The Suite Life X

45 - Falling Apart And Coming Together

With Lucien...

The future new ruler of the world was quite...annoyed, to say the least.

It had been going so well, too. He'd managed to snag the data of all three of those brats with none of them ever being the wiser. Kick and scream as they might, he had already won in that regard.

It hadn't taken too much prying on his end to learn about Black's betrayal, either. Honestly, given the violent nature of their previous altercation, he wasn't too surprised. 

Not that it mattered. If he ever wanted his brats back again, he'd heel soon enough. He didn't plan on letting him live long enough to reveal anything major anyway.

No, the problems started midway through the airship's launch. Apparently, one of the workers had begun to act strangely before starting a fight. The launch of the ship had to be delayed while he went down to solve the issue himself. 

He might've let this go had these incidents started reproducing themselves. His clones hadn't stood a chance.

At least the new Mavericks were in place. So long as nothing more serious happened, The Hunters would be way too occupied to take advantage of any perceived weaknesses.

Gate still seemed docile enough at least, but the more he thought about it, the less he trusted the older scientist. A troubling thought had been occurring to him as of late...

What if he was betraying him?

---

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this little visit, Lucien?"

The bearded man stared down his so-called "master", outwardly perturbed yet inwardly amused.

This should be good...

The former construction robot, on the other hand, shook with a barely restrained fury. "Yes. I want to know why my men are suddenly starting fights with each other. Perhaps YOU have some idea, Isoc?!"

"Why would I?" He answered smoothly.  "It's not like I'm the one that has three separate scientists working on that so-called 'ultimate body' of yours at any given time."

Lucien shoved him against the wall. "Don't you back-sass me, you miserable old fool. Realize that I can end you in an instant!"

"I'm sure you could. Assuming you're even the real you, that is. But then you wouldn't get all the enhancements you need to keep stable." A smirk. "At least, physically stable..."

Lucien's empty fist morphed into a bigger, clawed one that Isoc remembered from that boy back when he was around before denting the wall next to his head with it.

"I am PERFECTLY stable..." After a beat, he realized what he was doing, removed his fist, loosened his grip, and let him down, forcing himself back into a facade of composure. "Either way, if you want to live, you will continue to do your job. Where is Gate now?"

"Off at the shark's lair getting repaired."

"Hmph." The villain then walked off.

"Imbecile," Isoc huffed once he was out of earshot. "...and they called me insane back in my day."

A subtle yet just barely knocking came from his station's closet.

"You can come out, Gate."

Stepping out from the midst of the machinery carefully enough to avoid colliding with the shelves he'd been crushed up against, the researcher looked unsure, as if he expected their enemy to come storming back around the corner.

The elder watched as he slowly but surely let his guard down.

"He fell for it?"

"Of course. All of his kind do. Far too obsessed with their own egos and ambitions to see the bigger picture. He lacks the deft hand needed to steer the future in the right direction."

"With all due respect, how do you plan to do that, Master?"

He chuckled in response. "Please, call me Doctor, Gate. I insist, and  it'll be easy enough to show you once my son...falls back in line. For now, we have some work to do. Follow me."

And off the two walked to continue their plan...