Alex – Heart Of The Vanguard

Me: "Why do you have Goulash on so early anyway?" I asked to try and change the subject to remove the awkward silence.

Wrex: "Well, I woke up early this morning. Got this on ready for lunch, and probably dinner too. Just thought I'd leave it to simmer until then."

Me: "Ohh... Fair enough. Where do you get your supplies from?"

Wrex: "Well, either Sarah would send stuff my way, or I'd make orders online and get the delivered here, put in a designated spot and once the delivery driver has gone I then go out and grab it."

Me: "Ahh..." Annoyingly, I couldn't think of anything else to say and the awkward silence quickly returned. Though thankfully, it didn't take him long to break it. Wrex looked beside him to my pile of armour, picking up my closed helmet and looking straight at it in his lap, using his hand to wipe some of the plaster dust from the wall off of it.

Wrex: "Do you not find this claustrophobic?"

Me: "The helmet? I did a lil' to start with. But I quickly got use to it. Why? Tempted to get one?"

Wrex: "Noo, no I do not, I've done plenty of months of zero atmo training let me assure you and I didn't like being trapped back then either."

Me: " 'Zero atmo' as in zero atmosphere?"

Wrex: "Indeed. When I was younger, we regularly travelled using our star ships. Regular refresher training was required for zero gravity-zero atmosphere maintenance and combat training. The armours we wore made me claustrophobic as hell and sick to my stomach."

Me: "But you're not 'trapped' in this, you feel unleashed, it's amazing!"

Wrex: "If you say so. But I just don't see myself getting in one. As clunky as it is, I like my old armour."

Me: "Well, unless we find Sarah, then this might be the only Mark 3 armour to ever exist anyway, even if you did want one."

Wrex: "Surely yours could be copied?, You know, if needed?"

Me: "Yeah probably, the plans are probably saved somewhere in there..." I pointed at the helmet, "...But I wouldn't just go to anyone to have it built for you."

Wrex: "I don't want one."

Me: "Uh-huh." I winked at him.

Wrex: "I-!" He growled slightly in playful frustration, shaking his head as well, making me chuckle lightly.

Me: "Nah... I'd only trust Sarah, Something about her... Special. I liked her."

Wrex: "You mean, you 'liked her' liked her? Orr...?"

Me: "What? Noo... Not like that. She's a friend, I like her as a friend." I replied defensively.

Wrex: "Oh, I just wasn't sure if... Since your fiancee, you still only like women."

Me: "I don't, well, I thought I di- *sigh* I really don't know anymore."

Wrex: "Sorry, I didn't meant to pry."

Me: "Plus, you know, she's Human, I'm not."

Wrex: "What's wrong with that?"

Me: "I'm a Dragon? She's a Human?..."

Wrex: "And? If you like her and she likes you, then go with it. If it doesn't matter that you're the same gender then it shouldn't matter if you're different species either."

I raised an eyebrow at him,

Wrex: "What?"

Me: "You make it sound like you approve of animal sex!"

Wrex: "I- What?! No! Why would you even-?! You know what I mean! Humans are the dominant species of Earth, Draconians are the Dominant species of our planet. And please don't think of us Draconians as animals, we're just..."

Me: "... Different?"

Wrex: "Yeah."

Me: "I know, I'm one of you now anyway. It's just weird. Like you say, Humans are the dominant species and that's all I've ever known, so to me anything else is an animal. So I kinda count myself and the rest of the Dragons as animals, no offence. I'm just still getting used to the fact that Dragons are aliens, just a weird concept."

Wrex: "But you're use to being one already though?"

Me: "Yeah, I've been use to that bit for a while now, but now I'm an alien on my own world. I can't go home, I can't even have a home, I can't have a family, I can't have a life-" Wrex suddenly, and without warning, grabbed my hand.

Wrex: "Hey! Alex, I know there are some people that have gone through this procedure and not made it out the other side. The fact you're here and now... You're lucky. Make the most of a bad situation and live your life to the fullest that you can. And if and the end of all of it and you have no home to go to? It might not be much but I can open my doors to you." He replied gesturing around the room. His offer and charming smile actually made me smile in return.

Me: "You're such are charmer aren't you..." I raised our linked hands, "...does this, err-?" But before I could finish he yanked his hand from mine.

Wrex: "Sorry, didn't meam to make you feel uncomfortable."

Part of me wanted to say that it wasn't ok, because it kinda did make me feel uncomfortable, more because of the shock of it. But part of me wanted to say that it didn't actually make me uncomfortable either, because it was actually quite welcoming. The only problem was that I was too scared to admit it because I was scared to get that close to him already, I mean, he seemed alright, maybe he'd make a good friend? It couldn't hurt... But I knew nothing about him... So let's work on that...

Me: "Tell me about yourself Wrex, I'm an open book to you, you know my history, but I know nothing about you."

Wrex: "It's a long story."

Me: "We got time, Sora will still be another hour or so yet."

Wrex: "Ok, so what do you want to know?"

Me: "Anything. Everything. Like where did you live on your homeworld? What was your homeworld like? What were your parents like? You said Skylen is your step brother? How did that happen? Any other siblings?"

Wrex: "Ok, my planet is beautiful, only slightly smaller than Earth, slightly more land mass versus sea. It's nowhere near as over populated, a population of about 7 million when I was last there. There's no skyscrapers anywhere, apart from the royal palace the tallest buildings are only about 5 floors high. Meaning that it leaves a lot of beautiful landscapes and uninhabited areas. Everyone in my home city and the capital of my planet, Axis Mundis is friendly. And no, no other siblings. My father was Fleet Admiral Zeehn, a highly decorated soldier in the main Vanguard military, use to be Strike Team Animal's leader too. He retired just as I had gained my own Admiral standing... He passed away, a mere week before Reikon was banished to Iceland."

Me: "I sorry." I said sincerely.

Wrex: "Don't be, it's fine, I miss him, but I'm long since over it."

Me: "What about your mum?"

Wrex: "Well my mother, Carina, she was actually on my father's strike team in their younger days. She was actually a thousand years or so younger. So when my father left the Strike Team after his promotion, she was actually offered a role as an Honour Guard, one of the thrones loyal protectors."

Me: "Is she still with us?"

Wrex: "To be honest, I don't know. Since hiding on Earth, I haven't had any news from home. Even if she has... You know... In that time, I'm not sure I'd want to know." I decided it was best to move the subject on...

Me: "So where does Skylen fit into this little family of yours?"

Wrex: "My parents found him, when mother was still carrying me, only just. They were on parental leave, on a walk around the palace grounds. And there he was, his egg just sat nestled in the grass between a bench and a hedge. They tried to take him to the authorities, even the hospital, to find out if anyone had lost or misplaced an egg, as if that was such an easy thing to do... But no one came forward, so they took him in. He's actually slightly older than me, hatched 4 days before me. So yeah they kept him and fell in love with him as well as me."

Me: "So has he always been an asshole? Or is that a recent thing?"

Wrex: "He's always been a bit short tempered and overbearing yes. But since losing Reikon, he's just constantly in a foul mood."

Me: "What actually happened to this 'Reikon'?"

Wrex: "You mean how she died?"

Me: "I mean the whole story. You said she got banished here? Why? What did she do?"

Wrex: "Ai yai yai... Where to begin... 12 years before I left the Vanguard, the current Queen had fallen ill, the throne was was up in the air as to which of her daughters was the next heir, Princess Arisu or Princess Reikon. This caused a surprising amount of civil unrest, which actually escalated into a civil war in the space of just 4 years. Two factions, one for each Princess. The Vanguard and it's supporters were on the side of Arisu. But the Insurrectionists, they were on were on Reikon's side, all because she wanted to change so many rules. In fairness, she did want what was best for the people, whereas Arisu didn't want to change a thing, wanted to rule as her mother did before her. This made the decision of the queen mother very difficult indeed. It turns out the Insurrectionists were actually being riled up by Reikon herself, a leader behind the scenes, in attempt to dissuade Arisu from the throne."

Me: "Reikon? The Princess was in charge of the revolt?"

Wrex: "Indeed, It backfired on her though, myself and Skylen caught Reikon in the act and I insisted on turning her in. I've had many years to think on that decision now, and I still don't know what I would have done if I had the opportunity to do it again."

Me: "You regret turning her in?"

Wrex: "I don't know."

Me: "Well, what else could you have done?"

Wrex: "Could have killed her... But then I would have been in a lot of trouble, and Skylen probably would have killed me too. But she was also a friend of mine too, so I couldn't have done that anyway."

Me: "So turning her in was the only option?"

Wrex: "No. I could have turned a blind eye, like Slylen wanted me to."

Me: "Then why didn't you?"

Wrex: "Because I couldn't do that either. I wanted to do the right thing. The Princess had done wrong, I wanted her to stand up for what she had done, maybe even undo the damage she had done. I just regret that she ended up dead because of my decision."

Me: "Wait, what? Dead? How?"

Wrex: "Once I took her back to the royal palace to stand trial, Skylen and Reikon turned violent, believing that I wasn't helping them and going back on my word. So they demoted Skylen and Banished Reikon to Earth, bound to Human form with none of her powers."

Me: "Oh shit... I bet they weren't happy."

Wrex: "Well I can't speak for Reikon, I never saw her again after the trial, not alive anyway. Skylen on the other hand resented me, disowned myself and mother. For 12 years I kept tabs on him, then he goes and pullls a stupid move... He sneaks into the palace, fuck knows how, no doubt Reikon showed him some secret access ways in more than likely... Anyway, he stole something incredibly powerful and escaped here, to Earth."

Me: "So what has he been doing up until his recent crap with SkyTech?"

Wrex: "I don't know. For years I kept my ear to the ground, making sure he wasn't getting into trouble. His name might have cropped up now and then, any wars in history, he might try and take a side to try and use their armies for his own devices. But alas, wars end and he'd go back into hiding or I'd chase him there. I got myself properly involved though in your World War 2. As soon as I had gotten wind of the Nazis experimenting on extraterrestrial DNA and the word 'Dragon' was thrown around, I stepped in. Introduced myself to the Americans and I fought alongside them in blacks ops missions into German territory. We eventually uncovered him and the operation at a facility run by a pair of American defectors called-"

Me: "-Johnson and Eve."

Wrex: "I forgot you know this bit from Sarah. So yeah, basically Skylen was there... I was so close to him. I nearly got him..." He shook his head, "...but he slipped through my fingers once more and I haven't seen him again since. But we got what we came for and the facility and all it's research was destroyed, so it was a partial success."

Me: "What did you go there for again sorry?" Wrex looked slightly perplexed, then momentarily shocked before continuing.

Wrex: "I mean we went there to destroy the facility, we succeeded." He shifted uneasily, finally placing my helmet back into the pile... He was lying, I could tell...

Me: "So is this what made you eventually go to Sarah?"

Wrex: "As I say, I liked to keep ear to the ground. I heard enough to know about what SkyTech were doing. There are people out there that aren't so stupid and have seen SkyTech doing some odd things, also heard things that some disgruntled employees have let slip... One of things I heard was that chips involved were produced by Jarvie Industries. So I looked her up, did some research and found out what her parents had done and that she was doing her own digging as well."

Me: "So you just went straight up to talk to her?" He chuckled slightly,

Wrex: "Indeed. Scared the bejesus out of her first time she saw me..." He laughed to himself some more, "...but after I briefly explained, she quickly understood. And after I told her the story in detail that I just told you, that's when she asked me to help."

Me: "But you declined?..." His head dropped slightly,

Wrex: "I-... Yes... to some extent. For what she wanted me to do anyway, I wanted to help, I really did. But I couldn't put myself out there again. So I tried helping in other ways. I gave her materials I had either had in my possession or claimed over the centuries, I gave her this armour, believing I was done-"

Me: "But I guess you're not done? I mean you were wearing it earlier right?"

Wrex: "Well when you showed up, I wanted to make sure you didn't kill me from the off"

Me: "Oh." I replied, turning away from him, my attempt of trying to hide my disappointment of him still not wanting to help failed miserably.

Wrex: "What?"

Me: "Nothing, don't worry." I replied without looking at him. There was a few moments silence before Wrex spoke again.

Wrex: "So why don't you tell me about your life?"

Me: "You already know my life, what else can I tell you?"

Wrex: "I've read your file, but your file doesn't show me the details about you."

Me: "The details about me relate to my old life. They're nothing to do with me now, eh?"

Wrex: "You feel like a different person, but it's those details that make you who you are. Don't forget that."

Me: "So much for the Dragoness that was stood in front of you being a completely new and different person."

Wrex: "I- ahh, erm, come on, you know what I mean Alex."

Me: "You really don't want to know about my old life, I promise you."

Wrex: "But what if I do?"

Me: "Why?"

Wrex: "Just because I want to get to know who you are as a person."

Me: "Ok, you really want to know me? I had a beautiful fiancee that dropped me as soon as she was told I was dead. I could count all my true friends on one hand, Jason Knight and Jamie Little, chances of me ever seeing them again are next to none. I had no hobbies besides working on cars. I was always a loser at school, always hung back in the crowds, didn't smoke, barely drank and was just living day to day and trying to to take the safe and easy path through life... I'm no war hero, I didn't come from some fueding families, or highly ranked soldier parents, I'm nothing special. So please don't take this the wrong way but I'm really not worth your time to try to get to know."

Wrex: "You think you have to be someone special for me to like or get to know you?"

Me: "I'm just more confused as to why you'd even want to get to know me?"

Wrex: "I... just..." He trailed off and dropped his head slightly, "...nevermind."

Me: "I'm sorry Wrex, I don't mean to be an arse. I just don't think I'm worth your time."

Wrex: "It's fine, I get it." He replied sounding slightly miffed and awkward silence appeared once more... I made a quiet but long exhale, now feeling slightly guilty about upsetting him.

Me: "What shall we do while we wait for Sora?"

Wrex: "I'm not sure, don't mind."

Me: "Well how do you pass the time normally?"

Wrex: "Well, I stay in shape and work out, cook, TV and films."

Me: "Annndd...? that's it?!"

Wrex: "Err, pretty much, yeah? Why?"

Me: "Sounds like a very dull life."

Wrex: "Coming from the one who just told me that she use to choose the safe and eaasy path through life?... But maybe I'm happy with a dull life."

I sighed, leaned forwards, grabbed the TV remote and sat back.

Me: "Well I'm picking at least." I stated flicking the TV on and started cycling through the channels.

__________

12:14

-

Pepper Potts: "Let's get this show on the road." She strongly suggested as she bent down to pick up Tony Stark's suit jacket.

-

The film Iron Man played out on TV, we had only missed the first couple of minutes but I had decided that that was what we were watching...

-

Tony Stark: "You know, it's actually not that bad. Even I don't think I'm Iron Man." He mumbled through gritted teeth with his statement cards in his moth as Pepper assisted him in getting his jacket on.

Pepper Potts: "You're not Iron Man." She casually stated as she helped Tony Stark tidy himself up.

Tony Stark: "Am so."

Pepper Potts: "You're not."

Tony Stark: "All right, suit yourself... You know, if I were Iron Man, I'd have this girlfriend who knew my true identity. She'd be a wreck, 'cause she'd always be worrying that I was going to die, yet so proud of the man I'd become. She'd be wildly conflicted, which would only make her more crazy about me."

-

Me: "Would be cool though, right?"

Wrex: "What? Having the girlfriend bit?"

Me: "Well n- yeah, that as well I suppose. But no, I mean, having a super awesome high tech suit..." I gestured over to my armour, "...but to actually be a hero that people will recognise and appreciate, rather than having to hide from them. And to have an alter ego, so that I could still walk among everyone else without issue."

Wrex momentarily looked at me analytically before replying and looking back at the screen.

Wrex: "Yeah, I guess so..."

-

Rhodey addresses the audience in the room made entirely of journalists and press of all sorts from all different media providers,

James Rhodes: "And now, Mr. Stark has prepared a statement. He will NOT be taking any questions." Rhodes steps to one side and away from the podium to allow Tony to take centre stage.

Tony lifts up the cards, making no attempt to hide that what was being said was scripted.

Tony Stark: "Thank you. Been a while since I was in front of you. I figure I'll stick to the cards this time... *sigh*... There's been speculation that I was involved in the events that occurred on the freeway and the rooftop-"

One of the reporters, a pretty and confident blonde butts in, cutting off Tony mid speech and pulling him from his speech,

Christine Everhart: "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, but do you honestly expect us to believe that that was a bodyguard in a suit, that conveniently appeared, despite the fact that you-"

Tony Stark: "I know that it's confusing. It is one thing to question the official story, and another thing entirely to make wild accusations, or insinuate that I'm a superhero."

Christine Everhart: "I never said you were a superhero."

Tony momentarily pauses looking slightly fearful but quickly into a daydreamy,

Tony Stark: "Didn't? Well, good, because that would be outlandish and... fantastic... I- err... I'm just not the hero type. Clearly. With this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I've made... largely... public-" Rhodes leans over to whisper into Stark's ear.

James Rhodes: "Just stick to the cards man."

Tony Stark: "Yeah, okay, yeah..." Tony raises the cards once more to continue on his premeditated speech, "...The truth is..." Tony pauses, then lowers the cards, clearly not interested in reading on... "...I am Iron Man."

The entire press conference erupts into a frenzy of stand questioning as Rhodes turns to Stark as if to say 'Really...?' and the instrumental version of Black Sabbath's 'Iron Man' starts playing out as the end credits and graphics started playing out.

-

Me: "I mean, come on! How cool is this film?!" I exclaimed.

Wrex: "Y'know I have seen it before, right?"

Me: "That doesn't answer my question." I replied mockingly, he smiled before replying,

Wrex: "Yes. It's very cool... You love the whole super hero thing don't you?"

Me: "I might have seen this film about a thousand times... so no, I won't deny that. Why?"

Wrex: "The real world isn't so nice or accepting of such of a thing, you know that right?"

Me: "That's because the world hasn't met a real super hero yet."

Wrex: "Ha ha! And you think you'll fulfill that role first?" I have to to admit, what he said kinda knocked me back a bit.

Me: "I-... Yeah... No, you're right. It's a stupid dream." I think he realised what he had done though quite quickly and hurried a retort to try and rectify my mood.

Wrex: "Woah, hey, I didn't mean to put you down, I'm sorry. Don't listen to me, don't listen to anyone that ever doubts you, you know what you can do. And although you won't be announcing to the world that you're Iron Man, if and WHEN you take down a super secret evil worldwide organisation, that's super hero stuff right there." I side glanced at him, feigned a quick smile then looked back to the screen as the graphics of exploded view diagrams of Tony Starks armour motioned around on the screen, accompanied still by the 'Iron Man' track... Then the retort I could use hit me as I watched the little teaser of the War Machine armour briefly appear scroll around on the screen, an evil smile crept slightly across my face...

Me: "Yeah, you're right, to be a proper super hero, you need a side kick." I glanced at him again, just long enough for it to sink in, the moment his jaw dropped.

Wrex: "Side kick?! You've got some ne-!"

Me: "Shh! You're stepping on Nick Fury." I quickly replied, cutting him off with the perfect timing of the music and creds cutting off and the scene changing back to Tony Stark entering his mansion.

-

Tony enters the front hall of his mansion to a darkened room,

Tony Stark: "Jarvis!"

JARVIS: "Welcome home, Sir." The AI's voice replied, gargled, before cutting out completely.

Nick Fury: " 'I am Iron Man.' You think you're the only superhero in the world? Mr. Stark, you've become part of a bigger universe. You just don't know it yet." Nick's voice called from across the room, his appearance obscured by the lack of light as he gazed out of the cliff top view a very large window presented.

Tony Stark: "Who the hell are you?"

Nick turns and step closer and into the light of a nearby lamp,

Nick Fury: "Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D."

Tony Stark: "Ahh..."

Nick Fury: "I'm here to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative."

-

Me: "And THAT, is the start of the Avengers... Well, Captain America and Captain Marvel technically started it according to time line, but this was the first PROPER Marvel film released." Wrex raised an eyebrow at me,

Wrex: "You're a proper Marvel nerd aren't you?"

Me: "Is that a bad thing?"

Wrex: "Well, no... But-"

Me: "Good." I said with an over the top grin.

Wrex: "BUT... What was this about a sidekick?"

Me: "Nothing at all,..." I smirked "...soo, that's got to be cool though, eh?, Fighting in a team... Not all alone." I replied nudging his arm. He cocked his eyebrow again while giving me a sidways glance again, but didn't say a word... 'Bugger, that didn't work.'

Wrex: "So... What do you want to do now?"

Me: "Well, not a lot else to do is there... Have you got Netflix?"

Wrex: "Of course."

Me: "Rick and Morty it is then."

Wrex: "What's Rick and Morty?" My mouth dropped in shock as I turned back to him mid scrolling on the TV.

Me: "Oh my god, where have you been the past 10 years?! I'm English and even I've heard of it and seen it."

Wrex: "There's only so much TV I can watch."

Me: "That's it, gotta introduce you to it." And I continued to search for it on Netflix.

__________

16:34

-

Rick Sanchez: "Just kidding! My new catchphrase is, 'I don't give a [beep]'. #Just shake that ass, bitch, and let me see whatcha got, just shake that ass, bitch, and let me see whatcha got" Roll credits! #Just shake that a-# Roll the credits! Go! #Just shake that ass# That's the end of season one! That's the end, mother [beep]! 'I don't give a [beep]' is my new catchphrase! [Beep] you! That's season one! Boom! Season one up in your face, mother [beep]! Yeah!"

-

Wrex was chuckling still as the credits started rolling,

Me: "You enjoyed that then?" I said with a contented smile.

Wrex: "It was certainly... different, highly amusing."

Me: "Good, we'll watch the other 4 seasons at some point then."

Wrex: "There's more? Good, I look forward to it."

Me: "Another time though, because... Where. The fuck. Is Sora?!..." I said jumping to my feet, "... It's been over 6 hours! She said she'd only be a couple, she should have come back by now!"

Wrex: "Do you know where she went? We could go look for her."

Me: "N-No I... I have a better idea... I can't just sit here, it's constantly bugging me." I stepped to the other side of him and started grabbing my armour but Wrex grabbed my arm, stopping me from putting any of it on.

Wrex: "Whooaa, what's bugging you?"

Me: "Sarah. I've just abandoned her, without a care! She could be dead, or injured, or trapped somewhere. Come on, let's rock."

Wrex: " 'Let's rock'? Seriously?"

Me: "Well yeah, why not? What else should I say?"

Wrex: "Something that maybe doesn't sound so sad?" He mocked.

Me: "Oi! You coming with me or not?"

Wrex: "I still think we should both stay here where it's safe. What about if Sora comes back in the meantime?"

Me: "Well then she can bloody wait. Come on!, Don't be such a pussy, it's Sarah! I can't just leave her! It's doing my head in, I want to know what's happened to her. With or without you." I replied, trying to shake his hand off.

Wrex: "Alex please-" I finally managed to throw his hand off of my arm and continued to grab a piece of my armour.

Me: "I'm not leaving her Wrex. She's my friend. The only one have left right now. I need to be sure, I need to find out what happened to her. If you want to stay here, that's fine, I'll get quicker on my own anyway."

Wrex: "Alex!..." I stopped at the loud outburst as he grabbed my arm once more so I stared at him, annoyed and waiting to hear what he had to say, "...She was my friend too Alex. But you not long got yourself out of there. Cops and crime scene investigators will still be pouring over that place for days. One way or another, she'll be found. Let the heat die down, then we can find out what happened to her, ok?..." My head dropped, like I had severely been told off and put in my place. It made sense, even though I didn't like what I was hearing, he was right.

Wrex: "Come on, come with me..." He said as he got up, taking the upper arm piece of armour that I had in my grasp with his own free hand and placed it gently back onto the pile, then sliding his other hand down my arm to partially grab my hand, "...come on." he said again as he lead me by the hand towards the stairs.

Me: "Where are we going?"

Wrex: "You'll see."

(-Health)