"What… What did you say?" Rex demands, his voice barely above a whisper. It feels as if someone's squeezing his lungs, making it hard to breath. "What do you mean Quarry?"
"Rex, calm down. I didn't mean any-"
"What the hell do you mean by Quarry?!"
Fear flickers in Tuck's eyes but he holds up both his hands in front of Rex to calm him. "Rex," he says, his voice as soothing as possible. "It's okay. Everything's fine. I'll take care of it."
"Tell me where he is! I'll go to him right now. And I'll… I'll…" Rex trails off as he glances down at his hands. No Smack Hands. No nanites. No boost in fighting abilities. And damn it all, because hadn't Six told him time and time again to train, to hone his body to be ready for anything?
Tuck gently guides Rex back to the bed and sits him down. "Forget I said anything," he says, his voice still soothing as if he's talking to a child. He crouches so that they're eye-to-eye. "What about this? We'll skip school and go blow off steam like we used to. All five of us, just like the good old days, okay?"
Rex nods numbly, but he's not too sure what he's agreeing to. All he can think about is Quarry and how he's still haunting his group (and his life). All he can think about is the fact that he no long possesses the abilities to fight Quarry and that he no longer has Six's backing and that he's probably going to die if he went against Quarry. After all, Quarry might not be a rock EVO anymore, but he's still an adult with probably bunch of other thugs working for him and…
He snaps out of his thoughts when he realizes that he's being tucked in. His face flushes red with embarrassment and he swats away Tuck's hands. "I'm not a baby," he snaps.
"Sorry," Tuck says lightly. "I just need you to know that the world hasn't ended."
It's surprisingly sweet and reassuring. Rex ends up just smiling goofily at his friend. Maybe Tuck's right. Maybe things are going to get better. He's going to be able to figure out how to handle Quarry (he always does, after all). All he has to do is figure out what the password to the diary might be.
Yes, it's going to be all right.
Tuck shakes him awake at a ridiculous hour of the morning, all ready to go. He has an insanely large grin on his face and Rex can't quite remember what it is that he promised that's got Tuck this excited.
"C'mon!" Tuck says, pulling him out of the bed and pushing him into the bathroom. "Hurry before my family wakes up!"
Rex sleepily go through the motions as his mind fights against the drowsiness to remember exactly why Tuck is this excited. Let's see… They played games last night, ate dinner and…
Quarry.
His attention snaps awake and he forces his hands to relax from a fist that he's unwittingly made. Maybe he's overthinking it. Maybe things will be different. Then he remembers César and he can't help but to sigh. Some things are different for sure, but there are other things that aren't. And it just so happens that the people he really needs to talk to the most are the ones who are different.
No. He's not going to think like that. This is the world that he has created. This is the ideal world that he wanted to live in. So he's going to make the best of it.
He walks back out to Tuck with a confident grin.
Rex isn't too sure what it is that they do normally when they skip school. When Noah and he used to hang out, it was at the basketball courts. But he somehow gets the feeling that this group doesn't shoot hoops to relax. Maybe they hang out in the arcade? Should he let Tuck know now that he doesn't have any money on him?
He silently follows Tuck as they make their way down through the street. And about ten more minutes of this awkward silence, they finally arrive at their destination.
An auto-repair shop.
It looks like it's still too early for the place to be open, but there are few people running about, getting ready for the day. The question "Why are we here?" is at the tip of Rex's tongue when he remembers that he supposedly fell off of his motorcycle on the night that he was in the hospital. They must be here to pick it up. Wait a minute. Doesn't that mean that their favorite past time is-
"Hey Moss!" Tuck shouts, waving his arms. "We're here to pick up the Rex Ride!"
… Moss? Rex Ride? Rex's heart skips a beat, and he holds his breath as a familiar figure waves back to them.
"Tuck, Rex," Moss shouts, waving them over to where he's working on something. He's grinning widely and Rex has a small feeling that it's going to be some kind of crazy news about bikes, because that's the only thing Moss cares about (or at least the Moss that he's met cared about it. Who knows about this Moss?).
"Man, you guys give me the weirdest problems," Moss begins, shaking his head. He slaps Rex's shoulder, looking mighty proud. It doesn't hurt or anything, but it does remind Rex that he needs to start breathing again. "Dude, when I saw how totaled your bike was, I thought you were a goner! Good to see you walking around though. Can't say the same for your bike."
"It's still not fixed?" Tuck asks, looking shocked and a little disappointed. "I thought you could fix everything, Moss!"
"Yeah, but spare parts aren't exactly free or lying around for me to pick up and use, you know?" Moss says with a shrug. Then an idea must have occurred to him, because he pales slightly and he lowers his voice. "Unless you need it urgently for something…?"
"It's not-" Rex begins. But he's quickly cut off by Tuck.
"It's urgent," Tuck insists. He crosses his arms and gives Moss a dark look. "We need a ride now."
Moss rubs the back of his neck and makes a face. Then with a heavy sigh, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his keychain. "Not a single scratch, you hear?" With that, he tosses the key to them, muttering darkly about annoying brats. Then he goes off to work, and Rex figures that it means they've been dismissed.
"I don't think we need the bike now," Rex points out to Tuck.
His friend shrugs. "If we don't stress the importance of it, Moss'll never let us do anything. C'mon, Rex. Let's get going!"
Tuck is hesitant at first, but in the end, relents and lets Rex drive. He just sits behind Rex and shouts out the directions to a mountain. It takes a good thirty minutes to get there, and by the time they arrive, the others are already there, waiting for them.
"Took you long enough," Walter grumbles as a greeting.
Rex doesn't even remember when Tuck asked them to gather. But he figures that's not important. They're going to spend time together and it's not going to matter whether Rex "remembers" things or not, because they're going to be riding. It's a win-win situation for him.
"I call first ride!" Cricket exclaims. She hops over to Rex and gives him a shy smile. "Unless you don't want to?"
Rex flashes her a bright smile. "Get on!"
It's exhilarating. He's figured out the controls from when he was riding with Tuck, and it's really not all that different from his old Red Ride. There are few obvious differences, but it's not too bad. Instead of worrying about the controls, he ends up just speeding through the mountain roads. The curve of the road takes him to the time when he's travelled alone after breaking out of Providence's control. He remembers the freedom, the wind, the smell…
A flash of green catches his attention. Rex glances to the left, trying to follow it, but he's going too fast and the green is no longer there. Chalking it off as a trick of his mind, he shakes his head and ignores it.
They take turns riding the bike. None of the others have a bike, so Rex thinks that this makes the most sense. The ones who doesn't want to drive just pairs up with someone else for a whirl. He thinks it's a great way to relax, and he's kind of in awe of the system that they seem to have come up with.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Cricket asks as she sits down next to him.
Currently, Circe is gearing up to go, and Walter is making it expressively clear that he can drive if he wants to, it's just that he doesn't really feel like it all that much, and stop laughing, Tuck, it's really not that funny!
"Ah. I was just thinking that this is really nice," Rex says, motioning to the scene before them. "I feel like we haven't hung out all that much."
Cricket bites her lips and looks down, and Rex wonders if he's said something wrong again. But instead, she shakes her head and says softly, "We really haven't, have we?"
It's quiet and sad. Rex feels like there is more meaning behind those words that she's not voicing out loud, but he can't quite figure out how to phrase the question. So instead, they just sit quietly, unable to meet each others' eyes. And in the side of his peripheral vision, Rex spots that green again. But by the time he turns his head to look, the green is gone and he's starting to think that something's going on here.
"Having fun?" Rex teases when Walter returns from the ride with Circe. He looks pale and sickly, and shoots Rex an annoyed look. Circe, on the other hand, just takes off the helmet and flicks her hair back with a superior smirk.
"He still can't handle a little speed," Circe says with a mocking sigh.
Walter gives them both the finger before rushing off the bike to behind a bush. From there, the rest can hear the sounds of retching. They all laugh, and Rex feels like he belongs again. Like he's back home and they're all just EVOs on the run, and they're just having some fun.
And there! There's that flash of green again!
Rex turns to look but again, it's gone. He frowns because this sure as hell is annoying and-
"You alright, Rex?"
"Yeah… I'll be right back guys."
And he runs off, chasing that flash of annoying green.
There's a rest area nearby, one with restrooms and an old vending machine that doesn't seem to be connected to anything. But there's no sign of life or the green flash. Rex sighs a little. Maybe he's overthinking this. Maybe the flash of green is really just a random trick of his mind. He should get back to the group.
The hairs on the back of his neck stand up and Rex knows this feeling only too well. He doesn't hesitate, because hesitation is the difference between life and death. And he's lived through way too many life-or-death situations to fall for it. He whirls around and uses the momentum to punch with all his might.
Lo and behold, who else should it be but Six?
Six catches Rex's fist and spares it a small glance. Then he turns his face towards Rex. Even though he's wearing sunglasses, Rex knows that he's being studied.
"Good reflex," Six comments.
And it feels so much like the old days that Rex just wants to cling to him and tell him all the little things that are going wrong in his life. But he doesn't, because he's not a little kid anymore and Six doesn't need to be his nanny 24/7. And damn it, he shouldn't need Six anymore anyways! He has a family now.
"Rex Salazar," Six continues. His head is tilted slightly to the side, as if to judge Rex better. "Born to Doctors Violeta and Rafael Salazar. Younger brother to César Salazar, genius extraordinaire. Black sheep of the family. Been twice to the Juvenile Detention Center, both times because of minor misdemeanors. Often frequents Holiday Hospital. Usually seen with his group of friends or a convict identified only as 'Quarry.' Drives a motorcycle without permit or a license. Causes trouble everywhere he goes."
"Is that my file?" Rex isn't too sure what he's feeling right now. He thinks it might be a combination of fear and reluctant awe. There might be some annoyance as well, but his head's reeling a little too much for him to properly identify it. Because the sixth most dangerous man in the world is glaring down at him with information that he doesn't even know, and they're not supposed to know each other.
"There's nothing in there about being trained in combat," Six concludes. He releases Rex's fist. "But you've obviously been trained. Not well, but trained."
Rex bites back the urge to retort, "You're the one who trained me," and instead backs away, quickly glancing around to assess his escape routes. Just as he had been taught. Except he's thinking about this all wrong, because the one who's taught him is the one standing before him, except not really and this is all starting to get kind of confusing.
"You won't be running away this time. Your friends also won't be coming to save you."
"What the hell do you want from me, Six?" He hates how caged his sound. He's not supposed to talk like that to Six. Hell, Six isn't allowed to talk like this to Rex! But this isn't Six. This isn't the Six who took him in to Providence and helped train him to be their weapon. This isn't the Six who watched his back, cared for him, and loved him like a son. This isn't that Six.
"I just want to know why you-"
Rex doesn't give him the chance to finish. He kicks twice, satisfied when Six dodges them both, and while Six is distracted, he runs. He hears Six's soft sigh and he hears him give chase, but Rex has one more thing that Six doesn't have.
He makes it down to his friends just in time. They glance up, looking a little shocked that he's rushing towards them.
"Sorry!" he shouts. "I'll make it up to you guys later!" And he grabs the bike and, without bothering with the helmet, drives.
He's sure that Six isn't following him anymore.
But truth be told, he's not too sure where he is. He's mind's been in turmoil so he hasn't really been paying attention to where he's driving or anything really. But it's not until he feels safe and he pulls up to a gas station that he realizes that he has no idea where he is or how to get back. He doesn't have any phone so it's not like he can call anyone. And even if he could borrow a cell to call someone, what are the likelihood that the numbers that he remembers still work in this universe? And even if it does work, the numbers he knows are limited to Noah and Providence, and neither are going to be helping him any time soon.
He parks the bike and sits down on the curb next to it, debating what to do now. It seemed like such a great idea at first; change the world so that there are no more EVOs. But now that the EVOs are gone, Rex is starting to wonder if maybe, just maybe, he's created invisible monsters that are much more deadly. At least EVOs looked like monsters that you could fight against. But the monsters before him right now aren't exactly something he can just punch away.
"Hey kid, you lost?"
Rex looks up glumly and freezes. The man standing before him is bulky and massive. He's looking down at Rex with a small sneer that he's come to know all too well. All that's missing are the hockey mask and the crazy and powerful weapon that he's used to hunt down Rex before.
"I… Uh… Yeah…" Rex stammers. Calm down, he tells himself. He's not Hunter Cain. He doesn't hate EVOs. EVOs don't exist. But that doesn't calm him down at all, and his legs tense, ready to run.
"That sucks," Cain declares.
Rex just looks at him, not too sure if this is just some kind of a ritual before he's going to get shot at.
Then a petite woman comes barreling over and smacks Cain's chest lightly. "Oh Cain," she sighs. "I tell you to be nice and here you are, just standing around." She turns to Rex with a kind smile. "Hi, I promise we're not weirdoes. Except I suppose that's what weirdoes would say in this situation. But uh… What I mean is, my husband Cain here and I would like to help out."
"But… Why? You don't even know me."
"Well… This is going to sound kind of silly, but someone lent us a hand few hours ago and told us to spread the kindness by helping ten other people. As if happens, you're our number one person to help. Besides, I'm sure you have a bright future in front of you. I bet you're going to go off and do amazing things!"
Rex's lips curve up to a crocked smile. Oh lady, he thinks. You don't even know the half of it. "Thank you."
It takes them three hours to finally figure out where Rex lives and to take him there. In those three hours, Rex gets to know about who Cain was before he lost his wife. He's still gruff and strict, but there's a touch of kindness there. And Rex thinks that he understands why Cain turned into such an extremist after killing her. It's there in the gentle way he looks at her. It's there in the quiet way he tilts his head towards her to hear her better. It's there in his eyes, his gestures, his words, his tone, his entire being.
And maybe Rex had been a bit too harsh on the other Cain, because this Cain doesn't even seem to be able to squash a bug without paling. Instead, he just cups it gently and lets it out the window with care. Amazing how much a human being changes when they lose the one they love... Rex forces himself to not think about the people that he's come to consider as family.
"Thank you," Rex tells them sincerely once he and his bike has been dropped off.
"No problem," Cain's wife says with a bright smile. "Now, you have to go out there and help ten other people, too, okay? We'll spread kindness everywhere in the world like this!"
"I will."
He waves them goodbye and watches the truck get further and further into distance. And isn't it just hilarious that he's having such a hard time in his new life but Hunter Cain has everything set? He forces himself to stop that train of thought. No, he tells himself. I've got to stop thinking like that. Instead, he needs to focus on his real life now. He needs to ground himself here without continuously comparing. He needs to find reasons to love this place.
He turns to the doorknob of the front door again and he grins. "Back here again."
Once again, the house is quiet. There's no one here to scold him for skipping school or ask about the motorcycle in the driveway. There's no one here at all, not even Angela.
He used to be pretty jealous of those kids on TV who returned home to a mother who's always baking and father who's always reading the newspaper. And it's really not until now that he realizes why. It's because whether there are EVOs or not, he's always going to come home to an empty house.
Rex walks into the kitchen and glances around. "I'm going to change it," he decides out loud. "It doesn't always have to be like this."
With that resolve, he grabs the materials around the kitchen. When ready, he takes a deep breath and begins to cook.