Rex groaned loudly.
"Really?" he whined. "You and your unstable beta nanites, and now this? Hasn't the world suffered enough?"
Van Kleiss raised a brow. "How pessimistic of you. We already have nanites that do such wonderful things for our planet, so why not improve them?"
"You know exactly why."
"Being afraid of innovation only holds you back, Rex. But if it helps you any, I had nothing to do with the creation of these new ones. In fact, I'm not sure where they came from at all."
"What do they even do?" the boy asked.
The man smirked. "Unfortunately for you, I don't have all the materials I need to show you. I have my theories, but until I am able to perform an experiment, you'll have to remain unaware."
Rex's eyes widened. "What? That's not fair! I waited here forever!"
"You were asleep half the time, and I was working for hours on end. If anything, it's you who is behaving like a leech. Remember when I told you your mission would require consistent favors back to me? If you want more information on these nanites, you'll have to show me you're still committed."
"I'm not a leech," the teen muttered. "What do you want from me?"
"If you pull an experiment together for me, I will gladly conduct it for you," the king explained. "First, I will need a larger sample of ashes than the one I have already. The amount I scraped out of Biowulf's fur and claws is simply not enough. Secondly, I will require the nanites of a human being who has never turned EVO. Lastly, I will need a sample of your own nanites."
Rex balked, protectively wrapping his arms around himself immediately. "I already gave you that last part!"
"See? You're already one third of the way there. I need the former two samples, and you'll have the answers you seek."
"Okay, but-"
"You're not doing anything right now," Van Kleiss interrupted. "It's nearly twelve, and you should go to bed. You clearly need rest, anyway."
Rex tilted his head and looked right into the king's reddish eyes, trying to find an ulterior motive, or perhaps a subliminal meaning. Unable to stop himself, he yawned, still wondering if the man had any tricks up his sleeve regarding the new turn of events.
"You promise you'll keep your end of the deal?" the boy asked. "Because it won't go easy for you if you're lying to me. I'll make sure of it."
"Ah, so you're beginning to trust me?" the man asked amusedly, not the least bit intimidated. "You wouldn't be asking for such a promise if you weren't."
Rex scoffed at Van Kleiss's words. "No! I'm just... sleep deprived. I spend way too much time around you psychos, and it screws with my brain. Ignore what I said."
But as he tossed and turned in his bed later that night, he found himself unable to follow his own advice.
It was nearly one in the morning, and yet, the child couldn't quite seem to fall asleep. Though he had no problems moving his limbs from time to time, his muscles felt like stiff wood. The tension created from the thoughts in his mind seeped into his physical form, causing his temporary-yet intense- insomnia. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up and leaned against the wall, allowing the moonlight from his window to immerse him in its gentle glow.
The return of his grief.
Lately, Rex had managed to keep his darker emotions at bay, and tears soiled his face less and less. Unfortunately, grief had multiple disguises it used to slip back into him. First, it had been outright denial, then a period of debilitating depression, and now, he'd entered a stage of stress induced sleep deprivation. Of course, it hadn't been the first time this had happened. In fact, a certain bottle of sleeping pills had been set up in the kitchen for this particular predicament.
But only Biowulf knew where it was.
Shaking his head, Rex slipped out of bed and grabbed his phone, switching on its flashlight. He then left his room and made his way down the warm hallways, not sure if what he was about to do was insane or necessary. Was it the lack of sleep that made him think Biowulf, in charge of the medication refill, would so readily give up the location of the pills the child needed? Or would the information have to be forced out of him?
The teen held his arm in front of himself and activated his sword, assuring his half asleep mind that he would win a fight against the injured EVO. The light from his phone glinted against the metal haphazardly, making it seem all the more sharp and dangerous- like a weapon that had no business being attached to the limb of a miserable child.
And a hotheaded one at that.
After deactivating his arm and walking ten more minutes, Rex finally reached the entrance of the lab several floors down from his starting position. Truth be told, he hated being even slightly dependent on drugs to keep his peace of mind, but he trudged on nonetheless. Switching the lights on, he entered the chamber, wincing from the sudden brightness. Moments later, he opened the transparent door to enter the other half of the room where Biowulf lay sleeping- and even when unconscious, the blue EVO kept the appearance of a formidable opponent.
The boy crept closer to the EVO's injured body, suddenly rethinking his plans. Was it wise to irritate someone who hated him so much? Was it really the sleep deprivation making him do such a thing, or was it plain foolishness?
But after remembering the experiment he'd been required to set up, he ignored the lingering questions. If he wanted the energy to solve his family's deaths, he needed to sleep, and he needed to sleep now.
"Hey... wake up," Rex awkwardly commanded, nudging one of Biowulf's arms with his fingers. "C'mon."
Nothing.
Rex tried again, this time more forcefully. Soon, Biowulf began to rouse, shifting around on the bed before opening his red eyes.
"Where are my sleeping pills?" the child asked quickly, not wanting to stay any longer than he had to. "I haven't seen them since the last refill."
The furry EVO narrowed his eyes immediately. "You... expect me to help you... after what you've done to me?"
"I had no idea that was going to happen," the teen retorted, trying to keep his voice low. "Look, I have plans for tomorrow. I'm not asking you to get up. I just want you to tell me where they are so I can go get them myse-"
A sudden slash of dark claws against Rex's chest cut him off, causing him to help in surprise. He stepped away from the large EVO as quickly as he could and placed a hand on the area he'd been scratched. To his shock, the fabric of his shirt had been cut clean through in three identical lines.
"I'm not helping you in the least, brat," Biowulf spat, turning to his side and closing his eyes again. "You're just as delusional as Van Kleiss is. I'll be glad when I see your insomnia tear you up from the inside."
"It wasn't my fault!"
"What part of this wasn't your fault?"
The teen faltered for a moment, trying not to feel any sort of guilt for the blue EVO's current state. It wasn't that he wanted to become some emotionless monster, but rather, he felt it wasn't entirely his doing. True, it was his mission that had ended up putting everyone in danger, but how would he have known that? It was wrong of Biowulf to place blame on someone as innocent as Rex...
Wasn't it?
"You're so stubborn," the boy insulted, stepping away from the EVO. "You can't even answer a simple question."
"I don't care about your plans," Biowulf scoffed. "They're not my problem. Go suffer somewhere else. Knock yourself out with a hammer if you want to sleep so badly."
"My, how harsh of you."
Rex whipped around to find the king standing at the edge of the doorway of the other half of the room. Biowulf chuckled before turning his head to regain his rest, believing the gauntlet-clad EVO would get rid of the pesky teenager.
"What are you even doing here?" Rex asked irritatedly. He wasn't quite in the mood to deal with two enemies at once. "I wasn't even loud."
Van Kleiss shook his head. "You didn't have to be. I was walking back from my other lab and heard you two regardless. You're not subtle, you know."
"Okay, well, there's nothing to see here. I'm just getting-"
"Nothing to see? Not only are you not subtle, but as I've told you before, you're a terrible liar. Since when have you resorted to outright sabotage so quickly?"
This time, Biowulf lifted his head to watch the two, curious about the man's accusation.
"What are you talking about?" Rex huffed. "I'm not sabotaging anything! I'm just here for my pills. Biowulf just won't tell me where they are."
"And you resorted to drastically slowing down his healing process as revenge? That's remarkably petty of you."
Both Biowulf and the child stared at Van Kleiss, equally confused.
"I'm just going to assume you just hit your head because there is literally no logic behind what you just said," the youngest EVO responded. "I didn't even touch the guy. You can ask him yourself."
Van Kleiss sighed. "Where's your coat, Rex?"
"Why would I need a coat? It's not cold in here."
"And why wouldn't it be? This is one of the coldest chambers in the entire castle- at least, it's supposed to be. Biowulf has no business tampering with the thermostat because it would hurt him, so that leaves you as the culprit."
The teen paused and waved his hands around the in the air, realizing just how unusually warm it was.
"Uh... okay, yeah, that's weird," Rex noted. "But I didn't do it. I didn't even know it wasn't freezing until you pointed that out. It was like that when I got here."
The king frowned. "So despite the fact that this would be revenge that benefits you, you're still trying to convince me that you had nothing to do with-"
A large crash from the halls interrupted Van Kleiss's words, causing him to quiet immediately. He raised a brow at the boy before taking a few steps outside the room to discover the cause of the commotion. Not a minute had passed by before Rex caught sight of pure confusion and alarm in the man's eyes- quite the rarity to observe.
"Rex, Biowulf, leave at once," the king commanded them, his eyes wide. "Don't hesitate."
"Leave the room?" Biowulf asked.
"No. The entire castle. Now."
Rex bolted towards the entrance to see what had disturbed Van Kleiss so much, instantly regretting his decision. The sight before him was enough to shatter any trace of sleepiness he had left, causing him to back away immediately. Soon, after managing to escape his bed, even Biowulf experienced the same shock the other two did.
The hallways were on fire.
