Need For Speed Racer

But my personal headcannon for these two is that their relationship is a really close platonic partnership. I love them as best friends.

I don't know why, but I've always kinda seen Rex as asexual. When he's 18, he's shown picking up his little brother from school and hanging out with him instead of using his limited free time to persue anyone. When bringing up memories of him, his family never mentions any potential partners or that he was a "ladies man". And as an adult, he seems too absorbed in his mission to be interested in dating. Romance just isn't really a part of his character.

And I love to think of Minx as a bisexual baddie who can pull anyone. She's hot and she knows it and she likes to use her feminine charm and beauty as an asset when obtaining information for missions. That's why her code name is "minx". But sometimes she get's tired of the objectification. It has its uses, but it's exhausting when coming from a coworker and not a target. Because she's so much more than her looks. She's an engineer and mechanic and expert in weapons systems and defense mechanisms and a damn good agent.

So, I like to think maybe sometime when Rex has first joined the CIB, Minx is getting ready for an information extraction mission at a party or something when Rex knocks on her door. She opens it and when she sees him she expects the reaction she usually gets from her male colleagues when she looks like this, a stutter stopped brain short circuit followed by a mildly offensive "compliment". But Rex just looks at her and goes, "Hey, I'm going over the timing ratios for the motor on the new car they're getting ready for me and I'm looking for a second opinion. The Inspector told me you were the one to come to."

After that, they slowly become each other's safe spaces. Minx becomes the first person Rex feels he can talk to about cars and have them keep up with him outside of his family. And Rex becomes someone Minx can hang around without having to constantly be worried about how she is perceived. They find comfort in each other in the chaos of their lives, and it becomes the foundation of their partnership.

Rex would have probably heard the news that there was a new Racer boy while he was still racing with Uniron, before the trial and him faking his death. So, I think Spritle screaming and slamming the door in his face probably was the first time he ever met his youngest brother.

But think about this, Rex finds out his Mom had another child during the first year he's with his evil slimey sponsor team and is seeing the underbelly of the racing world for the first time, and all he can think is, "Oh no. Another kid set up for failure to follow him into this hell." Because of course he's going to, he's a Racer. If he's anything like Speed, if he's anything like Rex, of course he's going to end up right where Rex himself is right now. And it was already hard enough when he thought it was only one brother he had to protect from this fate, but now there's another, and he has to do something to create a future for his brothers where there wasn't one for him. So even if he know it will break his family's hearts in the end, he whistle blows on his team, goes to trial and rats out on all the crime he's witnessed. Then, he fakes his death to stop anyone from going after his family in retaliation, joins the CIB as an alias, and becomes Racer X.

Now years later, the racing world is much the same as it was for him, but now Speed's embroiled in it too, just like he knew he would be. How much longer till it gets all three of the Racer boys? He's still never met his youngest brother, but in his gut he knows it's only a matter of time before it gets him too.

He's standing on the doorstep of his old family home with the Inspector, knowing this is a bad idea, when a young boy and a monkey open the door. Before either of them can get a word out, the boy screams and slams the door in their faces. And Rex realizes, this is his youngest brother, the one he never met. They're invited in by Pops, and Rex is standing there silently as the Inspector explains why they're there. His eyes keep drifting to Speed, to see how he's handling the information and to etch into his brain the young man his kid brother has turned into. But in equal parts his gaze keeps turning to the young boy hiding behind the counter with his pet monkey.

He's not sure what he was expecting his youngest brother to be like, maybe a carbon copy of Speed at that age, but he's clearly not. He obviously likes sweets, is a bit suspicious and a lot dramatic, but he seems like a good kid. He's following the conversation as well as all of the adults in the room, like he understand the intricate working of the racing world, and of course he does, he's a Racer, it's in his blood. But Rex doesn't see that spark in his eye he recognizes in Speed and his own when being in a race is brought up. And something unclenches in his chest as he realizes maybe this youngest brother isn't a racecar driver like he and Speed are, maybe he'll still be safe from the underbelly that swallowed him and is attempting to swallow Speed now.