Bully Trouble

“If this is some kind of trap or something, I will find you.”  And he was off.

“Do you realize this address?  Livian and Rag live there!  How could Deadcross go there?  It doesn’t make sense!”  Why did so many things have to not make sense?  Could Deadcross be friends with Rag?

That was a predicament, one Lux had no idea about.  Now, he was worried for himself more that Livian.  Atlas didn't think he would lie about something like this, would he?  He knew Deadcross at least visited; he didn't know why.

He didn’t know if he’d use it or not but he didn’t want Lux keeping it.  For all he knew, it was dangerous just to hold it.  He glanced at the lid but didn’t notice anything just yet.

“After what you did, you shouldn’t be surprised or upset that I don’t trust you.”

Wait a minute.

“What?  Is this some kind of joke?  Why would Deadcross be there?  What are you trying to pull?”

The only thing that surprised Lux was the fact Atlas had asked for his help in the first place.  He could at least be glad that Lux followed through on his promise; many times he debated whether he should be building this gun or not.

Then, Atlas's demeanor changed.  Lux didn't see what was wrong; why would Atlas suddenly think he was joking?  What had happened?

“Why am I such an idiot?  I can’t trust you.  How can I trust this device to work right?  How can I trust this information?”

"What?"  Great, not this.  He should have expected it, but it still upset him.  Atlas asked for his help, now he wasn't even trusting him.  He shouldn't have been surprised; he had done some awful things.  Even so, he had spent a lot of time on this, and he didn't want it to go to waste.  He wasn't going to use it.

"Come on, I slaved over this gun!" Lux complained.  He huffed, grabbing a pen from his pocket and writing the address on the lid.  "Just take it anyway.  I don't care if you use it or not."

“I know, I just…  I don’t want to start a mess if I don’t have to.  If I wait, it’ll be self defense.  If I go after him, it’ll be assault.  I don’t need to add to my criminal record.  Not when I’m going to be marrying Livian.”  That would be the worst.

“I’m sure he’ll attack me again some time.  He seems to enjoy it.  And I’ve got other things to worry about, like finding a house.”

"You make a good point."  One that Lux couldn't argue against.  He didn't want to push the destruction robot; he had before, and he still had some scars to show it.

“Tonight?”  He wasn’t sure about that.  He had forgot about this deal and was worried word of it would upset Livian.  He didn’t want her to break off the engagement.  “I don’t know.  This is more of a… just in case thing.  I don’t need to look for trouble.”

Lux frowned.  Not that he needed Atlas to take care of Deadcross, but it would be convenient for everyone, not just him.  Not that he could force Atlas to do anything; still, he could try and convince him.

“Shouldn’t?  I don’t like the sou-”  Wait.  He said that, didn’t he?  “Yes.  Engagement.  To Livian.”  As if clarification was needed.  “Too bad this thing can’t disable her mom until it’s over.”

At that, Lux actually gave a small laugh.  "That is too bad.  Unfortunately for you, this gun doesn't work on living things.  I tested that out, too."  Should he have mentioned that?  It probably came out wrong.  "If you accidentally hit a human with this, it won't effect them at all.  A robot, however?  It'll turn them off.  Simple as that."

“Oh.”  The device to disable Deadcross.  “That.”  He had forgotten all about it.  He looked around, then looked back to Lux when he was satisfied that no one was there.  “It only disables, right?” he asked softly anyway.  “If it kills him, Livian’s gonna kill me.  That’d be a terrible way to end an engagement.”

Lux had been looking all day for Atlas.  It wasn't until the night fell upon Metro City that he found him, probably returning home from the RFT.  If he hadn't made a deal with the destruction robot almost a month before, one that dealt with getting rid of Deadcross, he wouldn't have even considered seeing the destruction robot ever again.  Even now, he was reluctant to approach him.

“And no one else must know about this either.”

“Fine.  He won’t know.”  He didn’t like seeking help from Lux at all, but he knew he was the only one who could do it; the only one who would.  It was necessary.  He had to protect Livian, no matter what it took.

“It’ll still be good to know, so I can avoid those areas.  Then again, it might not be a good idea to let him know I know something.  He might see it as threatening.”  Deadcross needed to be dealt with.  There was nothing else to do.

“Have to chance it.  Not as risky as letting him roam free to kill someone.  Like with Artemis.”  Maybe he could make another deal to have Rag take care of it.

Lux shrugged.  He didn't know if that would work, but he also didn't know what else to add.  Atlas could probably make something work, considering he was taking the time to bother catching Deadcross.

“I don’t know.  Drop him off at the police maybe.  To the ARRS.  He’s probably wanted for something with what he does.  In any case, I’m sure they’ll be glad for me not exacting revenge myself.”

“Then can you put something together from that?  And make sure it only disables.  Livian’ll have my head otherwise.”  Not to mention the messy business with the police that would result.

“Well, not anymore.”  Did he like it when he was doing it?  He wasn’t sure.  It didn’t seem accurate to describe what he felt as happiness.  He did feel energized, like he was hyper.

“Yeah, I’ve noticed that too.  Unfortunately.”

Maybe that hadn't been the best thing to note.  However, it was true; pictures were floating around social media of the two of them all the time.  At least Atlas seemed to know that already.