The Trade (8 page)

‘I know how you treat your guests,' Rex said. ‘I think I'd rather be a prisoner.'

Van Kleiss opened his mouth, but before he could speak he was gripped by a violent fit of coughing. When the coughing eventually subsided, Van Kleiss lay back on the bed and let out a low groan.

‘What's the matter?' Rex asked. ‘Has poor little Van Kleissy caught a cold?'

The villain smiled, grimly. ‘Something like that.'

‘OK, so you got me here. Now, tell me what you want so I can say “no” and then go home.'

‘I need your help, Rex,' Van Kleiss said.

‘No,' said Rex. ‘See ya.' He turned to leave, only to find Biowulf blocking his path.

‘Please, at least hear me out,' Van Kleiss said.
‘If you still wish to leave after that, so be it.'

Rex turned back to the bed. He'd never seen Van Kleiss looking so weak. Now would've been the perfect time to take him down for good, if it weren't for the fact that Rex was still drained, too.

‘You got one minute,' Rex told him. ‘Then I'm outta here.'

‘Very well,' Van Kleiss said. ‘That is a most generous offer.'

‘Fifty-five seconds,' Rex said. ‘Start talking.'

‘I am dying, Rex.'

Rex shrugged. ‘And that's my problem because …?'

‘I know we've had our differences, Rex,' Van Kleiss wheezed. ‘But this is my darkest hour. My nanites have become unstable. My strength has left me. We may be enemies, but surely you could not stand back and allow me to die?'

Rex pretended to think about this. ‘You know, I think I could?' he said at last. ‘Yeah. I have no problem with that. Now, are we finished, or was there something else?'

‘No,' said Van Kleiss, closing his eyes slowly. ‘That was all.'

‘OK, well see you around,' Rex said, sidestepping Biowulf and heading for the door. ‘Or I guess I won't.'

‘How's the amnesia, Rex?'

Right by the doorway, Rex stopped. He didn't turn around.

‘Memories still hazy?' Van Kleiss asked. ‘Still struggling to piece together your past?'

Rex turned back to face the bed. Van Kleiss had a satisfied smirk on his face. Beside him, the technician and breach were wheeling another bed into position.

‘That's a shame,' Van Kleiss continued. ‘If only there was someone who knew everything about your history. Someone who knew about your family, even.' He raised his golden clawed hand and stroked his chin, thoughtfully. ‘Oh, wait,' he said, ‘there is.
Me
.'

Another bout of coughing echoed around the dank stone room. The technician was busily attaching complicated-looking machines to the second bed, but Rex was too fixed on Van Kleiss to notice.

‘It's a shame I'm dying, really,' the villain said. ‘Because it means all that knowledge about your family will die with me. And do you know what that means, Rex?'

‘What?' Rex spat.

‘You'll
never
find out what happened to them.'

Rex threw himself at Van Kleiss, fists raised. Biowulf moved to block him, but Van Kleiss waved his henchman away. ‘Do your worst, Rex,' he said, calmly. ‘It cannot be any worse than the fate that already awaits me.'

Rex punched the bed beside Van Kleiss' head. He wanted to hurt him – badly – but everything the villain had said was true. If he died, then Rex would never find out about his past.

Still, he knew Van Kleiss and The Pack weren't to be trusted. His body was still weak and his brain was still fuzzy, but he had a nagging feeling that what he was about to do was crazy.

‘OK,' Rex said, through gritted teeth. ‘What do you need me to do?'

Van Kleiss had to fight to hold back his smile. ‘A few nanites, that's all I need,' he said. ‘Just a few. They should help stabilise my own and allow me to bring them back under control.'

Rex looked at the bed beside Van Kleiss. ‘And after that, you're going to tell me about my family.'

‘But of course,' Van Kleiss nodded. ‘A fair trade. You have my word that I will tell you everything.'

‘If you don't, you have
my
word that I'll hurt you so bad you'll wish I'd let you die.'

Van Kleiss couldn't contain his smile any longer. ‘Oh Rex,' he said. ‘I so love our little chats.'

With a final glance at Biowulf and Breach, Rex slid up onto the bed. The man in the mask hurriedly stuck half a dozen wires to him. They matched the wires that were already attached to Van Kleiss.

‘Everything ready?' Biowulf asked.

The technician flipped a few switches. Every one of the machines began to emit a low humming sound. ‘Ready,' he nodded.

‘I promise you, you will not regret this, Rex,' Van Kleiss said. ‘I owe you a great debt.'

‘Yeah, yeah,' Rex said. ‘Just make sure you pay up afterwards.'

‘Oh, I will, I will,' Van Kleiss said. His face darkened and something wicked glinted behind his eyes. ‘Now, you might want to brace yourself, because this is
really
going to hurt!'

And with that, the machine screamed into life.

R
EX'S BACK ARCHED AS
a shock of agony tore through his central nervous system. His teeth clamped together and his limbs went rigid. It was almost the same feeling as when he'd been hit by the electric shock machine, only much,
much
worse.

‘Wh-what are you d-doing?' he managed to hiss. It took all his effort to turn his head towards Van Kleiss. The villain's muscles stood in knots and his face was a bright red. It was clear that he was in as much pain as Rex was, but it didn't seem to bother him. If anything, the maniac looked like he was
enjoying
it.

‘Y-Yes!' he cried. ‘More power.
More power!
'

The technician cranked up the dial on one of the machines attached to Rex. Another wave of pain washed over him, forcing a cry from his lips. Over it, he heard Van Kleiss' low, sickening laugh.

‘Can you feel it, Rex? Can you feel the nanites being torn from within you?'

‘Y-you tricked m-me!'

‘You didn't exactly make it hard!' Van Kleiss laughed. ‘Full power!' he demanded.

‘B-but sir,' the technician stammered, ‘any more and the results could be –'

Van Kleiss' face twisted in rage. ‘I said
full power
!'

The technician didn't dare protest again. Instead, he turned the control dial all the way up to one hundred. The machine let out a high whine and a blinding white flash filled Rex's vision.

The pain stopped, and for a moment, Rex thought he might be dead. But then his vision began to clear, and he saw Biowulf and Breach standing over him, peering down.

‘What did you do?' he croaked. He'd been weak before he climbed onto the bed, but now it was taking all his effort just to stay awake. ‘W-What did you do to me?'

‘Did it work?' Biowulf asked. He looked from Rex to Van Kleiss and back again. Finally, he turned to the technician.

‘I … uh … I believe it
may
have been at least a partial, uh, partial …'

‘Oh, it worked,' said Van Kleiss. His voice no longer
sounded frail and his body looked stronger than ever. ‘I can feel it. I can feel
them
. All those nanites. Every single one of them.'

Rex tried to move, but his body was too weak. He felt strange in a way he couldn't really describe. An itch burned at his left hand, from his wrist all the way to the tips of his fingers.

‘But don't take
my
word for it,' Van Kleiss said. ‘Allow me to demonstrate.'

The villain looked down at his feet. His brow furrowed for a moment, as if he were concentrating. Then, with a
clank
, a pair of mechanical legs appeared below Van Kleiss' knees. Rex recognised his Punk Busters right away.

‘No!' he gasped.

‘Oh,
yes
,' Van Kleiss cackled. He retracted the Punk Busters and out came the Smackhands. He banged the metal fists together and the sound echoed around the castle. ‘I'm going to enjoy playing with these,' Van Kleiss said. He jumped down from the bed.

‘Looking good,' said Biowulf, nodding his approval.

‘Thank you, Biowulf. And thank
you
,' he said,
turning to the technician. ‘You have done well. The process was a complete success.'

‘Yes, uh, well …
mostly
a success,' the masked man mumbled.

Van Kleiss hesitated. ‘
Mostly
?'

‘There's a chance that something went, uh, went wrong, sir. The machine was never really designed to go all the way up to a hundred. There may be … side effects.'

‘What sort of side effects?' asked Van Kleiss, his voice as cold as ice.

Rex let out a yelp of shock as Van Kleiss' golden claw appeared where his left hand had been.

‘Those sort of side effects,' the technician whimpered. ‘You were pulling in his nanites so fast there was no room for yours to adjust. They, uh, they had to go
somewhere
.'

‘And they went into him,' Biowulf realised.

‘I haven't stolen his nanites, I've swapped mine for his,' Van Kleiss said. ‘No matter.' He flexed both his machine arms. ‘I'd say I got the better side of the deal. Wouldn't you, Rex?'

Rex was still staring at the claw where his hand
should have been, barely able to believe what he was seeing. He looked up as Van Kleiss loomed over him.

‘These abilities of yours, Rex, they're really quite remarkable. I mean, don't get me wrong, these …
toys
of yours are all well and good, but that's not why I took your nanites. Do you want to know why I took them, Rex?'

‘You're going to tell me anyway,' Rex replied.

‘I took your nanites because they will let me absorb other nanites.' His face twisted into a wicked grin. ‘I'm going to do you a favour, Rex. I'm going to do your job for you. I'm going to travel the world, curing Evos. And with each Evo I cure, the more powerful I will become! Nothing will be able to stop me.
Nothing
. What do you have to say about that?'

‘Sorry,' Rex shrugged. ‘Wasn't listening. I was doing something else.'

‘Doing what?'

Rex grinned. ‘
This
.'

A thick vine snaked up from the floor at Van Kleiss' feet and wrapped around his legs. With a sharp
yank
it pulled him through the floor.

Rex stumbled down from the bed and turned to
face Biowulf and Breach. He raised Van Kleiss' claw and pointed it at the villains. ‘Now,' he said, swallowing back the pain. ‘Let's see what else this thing can do.'

D
R
H
OLIDAY PULLED OUT
her desk drawers and shook the contents into a plastic bag. Most of the equipment was owned by Providence, but the drawers were where she kept her own personal belongings. When they were empty, she stacked the drawers on top of the desk, picked up the bag, and made for the door.

White Knight's face filled the view screen before her. His eyes went briefly to the bag. ‘You're not seriously going through with this?' he asked. ‘What about all your work?'

‘I'll keep working,' Holiday said. ‘Just not here. And not for you.'

‘What you do here is important,' White Knight reminded her.

‘And what about Rex? Isn't he important? After everything he's done, you really expect me just to abandon him?'

The door to the lab slid open and Agent Six
strode in. Dr Holiday gripped her bag tighter. ‘Don't even think about trying to stop me, Six,' she warned.

‘Wouldn't dream of it,' Six told her. ‘I just came to tell White Knight something.'

‘Oh?' said White Knight. ‘And what's that?'

Six turned to the screen. ‘I quit.'

‘What? But you can't quit!' White Knight gasped.