were tied up too. Besides, you made it for this ride. Just make sure you've got the launcher steady."

"Of course, and I won't miss."

Rex could imagine Noah's smirk.

Right as they entered the pass, Noah fired the launcher, and Rex watched the missile speed over his shoulder. The missile hit Dynamo-Meta square in the back, hurling it forwards till it crashed onto the ground in a giant cloud of sand and dirt.

"Score!" Rex punched fists in the air then half turned to knock knuckles with Noah.

"You're the best wingman a guy could ever ask," Rex praised and exchanged grins with Noah.

"Rex, save the loving speech for later. Noah, fire another one, now," Six ordered right as Dynamo-Meta got up.

Noah did as commanded, firing off another missile but this time, Dynamo-Meta caught it and swung it back towards Rex. It swerved sideways slightly, slamming against the rocky wall of the ravine instead, just ten yards from the duo.

"Oh no!" Rex's cries were drowned out by the thunderous rumble of a rocky avalanche tumbling down the valley.

Clouds of dust rushed downwards from the avalanche, hitting Rex and Noah like a tornado blast. Noah flung one arm around Rex's chest, clinging tight while Rex forced his hover bike forwards and kept it facing straight or they'll be blown away by the force.

Finally, the monstrous winds died down and Rex shook off the zillions of sand and dirt that settled over him and Noah.

Catching the sounds of commotions coming over from Six's end, Rex was relieved that they were all right. To be sure, Rex radioed in and asked if anyone got caught in the avalanche.

Six answered between coughs that he and the other Providence troops were alright, before Donny's frantic yelling cut into the receiver at Shadow's end.

"Calm down you… metal-being," Donny was shouting, suggesting that Dynamo-Meta was close to him, "I know there's a brain in there somewhere. Tell me, how much is Razarul paying you for? I can pay triple."

"The Razarul are not my boss. I'm merely on loan to them, from the Modifier. They have both agreed that it is best to get you out of the way. "

"I don't understand. I'm his corporate partner!" Donny sounded confused. "I helped him find clients and acted as his liaison. Who the hell does he thinks makes money for him?"

"Regrettably, for your act of folly of sabotaging an old associate of Modifier, he sends me to inform you that your services are no longer needed."

"Well who is that old associate? I don't know anything!"

"Certainly, you do. Because of you, a 2nd member of the Consortium is now captured."

At those words, Rex guessed that Dynamo-Meta was referring to Roswell –Meta-Elemental.

"Sorry Anthony, we can't let you take Donny's life. We need him locked up," Six opposed, then sounds of gunfire and clashes of plummeting rock poured through the communicator.

"Shit! Hang tight, Noah," Rex ordered, then forcefully kicked his engine into high gear.

Noah pressed his whole body flushed against Rex's back and even through their clothing, Rex could feel Noah's heartbeat hammering wildly and his chest galloping like wild horses on the loose. Rex shared the tension that Noah felt and the pulsing adrenaline that coursed through them. Perhaps body to body, the thrum of Noah's energetic pulse was contagious, or perhaps Rex had enough respite for his Omega-1 to charge up. Whatever the reason, Rex felt his nanite levels suddenly spike, as if he'd just been uploaded with active nanites from the nanite storage facility.

The scene up ahead was almost post-apocalyptic. Piles of rocks and broken chunks from the cliff face littered the ravine, with Captain Calan, Six, Shadow and the other providence officers leaping around, taking cover while trying to get a shot at Dynamo-Meta. The Meta-EVO meanwhile, was like a manic on rampage, flinging chunks of rocks in all directions.

Closing in another thirty yards, Rex made his plan.

"Noah, shoot again and I'll follow up with a rock slam."

Noah wasted no time launching another missile at the same time that Rex heaved a giant slab from the ground with his giant nanite hands.

Dynamo-Meta caught the missile again and diverted it back round to hit the incoming chunk. But it was not quick enough, or had not counted on Rex to quickly follow up with another giant chunk of rock that hurtled towards it, driven by one of Rex's giant super boots.

Noah was on Rex's back, arms and legs clinging round Rex's body through the crazy roller coaster ride. In swift precision and timing, Rex shifted out from his hover bike to guide the second rocky slab with his good, super powered leg, driving it right into the Dynamo-Meta's head, causing it to fall heavily backwards against a rocky wall and breaking through it. Then Rex re-shifted both legs back into the hover bike form, continuing forwards across the broken wall, with Noah reseated behind him.

Noah panted against Rex's nape, arms shaking over his shoulders, hands still fisting his shirt. Rex was amused that though Noah was dead nervous, he didn't oppose Rex's plan. Rex was completely pumped that he executed the move perfectly with Noah still at his back –even if Noah had to abandon the missile launcher in order to hold onto him.

At times like this, it amazed Rex how Noah read his body language so well. All Rex said was a single line before putting out his moves and Noah simply coordinated with him, as if they were of one body and one mind.

Again, Rex was reminded how good it felt to have Noah fighting alongside him.

Feeling empowered, Rex was ready to chug more rocks at Dynamo-Meta, but suddenly, a hurricane of rocks swirling at high velocities charged straight for it, beating it into the rock pile on the ground.

The sound of bombarding rocks was deafening, and the impact seemed to rocket the air molecules around, sending the air to thrum with frantic energy against Rex's skin.

"What the hell is that!" Noah cried over his shoulder.

Steadily approaching, hovering mid-air between the ravines, was another EVO that also looked eerily like Dynamo-Meta.

What? Two, Dynamo-Meta? Rex was shocked.

No…

Observing carefully, the one that just appeared looked more like what Rex remembered seeing since their last battle a little over three years back. This was in the size and form as exactly as how it should be.

Studying its attack, Rex noted that though it was smaller in build at eight feet, it packed a more powerful punch, since it directly manipulated air molecules to shoot rocks and lift its own weight.

The situation was now confusing, since this Dynamo-Meta lookalike seemed to be targeting the other. All the same, Rex tensed, becoming wary, as two Meta-EVOs meant twice the destruction. Rex pondered if he could validate who was the original, but not like it made a difference since Rex would likely have to take down both in any case. And god forbid if they decided to join hands…

"What is this? Who's this son of a bitch stealing my name and look?" came the electronic voice that the real Dynamo-Meta should have sounded.

Dynamo-Meta was faceless, but from its enraged tones, Rex could tell it was thoroughly pissed.

With that, it confirmed that the earlier one was a fake, which explained why it came with so many upgrades and attack patterns that were so different from Dynamo-Meta. It was probably a Nanite robot that Modifier created and modelled after Dynamo-Meta.

"Right, so that's the real Anthony Meta-EVO. Since he's attacking only the fake, do we have to get involved in this?" Noah asked dryly behind him, arms still tightly wound around his torso.

Rex sure hoped so, because it would be hard to deal with both of them at the same time.

Captain Calan dashed his hopes.

"Keep them busy, Rex," he ordered as he climbed over rock piles with Six and Shadow, dragging Donny in tow.

"Well, they'll be keeping themselves busy with each other," Rex replied humorlessly.

Much to his chagrin, Donny suddenly screamed.

"Anthony! Come and get me, quickly!"

Dynamo-Meta turned his head in Donny's direction and swept a gaze over the rest.

"Tsk, pesky Rex and pesky Providence," he regarded them coldly in an irate tone, just noticing them, "I could live better with less of the likes of you."

Then he waved his palms around the air in a commanding fashion like a magician, sending huge rocks flying towards them.

"Hang on, Noah," Rex warned and ducked them whilst he launched forwards with both fists supersized, flying towards Dynamo-Meta. Since it was the original, Anthony-Meta-EVO, Rex didn't have to be afraid of dealing with parasitic nanites. He could freely land punches on it without worry, hence, he gave it his all.

However, Dynamo-Meta caught his wrists with a mini whirlwind that sent Rex and Noah spiraling away.

"I'll crush you this time, Rex!" Dynamo-Meta commanded.

"Ooffph!" Rex cried aloud, then quickly recalled his hover bike and braced the cliff face with his good leg before they slammed into it. Thankfully, quick on the rebound, Rex used that momentum to kick off, shooting straight at Dynamo-Meta again.

This time, Rex was quick to cut through the whirlwind blasts with his giant nanite sword and continued thrusting forwards towards Dynamo-Meta's power core. Dynamo-Meta deftly caught his blade and fire erupted on its grasps, running upward along Rex's sword.

Rex violently wretched his weapon out of Dynamo-Meta's grip but at that moment, Noah leapt towards the Meta-EVO in the most brilliant, somersault that Rex had ever seen anyone do.

Noah landed on Meta-EVO's back and out from nowhere, he pulled out a dagger and sliced through one of the connecting valves at its power core.

It gave an angry roar as flames from its right hand died, having been disconnected from its main power source. It plucked Noah off its back, flinging him towards the cliff face. Rex ignored his broken ankle that instant –or rather, on instinct, he'd his Slyder rolled out beneath his feet and a nanite cast formed around his ankle, allowing him to zip towards his buddy and catch him.

Noah yelped as Rex caught him, princess style.

"I was wrong, you're not just crazy – you're absolutely crazy, do you know that?" Rex yelled at Noah, voice shaking. It was so close, so close –just another few inches more and Noah would have smashed his bones and cracked his skull against the cliff face.

"Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment," Noah smirked, hands going behind Rex's neck.

Noah had that cheeky gleam in his eyes then, looking confident, as if what he did was nothing more than a fearless whim to him –a daredevil, just like Rex. Yet at the same time, his shaky breath told Rex that Noah was also edgy and terrified. Of course, any ordinary guy would, when facing off a fire-shooting and rock-wielding Meta-EVO. But only someone like Noah was crazy enough, bold enough and awesome enough to pull off the stunt that he just did.

It was so epic, Rex had the overwhelming urge to kiss him, just so that he can release the excited energy coursing through him that was amplified by Noah's sensational stunt.

Rex resisted of course –attempting a dumb antic like that was the worst thing to do at a time like this. In fact, a part of Rex's brain nagged at the audacity of that thought, bewildered that he even had such an unhealthy urge towards his best friend, and a guy at that.

Circling back, he could feel EVO-Anthony's deathly, laser glare.

"I have enough!" he roared, then aimed an open palm towards them.

A whirlwind raced over, so Rex's defence spiked. However, instead of whipping him, it suddenly zipped overhead, heading straight for Donny. Rex was semi amazed as he watched the whirlwind carry Donny off like Dorothy in the books, so unexpected and swift that Six and the others couldn't do anything. Rex however, snapped out of it quickly. He wasn't going to let Donny escape so easily.

"Oh no, you don't!" Rex yelled and zipped over, stealing Donny from the tornado-carrier.

"Damn you Rex! This isn't your business! Outta my way!"

Rex dodged a blast of tornado that Dynamo-Meta threw at him, before the nanite robot commanded its full attention again.

Six and the others did well to stay far away from the rock chugging contest between those two power players, running after Rex.

"Wow, since when were you so chummy with Anthony?" Rex pointedly asked, one hand gripping Donny by his shirt collar.

Rex had already let Noah down on his Slyder to stand on his own feet, and Donny was now sandwiched between them.

"Well, what can I say? For a guy like me, it's normal to have friends in high places."

Rex scoffed. "Dude, drop the shop talk. Blaster Prince had better lines than you."

Donny remained stubbornly silent so Noah snatched his shirt from Rex's hand and pushed him outwards.

"Talk, or drop," Noah threatened.

"Gahhh! Alright, alright, relax kid," Donny exclaimed in panic, grabbing onto Noah's wrist as he stared in horror at the steep drop. Then he grinned as he answered, "Since I got rid of my old chum. He's just returning the favor."

"What? You mean Roswell and him were enemies? I thought they belonged to the same happy gang," Rex pressed, confused.

"Oh they worked together in the past alright, but only when it was necessary. But I wouldn't have called them 'friends'. In fact, they hardly got along –my father hardly got along with anyone."

"So you expect us to believe that he came to save you because of that? You must have a way to contact him, otherwise, how would he know where and when to come for you?" Noah interrogated.

"Well, it wasn't easy to find him, but with my underground contacts, it's not impossible. When I heard what happened at West Africa, I knew those slippery Razarul bastards had played me out and got a mighty weapon for themselves directly from Modifier. I knew these guys were gonna screw me one day, so I had to get Anthony. He's the only other one tough enough to handle Modifier's creations, or even Modifier himself."

Right as Donny finished talking, there was a huge sound of explosion and Rex halted so he could turn back to see what was happening. A dramatic wall of fire gushed upwards towards the sky, cloaking the gigantic silhouette of the nanite robot.

A raucous laugh tore from Donny's lips.

"See there, that's the real deal, not a third rate replica. It's not quite the same, is it?" Donny commented in an obnoxious tone.

Rex and Noah stared as the torrent of fire simmered down, revealing the slumped form of the Nanite robot. Even from the distance, they could tell that it was badly charred and burnt, with hot smoke rising off its sizzling armor. Such incredibly powerful fire blast –Rex supposed Dynamo-Meta must have come here with its power core fully loaded and had fired all its power through the remaining connecting outlet.

"Rex, take Donny and keep moving!"

Six's urgent tones snapped Rex out from his stoning. Dynamo-Meta was now speeding straight towards them, coming to rescue Donny. Donny gave a manic laughter as if he had won.

"Shut up, Donny! I've kicked his butt before, and I'm gonna kick his butt again," Rex growled then started zipping ahead.

Without warning, Donny roughly jerked backwards and dropped off the Slyder. Noah got pulled along, stance unstable, but Rex swiftly caught the back of Noah's shirt and yanked him back into his chest.

"Noah!" Rex breathed aloud, chest galloping a thousand miles per second from panic.

"Rex! Donny he –"

Arms still wound tight around Noah, Rex gritted his teeth then dived downwards, racing against gravity to grab hold of Donny.

Just five feet within reach, another whirlwind caught Donny, zipping him far ahead at top knots, leaving behind Donny's raucous, echoing laughter.

"Shit!" Rex cursed aloud and whirled back around, but found that Dynamo-Meta was already missing.

End of chapter