The Combustion consumed them both. He was the kamikaze, and she was the target.
Though the exchange itself occurred in a mere instant, the aftermath of the detonation lingered on for so much longer in an atmosphere of sheer apprehension. Time itself seemed to slur to an absolute halt, and the attention of all the agents was directed exclusively toward the blaze that was ahead of them—Rex a witness so near to the immolation that he could even feel the intensity of the scalding heat penetrate past the barricade of his hastily deployed 「Block Party」. Collevtively, the agents' widening eyes began to well up with tears as they hopelessly watched the spectacle, no member more sure on whether it was caused by the great luminosity of the flames or because of the loss of someone they were so close to.
The moment continued to hang in suspension within the minds of all the agents, who were all still struggling to comprehend the event that had just occurred in their own ways.
Skwydd felt a cry of pain develop as from a growl deep within the back of his throat, but nothing was heard.
Cricket tried to reach out for her friend engulfed by the fire, but nothing was held.
Tuck covered his ears attempting to block out the deafening roar, but nothing was muted.
Bobo dared to look another direction in order to avoid the blinding sight, but no heads were turned.
Noah gasped for air to be free from the taste of blood he felt in his mouth, but no palate was censored.
And then there was Rex, whose mind drew blank while he simply felt nothing.
Nothing save for the vehemence of unadulterated rage developing from the innermost core of his very being. A swarm of thoughts consumed his mind as he hid behind his plasmatic shield, desperately attempting to find any possibility in the deepest crevice of his mind that she could have survived the blast, but he was unable to find any. And staring at the explosion through the goggles over his eyes certainly wasn't helping either, nor would it have made no difference if they were rose tinted in the proverbial sense. He was the only person capable of surviving such a blast, and he felt his heart freeze over as he finally came to the conclusion that she had indefinitely perished.
And it was all. His. Fault.
Granted, the transaction that had occurred was an impossible one for the average human to react to, but having capabilities that extended far past that of the average human he truly felt that he was responsible for not dealing with it. The moment that the mercenary began the charge, Rex's mind seemed to draw blank and the only thing he could think of doing was protect himself. It was a disgusting act of self-preservation, which was one of the first thoughts he had to himself right before the subsequent ones came rolling in like hard crashing waves afterward.
"I was fast enough to summon my 「Block Party」, wasn't I? How the Hell could I have been so slow? First Six tells me that it's an issue that I'm as fast as I am, but what difference does it make if I can dodge a bullet or throw dozens of punches per second if I can't even deal with a simple terrorist in time! Why am I so useless!"
"Why didn't you jump in and stop him, Rex? You could've use your 「Smack Hands」, 「Boogie Pack」, 「Blast Caster」, anything! Anything would have worked!"
"If I'd've used any build other than my 「Block Party」, then she would still be here!"
"This is all your fault! This Is All Your Fault, Rex! If only you took care of him the first opportunity you had, you know that you are so much more capable than that, Rex!"
"I know, I know! If only I took care of him sooner. If only he didn't have control over that mech! If Only I Aimed My Sword Lower—!"
The arrival of the final thought shook his very core. He immediately commanded that his ideas cease commencing, but he knew that such thoughts would only to continue to haunt him later on. It was just so incredibly uncharacteristic of him, as even though there has been several instances in his past when he would yearn for the ecstasy of severing ties with those who have wronged him—a list that nearly all the people he knew had been on at some point or another—not once was it ever truly his intention to actually eliminate them! Not even the likes of those such as Quarry, Black Knight, Hunter Cain, or even Van Kliess, who all topped the list as permanent residents, ever received so much disdain from Rex in a single moment. It was never anything more than a passing sensation despite the fact that there was a personal vendetta to be had with every single one of them, which was why he couldn't bear the thought of allowing such rage to consume him. That is, no more than he could the thought of losing a friend.
So it unpleasantly lingered in his mind, sure to haunt him in the unforeseeable future.
Time gradually began to resume and all of the agents cries, motions, and actions began to come into fruition, the event that transpired before them to become nothing more than a memory of the distant past...
But as Rex continued to stare at the eruption ahead of him, his spectacles began tracking something right above the apex of his natural vision. It appeared that a separate entity was in the presence of the suicide-bomb, but there was no conceivable way that should have been possible within the allotted time frame of its occurrence.
Time continued to accelerate in sync with the quickening the beat of his own heart, Rex using his own eyes to follow the suggestion of his advanced goggles as he began identifying the unknown object. His heart was drumming against his chest, time nearly proceeding at the rate of natural motion but still sluggish while he was trying to catch up with reality—that of the natural world, and the one that was currently unfolding before him.
It appeared that an object was indeed coming from the epicenter of the explosion at an incredible velocity, something that had disengaged from the jet prior. Rex's head turned upwards in tandem with the rest of his members who also followed along, and as it began dipping from above the radius of the blast the group collectively grinned and rejoiced to see that it was a seat that appeared from the midst! Or rather, the ejection of a seat with a still living Kenwyn gingerly clinging onto it as she propelled upward into the air!
Kenwyn was still alive!
The feeling of dread, anguish, fear and loss had left as quickly as they had arrived. And though experiencing the shift of such contrasting emotions was unbearable for all members the group, they were all joyous to see their commanding agent alive and well! But their shared state of gratitude would yet again revert to one of panic as time continued to progress normally and they realized that it would not be long before she would begin careening back toward the street at over 150 miles per hour—they were engaged in a high speed chase, after all.
Rex acted without a moment's hesitation in withdrawing his force field, following up by slanting his hoverboard so that the airflow would propel him backwards while he calculated her estimated landing position. He had planned to intercept Kenwyn before she reached the ground, who was already at the peak of her trajectory and beginning to descend quickly. She finally opened her eyes after her seemingly miraculous ejection and immediately took notice of the mechanic spreading his arms wide in anticipation of catching her. Reading the body-language of her partner, she abandoned her seat and fell straight into his embrace. Though the landing was rough for her, she was secure in his grasp and sighed a breath of relief as Rex looked down on her with tears welling in his eyes—though she couldn't really tell past the orange pigment of his goggles.
"How nice of you to drop by, Kenwyn. How're you hanging?" He questioned with a shaky voice that betrayed his attempt to conceal his emotions. It was a bad habit of his—using humor the way he did in order to cope with situations— but it was a habit that he would surely take to his grave before anything could be done about it.
"Fine, considering." She responded as they flew adjacent to the tanks beside them. The hatch to Bobo's tank began opening up to them right as Rex felt his contraption disassembling itself against his will, Noah immediately acting on the assumption that his friend would be in something of a perplexed state at that moment. And while Rex did indeed have a stronger grasp on his emotional state right then in comparison to how he managed it in the past, there where still times when he couldn't control all of the complex feelings he felt within. Everybody else knew this well, and certainly nobody blamed him at that moment as they were fairing no better themselves at that moment. And so, with a quick burst of speed Rex and Kenwyn flew into the tank as the 「Sky Slyder」 crumbled from beneath his feet.
"Rex, Kenwyn!" Noah alarmed as he quickly closed the hatch and jumped back from his seat to pick up the pair from off the ground, giving Rex reassuring pats on the back right before clasping Kenwyn in a tight embrace for an uncomfortable amount of time. She sheepishly slugged away after telling him that was enough physical contact only to be jumped by both of the boys who held her in a firm group-hug. They seemed reluctant to release her even after she confided them both that she was fine, but then Bobo hit some miscellaneous object and set the both of their heads toward the roof. She picked up the both of them the moment after and then willingly took the seat next to Bobo after he extended her the opportunity to take a break from all of the commotion.
"Y'know for a second there we all thought that you didn't make it. Don't 'tcha ever go scaring us like that again, you hear me?" The simian stated while she sat next to him, with a false grin that acted as a facade for his vulnerable state.
"Don't you worry Bobo, I don't think we're going to end up in a situation like that any time soon." She replied understandingly, scratching the back of his head as she did.
"I just hope we're able to keep to procedure on future missions, but that's nearly impossible to do with the equipment we currently have. And speaking of which—", she groaned as she looked back at the disappearing rubble and realized that the jet she was issued was absolutely totaled, dreading the heavy piles of paperwork that she would subsequently have to file out after the conclusion of the mission. It was as if a part of her died inside—which in itself was ironic in context of the situation.
She jumped at the alarm abruptly interrupting her thoughts, answering it promptly in order to pacify the members of the calling trio who all clamored over one another in order to convince themselves that she was safe and sound. But it seemed that no matter how much talking she did, she were unable to alter the opinion of Skwydd who was insistent on having the tanks stop so that Cricket could come over and check for any injuries.
"Alright, but do you know just how worried you had us, Kenny? First you let Rex join the fray, and then you do that stupid-awesome thing bringing in the jet right above the street—"
"I know you guys are worried, but Skwydd— "
"And then the guy just fucking charges at you like some sort of suicide-bomber and then the explosion happens, and then we thought you were gone until we saw you flying out the top—!"
"You're not even listening to me Skwydd. Skwydd!" She tried to say with an authoritative tone that instead resulted in a laugh.
"Listen to me. I mean it when I say I'm fine, and besides, we can't afford to stop right now since we have to report all of the damage that was done by that guy. It's the least we can do, if we're no longer able to determine what his true motive was..." she stated in a more somber tone.
Rex, who was previously eyeing down Kenwyn, shifted in place while he stood with his back to the wall, then facing the floor of the tank with his arms crossed. He carried an indignant expression on his face as well which caught the attention of Noah who was present on the opposite wall of the tank, asking what seemed to be bothering his friend.
"I messed up bad." He spoke in a hushed whisper, as not to draw any arguments from the remainder of his friends who continued their own discussion over the communication line.
"I don't know what it was, but I just sort of...blanked out for a second there. My head was just not clearly in the game. I could've used any one of my abilities to keep 'Crazy Ivan' down the moment he came flying at her, but instead I instinctively brought out my 「Block Party」 and only thought about protecting myself..." He stated, not recalling when—or even if—he gave his nanites the directive to construct the build that protected himself instead of dealing with the situation at hand.
"Rex, you can't blame yourself for not being able to control that. That situation was beyond anybody's control, including yours." He argued.
"That's not good enough, Noah." He snapped back, which thankfully had no effect on Noah who was already tempered to deal with such a degree of hostility from his friend after previous experiences they shared in the past.
"She could've actually died, and I would've been the only one able to do anything about it. I can't live with that kind of conscience on my mind."
"It's not your responsibility to play God, Rex. You might have so much more power than any one person in this world can control, but it doesn't mean that you have to handle that same degree of responsibility. I'm pretty sure that's the reason why you disbanded the Meta-Nanites in the first place, isn't it?"
"Yeah, but that's not the point! So long as I have these powers, it's my duty to protect people from the things that the police, the military, or even Providence are unable to. If I can't even do that much, what good am I?"
"You two aren't talking about me, are you?" Kenwyn asked from the front as she turned around to face the pair, having discretely listened to every word of their shared conversation. Rex scoffed as he prepared a counter, not knowing entirely if she was attentive of the words he uttered, but acting on the good hope that she wasn't.
"You wish. We're just taking a moment to appreciate just how awesome I am." Rex haphazardly lied as he brought his arms to his head. Kenwyn, of course, was unconvinced by Rex's attempt and furrowed her brows in response.
"Rex—"
"Don't. Please don't." Kenwyn managed to sigh before being interrupted by Rex.
"It's just—I don't really feel like talking about it right now, alright?" He murmured before looking back at the ground with dejection.
"Fine. But at least let me have the chance to thank you for what you did back there. We may not have been able to apprehend the mercenary, but you were still able to save me. That still counts for something." Rex looked back at her with a defeated grin, thankful that she was putting forth so much effort in trying to cheer him up, but still still of the opinion that her words carried no true merit to them.
"I think you're giving me too much credit, Kenwyn. All I did was catch you."
"No, I mean before that." she stated to his confusion, which so visibly distorted his face that she felt the compelled to explain to him what she had meant.
"...Don't you remember? You used one of your machines to help me eject from out of the jet the moment he started flying toward me. My hands were on the joysticks the entire time—there's no way I could've reacted quickly enough."
"What do you mean I used one my machines? The only ones I had out were my 「Block Party」 and 「Sky Slyder」. I didn't think of using any of my machines to help you out at the time." He guiltily admitted.
"Okay, now I'm not sure if you're messing with me or if you're actually unsure—or maybe I'm the one who's getting this all wrong—but I distinctively remember that the instant he came flying at me there was some sort of bright yellow flash behind me and then you appeared in the reflection with some sort of build we've never seen before. You reached out for the ejection switch, and then I was out before I could really tell what had just happened." Rex propped up with interest.
"Wait, you mentioned something about a new build?"
"Yeah. I couldn't really get a good look at it, but for the second or so that I caught a glimpse of it it looked like a golden pair of gauntlets. Almost identical to your smack hands, actually, except it looked more like a skeleton or early prototype of that build more than anything else."
Rex worryingly stared at her for a second before beginning to laugh to himself as he brushed aside her comments.
"I think you're still suffering from the adrenaline rush, Kenwyn. It's not like I can make any builds that can 'teleport me' or have me be in 'two places' at once. But imagine the sorts if things I could do with those powers." He mindlessly thought aloud. Rex was trying his best to move on from the sheer absurdity of the conversation, though the other members of the team—including the Hong Kong trio—wanted to press the exploration of what potentially may have been a newfound ability, even if it was one that had been activated subconsciously.
But before anyone could express their own theories or opinions, Rex felt the vibration of his phone accompany the ringtone he had set for his girlfriend. A song played by the band Orange played for less than a second before he pressed the screen and answered to Circe, who spoke out before Rex even had the chance of saying something ridiculous as he always tended to do when she was on the other end of the line. But even then, she spoke with such a sense of urgency that even Rex was prompted to listen to her words without any sort of interruption.
"Rex! I'm not sure if Kenwyn and the rest of you guys are aware of this, but there's another mech heading the direction of the NuCorps building! I couldn't catch where it came from, but it's making its way up via the same highway Bobo's tank took just a couple of moments ago!"
Though there was the usual goofy grin on Rex's face when he picked up the call from his significant other, he quickly appeared to be serious and determined while she continued delivering her message.
"Another one? Where are you getting this information from?" He requested to know while he put his phone on his speaker so that the rest of the group could hear, Kenwyn picking up on his queue and opened the communication channel to the neighboring tank so that the Hong Kong gang could listen along to the conference as well.
"It's on a live feed from a news helicopter." She explained while looking at a television monitor from the confines of her room at Providence.
"Like I said, it's a mech completely identical to the one you guys were just fighting except this time it's being escorted by a bunch of pirate-looking vehicles. The person piloting it is moving around like an absolute madman, but I think their objective is still the same. Do you need any confirmation on my intel?"
The two tanks swerved around right as he opened his mouth to speak, pausing momentarily before he began again.
"No, I trust your judgement. Thanks for the heads up Circe."
"Wait, Rex! Before you hang up—" she blurted right as Rex's thumb was above the prompt to end the call, who insteaded guided it so that the conversation would become private once again.
"I saw what happened with the explosion."
"Ugh, did you?" He groaned while using his free hand to cover his embarrasment-ridden face, wishing he had just ended the call right there.
"Yes, I did. And please promise me that you'll play it safe out there, all right? It's bad enough that I'm temporarily stuck here on the sidelines, the last thing I need is for you to be joining me missing one of your limbs." She teased.
She had temporarily been suspended on a medical leave due to a complication on the previous mission that had rendered her hospitalized for an entire day, and even though she assured Dr. Holiday that she had recovered from her injuries the one after, the leading Providence scientist didn't want her agent going out on any other missions until she returned from her mission with Six and had the chance to inspect the injuries personally.
"Alright, I'll be more careful." He solemnly swore while wiping his face.
"That's all I needed to hear. And also, can you...can you promise that we'll talk when you get back?"
"About what?" He questioned, caught off guard by her sudden request.
"We don't have the time to discuss it right now. Rampaging mech, remember?"
"Right. Sorry." He sheepishly apologized.
"Take care, kick their asses, etcetera etcetera. Bye Rex, love you."
"Love you too, bye." He resounded before ending the call. Though Bobo couldn't help but stiffle a giggle in response to his words, he chose to ignore the gesture and asked his commander what their next move was. She thought upon the question for a bit before finally coming up with a response, pressing the communication button one final time to provide her commands to the group one final time.
"Make a course straight for the NuCorps building. I have a plan, but it's gonna involve Rex dealing with the mech all by himself. Are you okay with that, hero?"
He gave a small simper before giving a quick nod in response. She seemed pleased with the response, and began glancing ahead at the approaching group in front of them through the glass of the front screen.
"Alright. We're not going to suffer any fatalities this mission, and neither are they. So listen closely, because I'm only going to say this once."
Don't you guys worry, Kenwyn is safe and sound, which now that I think of it is such a great title that I'm changing to it from the previous title 'Hide and Seek'! It's probably better reserved for a future chapter, anyway.
Now, as for why this chapter took so long to release: It was very difficult to write. Truthfully speaking, the previous intro I had made it unbearingly boring to write and read, hence the two week hiatus I took on it even though I started it right after the conclusion of the previous one. Oops. But what makes that statement so much better is the fact that I wrote the bulk of this chapter's content in the past three days alone, and now this may even be my favorite chapter yet with all of the foreshadowing I've added.
As for what it is that I'm foreshadowing, feel free to theorize! There are three major things that I've hinted at, one which you will immediately see in the next chapter, and the rest of which will be introduced later on in the series.
Also: This is my longest chapter yet, even excluding these notes! So on that note, please tell me if the length for these installments are too long, short, or just the right porridge.
That will be all for now, see you again soon!