Reboot

Chapter 17

As the troops prepared for battle, Mayhem took a moment to seek out Watevra. She seemed to be having an argument with her new king over whether or not he'd be going with the rest of the group. Mayhem cleared her throat to get their attention. Watevra gave her a grateful look for the interruption; it seemed neither of them was getting anywhere. "Your Majesty," she greeted Bruce. "If I might have a word with my queen in private?"

"Yeah, fine," he grumbled, and turned to leave. "And I'm going!" Watevra huffed at his retreating back, giving up.

"I understand your concerns, my queen, but I'm sure he'll be fine," Mayhem said, tone wry and amused.

"Ugh, why's he gotta be so stubborn?" Watevra grumped, then sighed and rubbed at her face. "What did you need to talk about, Sweet?"

"You remember what Sirius told you, about that cop?"

Watevra did remember. She remembered that haughty demeanor as he detailed everything he'd done to Alterra during his presidency, as if he were boasting, but under that calm and cool exterior she could feel the guilt roiling deep within. He hadn't been boasting- he'd been warning her, trying to tell her he was the last person she ought to trust as an advisor.

Which had had the opposite effect and made her trust him all the more, much to his confusion.

"I do," she finally said. "What about it?"

"I met him. It's true."

Watevra wilted. "His face...?"

"Drawn on, just like Sirius said."

"Oh, the poor dear..." She straightened again. "Then I suppose it's just as well we've been working on finding a way to restore him. I'll have a talk with Good Cop when they get back." She hoped the officer would be amenable to the offer- Sirius was nearly desperate in his desire to make things right again. "And bring Dangervest to me too, when you have him."

"Of course, my queen." Mayhem saluted and left again.

They waited for Systar's troops to fly out and distract the raptors, then Benny flew their ship back out into space. Emmet paced for a few minutes, ignoring Bruce and Bad Cop as they bickered. "So what's the plan?" Lucy asked, reaching for his hand as he passed by her again. Emmet chewed his lip thoughtfully.

"I think we'll have to knock him out."

That earned him a few surprised looks. "Thought you didn't like getting violent?" Bad Cop asked.

"I don't," Emmet agreed, and sighed. "But I think that's the only thing that's going to work. Rex... Rex might have started as a version of me from an alternate future, but he's been steadily changing since he tricked me into causing Armomageddon." Bad Cop gave him a startled look.

"You from an alternate future?"

Emmet winced. "Right, you weren't there for that explanation..." He took a deep breath. "Long story short, this isn't actually my first time being to Systar- last time, when I left to rescue my friends, I went alone. I almost didn't make it. The very, very first time I tried...? I didn't. My ship got destroyed, and I got trapped, alone, for years, and became Rex." Bad Cop seemed thoughtful. "I'm sorry I lied to you about that when you came to find me a few days ago, but I didn't know what to tell you that wouldn't sound absolutely insane."

"But you think he's been changing since then- becoming his own person?"

Emmet nodded. "I think perhaps my knee-jerk answer has been slowly becoming the truth."

"But why do we have to knock him out?" Unikitty asked.

"I don't think he actually sleeps," Emmet chuckled. "Pretty sure he's been surviving on energy drinks and catnaps for a few years now. It's probably how he's fought the brainwashing effects of Systar for so long. But it means he's fighting this change, too. I can't say I understand why; it's a chance for him to have a happy ending..."

"But if he be unconscious, then he can't fight it any more," Metalbeard mused, catching on.

"And whatever alterations that still need to take place can happen uninterrupted." Emmet nodded.

"That's my hope, at any rate..."

"You better hurry and make a Plan B just in case," Benny called back, "cause we're there."