Rex had a weird disdain for the Ace Ops, despite him being one. He seemed a bit testy when asked to bring up any stories about them, and only made brief mentions to possible excursions they might have had.
Ben and Ruby didn't see what was so wrong with the Ace-Ops. They seemed so… professional. They had perfect moves, incredible reflexes, cool powers that bounced off of one and other...Rex still had the coolest powers, though.
So why did he not like these guys?
Maybe Rex felt suffocated by their professionalism. These guys were well in their early adult years, with the exception of Clover, who was maybe in Qrow's undeterminable 30-40 age range. They were a rare variety of teens- one who had their shit together.
...well, at least it looked like it on the surface level.
"Dude, come on," Yang said one night, while they were getting dinner at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant near downtown Atlas. "You can't tell one story?"
"All the stories are the same," Rex sighed as he sprayed an excessive amount of ketchup on his burger.
"We've told you plenty of ours," Weiss scoffed, annoyed (and maybe a little offended).
"Yeah, they're interesting and all-" Rex furrowed his brow. "Still need a source on that evil twin one, though."
"Albedo is real, damn it," Ben said, sulking into his smoothie.
Rex laughed. "Suuuure he is. I'm partially convinced you guys are pulling my leg on that one."
"Trust me," Kevin stated, looking up from his shake. "We aren't."
"All stories are not fictional," Rook explained. "Including the 'Xingo' event."
"Admittedly, I want to hear more about that one," Oscar interjected after taking a sip of his soda. "I feel like the fact that lightning, plus an alien messing around with a TV, somehow producing an actual cartoon character in our physical realm is just a little unrealistic."
"Oscar, you have the spirit of an unwilling immortal in your body," Blake said bluntly. "It happened. Trust me."
"...that's fair."
"Seriously though, you've been a great help to us recently," Ceres said with a smile. "So, we wanna return the favor."
"Wait, seriously?" Rex looked hopeful. "You paying for dinner?"
"No, that's Weiss's job," Ruby joked.
"Is THAT why you all chose so much food?!" Weiss yelled. "I honestly CANNOT believe you."
"Look on the bright side," Min drawled, happily eating a turkey leg. "I'm VERY satisfied with my 5th meal."
Weiss flipped her the bird. "Fuck you."
Ruby rolled her eyes. "But yeah, Ben and I volunteered to help with your stakeout mission in Hong Kong," she explained. "You know, since you've been tagging along with our excursions."
"And also because you nearly died in that creepy farm episode," Ben added. "That's on us."
Rex looked lost for words. "Are you SURE you don't want to reconsider?" he asked. "Cuz, the Ace Ops? They're the best of the best. You're gonna be left in the dust."
"Hey, we can keep up with you," Ruby said, punching Rex in the arm. "How hard can it be to keep up with a bunch of grownups?"
The next day, Ruby and Ben waited for the Ace-Ops in an observation room, which had a perfect view of the training room. The specialists were about to go through a combat drill and run through one of the training room's various holographic programs. Rex was down there as well, thinking that Clover wanted them to fight a Megoliath, or a Geist and one of its golem bodies, one of those heavy hitters.
Rex heard the others ready their weapons, everything from Kingfisher unfolding to Thorn's blades extending out, before he took a breath and readied himself. The holographic Grimm gleamed into existence before them. A white snake rose up, locking its eyes onto the team as it hissed...before a pair of black feathered wings unfurled beneath it. The snake was just a tail, connected to the same feline-like body as the wings. Three claws planted themselves on the floor of the training room floor as the four-crested, feline-like skull mask rose up and roared.
Seeing the opponent in question, Rex brought out the Blaster Caster, shifting his right arm into a long, metallic, tentacle-like whip and gaining a large navy colored backpack with what seemed to be a dynamo attached to it.
Rex smirked. "A Sphinx, Clover? Really?"
"We have a mission later. Didn't want to make it a big challenge." Clover shrugged before turning his attention to the holographic Grimm.
The feline monster reared its head back as embers gathered in its mouth. It lowered itself again and opened its jaws, launching out a massive fireball at the group. On cue, all six scattered and let the explosion hit the ground where they once stood. They'd dealt with Sphinxes before, each and every one of them. They practically had the act of fighting them down to a science.
First up were Harriet and Marrow. Harriet was running circles around the beast, letting it lash out with its claws, trying to crush the speedster underfoot. Whenever it did, she took the chance to turn on her heel quickly and land stinging punches on the monster, some of them strong enough to get it to pull its paw away. Marrow dealt with the snake tail, firing off rounds to distract it. Whenever the tail struck out, the wolf faunus dodged. Eventually, Marrow and Harriet moved on to the next phase of the plan. The snake tail lashed out again and, as was routine, Marrow dodged. However-
"Stay!" Marrow yelled, pointing at the snake. It froze in place, mouth open and its red and yellow eyes darting around in a panic. It didn't notice Elm race in from the side and bring the head of Timber down, crushing the snake's head in one quick swing. The Sphinx roared out in pain, looking over its shoulder and locking eyes on the team's muscle. Even though the tail was effectively dead weight now, the hologram still swung it, trying to slam into Marrow or Elm, but both specialists managed to get out of the way.
Harriet raced past the beast and turned back around. With her running start, she jumped and landed a devastating punch to the Sphinx's jaw, a loud crack echoing out through the room. The monster hissed and beat its wings, lifting off the ground. As it did, Rex and Vine took to the field. Two yellow Aura arms stretched out and wrapped around the two right ankles of the Grimm, while Rex's whip wrapped around one of the left. It growled in anger, embers gathering up in its mouth again as it turned towards Vine and got ready to fire. It would have too, if a hook and line didn't suddenly wrap around its neck and mouth, forcing the jaws closed.
Clover smirked as he gave the line a strong pull, Rex and Vine pulling the Grimm's legs in the opposite direction. The monster's eyes darted around as the fireball continued to build in it's mouth,until one quick jerk on the line from Clover and-
SNAP!
The Sphinx fell limp and shattered, signaling the end of the program.
"Alright," Clover said, reeling in the line as the rest of the Ace-Ops sheathed and holstered their weapons. "All of you, take five then get ready for the flight. Dismissed."
Ruby, who'd watched the whole thing, had the biggest look of shock on her face at just how efficient these guys were.
"And you were asking how hard it would be to keep up?" Ben smirked, elbowing Ruby in the arm.
"Oh shut up." Ruby grinned as she and Ben went to meet the team as they left the training room.
"Could've gone for a more challenging program," Elm admitted with a slight smirk.
"Eh, it's fine. Made for a good warm-up," Harriet replied.
"That was amazing!" Ruby's voice rang out, getting their attention.
"Wasn't anything special. Just the usual takedown for us." Harriet shrugged.
"Seriously, you were on fire out there!" Ruby gushed. "Perfect complementary teamwork. I want to have my friends' backs just like that."
"Friends?" Harriet repeated airily.
Elm laughed, swatting the girl on the back. "This isn't the schoolyard, kid."
Ben noticed Rex looking frustrated. "I mean..." he said slowly, "How long have you known these guys?"
Harriet paused to think. "About 5 years, I think."
Ben frowned- he had known Ruby for about as long. "Well," he argued, "when you go through so much with someone, it kind of changes things, doesn't it?"
"Listen," Harriet sighed, the topic already exhausting her. "We get along well enough, sure. I count on them to keep me alive. They do the same. But that's the job. We don't confuse the two." She turned and walked away with Elm trailing after her, leaving Ben and Ruby to exchange sad glances at each other.
"...so, I take it THAT'S why you don't like your teammates," Ruby told Rex.
"Yeeep," he sighed. "It's just...I've been working with these guys for a while now, and I can't even get a hint of comradery from them. Well, except Marrow, but he doesn't really count cause...well, he's Marrow."
Rex motioned over to the guy in question. He had stopped on the way to the hangar, talking to a militaristic Huntsman while miming punching imaginary targets and waving his arms frantically.
"...he's alright once you get to know him, though," Rex said weakly.
"But why get so upset about it?" Ruby asked. "Couldn't you just ask for, like, a different team?"
"That's the tricky part," Rex said. "I have a...weird... connection with them."
"What's that mean?" Ben asked, brow furrowing.
"Well I kinda, sorta, have amnesia. They're like an odd, close group for me that I sort of latched onto. I dunno," Rex rambled, blushing furiously.
"We really need to learn more about you," Ben admitted, the realization making him raise his eyebrows. "We're, what, at least level 8 friends? Tell us your tragic anime backstory, Rex Salazar."
"I'll tell you guys at dinner tonight," he said tiredly, before he walked off to regroup with the other Ace Ops. Ben and Ruby shared a concerned look before following close behind.
Hong Kong had one of the world's most thriving economies and was a hub for international trade and investment. A cosmopolitan city, beautifully weaving Western and Asian influence into a world-class center of business, culture, and trade.
Of course, established Huntsmen communities were a rarity there, so imagine everyone's shock when reports of people with animal-like features were mentioned in the news. They were responsible for some cases of grand theft within the city, usually big banks.
But hey, let's not focus on crime right now. The food in this city was AMAZING. It was one of the best places for travel and holiday in the world. Clover was smart enough to take the group to some nice little Cantonese diner near where their stakeout would be taking place.
Rex was lucky enough to get away from the Ace Ops there, sitting at a table a good ways away from them. Ben and Ruby were just excited to hear about his backstory.
"Six found me in a Mexican Hunter community," Rex explained, stirring his drink with a straw. "I was thirteen at the time. I don't remember how I got there, why I was even there, but...I do remember one thing."
Ben stopped sipping his water. "What's that?"
"That I kicked total ass." Rex grinned. "I remember fending off a bunch of Creeps. My powers basically caught Six's eyes."
"Oh yeah, your powers. I, uh, don't think we know what that really is," Ruby said, a bit embarrassed that she never asked.
Rex raised an eyebrow. "Wait, seriously? I never explained them?"
"Well, to be fair, we never asked," Ben said with a shrug. "We accept a lot of weird shit in general. Like, I'm a kid with an alien watch that I found in a campsite, Ruby swings a big fucking scythe and goes fast and has glowing silver eyes, Ceres and Rook are alien, Kevin's a mutant who managed to build his own Omnitrix out of his arm..."
Rex blinked. "Ceres is an alien?"
"...wow, we REALLY need to question people's backstories more," Ruby said quietly.
"Well, my weapons are heavily connected to my Semblance. I have these nanites in my body- dunno who put 'em there, or how they got there," Rex explained. "If I focus them enough, I can form those cool weapons you guys see."
"Yeah, but...why are they named so poorly?" Ben asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I named them when I was 13. You think 13 year olds are cool enough to think of something witty?" Rex asked. "What did you name your aliens when you were that age?"
"Oh, come on, I named them something cool," Ben scoffed. "Like Bloxx and Shock Rock and..."
"Well? Finish the name, Ben," Rex teased.
"...Four Arms..."
"Wow, you sure showed him," Ruby quipped, patting her boyfriend on the back.
"Anyways, I got taken back to Atlas, got evaluated by Holiday- after which she literally said 'this boy needs a home' and adopted me," Rex went on. "We tried finding some info on my folks, my family. Couldn't find a single bit of info on them. I didn't even have birth records to go back to..."
"Holy shit," Ruby whispered, sympathizing with him more than ever.
"So, why stick with the Ace Ops?" Ben asked, looking over his shoulder at the rather quiet specialists table. They weren't even interacting, just eating in silence. It was creepy.
"Here's the thing- I feel this weird attachment to them," Rex explained. "Like, they were the first group I joined after my incident. I feel just weird about leaving them, honestly. Like I'd be letting them down."
"Somewhat understandable," Ruby stated.
"Honestly? I'd invite you to Zeta Squad, but we have like, waaaay too many members. It's kinda hard to keep track of all of us," Ben said pointedly.
(The author rubbed her eyes as she read the text again. "I feel personally attacked," She hissed, ready to make him do something stupid.)
Ben suddenly splashed himself in the face with his water. "...why did I do that?"
Rex chuckled. "I appreciate the gesture, but until I feel comfortable enough to leave them, I'll be sticking around. Maybe I'll go solo, like Ruby's uncle. Rex is a pretty cool name for a lone Huntsman, right?"
"It's up there," Ruby said as she handed Ben a napkin.
A few hours later, the group got into position- each one of them were at their own spot, surrounding a bank that would potentially be robbed. Ruby had gone with Marrow and Elm, Ben with Harriet and Vine, and Rex with Clover.
Rex and Clover were perched atop a building, watching carefully- scratch that, Clover was watching the bank. Rex was just pacing around.
...mostly because boredom sets in pretty quick when you have to wait at a place that might not even be robbed.
"I should've brought something to eat," Rex said to himself.
"You just ate, kid," Clover said.
"Yeah, but that food barely filled me up. Do they have any donut shops in Hong Kong?" Rex asked.
Clover was about to retort when the bank's bell alarms went off. The glass windows shattered, amd more explosives went off from inside.
"...donuts can wait."
Clover smirked. "There's a strategic idea."
"Pfft. Strategy." Rex put on his goggles before he and Clover jumped down to the ground.
Clover landed perfectly on a parked car, while Rex did a 'superhero landing', smashing his Smack Hands into the pavement to look cool. Atlesian military men jumped out of their strategic hiding spots and surrounded the perpetrators- three...
"Teenagers?" Clover asked, getting a better look at them.
The three of them all around the same age from a glance. Just like they expected, two of their number were Faunus, rarer types too. One was a girl with pink hair, wearing a dark orange vest over a sleeveless dark blue shirt and a dark green skirt. Her Faunus trait was her legs, as they seemed to be insect-like, covered in a light green carapace and bent backwards at the knee before straightening out again. The other was a boy wearing an orange and grey hoodie over a dark blue shirt, blue jeans and brown shoes. Only one of his blue eyes was visible as his hair was done in a way that covered the other eye. Well, "hair," but that was his Faunus trait: green tentacles instead of normal hair, with one lazily hanging down in front of his face. The human of the trio had black hair, brown eyes, and had an outfit consisting of a black sleeveless shirt and dark red pants. His arms were wrapped in bandages, oddly enough, but they didn't seem to be medical in nature, more like martial arts hand wraps.
"The 5-0 really stepped up their game," the squid kid murmured.
"Nobody move! Drop the money!" one of the military members yelled.
The group collectively looked at one another and smiled. Clover grimaced- he hated when they did that cheesy move. The trio went in seperate directions, as the leader- the one covered in bandages- did a few back flips, dodging bullet fire with ease. The squid kid crossed his arms as he ran through the gunfire. They bounced off of his skin, and he tackled a majority of the troops with ease.
Clover ran over, swiping his fishing hook at the bandaged leader. The kid was fast, dodging and weaving around his swipes, so Clover went for a low strike-
Imagine his shock when the kid's torso shot up like a coil, avoiding the slash.
"An Osmosian," Clover noted as the kid flipped out of the way, reforming his body. "Interesting."
Rex ran on over, pushing a trooper aside. "Try it like this," he said as he formed his Punk Busters around his feet. "FREEZE!" He smashed his foot on the ground, causing the Earth to crumble and explode. The cricket girl jumped out of harm's way, latching onto the side of a building.
Rex gave her a snarky grin, but she...
Looked at him as if she knew him.
"Skwydd! Give us an escape!" she yelled, and Skwydd acted immediately- he opened his mouth and let out a nasty, hazy puff of black smog, blinding everyone.
Rex formed his jetpack, using it to blow away all the smoke. He coughed and gagged. "Ugh...I seriously don't want to know what that was."
Rex and Clover looked around- in the confusion, the robbers had dropped the money and made an escape. "Split up!" Clover yelled, and everyone went in a different direction.
Rex turned down an alley, the most obvious escape route. He could hear the hurried footsteps of someone trying to get away, and Rex smiled, deciding to be generous and give the kid a head start...
And then formed the Rex Ride so he could zoom past that kid. Rex raced down the dark passage, hoping to catch up to the perp with ease-
And for some reason, he had the strangest sense of deja vu.
That radiator he passed by- the whir it made seemed so familiar. So was the tricycle knocked over near some old trash, and the graffiti. It was all so familiar.
Had he been here before?
Rex blinked.
OH SHIT HE WAS DRIVING-
Rex crashed into a wall, head on. He crawled out of the wreckage, coughing and gasping. "Augh...note to self, never disassociate while driving..."
While Rex was still getting his bearings together, he failed to notice the bandaged kid sneaking up behind him, ready to knock him out with a trash can-
When he stopped.
The kid dropped the trash can and kneeled down. "Rex?" he asked excitedly.
Rex looked through him. "Uh, do I know you?"
"It's me, Tuck!" Bandages said, still excited. "I...used to be your best friend? Remember? You were one of us."
Rex, again, looked through him like glass. "Uh...seriously, who are you?" he asked, scrambling away.
Tuck's face softened. "Oh, no. You had another one of your memory things, didn't you?"
Rex blinked, slack jawed. At first, he thought this dude was lying- no one else knew about the memory thing, sans a few people in his inner circle...and more recently, Ben and Ruby.
"Dude, what was with all those new builds? Those were great!" Tuck asked animatedly. "The fists, the feet, that wicked gun! So much cooler than pressing your hand up against a TV and causing it to explode."
Rex shook his head. "Uh...yeah. Totally."
"THIS WAY!"
Rex's eyes darted over to the other side of the alleyway- the sirens told them that the Atlas Troops were coming this way. Tuck quickly stuck to the shadows.
"Gotta go!" he said. "You know where to find us!" He unraveled his entire body and slipped out of sight.
"Wait!" Rex cried out, but it was too late- Tuck was gone. Rex looked over at the approaching Atlas motorcycles and huffed.
What a totally subtle approach.
Ben and Ruby hopped off the back of the motorcycles. "Sorry we're late," Ben said. "We miss out on all the fun?"
Rex nodded. "Yeah. Almost had our guy."
"Aw, don't beat yourself up about it," Ruby said sweetly. "We'll get 'em next time."
"Which may be sooner than I think..." Rex said to himself. Ben and Ruby gave each other a funny look.
"I feel like we're missing something here," Ben stated.
"I wanna go undercover," Rex announced once he was in the car headed back to their base of operations. The Ace Ops gave him a strange look.
"Uh, kid, it's not really undercover if they know who you are," Elm laughed.
Rex scoffed. "You know what I mean. Turn down the heat and let me track these guys down."
Clover paused to think. "A surprisingly good tactical call, given it's source."
"Just hear me out! I-" Rex paused as he took in what Clover said. "Wait, did we just agree on this?"
"I do see his angle," Vine mused. "The Hong Kong command seems to think that these thieves are part of a bigger organization."
"What's the story behind that?" Ruby asked, curious.
"The guy calls himself Vulkanus," Clover explained, handing Ruby a character in question had orange skin along with a large jaw with the teeth merged with the lips. He also had two brown horns extending downward from his jaw. "Not exactly the mob boss we pictured working, if I'm being honest."
"I recognize that alien species," Ben spoke up, looking over Ruby's shoulder. "Detrovite. Nothing special, just basic enhanced strength and durability. They DO have great navigational systems, though."
"Seriously? No laser eyes? No fire breathing?" Marrow sighed. "Thought aliens would all be cooler than...that."
Ben chuckled. "I used to think the same thing."
"Vulkanus works from the shadows. From what reports say, he's this teasing, short-tempered, and cunning criminal who does whatever it takes to make a profit, even if it means backstabbing his allies," Clover went on.
"Yeah, sounds like a real piece of work," Marrow sighed. "Is it racist to think I expected better of aliens?"
"I'm not technically an alien, so I couldn't tell you," Ben said. "It does sound a little stereotypical, though."
"A solo mission may be too risky though," Clover interjected smoothly. "You can't recall meeting these guys, right? How do you know it isn't a trick?"
"That bandage kid claims to know me. But, just in case it IS a set up..." Rex turned his attention to Ben and Ruby. "I'll bring back up."
The trio were walking the streets, trying to be as inconspicuous as they possibly could. Well, inconspicuous to most people. They wanted to see if maybe the thieves would find them instead. After all, if they knew Rex, they'd probably want to talk.
Ruby and Ben were taking in the sights, the sounds. But Rex? He was still thinking about the thieves. Yeah, he was keeping an eye out for them, but at the same time, he had all these questions to ask.
How did those three know him? How well did they know him? Was he one of those "underdog" stories? For the first time in what felt like years, he might actually get some answers.
The three passed up several stores on their walk, selling everything from pottery to electronics to jewelry. At the front of one, a shopkeeper was loading boxes, bringing them into his open-front store. Each one was full of a fresh shipment of firecrackers, along with other fireworks that he intended to sell for parades or special occasions. He saw the trio about to turn the corner after walking past him and called out to them.
"唔好走嗰條小巷 你一定會被搶劫嘅!" the shopkeeper called out, still holding one of the boxes. Rex and Ruby shared a look, both lost as to what he was saying.
"唔使擔心. 我哋可以帶幾個搶劫犯!"
Ruby stared.
Rex stared.
Even the shopkeeper stared.
Ben stared back in confusion. "What's wrong?"
"...you just spoke Cantonese," Rex said slowly.
"...no?" Ben lightly shook his head and walked down the alley.
"How di..." Rex rubbed his forehead. "Whatever. We can deal with that later."
"What did he say, anyway?" Ruby asked.
"Basically? We're in the right place," Ben answered.
The trio walked down the alley until they felt eyes on them. Rex was the first to turn and looked up at one of the nearby rooftops, seeing the criminals they were chasing.
The three thieves stared down at them. Ben's hand slowly drifted to the Omnitrix in case something happened, Ruby reached for her scythe around her sash, and Rex slowly formed a Smack Hand.
"If you wanna finish what we started...go right ahead," Rex said with a smirk.
The bandaged guy- Tuck, Rex recalled- jumped down from his high ground, landing right in front of Rex. The two stared each other down for a second...before Tuck began to laugh.
"Really thought we could rally you this time," he laughed as he playfully slapped Rex on the non transformed arm.
Rex smirked as his arm reverted back to normal. Ben and Ruby eventually lowered their weapons as well. "Well, being cornered in a dark alley by Bug Girl and Tentacle Boy isn't really a scary situation for me."
The squid boy scanned Rex up and down a few times. He seemed distrustful, especially with Ben and Ruby accompanying him. "I wanna make sure it's Rex," he demanded. "Show us your arm."
Rex looked down at his right arm, Tuck chuckling as he did.
"Other one. Push up your sleeve."
Rex did as he was told. "So, what now?" he asked, confused.
"Ink check!" Tuck yelled. Suddenly, a beetle-like tattoo manifested on Rex's arm. He stared at the mark in disbelief.
"W-what?" Rex was lost for words. "How did you-?"
"Voice activated nano tattoos," the girl explained. She parted some of her hair to reveal a similar tattoo had formed on the left side of her neck.
"Your idea." Tuck rolled up his left sleeve to reveal the same tattoo.
The tentacle boy lifted up his hair to reveal his mark. "We had a problem with a shapeshifter once."
"I'll just pretend I didn't hear that," Ben muttered.
"Let it go, dude," Ruby huffed.
"Who're they?" The cricket girl asked, sounding a touch offended. "New team?"
"What? No," Rex laughed. "Believe me, my new team won't even give me the time of day. These are my friends, Ben and Ruby."
"Yeah, I do cool stuff with a scythe, he can turn into aliens." Ruby grinned, shaking the girl's hand.
"We have a lot to catch up on, then," the squid said. "Tuck mentioned your memory reset again."
"Okay, what do you guys mean by reset?" Rex asked. "I still have no idea what that means."
Tuck laughed. "Same old Rex. Come on!" He and the other thieves parkoured their way out of the alley way. Rex shrugged as he slapped on his goggles and jetpacked his way out of there.
"Keep up, slow poke!" Ruby teased, swatting Ben's butt. She disappeared in a burst of rose petals, occasionally appearing on a wall to get an extra boost. Ben shook his head as he transformed into Wildvine. His arm shot up and grabbed the ledge of the building. He pulled himself up with ease and chased after the others.
Ruby was more than impressed with Tuck's hideout- an empty water tower in the middle of a mostly abandoned district. Despite the small size, it was bigger on the inside. Christmas lights dangled from above, illuminating the room. A few curtains were set up, probably the others' rooms and such. A few other things caught her eye- a pool table, a guitar, an old TV...and a massive computer that looked really out of place.
"How'd you get the pool table up here?" Ruby asked. Despite the fact there was a giant computer, she had a different priority.
"...that's a long story we've all decided should be better kept...forgotten." The cricket girl shuddered.
"Oh, right," Tuck perked up. "I forgot to introduce these two...or, reintroduce, in Rex's case. Squid guy is Skwydd, cricket girl is Cricket."
Ben blinked. "I might forget your names," he joked.
"No offense, but your parents couldn't pick something cooler?" Ruby asked.
"They're just our 'street names'," Skwydd said with air quotes. "Our real names have no meaning here."
"I dunno. It'd be funny to be robbed by a guy named Walter," Cricket teased, lightly pushing Skwydd with her foot. The group shared a laugh as Skwydd scowled.
"Just like old times," Tuck said, smiling lightly. "So, I guess we should do a quick crash course for Rex. Haven't done this in a long time."
"Oh, right," Rex said, pulling up a chair. "So, where do we start?"
"You know your name is Rex Salazar, right? Like your full name and stuff?" Tuck asked.
"Yep. I recovered that pretty well, all things considered," Rex told him. "I know about my powers too."
"That's a given." Cricket smirked. "Do you remember anything about us?"
Rex sadly shook his head. "I don't. I blacked out in Mexico a few years back, and honestly, I have a hard time believing I hung out with a bunch of..." He grimaced.
"Let me say it," Ben sighed. "Uh, thieves. Rex is, like, a good guy and everything."
"You didn't just hang out with us," Cricket said quietly, handing Rex a photo. "You were our leader."
He looked down at the picture and gasped. There was a picture of an eleven year old Rex with the others, also at that same age. "Don't you still have your book?"
Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Rex reads?"
Rex shot her a disgruntled look. "Okay, what is the importance of this book?" he asked.
"That kinda ties into the reset," Tuck explained. "You see, you used to...kinda lose your memory. A lot. It'd usually be from overuse of your powers. You were like a different person each time."
"So...he went through a Doctor Who regeneration without the ceremonious face change," Ruby summarized.
"Kind of. So, we had you keep this journal to help jog your memory when it happened," Skwydd went on. "It was annoying at first, but hey, after the third or fourth time, we got used to it."
"Hasn't happened in a while, honestly," Rex admitted, looking down at his hands. "Maybe it's because of my age?"
"Could be." Cricket nodded. "They became less frequent as time went on. But I didn't expect for your memory loss to get this bad."
"Wow, you are just a walking soap opera, dude," Ben said, fascinated.
"Why'd I even disappear?" Rex asked, brow furrowed.
"You left a note," Skwydd replied. "Said you found a lead on something interesting, and that you'd be back in a few days."
He rubbed the back of his head. "Never was the best at keeping promises..."
"So, Rex was like a criminal for a while?" Ruby asked.
"More of a 'Robin Hood' type deal," Cricket explained. "Steal from the rich, give to the poor."
"Wow, no wonder why you get along with Kevin so much," Ben realized.
"Listen, you guys seem like nice people," Rex said nervously. "But we need to talk about this Vulkanus guy. I've seen my fair share of mob bosses, and I know what kind of shit they pull. You guys gotta quit and walk away."
Tuck frowned- a first for the evening. "You don't walk away from Vulkanus, Rex. He'll smash you into bits if you cross him."
"When you were here, we could do whatever we wanted." Skwydd frowned. "You had all your technopathy, your smarts, your healing powers-"
"I have healing powers?!" Rex gasped. "How do I use 'em?"
Skwydd stared at him, wide eyed for once. "Uh, well, you used your nanites to repair the body...somehow." He shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not a genius."
"But basically, with you around, Vulkanus was basically a nobody," Cricket said quietly. "Things are very different now."
"I am so invested in this drama right now, y'all have no idea," Ben said excitedly. "I'm tempted to break a bone to see how this healing power works."
Ruby glared at him. "Don't."
"Well, I can tell you this." Rex grinned. "Once I take down this Vulkanus guy, things are about to change for the better."
THUMP. All heads snapped to the door, before it was kicked in by some buff alien guy. Ben recognized him- he was an alien from the Bellwood mafia, known by his alias Tummyhead. Guess he transferred here to get better pay.
"Hello, children," the face on the stomach spoke. "I got a message from the boss." He smashed his hands on the ground, and the teens backed away. "That was an easy job...you choked." He crushed a random barrel of what Rex hopefully thought was water. "Next time, that'll be your skull."
Rex frowned as he walked in front of Tummyhead, unfazed with his superior size.
"Who the hell are you?" the mob guy frowned.
Rex grinned as he grabbed the guy's chest (face? Rex couldn't tell what to call it) with one of his Smack Hands. "The operator of this next ride. Keep all limbs in the vehicle if you don't want to lose any." He lifted the guy with relative ease, his fist spinning like a drill. Tummyhead screamed as he spun around at nearly 20,000 RPM. Rex casually carried the guy out of the room and over to the edge of the roof.
"Now, I don't know if you can understand me right now with all the spinning...but I've got a message for your boss." Rex grinned. "They're done."
He slowed the spin to a halt and set Tummyhead down. He stumbled around for a moment before tripping off the side of the building and into a dumpster.
The teens cheered, and Rex turned around, triumphant. "It's good to be back."
This was freedom.
Rex loved the rush, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, taking in the splendor of Hong Kong via an aerial view. Tuck and Skwydd were a bit further ahead than he liked, but hey, it wasn't a competition...yet.
Ben (as Spidermonkey) jumped across another gap. "I've never seen Rex this happy before."
"Can't blame him," Ruby said, hanging onto his back. "Also, this seemed cute, but dude. Spidermonkey smells GROSS."
"Peter Parker would smell the same after fighting crime in a suit THAT concealing. Jeez," Ben huffed.
Rex wasn't paying attention to what they said, he was just enjoying himself. Sure he might have been using the Punk Busters to boost his jumps every once in a while, but he made sure he didn't damage anything. Too much, anyway. But now was a time for some nice nostalgia.
"We did the roof runs every night?" Rex asked excitedly.
"Every night except Tuesdays," Tuck said.
"What was on Tuesdays?"
"Arts and crafts." Skwydd joked...at least, Rex thought he was. His sarcastic voice was also his normal voice.
Cricket then leapt up to them. "Yeah, always a nice way to relax," she said with a smirk. Fortunately her sarcasm was easier to see.
The group stopped to rest near a billboard. It was then that the others noticed Ben's unusual form.
"...okay, so...what's up with that?" Tuck asked curiously. "I understood the plant guy, but what's up with THIS dude?"
"Please tell me this form is called what I think it is. It's gotta be, right?" Cricket asked, crossing her arms.
Ben shrugged. "Well, it's kind of obvious, isn't it? Literal spider monkey."
"Okay, where's the spider part then?" Skwydd demanded to know. "It just looks like an alien monkey."
"Well, the web-shooting isn't obvious, but the extra arms and eyes didn't give it away just a little?"
"Hey, we don't know how alien monkeys are supposed to look. For all we know, that's just par for the course," Tuck chimed in.
"...ok, fair enough."
Ruby looked over to see a warehouse. "You guys know the city, right? What's down there?"
"Just Vulkanus' private collection," Tuck said.
"You know how people like him are. Get a big enough operation going, you start wanting to show it off. Or at least keep the really good stuff for yourself," Skwydd added, looking down at the warehouse. "Place is like a vault."
"Then let's take a look inside." Ruby grinned before she and Ben leapt down. Rex shrugged, following their lead. The other three hesitated for a moment.
"They're insane," Cricket declared.
"But like, the fun kind." Tuck grinned, jumping down.
"Fun kind or the 'this is gonna get us all killed' kind? Always so hard to tell, isn't it?" Skwydd muttered before he jumped down after Tuck. Honestly, what kind of friend would he be if he let the guy rush headlong into a death trap alone?
Cricket shook her head. "Well, looks like I'll be writing the obituaries." She finally jumped down, joining the rest. Ben reverted back to human and looked around for a door into the garage. It looked like if there were any guards, they'd be on the inside. The outside was mostly clear, save for a few security cameras. Ruby quickly cut them down, making the other group uneasy.
"This is a bad idea, Rex," Tuck warned. "You really don't wanna get Vulkanus angry."
"How bad can he be?" Rex shrugged it off. With the cameras down, Ben found a way in but he made sure there weren't any other security measures here. Vulkanus sounded like the kind of guy who'd lock up his goods behind multiple vault doors.
Ben flipped on a light. When he heard 'vault', he expected expensive alien trinkets and weapons and such. But what he didn't expect was-
"Cars?"
"He's some kind of alien mafia boss...and he collects human cars?" Rex asked, honestly disappointed.
"Yeaaaaaah? People pay well for them," Skwyyd said.
"And there haven't been rumors of an alien black market car-dealer sooner because?"
"What did he say it was called?"
"ID Mask I think?" Tuck wondered. "Supposed to be a perfect disguise."
"He can't even drive these cars, so what's the point?" Cricket huffed.
"You know rich people. They see something, they'll try to hoard all of it," Ruby pointed out.
"Ain't that the truth," Skwydd said, rolling his eyes. "Besides, some of these don't even look that impressive."
"I agree with Skwydd." Ben nodded. "It's better utilized as scrap."
"...please tell me that's just a joke." Skwydd sort of sounded concerned at that. He knew what would happen if that wasn't a joke and he didn't want another visit from one of Vulkakanus' enforcers.
Ben smirked mischievously.
"Uh oh. That's his 'I'm gonna be a bastard' face," Ruby noted.
"I'd ask how many times you've seen him like this to just...GET that..." Cricket asked apprehensively. "But please tell me we're not actually going to mess with these things."
But it was too late. Ben was already slapping down the watch, and after a brief flash of green light, Jury Rigg was in his place.
The alien's eyes widened as Ben's once sane mind broke into a fit of "BREAK! BREAK BREAK BREAK!" The gremlin scurried around, hopping on the cars and ogling the tech.
"So first a plant, a monkey, and now a gremlin?" Tuck asked, trying to keep a brave face.
"You know, I think this is the first time I've seen that one," Rex added.
Ruby instinctively hid Crescent Rose. "Learned about THAT crazy side the hard way." Rex raised an eyebrow at that; with how Ruby hid away her weapon, there had to be a story there.
Ben, meanwhile, got to work. He popped open the hood of one of the cars and climbed inside. There was the sound of metal clanging, screws hitting the ground, and other such noises that suggested that the car would never start properly again.
"Okay, what is he doing?" Rex asked, totally lost. "What the hell does this guy do?"
"He's the exact opposite of Upgrade," Ruby explained. "He can't stop himself from taking apart machines and putting them back together...except most of the time they never really work."
"...okay, how does a species EVOLVE to do that?" Tuck asked incredulously.
Ruby sighed. "I don't know."
"I guess it's not that weird. I mean, guy's got an alien ghost form," Rex added.
"Alien. Ghost." Cricket looked at Rex. "Really?"
"Ghost's just the start. I went with these two to a nice place in the country, and we ended up fighting an alien mummy."
"...what the fuck are your LIVES?" Tuck demanded to know. "Any other alien stories to top that?"
"Oh, PLENTY," Ruby bragged. "Know any places where we can get good food?"
"A few, yeah," Skwydd said.
"Put that here, this heeeeeeeeere," Ben said as he finished up...whatever he was doing to the car's engine.
"What did you do, Ben?" Ruby asked, smirking.
"If I want to be scientific, I have ABSOLUTELY no idea! All I can tell you is that I regret nothing!"
"Sounds fun. You gonna do that to any other cars?"
"Oh how'd you know?" Ben jumped to the next car over, repeating the process. It took him a while but he did manage to get at least three more cars 'modified'.
Ruby giggled. "Give him a few minutes. He's being evil and I love when he does that."
"Now, I'll be honest: I am 99 percent sure that each of these is now fucked in its own unique way. Think I hooked up this one," Ben knocked on the hood of the car he had just finished messing with, "to where if you turn on the AC, you get engine fluid sprayed all over you instead. At least I THINK. Could be engine smoke too. Either or."
Rex chose not to comment on that. "You know, I'm in the mood for Korean food. Anyone else cool with that?"
There were sounds of agreement, and Ben returned to his normal self in a flash of green light.
"Okay, that Korean restaurant? Amazing," Ruby said happily as they walked back to the hideout.
"It's better than whatever you have back home." Tuck grinned. "Cuz that restaurant? Authentic."
"No argument here," Ben said.
"All in all, pretty good night, huh?" Rex asked, smiling.
"Yeah, yeah. Pretty fun to catch up, if I'm being honest," Cricket said, smiling lightly.
"Nice to have company, I guess," Skwydd said, as they slowly reached their destin-
...
...
...
Rex's ears were ringing, and his eyes were still trying to adjust from the bright flash.
Ruby groaned as she rubbed at her eyes, her head aching. The hell just happened?!
Ben's eyes opened and he looked around, quickly locking onto the source of the explosion.
"No..."
The hideout had been bombed.
A thick pillar of smoke rose into the air, embers floating down to the road below as the fire raged in the ruins of the hideout.
Upon seeing the fire, Ben looked around after regaining his senses. He was searching for anyone out of place. Maybe they'd get lucky and whoever did this was still nearby.
Tuck stared at the towering flames, horror on his face. "O-our home..." he mouthed, as Cricket and Skywd watched with equal terror.
Tuck clenched his fists, turning around to face Rex. "This...this is why we don't mess with Vulkanus, Rex."
Metallic clanking filled the air, followed by a hiss as a gauntlet was adjusted. "Someone finally realized it," a low voice, almost like it was growling constantly, said. "The disrespect I've been shown today. And here I thought I could have a day this week that wouldn't require hiding a few bodies."
Rex stood up and walked towards Vulkanus. "So we meet again, I guess."
Vulkanus' face lit up. "Well, what do ya know? Salazar's back in town. Heard you're in some floating city in the skies nowadays, working with a team that doesn't even want you. So glad you came back to your roots."
"And I guess you haven't changed much huh?" Rex pressed.
"Don't need to fix what's not broken." Vulkanus smirked. "Speaking of broken, which one of you runts fucked with my cars?"
Ben whistled. "Dunno. Maybe you should check your cars next time."
Ruby rolled her eyes.
Vulkanus' eyes locked onto Ben...but then they wandered to his wrist. "Interesting watch you got there, kid," the crime boss drawled. "Could fetch quite the price if it is what it looks like."
"What, you want it?" Ben smirked. "Dumbasses like you have been trying for years now. Never gonna happen."
"Experience, huh?" Vulkanus hummed. "If I were looking for a new hire, I might actually consider you. If I have the wielder of the Omnitrix on my payroll? No one would even think of pulling the shit you did today. No job openings, though. Shame."
"I'm flattered, but I require at least a 3 day workweek. And a biiiiiiig paycheck." Ben grinned.
"...dude, don't invite that. He might actually do it." Ruby whispered.
"Weird hours," Vulkanus admitted, "but the paycheck's doable at least."
"Oh, please don't tell me this is actually happening," Rex sighed, shoulders sagging.
Ben blinked. "S-should I?"
Ruby hummed. "If it can pay off our student loans..."
"Oh, that's a good point- wait, hold on, I'm rich already!" Ben exclaimed, crossing his arms. "Deals off!"
"Coulda fooled me," the crime lord chuckled. "Now then, what to do with you lot. Can't just let you go..."
"I don't remember you, but..." Rex's arm gained blue lines all over. "I damn well know you aren't hurting my friends anymore tonight."
"Really? Don't remember our deal? Well that's a shame. Here I was kinda hoping for repeat business."
"...deal?" Tuck asked quaveringly.
"Ohhh, that's right, it was our little secret," Vulkanus chuckled. "Whoops."
"You...you made a deal...with HIM?" Skwydd stuttered out.
"What's the saying? 'Vulpimancer's out of the bag'?" Vulkanus sneered.
"I-I don't even remember!" Rex defended himself. "He's lying!"
"How many times have you heard THAT line before?" Vulkanus crowed. "'He's lying!' 'I don't remember!' It's like you're reading from a list of clichés. What's next, 'I wasn't the same back then'?"
"No, seriously," Rex insisted. "I don't remember. I can't remember. I don't know if I have living family members, or siblings, or anything. I can't even remember my own goddamn birthday! Are you seriously going to buy into this loser's TOTALLY obvious lie!?"
"Do I need to play the recording?"
Rex's blood ran cold. "...the what?"
"The recording. You take me for an amateur kid? I ALWAYS record my meetings. Well, the interesting ones, anyway. Like yours."
"...No." Rex slowly backed away. "You...you're lying."
Vulkanus sighed and brought up his gauntlet. He pushed a few buttons and eventually brought up a holographic screen. On it was a full recording with the date, how long the meeting went, and even the words 'Transaction Completed' under it. "Bluffing, am I?"
Rex didn't even have time to process. Tuck immediately punched the back of his head. "You LIED to us!"
Rex could only stumble forward. Vulkanus smirked and, just to really hammer the final nail in the coffin, he fast forwarded the recording to the very end and hit play.
"So, do we have a deal?" Rex's voice echoed out into the night.
"You drive a hard bargain, kid. I like that about you. Deal," Vulkanus' voice said back.
"Whoops," the present crime lord said, "finger slipped."
Ben scowled. "Why do I get the feeling you're leaving something out?"
"I might be. But I don't think they care." He gestured to Skwydd, Cricket, and Tuck.
Ruby frowned, stepping in between the opposing parties. "Come on, you're seriously gonna fall for that? He's so obviously leaving something out. Rex wouldn't do a deal like that-"
"Rex was different back then," Skwydd snarled. "And it doesn't change anything. He still sold us out."
"Truly hurts, doesn't it?" Vulkanus said. "Someone you called a friend for the LONGEST time and it turns out they stabbed you in the ba-"
"Oh SHUT UP! You've already said enough!" Cricket shouted at the crime lord.
...he had to respect that kind of ferocity. So he stood back and enjoyed the show.
Skwyd was reeling. His friend and leader had made a deal with one of the most dangerous men in the entire city .
"What did you promise him?!" Cricket seethed, turning on Rex. "Money? Info? What?!"
"Cricket, guys, I don't remember that conversation at all!" Rex said, trying to defend himself.
"Uh-huh, yeah, real convenient, that!"
"Cricket, you KNOW there's more to it than what we heard," Ben said, trying to diffuse the situation.
"Oh, don't tell me you'd just let this lie! Look at it from our perspective: someone we thought was our FRIEND goes behind our backs and ends up making a deal with Vulkanus!" Cricket yelled.
"Well, obviously, I'd want to know why he did it," Ben began, "but we've been with Rex. We know he's not just using amnesia as an excuse."
"Oh, sure. Believe the cop. He probably wants to arrest you too!" Vulkanus called out, trying to put gasoline on the metaphorical fire.
Ben groaned. "Dude, shut up!"
Vulkanus frowned. "I don't gotta take that from you, kid. Come on, gang. We're leaving."
The trio stared at Rex, dirty looks in their eyes. "Thanks for coming back, Rex. Now we know why you left. And now...you can stay the hell away from us," Tuck said coldly, before he walked off with the others.
Rex didn't call out. He couldn't. He just stood there, totally devastated.
And he kept standing there in silence for a good long while. He only registered what was happening when Clover waved his hand in front of his face.
"You good, kid?" his commander asked.
Rex blinked a few times, finally snapping out of it. "Uh, y-yeah, I'm...I'm fine," Rex lied, hoping that would be enough.
And that was when he realized that it wasn't just them. The Ace Ops had arrived too.
Harriet sighed. "See? This is why we don't do friendships. Less of a connection, less of a feeling when they betray us."
"Besides, they willingly went with Vulkanus. You could have offered them a one way ticket out of here… but I doubt they'd consider it," Elm added, sympathy in her voice.
"If they wish to continue to revel in their degeneracy, let them," Vine said calmly. "They will learn one way."
"Uh, yeah...you kinda don't owe them anything," Marrow chimed in.
"A way out...if only they'd listen to me there," Rex mused before what Harriet first said hit him. "Wait...wait, wait, wait, they went WITH Vulkanus?"
"Yeah, kid." Harriet frowned. "And because you three didn't go after them, we have no idea where their hideout is. Honestly..."
"Why would they go with him?" Rex thought to himself, ignoring Harriet's harsh but true criticism. They had no idea where Vulkanus' base was now. But then he realized: Vulkanus made a personal appearance here. He didn't just send a lackey to deliver a message, he came himself.
"Why else? Because he's their boss," Marrow stated.
"He's their..." Rex started. So then why did they act so betrayed? Was it all just an act? No, that type of anger was all too genuine. But...it didn't make sense. He let out a sigh. "So, now what?"
"Easy. We take you off the job. You can't handle this, so we need to step in," Harriet said, her usual tone of condescension more pronounced now. "I don't care how buddy buddy you were with them. It got to you."
...and that finally made Rex snap. "Listen- I don't know if you're self-projecting your issues onto me or not, but I had a stronger bond with them in the span of a few hours than any of you people in the span of a few years."
Harriet's face turned sour. "Let me repeat myself," she said slowly. "This isn't the playground. We just rely on each other for survival-"
"Survival!?" Rex scoffed. "Bullshit. You can all handle most things on your own."
"Isn't that what your friends were doing?" Vine asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Dead wrong," Rex shot back. "They were supporting each other. Something I haven't gotten from any of you guys. Ever."
Ben and Ruby's jaws dropped. Just how long had he been holding this in?
"Jeez, you've been acting up ever since those two showed up," Elm said, motioning over to Ben and Ruby. "Trying to show off?"
"Listen," Rex seethed. "I've never sat down and had a proper conversation with any of you. I don't know your birthdays, your likes, your dislikes, what you watch on Netflix in your down time...I don't even know if we can call ourselves a team. Those two-" Rex pointed a finger over at Ben and Ruby. "Those two actually give a shit about me."
His eyes caught something on the floor- a picture of him and his crew when they were young. "And so did they." The roof was silent… before Rex manifested the Boogie Pack. "I'm going after them."
Ruby beamed. "Mind if we join?"
"Feel free. That goes for the rest of you as well," Rex said, looking at the Ace Ops. "I won't be surprised when you don't, though."
The three of them took off (Ben transforming into Astrodactyl), as the rest of the Ace Ops stood there, taking everything in.
Harriet had a look of shock and anger, like she was ready to slap cuffs on Rex and toss him in a cell on charges of insubordination. Clover, on the other hand, took all of that rather well, considering.
"Let him go, Hare. The kid's got a mission," Clover said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
It was easy to tail them- the trio simply had to hang around a few banks, and Vulkanus would surely rob one of them for...whatever reason. It cut down on time.
Eventually, they picked up a lead and followed it.
Rex approached the hideout, Ben and Ruby following close behind. He put his hand to the control panel, blue lines spreading across it, opening the door at Rex's command.
"So, what do you think is gonna be behind that door?" Ruby asked.
"Probably a bunch of creepy looking goons. What else could it be?" Ben shrugged.
The door opened, to reveal...what looked like the inside of a museum. Grecian columns and steel lined the walls, with statues of alien philosophers along the sides.
Ruby blinked. "...man. Vulkanus actually has some taste."
"Can't really say much about the goons, though." Ben said, pointing to a group of hideous alien mobsters. "Oh shit, I know these guys! Hey! You guys work for Psyphon, right?"
"Used to," an alien in a containment suit said. "Psyphon's dead."
"Wait, shit, really?" Ben blinked. "Damn. Sucks for him."
Rex prepared for battle, but Ruby walked in front of him. "We'll handle these guys. You take care of Vulkanus." He nodded before shifting into the Rex Ride and plowing through the goons, knocking a few over. The rest of them closed in on Ben and Ruby.
Ben grinned as he activated the Omnitrix. He transformed into Echo Echo and then hit the Omnitrix symbol again.
An armored vest-like chest piece appeared over Echo Echo's chest followed by a pair of armored gloves. From the back of the chestpiece, two more pieces of armor extended out. A black metal helmet came up from his back and clamped down over his head, covering only a portion- though thanks to a beak-like protrusion from the front, Echo Echo's mouth was obscured as well. Two metal structures then extended out from the alien's headphone-shaped ears, ending in circles with smaller metallic circles floating in the center, reminiscent of speakers.
The biggest change to Echo Echo was also the weirdest. The diminutive alien hovered off the ground by a good few feet as the second armor addition finished form. With plates connecting in place, a metallic tail now firmly planted on the ground, bent back close to the end to give the proper amount of support.
"So, you can hover now?" Ruby asked, arching an eyebrow.
Ben looked down. "And I got a tail, too. This isn't the WEIRDEST powerup, but I can use it."
He then darted into the crowd and started smacking faces with his tail. Ruby started slashing and hacking guns in half, avoiding attacks with her Semblance. She spun her weapon around, slicing and dicing in a rapid, violent dance.
Ben unleashed a powerful sonic screech, enhanced by his bizarre head piece- the sound waves had a slightly bluish hue. The attack seemed to both rupture eardrums and send shocks through their nervous system, ensuring they'd be down for a good while.
"Ohhh, I like this," Ben crowed.
With the guards distracted, Rex was able to make great time getting further inside Vulkanus' personal 'mansion.' If any spare lackey tried to get in his way, Rex just hit the gas and slammed into them, pushing them off if they managed to cling on. He was in a hurry, after all. He soon saw it, the twin double doors at the end of an elaborate showcase of the alien crime lord's wealth. Vulkanus' office was no doubt on the other side.
Rex was about to step in, but someone else stood in his way.
...a chicken. An actual, alien chicken.
"...I don't suppose you'll let me through now, Chicken Little?" Rex asked hopefully. The chicken alien cocked his head and stared at him blankly.
"Gonna guess that's a no?" Rex asked before sighing and revving up the Rex Ride. "Well, I tried."
The chicken bawked and got the hell out of dodge.
"See, you guys can be reasonable!" Rex exclaimed as he crashed down the double doors. Vulkanus sat behind his massive, custom made desk, a glass of wine in his hand.
"...do you have any idea how much those cost?" Vulkanus griped, tipping his glass ever so slightly to the fallen door. "Not cheap, I can tell you that much."
"What, couldn't be that expensive. It's wine! Buying that should be pocket change for you."
"I meant the doors. But you're not interested in that, are you? Here to arrest me?"
"Doing more than that. I'm here for answers. Why the hell would I make a deal with you?" Rex demanded to know.
"Ah, answers. One of the most sought after pieces of merchandise on the black market," the crime lord chuckled before taking a sip of his wine. "Want me to play the full recording? It's gonna cost ya."
"Really think I'm gonna pay you?" Rex scoffed.
"It's always worth a shot. Sometimes, even the law can be bought. True loyalty...that's hard to come by, though, isn't it? Once you betray someone like that, they're gone for good. Isn't that right, Cricket?" Vulkanus chuckled.
Cricket jumped down from the ceiling, and Skwydd unleashed a haze of black to blind Rex. He coughed and gagged, stumbling through the smog.
"You guys, you're on the wr-" Rex never finished; Cricket kicked him square in the jaw. The Ace Op stumbled back, clutching it in pain.
Disorientated as he was, Rex found bandages wrapped around his waist. Tuck picked him up and threw him, slamming him into one of the pillars that lined Vulkanus' office. The Ace-Op shuffled to his feet as his former friends closed in.
They weren't pulling any punches. As much as Rex didn't want to hurt them, he didn't have much of a choice. He heard Cricket take a running start toward him, but he ducked out of the way before landing a roundhouse kick of his own to her back. Tuck sent out his bandages again, wrapping around his arm and pulling him away from Cricket and back towards them. Skwydd went in for another punch to Rex's jaw, only for him to duck and try to land one of his own to Skwydd's gut. Before he could though, Tuck pulled Rex away and slammed him into another pillar. Cricket recovered from the punch and raced in, landing a jump kick into Rex's chest.
Vulkanus just smirked and sipped his wine, enjoying the show.
Rex flew back into the wall, his back hurting by the impact. "Really didn't want this to go this way..." he bemoaned before he formed his Smack Hands. They spun and dug into the ground, debris going everywhere.
"HEY! MARBLE'S EXPENSIVE!" Vulkanus shouted.
Skwydd was unlucky, as one of the marble chunks slammed into his shoulder. Cricket jumped between the different debris projectiles, dodging each one expertly. Tuck was either dodging them or using his bandages to try and slingshot them back at Rex. He brought up one one of his Smack Hands to block, stopping its spinning and letting the stone shatter against metal.
"I don't want to fight you guys! I never would've made a deal and ditched!" Rex yelled over the noise.
"PLEASE! You were such a little shit back then, it seems up your alley!" Vulkanus roared with laughter.
"I don't even know what I was LIKE back then!"
"Cliché after cliché with this guy," the alien crime lord sighed. "You gonna believe him after everything?"
Tuck and Cricket shared a look. Skwydd got back to his feet, a hand over his shoulder from the hit. With that, the three rushed back in to continue the fight. They really were Vulkanus' henchmen weren't they? Skwydd unleashed another haze to blind Rex. Cricket and Tuck used the cloud for cover, landing cheap shots at him at every chance they got.
"And you're gonna listen to a guy that's kept you under his foot?! A guy that's made you suffer!? What good is a criminal's word over a friend with SERIOUS amnesia!" Rex yelled before he blew them all away with his jetpack turbines.
"They will," Vulkanus stated, standing up from behind his desk, "because they know, whatever 'suffering' they endure under me? Ten times worse if they're on their own. Better the devil you know, right?"
"Oh, yeah! The guys that you send to kick MY ass and are doing a GREAT job with it-" Rex yelled, forming his shields. "-CAN'T stand on their own! I wonder when it's gonna dawn on them that they can either continue to be the bad guy's lap dogs...or they can bite the hand that 'feeds' them?"
The crime lord growled as he clutched his hand into a fist. That hand then started to rotate before it suddenly retracted into his arm and was replaced by a massive mace head.
"Either finish him off...or I'm doin' it myself."
"...oh. I get why..." Rex smirked as he knocked his attackers back. Rex formed his Slam Cannon and ripped a chunk of marble out of the ground. "Just because you're big doesn't mean you can't take a blast, dumbass!" He blasted the debris right at Vulkanus' chest.
The shot impacted and forced Vulkanus back, denting his chestplate in the process. The alien kingpin stared down at the dent in his chest and sighed. Before Rex could react, Vulkanus rushed in and slammed his mace into Rex, launching him across the room.
He flipped through the air before activating his jetpacks to stabilize him. "Dude, if marble can do that to your armor-"
"IT WAS LAUNCHED AT-" Vulkanus shouted.
"30 MPH," Rex said. "Come on. A big guy like you should shake that off."
Vulkanus looked at the other three. They were still reeling from Rex's recent attacks. This was on him now. Vulkanus drew a pistol from his hip and took aim, firing at the hovering bastard. The Ace Op managed to expertly avoid each shot before turning his hand into the BFS. He raced in and dropped down, slicing through Vulkanus' pistol immediately. But the move left him open for another mace swing from the alien. Rex stumbled back from the hit, bringing up his sword to block another swing, metal clanging against metal.
"Seriously? An alien using a pistol? You that scared someone's gonna realize your 'dirty little secret?'" Rex taunted.
Vulkanus roared in a fury, striking at him again and again. Each time, Rex blocked the mace with his sword. But one lucky hit was all Vulkanus needed, and he got that with a painful uppercut that knocked Rex off his feet.
He fell to the ground, feigning defeat. He waited for Vulkanus to do that typical 'foot stomp on the torso' to show he was down...
Vulkanus wasn't one for cliches though. He raised his mace hand up and was ready to bring it down, before a sudden sniper shot dinged off of his armor.
"Hey asshole!" Ruby called out, getting Vulkanus' attention.
And then he saw Ben.
"...the hell is that?" Vulkanus asked, stifling a laugh.
"Tinnitus in the making." Ben reverberated- the enhanced alien suddenly let out an ear piercing shriek that blasted Vulkanus back and threw him off balance.
The criminal's ears were ringing as he tried to get his bearings back. He shook his head and turned back, just in time to see Rex back on his feet and right about to deliver his own heavy right hook.
"Ohhhh shi-"
Clang! Rex's Smack Hand slammed right into his chest and sent him flying through his desk and the wall behind it.
Rex put away the build and walked after Vulkanus, stepping over the splinters and rubble before he found him trying to get back on his feet.
"So, Vulkanus," Rex drawled, resting his massive foot on his body. "Tell me, why'd I even give you that book and my friends for a stupid plane ticket out?"
"Ha! Like I'd ever sing," Vulkanus huffed. Rex increased the pressure on his torso, limiting his air. "Okay! Fine! That plane ticket was because of some lead on some brother of yours or whatever! OKAY?!"
Rex blanked out as the rest took in what was just said. "B-brother?"
"Yeah, some stupid brother of yours. You got some lead that he was in Mexico, so YOU, like an idiot, went to go look for him," Vulkanus taunted.
Rex paused for a moment, staring out into space.
"Guess you found diddly squat, because guess what? You've come back empty handed," Vulkanus jeered. "And you lost the respect of the only friends you ever had. So, I gotta ask- was it worth it?" He laughed as Rex removed his foot.
"...I have a brother?" Rex said, quietly.
Vulkanus smirked. He had the kid off guard. He was about to try something before he saw Ruby and Ben walk up behind Rex (or in Ben's case, 'float up').
"Rex?" Ben asked, worried.
Even the others seemed concerned about him. Cricket and Tuck shared a shocked glance, while Skwydd looked genuinely remorseful.
"...dude," he whispered, awestruck.
"And the best part?! You told me you'd come back WITH your brother to kick my ass! Free your friends and everything!" Vulkanus exclaimed. "Guess you forgot THAT promise too!" He threw his head back and laughed...
As Rex slowly turned back around.
"Shut up," Ruby muttered before she stomped Vulkanus on the head, knocking him out. Would be easier to hand him over to the Ace-Ops this way, anyway.
Rex stood there, contemplating everything. A massive bombshell had been dropped on him- for the longest time, he thought he was the only Salazar around. Ironwood said his searches were thorough and concise...Rex...Rex's brother was...
An enigma.
But that's when he felt people watching him. He turned over to look at the trio, all just as shocked as he was. Rex didn't say anything for a while, still processing.
"...go," he finally said.
"...what?" Tuck asked.
"The rest of our team's gonna show up here soon. We weren't exactly subtle with this. They're gonna want to throw you in a cell alongside the big guy. I made the mistake of putting you guys in a prison once. Not this time."
"...right," Cricket mumbled, as she turned to leave. "And, Rex?"
He turned his head towards her.
"...we're sorry for not believing you," she said sincerely.
"And I'm sorry for handing you over to this asshole," Rex motioned back to the unconscious crime lord.
Cricket nodded and helped Skwydd up, before she and her friends escaped out of the hideout. Once Rex was sure they were far enough away, he called in the other Ace-Ops.
It didn't take long for the rest of the Ace Ops to arrive, complete with multiple prisoner transport airships. Vulkanus' enforcers were put onto different ships because of how many there were. Ben and Ruby finished with arresting criminals and walked over to Rex, who was talking to Marrow and Vine about what happened. Before Ben and Ruby could even say hello, Harriet made her way over to the group and interjected.
"Rex," Harriet announced. "The three you hung out with. Where are they?"
Rex frowned. "Got away."
"...I'm not sure I can believe that."
"What?"
"I'm with Harriet on this one," Elm said, walking over. "Rex, did you purposely let those kids get away?"
"No! Seriously! They got away!" Rex snapped, crossing his arms.
"And that's what's hard to believe. You're telling me that with the help of Alien Boy and the Rose Reaper, you let some punk kids get the drop on you?" Harriet scoffed. "That's total bullshit. You let your connections with them interfere with your decision making- like it or not, those kids are connected to criminals, they could know stuff that we don't- and you let them get away?! Because they were your friends?"
Rex sighed. "...fine. Yeah."
"This grounds for suspension, you know. This is unacceptable," Harriet seethed.
Ruby blinked. "Wow...that's...actually a good point? I'm surprised."
"Harriet takes her job way too seriously," Marrow sighed.
"I mean, I'd sure hope she'd take a military position seriously," Ben pointed out.
"Yeah, but she's the next level of it," Marrow said. "I dunno, do you think those kids knew anything?"
"They were just on money duty, nothing too personal," Ruby explained. "Interrogating them would've been a waste of time."
"Not to Harriet, though," Vine said. "She's meticulous in detail. It makes her a good agent...but not so much 'the good cop'."
"Listen, Harriet. I'm not in the mood for this," Rex scoffed, walking off.
"What, what could be SO important than you letting some criminals get away? What, you having high school problems?" Harriet taunted, malice in her eyes.
"You of all people wouldn't understand," Rex said coldly.
"Right. Pulling that card. Fine. Go ahead and brood. We've got-" Harriet's tirade was cut off when she heard two Atlesian soldiers struggling to keep Vulkanus in check.
"SALAZAR! You think this is over? Not on your life, kid. This isn't the first time I've been tossed in jail, and not the first time I'll get out either. Just watch!" Vulkanus shouted.
"Oh, go fuck yourself!" Rex yelled.
"Fuck you! AND your stupid brother!" Vulkanus yelled back.
"Great, now we got this to deal with," Harriet huffed as she walked over to help the soldiers.
"Rex...you ok?" Ben asked.
"As ok as I can be. I have a brother, guys. I could actually get answers. Why are these nanites inside me, why I can't remember who I am? All of it!" Rex said, throwing out his arms.
Marrow blinked. "...you have a brother?"
"Yeah, just found out."
Marrow didn't know what to say, so he just said, "Huh...congrats."
"Thanks? I guess? I was kinda hoping I wouldn't have to find out like this, but..."
"Rex...are...are you sure you wanna meet them?" Ruby asked tentatively.
"What? Why wouldn't I?" Rex asked back.
"Well...it's just...if your brother DOES have answers..."
And then it clicked. "If he does have answers, he might be partly responsible for why I can't remember anything."
"We don't know that for sure, but we'll help you find him," Ben said, putting a hand on Rex's shoulder.
Rex smiled. "Thanks, guys."
Unbeknownst to anyone, Clover was frozen in shock over Vulkanus' declaration. This...this could change things.
Ironwood stared out the window of his office, looking out to the endless tundra. It was strange, being here. If you told him fifteen years ago, a younger James would wave it off. He could never make those big decisions.
...and here he was, making another.
"And you're sure that's all Vulkanus told him?" James asked, back to Clover.
"Yes, he mentioned a brother. Not Caesar's name," Clover said.
"Of course he would be the one to cause trouble," Ironwood sighed, putting a hand to his face.
"Want me to keep an eye on him?"
"Discreetly. If he figures this out..."
"Right. And what about the others? His friends?" Clover asked. "I heard Ben Tennyson say he'd help Rex find the truth."
"Of course they would." The general shook his head in an almost fond manner. "Inform the others as well. If they start getting too close to anything, let me know immediately."
"Of course, sir. If they uncover what happened to the Salazars, then we may have some trouble on our hands," Clover agreed.
"Trouble's an understatement. If Rex found out, he'd go rogue in a heartbeat."
"What happened was a tragedy," the lead Ace Op said, shaking his head, "But it beats the alternative."
A/N: Heyyyyyyy, a Rex episode. This was fun to rewatch, and even more fun to write. I had to replace Quarry because, well, Quarry is an EVO, and I don't know how to really bring in EVOs amongst aliens and Grimm. You WILL see more Gen Rex villains in the future- not saying who, of course. That's spoilers.
Season 5's production is almost over, by the by! We're so close. Please leave reviews because I panic and stress over people possibly not liking this,