Fraction

Fraction Chapter 36 - Uncontainable Truth

"Well then..." Leo said, "That was a little too close for comfort..." Rosa closed her eyes and said, "When I turn and look, you had better not be grinning." Leo chuckled and replied, "It's a little too late for that. Anyway, aren't you gonna ask me how or why I got here?" He walked over to Edward and poked at his cheek with a finger. "You were obviously monitoring his heart rate and brain waves..." Rosa said, "You immediately rushed here as soon as you realised that he was unconscious." Leo gulped and grabbed Edward's arm. A few seconds passed. Nothing happened. "We're in the clear!" Leo said seriously, "Either he ran out of energy or he finished healing. Whatever the case may be... GIVE THIS MAN A COOKIE!!!" A giant metal spoon flew into Leo's head from behind, sending him face-first into the ground. "Don't say such things with a straight face, DAMN IT!!!" Rosa shouted. Leo got up and scratched his head. "Where did you pull that spoon out from anyway?" he asked with a grin.

"What do we do about THAT guy?" Rosa asked, pointing at the unconscious Rob.E.R.T. lying on the ground. Leo's expression turned serious. "Robert Eligos Ronove Tesla. It's troubling that the Children of the Crystal would have him under contract. This puts a monkey wrench in our plans... or at least, it would have if Edward here hadn't taken him down. Edward's rapid healing ate away at a portion of his skull and his gun arm. If he was the enemy's secret weapon... I suppose we could now consider him... DISARMED-" A foot crashed into his jaw. "AGAIN WITH THE STRAIGHT-FACED PUNS!!!" Rosa shouted. "Go easy on me!" Leo shouted while rubbing his jaw, "Do you have any idea what it's like to dig your way through the ground to another place using just your hands?!" Sapphire groaned and moved. "Looks like our shouting is disturbing her..." Rosa said, "Now, seriously, what do we do with the Porcupine? And NOT ONE MORE lame joke from you. We lose a reader each time you do that!"

"Shut up..." Sapphire tried her best to shout. However, it's quite hard to shout when your brain isn't even completely online. "Okay, don't just stand around." Leo said, "I'll take the kids. You take the Porcupine. We're gonna carry them to our base." Rosa jumped back. "Are you mad?!" she shouted, "This is a golden opportunity to kill our enemy's asset! If we can't contain him with our equipment, he will finish us all off in a flash! Edward had the element of surprise this time... next time, we won't be so lucky. We'll be dead before we hit the ground!"

"I know. I know the risks... but we have to do this... if we CAN contain him, he will be a valuable asset to us later."

"Bullshit! The Porcupine never breaches his contract!"

"His contracts... they're always the same. If we can kill the guy who's supposed to pay him, he will consider the contract voided."

"But that has NEVER happened before-"

"First time for everything..."

"Damn it, Leo. That greed of yours... I hope we don't come to regret it someday..."

"My greed is what fuels me to come up with plans... And it has never lead me astray."

"Fine. Let's go now... there's no telling when this guy might wake up."

With their issues thus temporarily resolved, Leo and Rosa proceeded to lift and carry their respective luggage on their shoulders and began their run back to F.E.A.R. HQ. As they ran, Rosa felt Sapphire squirm a little. "Maybe I hit her a bit too hard..." she thought. Edward was unconscious but breathing. She could feel his heart beating. She looked at Leo. He was grinning. He was always like that. It was as if, no matter how bleak the situation... no matter how many cards were stacked against him... he always saw the way... the way to turn things around... the way out. She had often wondered how he had become like that. Was his intelligence really a product of his greed as he claimed? Or was his greed simply a mask hiding something else... something better... or something worse? By the time she had completed those thoughts, she realized they had already reached the place.