Wow, I'm on fire this weekend.

"Are you sure you want to go to school?"

Rex raises a brow at his brother, who's nursing his head. "We talked about this, remember? I'm going to be fine, César. I just need to figure out where my diary went… Besides, isn't the more important question what you were doing last night, getting drunk?"

"A… friend wanted to get together and talk."

César? Friend? Yeah right. But Rex doesn't push it. César isn't the one trying to prove his innocence in this world. In this world, it's Rex who has to convince César of his innocence. And if that means César gets to keep secrets, then fine. Besides, it's not like Rex is telling him the complete truth anyways. He can't, after all.

"Want me to drive you?"

"Hermano, you reek of alcohol. Go take a shower or something. I'll be fine."

César nods slowly, mumbling darkly under his breath as he walks towards the kitchen. Jeesh, brothers.

Tuck is waiting for him outside, looking a little worse for wear. The minute he hears the door open, he glances up and looks just so relieved that it's Rex.

"Hey," Rex greets, feeling a little worried. "You alright?"

"I'm fine."

"Where are the others?"

"They… We'll see them later." Tuck smiles, a forced smile that makes Rex cringe just looking at it. Something's definitely wrong, but Rex feels like he doesn't know these guys well enough to comment on it.

"Did you guys fight?"

There's a dark look in Tuck's eyes but he doesn't affirm or deny. He just motions for them to get going.

"Tuck, that's not the way to school," Rex points out when Tuck takes a different turn.

He turns to look at Rex with an unreadable expression. Then he says, "I need to talk to you. Away from any prying eyes. Come on."

Rex has a choice here. He can ignore his friend and go to school like the good little student that he promised César he'd be. Or he can be a good friend and listen. The choice here is so obvious that Rex doesn't even hesitate. He follows Tuck.

They come to what looks to be an abandoned factory. But that's not quite the right description. It is abandoned by any corporations, for sure. But it's obviously been reclaimed by others. It becomes that much more obvious as Tuck leads Rex through the wreckage of the factory and there are still electricity humming through the area, lighting their way. Then finally, they come to a room with a red curtain for a door.

Tuck gives Rex a look before walking inside. Rex follows.

The inside of the room is something that Rex doesn't expect. There's a giant couch against the wall with a blanket and pillow on it, letting Rex know that someone's been using this place as a temporary place to stay. On the adjacent wall, there are bookshelves filled with comics, toys, and random things that Rex suspects are trophies from various things that have happened. There is a desk against the wall across from the couch, and a small fridge next to it. The rest of the room is filled with posters, clothes, and other junk that normal teens have that were missing from Rex's room. Tuck doesn't have to clarify for Rex to realize what this place is. But despite that, he has to ask.

"Is this…?"

"Yeah," Tuck says. He's watching Rex carefully, as if waiting for something. "It's your place."

And suddenly, things click into place. The reason why César had been so angry that first night when Rex didn't sleep in his room. The reason why Angela flipped out when she found him in the living room. The reason why that room felt so stuffy and inorganic, like nothing can live there. The reason why César was so shocked to see him late at night in the kitchen. It's because Rex doesn't live there in that house. At least, not really.

"But… But why do I…?"

Tuck sighs heavily. "I was hoping that bringing you here would spark a memory. Nothing, huh?"

Rex shakes his head and feels guilty for it. Of course it won't spark a memory. Everything that has happened, everything that this Tuck had experienced (that César had experienced) was with a different Rex. And standing here, pretending to be the person that these people care about leaves a nasty taste in his mouth.

"How long have I been living here?"

Tuck shrugs. "If you don't know it then no one does. By the time we've met, you were already using this place."

Rex walks around, taking a closer look at the things that have been gathered. Maybe he can piece together what he sees here to the person he was before. Maybe there's a clue, a hint, something…

His eyes land on the cellphone on the desk. Can it be…? He picks it up and flips it open. The low battery warning pops up, but it still lets him look through the phone. There are 105 missing calls, 36 voice messages, and 342 text messages. He flips through the missing calls and notes that there are few from Cricket, few from Tuck, few from César, few from the Holiday Hospital, and the rest are from Quarry. He doesn't want to know what the voice messages or the text messages contain.

"Hey Tuck… Why did you bring me here?" Rex pockets the phone and turns to his friend. "I know you said that you wanted me to remember, but you didn't really care whether I remembered or not before. What happened? What's changed? Does it have to do with the others? Did you guys fight?"

Tuck's eyes are dark and his smile doesn't quite reach his eyes. "Do you trust me, Rex?" he asks, completely derailing Rex's questions.

"You know I do."

"True. The you right now seem to trust me just fine…"

Rex doesn't understand what that means at all. But before he can voice his question, Tuck moves on.

"If I do something bad… Would you forgive me?"

"What? Tuck, I don't care what you did. We're friends. Friends forgive each other for no matter what." At least that's what Tuck and the others have taught him way back when. No matter what kind of "horrible thing" you do, friends are supposed to back each other. That's what it means to be friends, right?

But Tuck's face doesn't lighten. He doesn't look relieved at all. Instead, his expression darkens and the fake smile doesn't leave. He looks like a complete stranger and all Rex wants to do is punch him until he returns to the Tuck who played games with him and took him to the mountains. Just what the hell happened…?

"Why don't I take you to school? You want to be a good student for César, right?" Tuck says instead. Lightly, almost as if he's scared of showing his true feelings.

"Tuck…"

"Don't make that kind of angry face, Rex. I told you, didn't I? I'll take care of it."

Rex wants to point out that that doesn't reassure him at all. But instead, he finds himself reluctantly agreeing. Tuck will tell him in time, he decides. Because that's also what it means to be friends.

Tuck waves him goodbye and goes the other direction, clearly intending to miss school. Rex doesn't really get it, but he heads inside anyways. Half of him wonders if he's really doing the right thing. Should he be going after Tuck right now? He hesitates and looks back, but Tuck is long gone. Even if Rex is to go after him now, he highly doubts that he'll find his friend.

With a heavy sigh, Rex walks into the halls of the school. And stops.

Which class does he go to now? He's gotten used to one day's schedule, but the schedule alternates every day, doesn't it? Well, there's just one thing to do, isn't there? Rex brazenly walks around until he runs into the hall monitor.

Classes are boring and the people around him give him a wide berth. There's no sign of Cricket or Circe or Sqwydd, and Rex is starting to wonder if maybe they're all gathered with Tuck, doing whatever "I'll take care of it" means. It makes for a boring lunch, made worse by the fact that the cellphone feels like deadweight in his pocket, reminding him of the messages that he should check.

"Well, well, not so mighty without your pals, are you?"

Noah.

Rex closes his eyes for a second to remind himself that this isn't his best friend. The Noah that he played basketball with is not here. Then he opens his eyes and turns to face Noah with a cocky smirk on his face.

"Says the guy who almost pissed himself when he saw me." It's surprising just how easy it is to slip into the mask of an arrogant jerk. And Rex mentally winces because that is not how you make friends.

Rex watches with fascination as Noah freezes for a second, pure fear flashing in his eyes. Then he takes a small breath and grins, trying to look confident. But the fear is still there in the depths, and Rex just doesn't get it. What did he do to make Noah this afraid? What is Noah afraid he'll do?

"Be arrogant now all you want, Salazar. But you are going down."

"Really? What makes you so sure?"

Noah grins, figuring that he finally has the advantage. "Because great pride comes before a great fall. And believe me, you're going to fall hard."

"Then why don't we have a friendly competition?"

The fear flashes in Noah's eyes again. And before he can interrupt him, Rex continues on.

"You and I will play table tennis in the tournament!"

"… What? There's no such thing as a table tennis tournament."

Rex blinks. Right. Different worlds. But how can such a beloved sport vanish like that? Then again, it makes sense as to why Noah is part of the basketball team instead of the table tennis team…

"No problem, we'll just start one," Rex declares with a shrug. "You and me will fight everyone else and win!"

"Wait. Why am I on your team?"

Rex holds up his hand. "Hear me out. We'll be a team and we'll win the tournament. That way, it will be clear to you and everyone else that we don't have to be fighting anymore. We can start over. Be friends again. A clean slate, you know?"

"And if we lose?"

"We won't."

"And if we lose?" Noah repeats, more forcefully this time.

Rex sighs. "Uh… I'll… I'll be your slave for a week?"

Noah blinks, blankly looking at Rex for a bit. Then he slowly starts to grin. "Rex Salazar as my slave? Are you stupid or something? Of course I'll lose on purpose!"

"No you won't. You value our friendship too much for that."

A dark look passes on Noah's face. "You pompous little-"

The bell rings shrilly, cutting off the rest of Noah's curses. Rex just casually stands up, stretches, and waves Noah goodbye.

After that, school seems to be over in a blink of an eye. Rex hums lightly as he heads out, feeling quite pleased with himself. The entire student body is a buzz with the declaration of the table tennis match, and it seems to be catching on pretty fast. Whether this is because of the condition that "if Rex loses, he'll be Noah's slave" or not, Rex isn't too sure.

As he heads back home, he hears the familiar sound of a fight. Figuring he doesn't need to be back as soon as school is over, he decides to check it out.

Behind the bleachers, few of the burry jocks seem to be ganging up on some people. Rex can hazily make out the shapes, but he can't be too sure. He knows that this isn't his business. He knows that he probably shouldn't be involved.

But he also knows that he's not that kind of a person who walks away from these scenes.

"Hey! What's going on here?"

The jocks snarl and turn to glare, and freezes.

"Salazar," comes the hushed whisper. Then they quickly straighten themselves up, trying to look composed.

"We're just teaching these brats a lesson," one of them explains, almost eagerly.

And now that they've stopped ganging up on the victims, Rex can finally see that it's Biowulf and Skalamander. Well, their human versions, anyways. The first thing that he remembers is all the time that the Pack has caused him trouble in the other world. But then he chides himself because he said he wouldn't compare anymore.

"Don't bother these guys anymore," Rex commands. "From now on, they'll be under my protection."

The jocks look like they want to protest, but then they think it over carefully. And with a soft, "Good luck with the table tennis match," they disperse, leaving the two on the ground and Rex.

"We didn't need your help!" The shout is accompanied by someone grabbing Rex by the collar, shaking him slightly. "And we sure as hell won't be your toys!"

"Hey, relax. I just wanted them to back off without causing a big deal."

"No one asked you to butt in," Biowulf growls. Skalamander looks just as angry as he glares at Rex.

"But don't you see? I need your help."

"Huh?"

"You guys probably heard about the Table Tennis tournament, right? I need other people to participate in it. Won't you-"

"No." With that curt answer, Biowulf releases Rex. And with the snarl never leaving his lips, he spits on the ground, and leaves.

Skalamander looks at Rex for a second and sighs. "No," he repeats, softly. Then he's gone, too, following after Biowulf in a slight clumsy kind of way.

Rex scratches the back of his head. "I guess I shouldn't push for too much change all at once," he mumbles to himself.

"I didn't think you could do something so unselfish."

"Aw, you know me Six! I'm just a good-" Rex stops in mid-sentence when it registers who he's talking to.

Six is leaning against a support beam for the bleachers. His sunglass is on, so Rex can't quite tell what he's looking at, but he's pretty sure that Six has seen everything that's happened. Without hesitation, he turns to run, but Six grabs him by the shoulder.

"Not this time," he says.

Rex throws a punch, but instead of dodging it, Six just grabs it. It's a stalemate and Rex hates it, because he's finally caught and he can't be (at least not yet when he still hasn't figured everything out yet). He wrecks his brain, trying to figure out a way out. There has to be something. He knows that if he tries to fight, Six is no longer going to try and dodge, in case Rex runs again. He needs a new plan…

"Now, we need to talk," Six says. "Rex Salazar, you are an enigma."

With his free hand, Rex begins to search through his pockets. Something that can be used as a weapon. Or a distraction. Or just something that'll get him out of here. Something like… His hands wrap around the cell phone. He can use this. But should he? It's one of the few links he has to his past, now that his diary is gone. But it's not like he can get away from Six if he doesn't use it…

Decisions, decisions. He closes his eyes briefly, concentrating all the memory that he has of explosions into the small cellphone. It doesn't have to do damage, he thinks. It just has to be loud and bright enough that it distracts Six for a bit…

"You know things that no one else should. I want to know why and how. More importantly-"

Rex takes out his phone. Six raises a brow, looking completely unimpressed. With a grin, Rex throws the phone harshly to the ground, and just as he had commanded his nanites to do so, the phone explodes in bright lights and smoke.

It's enough confusion for Six to release Rex. And that's more than enough for Rex to start running. He hears the sounds of footsteps close behind, so he knows that the cellphone didn't buy him that much time. But being on the run is always better than being caught.

With that thought in mind, Rex runs.