I'm so close to finishing this, I can feel it...
Warning: Gore, senseless violence
The lab is surprisingly quiet and it makes Rex nervous. Should things really be this quiet? Even if it's just a science lab, shouldn't there be at least some form of security? After all, this is the Consortium, and they tend to guard their immortality with zeal. Not to mention the last time Rex was here... Well, that was in another universe so he supposes he shouldn't compare.
"This is too easy," Biowulf says finally, voicing Rex's thoughts out loud.
"Yeah, that's what I thought, too," Rex agrees.
"But what could that-" Noah lets out a yelp as he trips over something. He grumbles darkly, catching his balance and then kicking at whatever it is that got him. Then he stops, his face paling in the darkness and Rex doesn't have to be told anything more to know what's happened.
"Is that...?" Breach starts. She covers her mouth with her hands and struggles to breathe. Asthma? That's going to be annoying if they have to run... Rex jerks a little at the thought. What the hell? Why would he ever think like that? He should just be grateful that these guys are helping him out!
"Quarry," Rex says. "Has to be." He doesn't have to look closely to know that the rest of the guards has been brutally murdered, their bodies spewn across the place without care. Rex touches the comms. "Gat, this is more serious than I thought... Gatlocke? Are you there?"
Silence.
Not good.
From the Pack's shocked but knowing faces, Rex knows that they understand. It's just Noah who is shell-shocked to the point that he doesn't quite comprehend what's before him. It sucks because the other Noah would've trucked on. He would have made faces and complained, but he would have stuck close to Rex, watching his back because that's just what friends do in their kind of crazy world. But this Noah right now cannot do that for him.
This Noah has never seen anything like this before. This Noah next to him will be useless in the upcoming fight, especially if Quarry's involved.
"Noah, stay here and call the cops," Rex orders.
There's a brief flash of relief on Noah's face before it's suddenly overtaken by a different emotion. His head snaps up, staring at Rex with slight disbelief and anger. "You're leaving me behind?" he asks, his voice shaking slightly. "You'd rather trust Van Kleiss's kids over me?"
"It's not a matter of trust, Noah. It's... Ugh! You wouldn't get it. Just... Just do as I say."
Noah doesn't say anything else to that. Just gives Rex a hurt look before looking down at the people on the ground. Rex begins to walk away, guilt twisting at his stomach. There are better ways to have handled that. Why did he snap like that? It's not like him. The more he stays here, he fears that he's becoming someone that he isn't.
"You haven't forgotten at all, have you?" Noah asks, not bothering to look at him. "I thought it was that you lost too much. But in reality, you haven't lost anything. It's just a convenient excuse for you to use to cover things up as always. I'm never going to be someone you trust."
"Noah... Look, I'll explain to you once everyone's safe. But the more time I waste here, Quarry's going to-"
"Forget it. Just go, Rex. It's fine." Noah smiles but it doesn't look like he's fine at all. "I know where your priorities lie."
And it's just so damned annoying because Rex himself doesn't know anymore.
"So where to from here?" Biowulf asks, walking two steps behind Rex as they make their way through the lab. Rex pretends that he doesn't notice the sudden protectiveness in Biowulf's actions, because it makes no sense. Why is Biowulf so suddenly determined to stick close to him?
"We're going to the main lab," Rex answers him. "If Quarry's doing what I think he is, then he's probably going to be fighting against the Consortium there."
"You know this place pretty well," Skalamander adds, quietly. Almost shyly.
Rex shrugs. "Labs aren't that hard to figure out."
"Does it bother you to leave Noah behind?" Breach asks finally. She's looking at him seriously through her bangs. Almost like she... cares? Huh, does these guys actually care about how he's feeling? But why? They're just in this together for right now because Rex needs people and Van Kleiss demanded it.
"No." And odd as it sounds, it's the truth. "He'd have slowed us down." He hates to admit it, but it's the truth. Noah would've slowed them down to the point that he might not be able to save anybody. And as much as it burns him to think like that, he has to know when to cut losses.
The other three have looks on their faces as if they understand what he means. Rex pretends that he doesn't see.
Just as he has guessed, Quarry's in the main lab. Just as he has guessed there are bodies everywhere, thrown around and torn apart as if a wild beast has run through here. The uniforms on those bodies are just as Noah described: Providence uniforms from his original universe. Except torn and bloodied.
When Rex walks in, his eyes scan through the entire place. He surveys the fallen, the machinery that surrounds the walls, the cowering few who're hiding about, and Quarry in the middle of the room, holding Black Knight by the neck. She's struggling, but not because she's going to die, but because she also has her whip wrapped around Quarry's neck. They're both strangling each other, and it's just a wait to see who will last longer.
"Quarry, stop this."
There's a small pause before Quarry releases Black Knight. And with the other hand, he yanks at the whip, ripping it out of her hands with ease (Has he just been toying with her? Giving her hope that she might have a chance to strangle him when in reality he had everything under control?). Then he steps down on Black Knight, pinning her to the ground, before looking over at Rex.
"Couldn't stay away, could you?" he asks. There's something soft in his voice. Almost like fondness. He tosses the whip away to the side. "Are those new friends behind you? Good, I didn't care much for your old ones."
"They're backup," Rex explains. Then he motions toward Black Knight. "Mind if I talk to her for a bit?"
Quarry shrugs and steps away from Black Knight, giving her space to sit up and gasp for breath. He then reaches over and picks up someone else's gun to point at her head. "Any wrong move," he warns her.
"What did you tell Tuck?" Rex asks Black Knight.
"Really?" she says in between coughs. "That's what you want to know? Not where your friends are or why they betrayed you, but what I told him?"
Rex doesn't see the gunshot coming. But as soon as the words leave Black Knight's mouth, a loud bang echoes in the closed quarters and blood erupts from her knee. The gunshot's so loud that he doesn't even register that Black Knight's screaming until few seconds after. Her knee cap's been splattered by the well-placed bullet, and Rex feels the vomit rise from the back of his throat.
"Answer the question," Quarry tells her. And it's kind of a miracle that Rex can make out what he just said, because his ears are still ringing and his heart is hammering in his chest.
Black Knight sputters, not because she doesn't want to answer, but because she's in pain. Quarry must understand that, because he gives her a few more seconds before pointing the gun at her other knee. Black Knight turns to Rex with pleading eyes.
"I told... I told him... that he can... he can use... the machine..."
Rex closes his eyes. He doesn't need to hear anymore. He knows exactly what's happened. After all, he's already been offered this choice before, and he's suspected then that Black Knight had something else planned. She told Tuck that he can use César's unbetaed machine for the sake of building memories (most likely to help get Rex his memories back). A small sigh leaves his mouth and he opens his eyes. The Pack members are looking at them uneasily and he doesn't blame them at all.
"Where's the machine?" Rex asks, his voice soft.
"The... The left room..."
Rex nods and the Pack members rush towards that room like it's relief to be away. Black Knight, however, isn't done speaking.
"Don't... Don't break it..."
"You know I can't promise that."
She looks frustrated and it's so strange to see her like this, powerless to do anything. But Rex has spent enough time here as it is. He has work to do. He nods to Quarry, thanking him silently. Then he begins to walk away before stopping.
"Quarry, we called the cops."
"I figured," he says.
Rex considers telling him to run. He considers the different things that he can say to convince Quarry to not carry out the murder that's promised in his eyes. Then he wonders why he cares so much before he shrugs because that doesn't really matter, now does it?
"Don't kill her," he says finally. "There are worse things in life than death."
Quarry looks up, looking shocked at his words. Then a grin breaks out on his face, and Rex feels sick to his stomach again. Because that grin looks so proud, so fond, as if Quarry's some kind of a dad, watching his son take his team to states. And Rex doesn't know which is worse, being considered Quarry's kid or the fact that he inspires that kind of pride in a murderer like Quarry.
"I hope you never change, Rex," Quarry tells him with a light laugh.
Rex leaves with the laughter echoing in his ears.
The sight that greets him in the left room is not what he imagined at all. Cricket and Walter are against the wall, looking like they've just went through war. Currently, Skalamander and Biowulf are fighting against Tuck, who doesn't even seem to be breaking sweat as he deflects the blows and returns some of his own. Breach is by a giant machinery that looks much too familiar to something else from Rex's own universe. Attached to the machine is an unconscious Circe, also looking worse for wear. Breach is banging against the machine with a crowbar she picked up somewhere, but it doesn't seem to be doing much damage.
Then Tuck kicks Skalamander, who then crashes into Biowulf. The two of them tumble to the ground before coming to stop in front of Rex. And now Tuck's eyes are on him, and Rex knows that there's no going back.
"Van Kleiss's kids?" Tuck asks, shaking his head slightly. "Really? I hate it when you underestimate me like that."
"They volunteered." But that's not what they're here to talk about. "Tuck, you know Black Knight lied to you, right? No one knows if that machine works."
"Which is why Circe will be testing it for us."
"Let me guess, Cricket and Sqwydd disagreed so you beat them up?"
"I don't understand why you guys are all against me. If this works, we'll be able to save her, Rex. Isn't this what you wanted? We'll just upload her memories into Circe. It's not like Circe likes living anyways."
"Who's this 'her' that everyone keeps mentioning? Why the hell do I need to save her? And why the hell does Circe have to sacrifice herself in order to save whoever this girl is?"
There's a stunned pause as Tuck stares at Rex in disbelief. Biowulf tries to use this to his advantage and strikes at Tuck, but Tuck's guard isn't down. The Asian simply kicks Biowulf down, all the while with his attention still on Rex.
"You lost her?" he asks, his voice on the verge of hysteria. "After everything, you lost her?!"
"Lost who?"
For a brief second, Rex thinks that Tuck's going to attack. He thinks that Tuck's going to lash out in anger or in disbelief, or just something. But then the moment's gone, Tuck just slumps and laughs. Sad and broken and almost like he can't figure out how to continue from here.
"Okay," Tuck says, nodding slowly. "I understand."
Understand? Just what's going on-
Tuck's fist makes contact with Rex's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Rex struggles to gasp to breath, and Tuck just throws him backwards at Skalamander. "Get him out of here," Tuck snaps.
For a minute, Skalamander tenses, as if he's going to fight. But then he just securely holds Rex up, getting ready to run. It makes no sense, because why the hell is Skalamander suddenly listening to Tuck now?
"No!" Rex snarls. He pushes out from Skalamander's grasp and lunges at Tuck. He punches and kicks, but Tuck just maneuvers around him, as if Rex is broadcasting his movements out loud. Tuck dodges and redirects the attacks, and it pisses Rex off, because he's obviously not taking Rex's attack seriously at all.
"Stand still and let me hit you!"
And suddenly, Tuck stops moving and allows the punch to connect. It hits his face and everything feels frozen for a second. Then Tuck's moving, grabbing the back of Rex's head before slamming it into his knee. Rex slides to the ground, holding his nose. He doesn't think that it's broken, but with the way it's spewing blood, who knows?
"Tuck," he hisses. His voice sounds weird and it's hard to form words around the pain, but he forces himself to keep talking. "What the hell?"
"I told you, didn't I? You're my wind. Anything you ask for, I'll provide." Tuck puts a gentle hand on Rex's shoulder but Rex shakes it off.
"I never... I never asked you to do that for me! I never asked you to kidnap Circe and beat up Cricket and Sqwydd! I never asked you to-"
Tuck grabs him by the collar, lifting him back to this feet. "Oh, that's convenient! You 'lost' your memory, so you get to pretend that you never asked anything of me? Of any of us? You don't get to play the victim here, Rex."
"And neither do you! Don't pull this stupid crap about how you're doing things for my sake! Stand on your own damned feet!" Rex grabs Tuck's collar as well, and with sheer force of will, he headbutts the Asian.
Tuck hisses at the contact, but refuses to budge. He pushes back, exerting as much force as Rex does until they're locked in stalemate.
"How the hell am I supposed to stand on water?! I'm not you, Rex! I'm..."
"Look around you, you idiot! You're on solid ground. Stand on water? I'm wind? Who the hell cares? Don't just go along with what I have to say, speak up! Say something! Communicate with me. That's what friends do."
And that's what it takes. Rex thinks that there's a little more that happens behind the scenes of Tuck's mind, but suddenly, Tuck pulls back, letting him go completely. Biowulf catches Rex, which he is thankful for but at the same time very much confused about (Like seriously. Why is he helping?). Tuck, meanwhile, is looking around as if seeing the world for the first time.
"What are you guys still doing here?! The cops are coming!"
... Noah...?
But he's not alone. Six and César are right behind him, rushing into the room. Outside, Rex spots a familiar red and black and knows that Gatlocke must've gotten them here. So that's what he did when they lost comm communications. What a useful guy. Automatically, César runs straight to Rex, making inquiries and demanding to know what happened to his nose. Six, however, runs to Tuck with his blades drawn as if to slice down the teen.
"I need to help Circe," Rex tells them. And he lets the rest do whatever it is that they need to do, whether it is to help each other up or quickly make their way out of here. César and Six hover nearby, but Rex ignores them. Breach stops attacking the machine with the crowbar and turns to look at him, but he ignores her, too. Rex ignores everything except for that one person.
"Hey," he greets softly. He places a hand over the bonds holding Circe and wills them to let go.
"You came," she whispers back. Her left eye is swollen and there are scratches all over her face, but despite all of that, she manages to smile. "You came for me?"
"For all of you, actually. But especially for you." He helps her down with a matching smile of his own. "You asked me to save you, after all."
Circe's brows furrow and Rex is suddenly hit with a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something's wrong. That much is true. Was he too late? What if the machine actually does work and Circe lost her memories and-
"I guess there is a first time for everything."
"... What do you mean?"
"You usually focus on saving Beverly first."
And the puzzle pieces fall into place.
"Bev...?"
"Rex, we need to go," César reminds him. He's attaching something to the machines and Rex doesn't have to focus too much to know that it's probably some kind of explosives. Perhaps his words have taken root in his brother and César decided that this kind of technology shouldn't exist. It's highly unlikely, but a touching thought nonetheless.
"Yeah... let's go..."