Chapter Five…chapter five. Things are getting evil...mwahahaha! (that's the evil laugh, in case no one recognizes it). And do you want to know what else is evil? Chemistry. It's evil.

Ahem, ANYWAY, read and lemme know whatcha think. Mmm'Kay?

Disclaimer: As usual, not mine. Sorry to disappoint you.

"Battle not with monsters

lest ye become a monster,

and if you gaze into the abyss,

the abyss gazes into you."

Friedrich Nietzsche

The Docking Bay area was growing quiet. News of the blood found and Racer X's disappearance was rapidly spreading, and as a result, no one had the bright cheer that they had only moments before. Some people kept on working on their cars, but most actually stopped and were now engaged in heavy conversation. Rumors were flying around, as everyone tried to come up with their own explanation of exactly what had happened. But everyone was nervous; Racer X was highly respected, had a great number of friends, and was known to be an incredibly strong man. If his strength had not been enough in a fight, then that meant something serious was happening.

Speed, Pops, Trixie, and Sparky had no idea what to do. Speed was actually in the best mental condition out of all of them; he had at least had a vague idea that something like this would happen. Pops, Trixie and Sparky were all confused, and felt a great deal of guilt at having given Speed such a hard time for the past few days. He had been right; Anarchy was somewhere out there, and it wasn't a coincidence that he was close.

However, as Trixie and Sparky both sat down to think, Pops immediately rushed out of the room before anyone could stop him. He yelled back to the three that he was going to the hotel the find Spritle, and bring him to the track, where he could be watched. Speed tried to run after him, knowing that the four of them shouldn't separate, but he wasn't fast enough. Pops normally wasn't much of a runner, but when he had that kind of fire in his eyes and purpose in his heart, he couldn't be stopped. So Speed gave up and turned back to face his friends, who were just sitting quietly, both engaged in deep thought.

Speed felt like he had to say something. He knew from his own experience during the past few months that it didn't do anyone any good to be alone when they were frightened. No matter how insane their thoughts would sound, the three of them had to talk.

"You guys…" he started, but his voice drifted away. Sparky and Trixie looked up at him, waiting for him to say something, but he couldn't think of anything to say. It was almost as though he didn't want to admit what was going on, even though he knew in his heart that everything was exactly as he had feared.

"We don't know anything yet, guys. He could have had an accident, and left for his hotel room, forgetting that he was supposed to sign out. And, well, maybe he didn't have any work left to do on his car, so he didn't come back. He is a bit of a loner, after all."

His words weren't doing anything. Sparky and Trixie looked just as worried, and they didn't say anything in response. All they did was look at one another, and then lower their heads.

"Guys," Speed started gently, "We really can't jump to conclusions. We need to stay rational here."

Both were still silent.

"Will you say something already?" Speed couldn't help but raise his voice.

"What do you want us to say, Speed?" Trixie said quietly.

"I want you to tell me what you're thinking." His voice once again was gentle.

Trixie looked up at him, and he could see tears forming in her eyes. Everything, from hearing that Anarchy was back to finding blood in Racer X's Bay, was taking its toll on her. And when Speed looked in to her eyes, Duggery's words echoed in his mind.

Am I going to be the end of my family?

Trixie had nothing to do with Anarchy three years ago. She had not been curious like he had, and the only reason why her life had been endangered was because she had been looking for him. It had all been his fault.

"You want to know what I'm thinking, Speed? I'm thinking that Racer X might not even be alive. I'm thinking that any one of us could be next. I'm thinking that you are the only one who knows exactly what this man looks like, and the rest of us are helpless. That is what I am thinking!" she cried at him.

"Not to mention, we don't even know what he wants." Sparky added quietly. "It can't be just revenge; he's too powerful and too important to bother with individual people."

Speed sat down on a box, sighed, and covered his face with his hands. He didn't know what to say in response to his friends. He wanted to comfort them, to tell them that Racer X was fine, and that they would leave and go back to their normal lives as soon as they could. But he couldn't say anything of the sort, because it would have been a lie. The three of them were stumbling around in the dark, and it was just as Speed had feared: he hadn't seen any of this coming until it was too late to do anything.
"Spritle! Spritle!" Pops called out over and over again, once he had entered the hotel room that he and Spritle were sharing. "Where are you? Spritle!"

Spritle awoke with a start and fell off of the chair he had been seated in. He was out on the balcony, napping in the sunlight, and enjoying the warm weather. But it sounded like Pops had just rushed in to the room, screaming like a banshee, and obviously Spritle had done something wrong. He immediately started going over things in his mind that could have possibly gotten him in trouble.

Those cashew turtles I stole from him? Nah, that was nearly three weeks ago. His baseball cap that I got a stain on? Uh, Chim Chim chewing a hole in one of his tennis shoes? My multiplication test? I thought Mom promised me she wasn't going to tell Pops about that…

"SPRITLE!" Pops sounded ridiculously panicked, and Spritle braced himself for the worst. He gulped, and slowly slid the glass door open.

"I'm right here, Pops. Whatsamatter?" Spritle said quietly, purposefully adding lots of innocence to his voice.

Pops turned around and heaved a heavy breath of relief. Then, he took three long steps and lifted his youngest son up off of the ground. Spritle was getting a bit too heavy and tall for him to lift, but Pops was just so glad to see that he was alright that he felt the strength of his young days as a wrestler returning to him. Spritle was completely in the dark as to what was going on, but he figured that what he must have done couldn't have been all that bad.

"Hey Pops…I can't breathe…" Spritle gasped after a little while. Pops quickly put him down and knelt down so that the two were eye to eye.

"I'm sorry. Are you hurt? Has anyone been here all morning? Has anyone tried to get in to the room?"

"Uh, no. Not unless you count the breakfast dude. Why?"

"I can't explain right now. But you have to come with me right now; we need to get to the track. We need to meet back up with your brother and the others."

"Why? I thought you said that I wasn't allowed to go to the track until the race. Remember, you said I would just get in the way!"

"Forget what I said, and do what I tell you! Now come on!" And with that, Pops grabbed a hole of Spritle's little arm and dragged him out of the room. Spritle was hopelessly confused, and protested the whole way out the door, down the stairs, and to the car.

"Pops! Slow down; I'm short, I can't run very fast compared to you, you're hurting my arm…POPS!"

"Be quiet, Sprit…" Pops suddenly stopped though, and his face turned ashen white. The ceasing of his motion caused Spritle to crash in to his legs, and Spritle went tumbling to the ground, grumbling. "Why me…why was I born in to such a weird family…" Spritle muttered as he pushed himself back up to standing.

"What is the deal here, Pops? And now what are you staring at? People are looking at you funny, you know."

But Pops remained silent, his face blank. Spritle was getting really frustrated, and he threw up his hands in disgust, then turned to see what exactly it was that Pops was staring at.

His confusion and frustration quickly turned to surprise and awe when he could clearly tell what had caused such a rapid transition in Pop's demeanor. He pulled his hand out of Pops' grasp, and rubbed his eyes, as if he didn't really believe what he was seeing. But, it was undeniable. He had never seen that face in person, but there were photographs of it all over his house, and he had looked at them every day.

Rex was not eighteen anymore, and so his face had subtly changed, with his cheekbones and jawline becoming more pronounced…but it was undeniable. Leaning against Pops' car, with his hands in his pockets and a slightly crooked smile on his face, was his eldest brother. He was waiting for them.
"You know, Pops has been gone for a long time." Sparky said quietly.

The three of them hadn't been talking very much, but once Sparky spoke up, each one of them turned to look at the clock. Pops had, indeed, been gone for nearly two hours. And the hotel was no more than a half hour's drive in each direction. Spritle could be slow in the mornings, but not that slow.

"Maybe we should call him on his cell phone." Trixie said, unsure of herself. "Does he have it with him?"

"He always does." Speed said, walking over to the nearby phone. "They might be in traffic or something; it is about noon, after all." Speed felt the familiar sick feeling returning to his stomach, but he refused to jump to conclusions. The traffic idea was very plausible, after all.

He picked up the phone, dialed the number, and listened to it ring five times. When the voicemail picked it up, he quickly hung up and mechanically dialed the number again. It rang once, twice, three times, and then someone finally answered it.

"Hello? Pops? Pops, is that you?" he said quickly. "Is anyone there?"

"Interesting question Speed. I always knew you were full of interesting ideas."

Speed's heartbeat increased tenfold. Whoever this was, it wasn't Pops, not was it Spritle. But he didn't recognize the voice, so he just froze, and kept listening.

"Is anyone there? Well, what do you think Speed? Do you think that people will always be there for one another? Is there anyone out there in the void who will always listen to you, care for you, be there for you? Do you believe that by simply dialing a number you can reach anyone in the world? And do you believe that the person you want to reach will always answer you?"

"Who is this?" Speed snarled, so quiet and intense that his voice was barely audible.

"Or, this question could be taken to a deeper level. Do you believe that any of us are here Speed? Are we immortal souls trapped in mortal bodies, just waiting to die so that we can finally be released? Or are we nothing more than biological animals, who have invented the idea of personality and individuality in order to fight the truly rational fear that we all possess that death may just be the end. The end of everything."

"Who is this?" Speed said in a louder tone. Tears were coming to his eyes, and Sparky and Trixie stood up, looking at him with concern.

"Oh, dear little brother, you don't remember my voice? I'm hurt. Truly hurt."
Speed abruptly hung up the phone, and backed away from it as if it were some wild animal. He couldn't believe it, but more importantly, he couldn't explain it. It couldn't have been Rex…what would Rex be doing with Pops' cell phone? Why would he come back now? And why would he talk in riddles, as if he were some insane nihilist?

It had to be Anarchy impersonating Rex; that was the only logical explanation. Anarchy was trying to mess with his head, trying to confuse him, trying to use his emotions against him. But Speed thought that he remembered Anarchy's voice just as clearly as he remembered his face, and that voice on the telephone didn't sound like Anarchy. In fact, Speed didn't remember Rex's voice very well, since he had left home when Speed was only ten, but he did remember the general tone of it. It had been warm and gentle, yet deep and strong. And the voice over the phone had been deep, and strong, and frightening. Speed didn't believe that Rex would come back only to betray and destroy his family…but the voice had been so familiar.

And what about Pops, and Spritle? Pops should have answered his own phone; the fact that he didn't could only mean that he was hurt, or captured, or…Speed didn't want to think of any other possibilities.

"Who was it, Speed?" Sparky asked, his eyes wide.

Speed looked up at his friend, and whispered, "I don't know. He said that he was…"

"Who?" Trixie said.

"He said that he was Rex."

Trixie and Sparky started, and looked at each other. Rex Racer had always been a bit of an enigma for them, as they had not known him for long. They both had been very, very little when he ran away; only nine years old, and had only talked to him once or twice. He had seemed nice enough, a bit arrogant perhaps, but then again all teenagers were. And Speed had always talked fondly of him.

"It can't be…" Sparky whispered. "Rex has been gone for eleven years, we don't know where he is, and here he suddenly has Pops' cell phone?"

"Pops…" Trixie said suddenly. "Whoever he was, did he say anything about Pops? Or Spritle? Or what about Racer X?"

"No, he didn't say anything about them. He just talked like a madman, rambling about life, or destiny, or…I don't know. He was just insane."

Speed walked away from the phone, bringing one of his hands up to his forehead. "It just can't be him…Rex would never talk about life as if it were meaningless. He…" Speed's voice trailed off. Rex couldn't have changed that much in eleven years. And he couldn't believe that Rex would ever want to hurt him, or the other members of the family; all the memories Speed had of his older brother were ones of a peaceful adolescent, smiling and cherishing life.

"Do you think it might have been Anarchy?" Sparky asked.

"I have no idea…I thought I remembered Anarchy's voice, and it didn't sound like him, but he's the only person I can think of who would talk like that. It was almost as though…"

"What?" Trixie said gently.

"It was almost as though—this is going to sound insane—it was Rex speaking, but Anarchy speaking through him." Speed said quietly. "But that doesn't make sense."

Sparky opened his mouth to speak again, but was cut off by the sound of the telephone ringing again. The three of them stared at it for a moment, none of them wanting to answer it, but it just kept ringing. They all looked at one another, and Speed finally mustered up the courage to pick it up, very slowly.

"Hello?" he asked.

"You shouldn't hang up on people like that, little brother. Didn't Mom and Pops ever teach you some manners?"

Speed drew in a quick breath. "Who are you really? You aren't my brother…he would never talk like this…"

"Like what? Like a man who developed some new ideas about the world?"

"Rex loved the world! And he was religious, as a matter of fact; he always believed in…"

"In what?" the voice interrupted him. "In the decency of all people? In the value of human life?"

"Yes." Speed whispered. "He believed in all of that, and I don't believe that he would change."

"Well, he did, little brother. You obviously have a lot to learn about growing up. And don't hold on to the things you think you remember about me; I'm a different person. You don't know me at all."

"Where are Pops, and Spritle, and Racer X?" Speed demanded, his courage returning to him. Rex may have changed, and if he had, then Speed had been clinging to a dream for eleven years. And the knowledge that his older brother may have morphed in to one of the hateful men that Speed always seemed to cross paths with made him angrier than he had ever been before in his life. "If you hurt any of them, I will…"

"Don't give yourself another panic attack, little brother. They're fine, in fact, they've never been better."

Speed opened his mouth to say something, but closed it when he realized that Rex knew about his panic attack.

"How did you know about that?" he stammered.

"I was there. I've never seen you look so pathetic. It was sad really; here you are, twenty-one years old, almost a man, and you still can't control your emotions. You're going to get someone killed that way someday, little brother."

"Stop calling me little brother!" Speed yelled in to the phone. "You aren't my brother; my brother believed in me, and he knew that there was no shame in asking for help. He even told me that all the time, before he left, when I was little. You aren't my brother!"

"I am your brother, little brother. And I did leave. I left all of you, and I would do it again, and again, and again if I could. You've been clinging to a memory all these years haven't you? Holding on for dear life, believing in your heart that one day I would return and everything would just be the way it was before?"

"Yes! I believed that…we are a family, no matter how old we get or how long you are away. And there is something wrong with you; I don't believe that you could have changed this much. I just don't believe it!"

"Well, clearly telephone conversation isn't enough to convince you. Which, in a way, I'm happy for. Your curiosity will prevent you from avoiding meeting me face to face, even though you know you should."

"Meeting you? What are you talking about?"

"Number 5 Panama Gorge Street, five o'clock this evening. It's a small building, out in the middle of nowhere. But looks can be deceiving; there are all kinds of things for you to see there. My face is only one of them." And then, Speed heard a click on the other line, followed by a dial tone.
Rex's eyelids flew open, and he violently tried to pull himself up to standing, but discovered that he was once again tied and handcuffed down, except this time, he was lying on his back on a cold metal table. He didn't remember how he had gotten here, but his mind was filled with the memories of what he had done before. It was as if he had dreamed it all, and yet he knew it wasn't a dream. Every cruel, heartless thing that he had said, and every violent action that he had taken, he had done. And he had not even tried to prevent it.

He wanted to die. Normally, he would never dream of wishing for such a thing, as he believed (for multiple reasons) that wishing for one's own death was wrong, and that every human life was worth saving. But he was just so horrified with what he had done, what he had been forced to do, that he never wanted to see his own face again. And more importantly, he never wanted anyone to take advantage of him like that again.

His mind was a whirlwind of questions. He didn't exactly know what had driven him to act as he did; it was as if he had gone to sleep, woken up a completely different person, and then went back to sleep, and woke up to be himself again. The last thing he remembered from before was being given some kind of shot in the neck, which caused drowsiness, and eventually, loss of consciousness.

What are the drugs capable of that? he furiously thought in his mind. He had studied different types of drugs with Interpol; there were drugs for sleep induction, drugs for mind alteration…but he couldn't think of any that induced total mind control. His mind, and his body, had been overthrown, and by what? And was he so useless that he could not fight them at all, even when he knew in his heart that he could possibly be used to kill his own family?

"How could I say such things…" he whispered out loud, tears coming to his eyes. Rex was not a man who cried very easily, but everything that had come out of his mouth just repeated over and over in his head, as though it were a broken record that he must listen to for the rest of his life. He had spoken of life being meaningless. And he had tortured his brother, telling him that he should be ashamed of who he was, that he had not grown up properly or responsibly, when nothing could be further from the truth. Rex was overwhelmingly proud of who Speed had become, and he wondered if he would ever be able to tell Speed that.

"I don't know…how could you say such things, Mr. Racer? You know that you don't mean them, so how could you say them?"

"What have you done?" Rex yelled out. He knew better than to lose his temper, as doing so would only serve to reinforce his adversary's idea that he was winning and Rex was losing, but he couldn't help it. Rex was, after all, still just a man, and was not even thirty years old yet.

"It is too complicated for you to understand, Mr. Racer. You have no knowledge of things of this nature, and so I suggest that you do not even try gain knowledge."

Rex could make out the outline of Professor Anarchy's face, and he could see that Anarchy was enjoying himself. In addition to that, he was holding in his hands a small, mechanical looking chip which was no bigger than a quarter. Rex could only assume that it was some kind of computer chip.

He was fighting a losing battle, and they both knew it. And Rex didn't say anything in reply, mainly because there wasn't anything for him to say. Anarchy was right; Rex knew about certain kinds of drugs, but he didn't know anything about computer technology. He felt himself beginning to give in; his bonds were tight, his mind was overloaded with despair and worry, and his head still hurt, which he began to figure was due to a concussion. His eyes closed to prevent tears from falling as he felt a familiar needle prick, and then darkness overtook him once more.
The drive had been silent. Trixie and Sparky had decided to go to the building that Rex had mentioned, even though Speed didn't want them to. But they had insisted, saying that Speed had been the one who had demanded that they all stay together, which was something that Speed couldn't argue with. Sparky was driving, and Speed sat there, just holding Trixie's hand. It felt like the longest drive of his life.

Rex hadn't been kidding; number 5 Panama Gorge Street was in the middle of nowhere. And it didn't look like much, just a shack that looked as though it may fall at any moment. The walls were merely boards, and the roof was two sheets of aluminum leaning against one another. The three of them stepped out of the car slowly, all scanning the landscape, looking for someone…specifically, for Rex.

And he arrived right on time. Sparky's digital watch beeped five times, and Rex stepped out of the shack. He was dressed in black slacks, a black button down shirt, and a black jacket. Speed recognized him immediately, even though he never remembered Rex wearing black, except on the one occasion when he and Speed had gone to their grandfather's funeral.

"Stay here." he said quietly to his friends. Both looked as though they wanted to protest, but ultimately they didn't. They remained still as Speed walked over to where his older brother was waiting for him.

"Hello, little brother. Long time no see." Rex said with a smile.

"I didn't want to believe that it was you."

"Well, it is. People change, Speed; you should know that by now."

"Clearly they do." Speed was afraid, but he felt something inside of him that he never dreamt he would feel towards Rex: rage. Rage at him for leaving in the first place, for abandoning his family, and then later abandoning his principles. Rage at him for betraying all the trust that Speed had kept for him throughout the long years.

"Where is my family, Rex?" Speed said in a low voice.

"I think you mean our family, little brother."

"They aren't your family anymore…you lost that privilege eleven years ago. Where are they?"

Rex actually looked momentarily stunned, as if a glimmer of his old self returned. His crooked smile faded, but then returned seconds later.

"They're inside."

"And what about Racer X? I assume he is in there too?"

And then Rex laughed out loud, making Speed's eyebrows furrow. "Why is that funny?" he growled.

"Poor stupid child. You don't know, do you?"

"Know what?"

"Racer X? X? Rex? Come on, was it really that hard to figure out? Obviously it was, since you have known me for three years and still don't know."

Speed's confidence was now shot. Racer X, Rex, and this shadow of a man who had once been his brother; all were the same person? But Racer X was one of the most honorable men Speed had ever met, and he had looked up to him as a mentor, and as a friend. And Racer X had saved his life more than once throughout the years, but for what? Merely to come to this day and kill him now?

Rex looked over Speed's shoulder, and saw Sparky and Trixie standing in the background. "You all don't go anywhere alone, do you? You should learn independence Speed; how irresponsible of you to put your friends in danger."

But when Speed turned around to look back for his friends, there was no one there. He hadn't even heard anything; not a scream, not a cry, nothing. That had just disappeared. And he turned back to look at Rex, who just smiled down at him, then grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him in to the shack.
Ooh…Rex is evil! Isn't it great? Evil is so much fun to write.

Review! What is up with all the other writers getting all the reviews? Huh? Come on punk, I know you're out there!

Psycho Jill is going to lay down now…