Around four in the morning, another magical hour when the worst sort of calls come in, Ace awoke to a phone call. He was in Fenton's studio, sleeping on his bed, and he woke up, hungover and upset.
He didn't recognize the number on his phone, so he let it ring and go to voicemail. Already awake and unable to go back to sleep he sat up, grumpy, scowling in the dark. It was then that he realized that Fenton never came back home.
The phone rang again, and Ace answered, groaning, asking who it is, and he was fully awake when it was Fenton on the end of the phone.
"Come get me," Fenton rasped. "I'm in Kiruna. Some nice lady let me borrow her phone."
"What happened to you," Ace asked. "You sound like shit."
"It's a long thing. Just come. "
Ace couldn't teleport to a place he had never been nor seen, so Fenton quickly took a picture of the area behind him, sent it to Ace, and within thirty seconds Ace popped in, scaring the good Samaritan, a drunk tourist leaning on a light pole and missing her sandals.
After a quick apology and making sure the tourist was fine as well, Ace brought Fenton back home and took out the first aid kit. His training was of use making sure Fenton didn't have a concussion, cleaning up the cuts and bruises.
Fenton sat on his black bed, and he wanted to sleep, but Ace told him he couldn't, he might have a concussion, shaking him awake every time he fell asleep, and it was an effort in vain because soon they were both asleep again, as the suns rose.
Fenton awoke to a hard smack on his face a few hours later because Ace was not a quiet sleeper, screaming in pain from his bruises. Then Ace awoke, The Rock returned, and it was pure chaos, shouting, bright lights, groaning, a strip club without the music.
"Ace, what have you done, " Fenton shouted.
"I haven't done anything," he insisted.
"Every time something happens, I know you've done it, " Fenton said, pointing at The Rock.
It turned green, Fenton tilted his head, and Ace shuddered, as they seemed to communicate with each other. Fenton's eyes rapidly changed colors and when they were done, The Rock turned white, and let out a soft, ding.
Ace edged to the back of the bed, hitting the back wall of the fold in bed where it was pulled up to make room in the small space. He grabbed the pillow, like a defensive shield expecting Fenton to now be possessed by The Rock , but instead, he nodded, new information revealed to him.
"I think this rock is going through a crisis," Fenton whispered.
"I think we all are," Ace sighed.
"I know this will sound nuts-"
"What is not nuts anymore, Fen, we—"
"—this rock said it's not a rock."
"I mean yeah," Ace snorted.
It was back to business, which was their usual ridiculousness, and Ace let out a soft heh. He put the pillow down, went to the small kitchen that was the size of a very large closet without a door, and returned with two cups of water and some medicine for Fenton's headache.
"The rock told me that it's a meteorite," Fenton said. "For a while, it thought it was a boulder, but now it thinks it might be a rock, sometimes it feels like a pebble even, so it's going through a lot right now."
Ace grinned and tried not to smile. He felt ridiculous, not wanting to hurt The Rock's feelings, and turned away, the entire concept that a rock was going through a lot.
"This rock is having a gender crisis," Ace snickered.
Fenton nodded. " It's not a rock. It says it doesn't want to come out yet."
Ace almost choked on his water and chuckled. Through snorts and giggled he whispered,
"We all have to come out eventually."
"Don't be a dick," Fenton said.
Fenton picked up The Rock who was unsure if it was a boulder, a rock, or maybe even a pebble, and told The Rock , it can come out when it's ready. While rubbing it, it turned a soft pink, and Fenton grimaced, saying he wasn't interested.
"Don't talk to it, I think it's controlling Invictus," Ace whispered as if Invictus couldn't hear him, which he could, and he was offended, but said nothing.
Yet Ace could feel his anger, curling around his throat, making it difficult to breathe.
"So what happened to you last night," Ace coughed.
Fenton told Ace about how he met his evil twin, and Ace balked at this term, and then was furious when he said that maybe he isn't that bad.
"He killed so many people," Ace insisted.
"I mean, yeah, so have we," Fenton replied.
"That's different, that's at work," Ace mumbled. " What happens at work stays at work."
"I'm not saying he's innocent, but he saved my life. I can't really hate that."
Ace's feelings were hurt, therefore Invictus knew he had to do something, it was his job as his security blanket after all. Friends may fight, but Fenton was a bad friend, never supporting Ace's affair, never agreeing with everything he said .
He needed to be dealt with.
Fenton picked up The Rock, hoping it would guard him or he could guard it because he didn't know what else to do as Ace's bones seemed to rearrange themselves. Clicking, and then stopping, his shoulder blades sticking out, his jaw going slack, and a voice emitting from it, not his own, the mouth not moving, Ace was no more.
The voice was friendly, perky even, the words were not.
Ace's mouth moved up and down, his arms flailed about. Invictus was using Ace's body like a puppet, his childlike personality mimicking exaggerated movements, waving his hands about, bobbing his head up and down.
" I'm going to kill him, " Invictus said. " He's not a good friend. "
Fenton nodded rapidly, saying okay, sure, cool buddy, anything to stay alive.
" Are you a good friend, Fenton," Invictus asked. " You keep telling me no. You can't tell me no."
"I'm a good friend," Fenton said.
" Good friends don't hurt each other. If you hurt me again, you won't be a good friend. You'll be dead."
Ace's mouth slammed shut, the sound of his teeth echoing in the small apartment as if it were much bigger than it was, and all his bones pushed back into place, his skin no longer strained, the organs relieved of all tension and shifted back.
Ace coughed, rubbed his throat, and said nothing, completely oblivious to what happened, and then got up to get more water, as if nothing happened. Fenton said nothing because he didn't want to hurt his feelings, that's not what good friends do.
He quickly returned, sat on the floor next to Fenton, and turned on the TV. Fenton scooted a few inches away, Ace looked a bit offended, and Fenton realized that he didn't know. Ace had no idea Invictus was piloting his body, and Fenton worried what would happen if Invictus became so good at it, no one would be able to tell if it wasn't Ace.
"Who peed in your cereal this morning," Ace teased.
Fenton made the world's loudest, forced laugh, and The Rock tried to alert danger. It turned white, blue, and red, rapidly, like a police cruiser, letting off multiple dings. It would start, stop, then start again.
Long accustomed to its strange behavior, they tuned it out, turned up the volume on the TV, and tried to watch a game show where three people had to compete for a paltry amount of money.
They groaned, once the words, BREAKING NEWS, flashed over the screen, interrupting the climax of the show, to see if the beautiful fish-woman, Nauta, would win the $10,000 prize and a pile of iridescent rocks.
Live stream footage showed a shoot-out with the police and two gangs, bodies in the streets, and water gushing out of the Triangle Corp building in the Kiruna district. Immediately Ace recognized Almuz and pointed at the screen.
"That asshole is a piece of shit ," Ace snarled.
The sudden change of tone was awkward, and The Rock turned green.
The news reporters hailed Almuz as a hero, but Ace shuddered in disgust, detailing the short period they worked together.
"He would pressure me to hang out with him after work, rub me and stuff, but I couldn't say no since he was my boss," Ace said. "I think he was trying to fuck me."
" Gross . You didn't tell anyone?"
"Yeah, I did. He's rich as hell, nothing was done about it. I was going to quit but for some reason, he quit before I did."
"I don't think I'll miss this town once we get transferred again. Seeing it all burn down doesn't make me that upset. "
Ace was surprised at Fenton's quick acceptance of Nero's vigilantism, and right on cue, Triangle Corp burst into flames. The reporter spoke faster, the people down below cheered, The Rock started to ding again, flashing its emergency colors.
Soon, Fenton noticed that the dings were in a pattern. It would start, stop, and then start again. Ace was glued to the TV screen, and Fenton slipped away, to his bed. He pulled out the wooden drawer on the bottom of the frame and took out a piece of paper and a pencil.
He marked the dings, over and over, and decoded the message.
It was morse code.
The Rock was attempting to communicate with Ace without letting Invictus know, repeating the same message over and over again, worried for his safety.
DANGER. NOT SANE.
TAKE OFF WRIST.
DANGER. NOT SANE. TAKE OFF WRIST.
"Ace, the rock is using morse code," Fenton said.
"Mm, cool," Ace grunted.
"Ace, listen to it. "
He put his attention to The Rock, and Ace tapped his pointer finger against his palm, mouthing the letters until he worked out the message. The problem was, once he knew, Invictus knew as well.
" You're not a good friend, Fenton," Invictus said.
Ace grunted and fell over, gripping the carpet, trying to fight the intruder in his mind. It wasn't a fair fight, and Ace quickly lost, his body used again without his consent. He was dragged across the floor, his toes grazing the carpet like a ragdoll, and stared at The Rock.
Fenton wasn't sure if it was running for safety, killing itself, or if Invictus threw it out the window when it went up, vertically in the air, and then was forcefully thrown through his closed window.
" One moment please, " Invictus said cheerfully.
He was a quick learner, Ace's body shifting one more, and now Invictus had wiggled his way inside instead of playing with it, dragging it across the room and giggling like he was using a toy.
"I did it! I did it all on my own, " Invictus announced.
He wriggled Ace's fingers, which were now his, and he smiled, setting his eyes upon Fenton, his next victim.
"I will miss you. You need to go to time out though, it's how it has to be, " Invictus said, nodding, equating death to a temporary lesson.
He did not understand that people did not live forever the way he did, his brain stunted after being ignored for years, with little social interaction. The brute did not understand anything, his worldview black and white, and Fenton tried to use it to his advantage.
"Hey, hey, it's fine. I can, I can say sorry," Fenton said. "I didn't mean to be mean!"
Invictus paused, and legitimately considered the apology, but Ace's phone went off, a special ringtone for just that caller. Invictus knew who it was, and answered immediately, and tried to make his voice sound deeper and rough like Ace's.
" Good morning sweetheart, " Invictus said, doing a very bad impression of his master.
"Who is this," Levi asked.
" I just have a cold," Invictus lied.
Levi believed the very transparent lie, and Fenton slowly edged towards the door as Invictus creepily tried his hand at flirting, which he was very bad at, his only experience from the few times Ace decided to watch romantic comedies.
Fenton escaped, and Invictus let him, more excited that he could do a better job of protecting Ace. It was his job, as his blanket, after all. Ace didn't know what was good for him, but Invictus was sure he knew was best for him.
" Can I come over," Invictus asked.
"If you want. She already knows, so it would be a bad idea…"
Invictus blinked over to Levi's yacht and blended right in, everyone assuming Ace was simply having a very bad day.