Wild Tiger Chase - Chapter 56: Chapter 56

— Rob —
Only when Rafa finished sharing her findings did Rob manage to breathe.
"So... their own ecosystem, huh. And if I had to guess, I'd say Jackal found a way to manipulate that, since she's after Léon." Rob walked from one side to the other in that narrow corridor. Then, he stopped and repeated, "Their own ecosystem! I can't believe it." His eyebrows were arched high, and his lips half-opened as if ready to say those words again. "I'm no scientist, but that's... I mean... a lot, yeah? Because wielders can't lose matter naturally, but—we saw Toni; we know what he did—they can increase the pool of essential chemical elements inside them. Their powers don't have any limit."
"Right you are." Rafa fitted her hands into her pockets to hide the tremor in them, but there was no hiding from Rob's quick eyes.
Honestly? He understood her. Goddess, cosmic trace wielders were so much more powerful than he thought they were. Rob spluttered a few more words, scoffed, and fell into a tension-filled silence.
He... was scared.
He was so scared. For Pipo, for Rafa, and for Léon. But more than anything else, he was scared of what Toni could do to them. He was scared of how far Toni would go the next time he and Léon met. Toni was a wielder too, and he knew how to manipulate those powers—wrongly or not—more than any human alive. Forget Jackal and Count Cae; of all the dangers Rob could think of, having Toni around was the greatest of them.
Satina cleared her throat and faced Rafa. "And this ecosystem thing. You realized that thanks to Dr. Bree's research, right?"
Rafa leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms. "Yeah. This"—she raised the datapad—"is from four years ago. Dr. Bree apparently wrote a ton about cosmic trace wielders while she finished transferring my powers to Toni."
"Oh, fuck." Satina rubbed her right temple. "For a minute there I just forgot that you were... you know." She made air quotes to add, "The machine's battery. Or that's how Brash, uh... called you." Her shoulders tensed and her voice hardened. "That pig is lucky to be in Prison. He deserved so much worse than that."
Something in Satina's eyes made Rob shiver as if he was looking into the quiet, merciless depths of the sea. Rob was glad they were on the same side in all this. He didn't want to be the target of Satina's wrath.
"Thank you, Satina." Rafa tried on a smile and glanced at Rob. She continued, "There were also a few rushed additions at the end of Rio's notes." Rafa glanced towards the door to her room. "I didn't want to say it in there, but I can't be sure if Rio did this as a way to help, warn, or fuck with us. This kind of knowledge changes everything—and if Léon was worried about hurting people with the power he had before, I wonder what he'll do once he knows how much stronger he can be."
"How much stronger you two can be," Satina corrected.
Rafa scrunched up her face. "Nah. My companions are both dead and my connection to the flow is severed; I'm as much a wielder as any traceless person in the street." She let out a weak laugh.
The silence that issued proved Rob and Satina weren't ready for that kind of humor.
"Anyhow," Rafa continued. "Dr. Bree's machine to redirect the Life Force flow is what brought Toni back to life—but according to Rio's notes, a willing Cosmic Trace Wielder could do the same thing. I think Toni is the one behind all this."
"So..." Rob's gaze dropped to the tip of his boots. "Toni is the reason for all this? The sickness? All the people who died? The damage to the forest? Everything?"
Rafa hesitated.
"I'm... pretty sure of it, yeah. Considering Dr. Bree's and Rio's notes, there's not much space to think anything else. The only reason this bloody sickness is spreading is because Toni is using it to stay alive."
Rob's hands clutched at the hem of his shirt. He gritted his teeth and said, "How do we stop it?"
"Well, I'm guessing... we stop him," Satina said. "We stop Toni. Once and for all."
"You mean..." Rafa cleared her throat, but her voice still came out weak. "You mean kill him?"
Satina shook her head. "Girl, he's already dead. Rob saw him dying"—she faced him—"didn't you? Toni's time on this Earth is done."
And at that moment, so was their conversation. Steps approached from the bright end of the crowding corridor; from the distance, the trio heard Pipo's high-pitched giggle. Kaliandra carried him in her arms while Pipo played with Bea and Boh, his fish companions.
"I vote to keep Aunt Kali and Léon out of this," Satina whispered. "Auntie was right; Leo has a lot on his plate, and we can end Toni without him if we're smart about it."
Rafa nodded, but Rob didn't have the time to think about those words.
"What are you kids doing here?" Kali asked. She popped a kiss on Pipo's cheek and put him down. Kali glanced at the datapad in Rafa's hands; understanding seemed to dawn on her brown eyes. "I see." She looked around. "Léon's safe, right?"
"He's inside," Rob said, pointing a thumb towards Rafa's room. "Long story short, we have not only Dr. Bree's, but also Rio's research on Cosmic Trace Wielders. All we need is a cure."
"Which means we have our work cut out for us, auntie," Satina added.
"Huh." Kali looked at Pipo as he clasped his little hands at his back and, walking beside his fishes, stepped towards the entrance to Rafa's room. Kali looked at Rob. "Well, I hope the files I got were useful."
"They were, Kali. Everything's under control now." Rob placed a hand on her arm and smiled. Tried to smile, even though his tongue felt like sandpaper, and his eyes stung with welling up tears.
He should've tried harder to lie. Kali narrowed her eyes.
"Really?" she said. She studied Rob, then Rafa, and finally Satina. "Well, I came here cause Pipo said he wanted to see you, but if you want my help—"
The door to Rafa's room opened.
"Phillip is dying. I need help!" Léon said.
Pipo raised a hand. "Don't worry, Leo, that's why I came. Now let me see the patient; Dr. Legend Little is here."
Almost nine AM. Two hours later.
Rob brought Léon closer and let out a tired sigh. Léon was still shaking a little, but as Kali cleaned the blood on Phillip's face and Pipo sat beside the bed—quiet and unmovable like a little wax figure—he calmed down.
Satina and Rafa took a nap in the corner of the room, while Léon and Rob stood against the wall.
They were running out of time; Rob knew that for sure. He glanced at Rafa and Satina, and their conversation from earlier came back to his mind.
Rob ran his fingers through Léon's brown hair; his other hand slid up and down his back in a gentle, slow caress that was equal parts an attempt to be soothing and soothed. Léon looked up, and Rob met his eyes. Rob whispered I love you against his forehead and kissed it.
"I love you too, Bhalu," Léon whispered back. They shared a gaze. A sad, long gaze filled with much more meaning than words could ever carry. Then, Léo sighed. "Once this is all over, I'll take a very long bath."
"I'll join if you let me." Rob smiled. It was good to see that Léon believed they would survive this. He leaned forward to kiss Léon's lips. "But first, Leo..."
Rob breathed in and out. He swept the room with his eyes and took a step away. His hands slid from Léon's shoulders and down his arms until their fingers met.
Léon was trying. Despite everything happening to him and despite the fear in his heart, Léon was fighting. He deserved to know the truth; he deserved to choose what he would do with the cards he'd been dealt.
As if sensing Rob's thoughts, Rafa opened her eyes and got up. Satina soon followed, glancing from Léon to Rob in a silent question.
Secrets and half-truths had only brought them pain. Making choices in Léon's place had only stripped him of his power. And trying to save Léon had almost broken him forever.
"Tiger?" It was time to trust him and to believe he could make his own choices. Rob gave Léon's hands a gentle squeeze and completed, "Let's sit somewhere. I need to tell you something."
The sounds in the hospital cafeteria seemed to start and end outside the bubble Rob, Satina, Rafa, and Léon had created around them. It wasn't a real bubble, of course—none of them had the multisonic trace—but the tension in the group was enough to keep the outside world at bay.
Rob let his plastic spoon hit the tabletop and clicked his tongue. He glanced at Léon; his eyes were still closed, so silent and still that the only hint that he was alive was the slight rise and fall of his chest, way slower than it should be.
"How much longer will he take?" Rob asked Rafa.
Rafa shrugged and took another bite of a misto quente. With a sigh, she put even more mayonnaise on it. "You know Bonee is becoming weaker. Maybe she can't come to him; maybe he's taking a while to find her, is all."
"You should've gone with him, Sis." Rob took the mayonnaise bottle and furrowed his brows.
"And do what? Hold his hand and wait?" Rafa plucked the bottle from his hands. "Deep breaths, Beto. Be patient. You were the one who decided to tell him the whole truth; did you really think he wouldn't want to talk to his companion about something like this?"
For the first time in the last hour, Satina finally decided to join the conversation. Instead of speaking, though, she drummed her fingers on the table. The action would've looked normal if it wasn't for the glare she was wearing.
Rob took in a deep breath. "All right, Satina, I can see you don't agree with what I did but—"
"Look." She raised a hand to stop him. "I appreciate you believing in my cousin, man. But the next time, maybe you'll want to talk to me before doing anything like this." Satina furrowed her brows even more. "I'm serious. We don't know what kind of repercussion this information will have on him, and you saw how unstable he's becoming."
"The alternative would be to stay put and do nothing while Toni and Jackal use him," Rob said. "Léon is strong, we all know that. We just need to be here for him and trust him."
Satina clicked her tongue and for a moment, the only sound in the group was Rafa's crunchy bites and the drumming of Satina's fingers. But then, the drumming stopped.
"Okay, Rob." Satina groaned. "I..." She let out a long sigh. "I think you did the right thing this time."
"Oh, I think I came back at the right moment. Never thought I'd hear my cousin saying that."
Léon's voice sparked a shiver that ran up and down Rob's spine. All eyes turned to him. Léon's eyes were welled up, drenched with sadness. Still, there was pure determination in them.
"You're back!" Rafa put the bottle of mayonnaise down and all but lay down on the table to face Léon. "Did you talk to Bonee? What did she say?"
"Apparently..." Léon sniffed. He cleared his throat and rubbed his eyes. Under the table, his other hand met Rob's. "It's all true. Our powers do work like that, and it's possible Toni has been causing all this. Bonee also thinks that our powers never really go away. She said that, once a Cosmic trace wielder dies, they're absorbed by their undimension."
"Like an... interdimensional cemetery," Rob said.
"To minimize our impact in this world, perhaps?" Rafa suggested. "I don't even want to imagine what would happen if someone just flushed a ton of atoms of carbon into our world."
"Makes sense," Satina mumbled.
Léon nodded and locked eyes with Rafa. "But Bonee also said our undimension keeps growing in power as time goes by, so we... in a way, through nature, she said, we live inside it forever."
Rob let out a nervous chuckle. "So a haunted interdimensional cemetery. Cute."
With a smile, Léon shook his head and took Rob's hand. "But, hum. Here's what I don't understand—Toni is the one responsible for the sickness, but Rio said Jackal is coming for me. You saw her, she's as knowledgeable about this as he is. Jackal must know about this. And if she does, she's not after what we thought. I don't know, I think she wants something bigger."
"But if she doesn't want to give the forest's Life Force back, what the hell does she want?" Satina asked.
Rafa stopped in her tracks. Her eyes widened, and she held Léon's arm more in a knee-jerk reaction than conscient movement. "Wait. I know what she wants. Oh, Goddess, we're fucked."
"What, Rafa?" Rob asked.
"What is it?" Satina insisted.
"Jackal will pop the pocket dimensions open. She'll bloody flood this place with raw Life Force."